


Rare and obscure vinyl mixes converted for download / YouTube - if you are the copyright owner of any song and object to its inclusion please post a comment if you need to have something removed. My intention is to make sure the younger people out in cyber space know about the lost tracks which music companies have not released on compact disc. If you seek rare hits from foreign lands then please click link below to my sister blogsite: "Songs That Made It Big In Oz".



Warren Carr has other posts on this blog. Please use the search facility at top left to locate them.
Les Welch was a band leader in the WW2 period and racked up many number ones back in the days before top 40 charts came into existence. His repertoire included novelty, pop and jazz hits all played with his infectious swing style. 
Jason Darnell aka Duggie Dean, was born Douglas Owen White 29th May 1935 in Hampstead London He was raised in the village of Parkend in the Forest Of Dean Gloucestershire. He had numerous low paid and menial jobs before joining the Royal Air Force after WW2. He formed a couple of troop entertainment groups before departing after 3 years service. Doug (Jason) and his then comedy and musical partner set up shop on Barry Island where he learned the ropes of theatre entertainment and slowly began performing across South Wales. He had numerous name changes as his status improved in cabaret, performing up and down the seaside circuit in England.Cruises to Australia were Jason’s favourite – he met his future manager and producer Ian McCallum on one of these trips, and he was invited to appear on the TV show New Faces, which he won first place representing Sydney. Later on another visit to Australia he represented Melbourne, and once again won first place.
He was then engaged to perform throughout the Federal Hotel Circuit which was a major chain in Australia at the time. He gained a lot of fans and good friends on this tour, and Jason was then signed by Festival Records and released his first record for them. The song was the ballad “Love Is All” in 1973 - his recording was requested and played regularly on all the popular radio shows. The “B” side of the record was “Sail Along Silv'ry Moon” it went into some Oz charts, and was particularly popular with listening audiences in Tasmania. So popular was Jason in Tasmania, and he was so taken with the people and scenery, he left Melbourne and moved to his new home in Hobart.
After a few enjoyable years in Hobart, which included hosting his own weekly TV and Radio shows, he returned to Sydney where he appeared on all the big Saturday night Television shows. Next, Jason went onto star in various touring musical theatre groups and played the role of “Prince Charming” for more than 3 years with a travelling company that swept across Australia and New Zealand. Doug is still going strong as of 2009 and still doing cabaret.
For download are both sides of his 1973 single. My personal favourites is "Sail Along Silv'ry Moon". Enjoy!
http://rapidshare.com/files/377172681/jason_darnell_-_love_is_all__vinyl_tom_mix_.mp3
http://rapidshare.com/files/377178152/jason_darnell_-_sail_along_silvery_moon__vinyl_tom_mix_.mp3
Before Doc Neeson and the Angels were charting with their high-powered Oz rock the band had much more humble beginnings. They started in Adelaide as The Moonshine Jug and String Band which played "washboard rock".
The TV show Aunty Jack was a creation of Grahame Bond who has always claimed that many of his ideas and skits were similar but ahead of the Monty Python team who were the UK comedy team who sang "Always Look On The Bright Side Of Life".
There are few times when I can post a whole album knowing it has never been released on CD and this is one of them.
Laurel Lea, born Lorraine Lianos, was a regular Australia TV singer on shows such as Brian Henderson's "Bandstand" and Johnny O'Keefe's "Six O'clock Rock" in the late 1950s early 1960s, mostly singing cover versions of US hits. She started out with Lee Gordon on his Leedon label in 1958 (same year I was born) with a backing group called The Crescents. Laurel married fellow "Bandstand" singer Kevin Todd, and had a son Mark.
The poster above has a great list of Oz performers including Billy Thorpe, Aztecs, Digger Revell, Kevin Todd, Barry Stanton, Dave Bridge Trio, Kelly Green and Laurel Lea (click to enlarge). NB. Kelly Green was married to Barry Stanton and they had 2 children before divorcing.
Most Australians would know that The Cockroaches group are responsible for creating The Wiggles TV show and associated merchandise. The Field brothers (Paul, John and Anthony) started The Cockroaches in 1979 while still at boarding school. The Cockroaches began writing their own music and issued a string of singles on a variety of independent labels. In 1986 the band signed a deal with Regular Records and through promotion had better commercial success... The band's first singles were:
The band's first single on Regular, "Wait Up" (September 1986), became a national Top 40 hit and #13 in Sydney.
The band's debut album, The Cockroaches (March 1987) produced three further singles, "She's The One" (January), "Some Kind of Girl" (May) and "Double Shot (Of My Baby's Love)" (August). The Cockroaches reached #9 on the national chart, on its way to selling over 100,000 copies and "She's the One" became the band's biggest hit when it peaked at #7 during April 1987. "Some Kind of Girl" and "Double Shot (Of My Baby's Love)" also made the Top 30.
Peter Mackie replaced Phil Robinson before the band recorded its second album, Fingertips. In early 1989, The Cockroaches undertook a national tour. The band's third album, Positive (June 1991), included a cover of Brenda Lee's "Here Comes The Feeling" (August), which also appeared on the soundtrack to the feature film The Crossing, however, The Cockroaches as a band concept had run its course.
The Image music company took four T.V. themes and released them on an E.P. called "Original T.V. Themes".
Newcastle NSW used to have a great live music scene in the previous century but nowadays you'd be hard pressed to find many local bands working live. D.V.8 is an exception. They are still going strong today while others have come and gone.


Models are a pop/rock/dance group from Melbourne, Australia, which formed in August 1978 and went into hiatus circa 1988 and have reformed a couple of times when they feel moved to do so.
The ABC TV network has always fostered off-the-wall Oz shows and "The Gillies Report" was one from the 1984 to 1985 period. Comedian Max Gillies did great impersonations and in this track he tackles Bob Hawke and some of the world leaders of the time. Max hails from Melbourne and still performs at times. In his later years he has given comedy away to take on many straight roles.
The Delltones first appeared on the scene in the 1950s with Johnny O'Keefe and such like. They made an appearance backing Johnny on his first big hit "Shout" in 1958-59.
The D-Generation were a bunch of smart university types that were training to be doctors and lawyers and decided to forego surgery and create comedy after appearing in their university revue...or is that the Monty Python team?? Anyway they are still enjoying life as the "Working Dogs".
Tim and Debbie are characters, created by Stephen Blackburn and Mary Kenneally, who appeared on Australian television in the early 1980s in a show called Australia You're Standing In It. Tim and Debbie are left-wing pseudo-intellectuals whose world view is constructed from a confused jumble of intellectual mass culture. Tim and Debbie haven't been seen for 20 years, but their segment called Brainspace lives on in the memory of thousands of Australians.
The track for download "God Save Me" is billed as the A-side while the theme to the TV show from which it came was billed as the B-side. "Australia You're Standing In It" can be found further over on another post.
http://rapidshare.com/files/346468531/debbie_and_tim_with_the_deep_royal_blues_-_god_save_me.mp3