DOWNLOAD NO.190 - TIM FINN

TIM FINN (BORN BRIAN TIMOTHY FINN 1952 NEW ZEALAND) CAME TO OZ IN THE 1970S. WE OF COURSE CLAIM HIM AS AN AUSSIE - ANY FAMOUS NEW ZEALANDER IS YOU KNOW...

TIM WORKED SOLO AS WELL AS IN SPLIT ENZ, CROWDED HOUSE AND WITH HIS BROTHER NEIL AS THE FINN BROTHERS.

TIM HIT THE SOLO MARKET IN 1983 WITH AN ALBUM CALLED ESCAPADE. IT CONTAINED 5 CHARTING SINGLES. THE FIRST BIG HIT SINGLE WAS “FRACTION TOO MUCH FRICTION” WHICH GOT TO #1 IN NEW ZEALAND AND #5 IN OZ. THE THIRD SINGLE WAS “STARING AT THE EMBERS” WHICH DIDN’T REACH THE SAME HEIGHTS BUT PLACED AT #10 IN NEW ZEALAND AND #30 IN OZ. ITS FLIP SIDE “THROUGH THE YEARS” ALSO CHARTED IN OZ. GUITARIST RICK FATAR WAS ONE OF THE MORE NOTEWORTHY MUSOS WORKING ON THIS SINGLE.

THE EXTENDED VERSIONS OF THE SINGLES HAVE NOT MADE IT TO C.D.... WITH ALL THE RE-RELEASES OF HIS WORK IT’S SURPRISING THAT NOBODY HAS YET ADDED THEM AS BONUS MATERIAL...

HERE FOR DOWNLOAD IS THE ORIGINAL EXTENDED VINYL VERSION OF “STARING AT THE EMBERS”:

http://rapidshare.com/files/214817945/tim_finn_-_staring_at_the_embers__ext_vinyl_tom_mix_.mp3

DOWNLOAD NO.189 - TONY PANTANO

TONY PANTANO STARTED HIS SINGING CAREER IN A BAND CALLED ISY AND THE DYNAMICS AT AGE 17. (TONY IS SITTING ON THE STOOL IN THE PICTURE).

TONY'S FIRST BIG BREAK CAME WHEN BUDDY ENGLAND GOT HIM A RECORD DEAL WITH AIR RECORDS. BUDDY WHO AT THE TIME WAS LEAD SINGER OF THE MIXTURES, WHEN "IN THE SUMMERTIME" WAS CHARTING, HAD DECIDED TO START HIS OWN LABEL, AS WELL AS WRITING AND PRODUCING FOR OTHER ARTISTS. BUDDY WROTE THE SONG "EVERYTIME YOU TOUCH ME" AND IT DID VERY WELL GETTING TO #22 NATIONALLY IN 1971. THE BIG VOICE OF TONY PANTANO HAS BEEN GOING EVER SINCE.

TONY'S SECOND HIT WAS "TONIGHT" WHICH GOT TO #24 IN 1972.

TONY'S OTHER HIT WAS A LOCAL REMAKE OF TONY CHRISTIE'S "DON'T GO DOWN TO RENO" CIRCA 1979.

TONY PANTANO IS ONE OF THE FEW LIVE ACTS TO HAVE BEEN IN THE BUSINESS SINCE BEFORE 1970 AND IS STILL WINNING AWARDS AND WORKING HARD.

FROM TONY'S WEB SITE: Along with nine albums and two single hits to Tony's long list of credits , Tony has won "Best Male Vocal" a record breaking 10 times and "Entertainer of The Year" the Gold Award twice. Tony has also been nominated for Best Male Vocal for the past 6 years with " The Ace Awards". Sunday Herard Sun "Incredible Vocal Talent" "Captivating Charm & Charisma" "Spontaneous Wit" "One of the Best Ever" "The Man with The Golden Voice"...

HERE FOR DOWNLOAD IS THE FIRST SINGLE "EVERYTIME YOU TOUCH ME":

http://rapidshare.com/files/214782375/Tony_Pantano_-_Everytime_You_Touch_Me.mp3

DOWNLOAD NO.188 - FRANK TRAYNOR

In 1962 Victorian jazz trumpeter Frank Traynor approached the management of W&G Records in Melbourne to record ‘Sweet Patootie’ and release it as a single. It took many months to convince them but when ‘Sweet Patootie’ was finally released, it was an incredible success. At the time it was almost impossible for any Australian jazz record to get radio play on commercial stations, little less make the Top 40 charts. This was one of many ‘firsts’ of Frank’s career. The other extraordinary aspect of ‘Sweet Patootie’s’ success was that the number of record sales required for it to be included in the Australian Top 40 was based on Victorian sales alone.

