The Australia Connection

It has been well documented that English and American (New York) bands have had a huge effect on the ways in which music changed through the late 70's and early 80's. With bands like the Sex Pistols and the Ramones kicking of the "punk revolution" that morphed into post punk and finally gained commercial success as new wave. What is lesser know is the story of another English speaking country that is also a continent.

Two bands formed the back bone of what was the punk rock scene in Australia and they were The Saints and Radio Birdman. Radio Birdman formed in Sydney in 1974 and took their name from the Stooges song "1970". Determined to form a band that was more interested in doing something new the six man group included a Classical keyboard player. Unable to find any place that would book them gigs the band took over a pub that they renamed The Oxford Fun House. The pub become an Australian CBGB's giving a scene of like minded musicians a place to play. The band has had an on/off history over the years reforming to play festivals from time to time. In 2000 Seattle super label Sub Pop released a retrospective on the bands work from 1974 to 1978.

The Saints formed in 1974 in Brisbane Australia. Bob Geldof once said "rock music in the 70's was changed by three bands - The Ramones, The Sex Pistols and The Saints". In 1976 the band signed a three record contract with EMI and a year later moved to England. At this time they began to have trouble with their record label who wanted to market the band as a Sex Pistols clone complete with spiky hair and ripped clothes while the band wanted to be true to themselves. through out the years The Saints have changed line ups and their sound has evolved to include more of a blues and R&B sound. Two years back I was luck enough to catch their set at Fun(x3) Fest here in Austin. The band has a box set of it's first three records available which is a good place to dive into their catalogue.