Frank Traynor and The Jazz Preachers had a total of three records on the hit parade, the other two being ‘Washington Square’ and ‘Please Girls Please’. This last tune was unusual in that it was composed by a group of music students from Box Hill College of TAFE, who approached Frank to record it.

Here for download is an excellent transfer of ye olde stomper "Washington Square":

http://rapidshare.com/files/214493117/Frank_Traynor_-_Washington_Square.mp3

DOWNLOAD NO.187 - BOOTLEG FAMILY BAND

Aussie artist Brian Cadd originally put together The Bootleg Family Band as the house band for the independent rock label Bootleg, which Fable Music’s boss, Ron Tudor, had established with Brian in 1972. The idea was that the Bootleg house band would provide core musical backing for records and tours for Brian and the other artists signed to the label. Besides backing Cadd and other Bootleg artists, the Bootleg Family Band recorded four singles and scored two major hits under its own name. Their debut was a Top 5 hit, "Your Mama Don't Dance" (Feb. 1973) and featured Brian Cadd. The second single "Wake Up Australia", once again featuring Cadd (June 1973), failed to reach the Top 40 but the third single, a cover of Betty Everett's "Shoop Shoop Song" (July 1974), delivered another Top 10 hit. By 1975 it was becoming increasingly difficult to keep the large band on the road, so in May the line-up was cut back to a four-piece. Renamed simply The Bootleg Band, this line-up was used for mostly for touring, although they issued a final single "How Do I Try?" in October 1975, which scraped into the lower half of the Top 100.

Singles:

1973 "Your Mama Don't Dance" / "Honky Tonk Woman" #5

1973 "Wake Up Australia" / "Ballad of Billy Clover"

1974 "Shoop Shoop Song" / "Walking Home in the Morning" #10

1975 "Green Door" / "Kenny" #98

as The Bootleg Band

1975 "How Do I Try?" / "Rockin' Hollywood" #60

NB. "Wake Up Australia" is already posted on this blog. Please use search facility to locate this track.

For download is the 4th single "Green Door" remixed and overdubbed by Tom Mix:

http://rapidshare.com/files/214468722/Bootleg_Family_-_Green_Door.mp3

DOWNLOAD NO.186 - JOHNNY NOBLE (WITH THE AZTECS, INCAS AND MODS)

Johnny Noble hailed from Newcastle NSW and made a solid start in the early 1960s with his various groups and solo singles. He recorded on the Linda Lee label, a subsidiary of Festival, along with other big acts like Billy Thorpe and the Aztecs and entertainer Jackie Weaver. Johnny Noble was lead singer in two 1960s bands “Johnny Noble and the Mods “and “Johnny Noble and The Incas”. He was the intended second vocalist for “The Aztecs” which later became Billy Thorpe’s permanent backing group. Billy was their third vocalist. There is an Aztec album titled “Billy Thorpe & The Aztecs with Poison Ivy & Introducing Johnny Noble”.

A potted history of the Aztecs:

At first the fledgling Aztecs were an instrumental band who changed to a vocal group by hiring Tony Barber. Tony didn’t last long and went solo, so the Aztecs needed a lead singer. They added Johnny Noble for the concerts and they even started to record an album with him but in the end Johnny Noble did not want to join the Aztecs full time. While searching for a replacement some of the Aztecs met the former child actor Billy Thorpe, who wanted to start a new career in the music business. They completed the album together and changed the group's name to Billy Thorpe and The Aztecs. In 1964 their first single release "Blue Day" charted in Sydney only, but their second single, their cover version of "Poison Ivy" became number one in the national Australian charts, staying in the Top 40 for 16 weeks.

After the Aztecs charted, Johnny Noble in 1965 fronted a new group poised to rival his record label stable-mates, the Aztecs. He released a single as Johnny Noble and The Incas. It sank without a ripple.

Singles:

As “Johnny Noble and the Mods” 1964

'That’ll be all right'

As “Johnny Noble” 1964

'Lonely city'

'Young and beautiful’

As “Johnny Noble & the Incas” 1965

'Like I’ve never been gone'

Nowadays, Johnny Noble has been working live with former members of the Beachcombers (use search function top left to find songs by the Beachcombers).

Johnny’s biggest hit was “Lonely City” which reached #21 in Sydney in 1964. Here is the download of the single:

http://rapidshare.com/files/211658112/Johnny_Noble_-_Lonely_City.mp3