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December
   For previous months' Stop Press, go to Archives Directory   Go to A Separate Reality  
 
Wrokdown to go to air
28.12.07 - Wrokdown producer Anita Monk has just announced that the first episode of Wrokdown will air on Channel 31 on Saturday January 19th at 9.00pm. Check the Wrokdown website for more details. I've had a peek, and I am one of the first guests (along with The Substitutes' Peter Robinson) in the very first episode chatting with Wendy Stapleton - hooray!
1.1.08 - Anita's been back in touch to say that Wendy will be on 3AW today (Tuesday) at 1.45pm talking about the show, so if you're on the air, have a listen.		  
 

A happy ending for these adorable kittens warms our cockles..		 We're still here..
27.12.07 - While we don't have an engagement on New Year's Eve, this doesn't necessarily mean we don't exist - although I sometimes wonder. It's that time of year when relevant stories are few and far between, so in the meantime you can follow my daily adventures on the A Separate Reality page. But what about the cute moggies in the pic? (left) Dim Milewicz tells me they've found a new home now, so you needn't fret that they may have ended up at the bottom of the Yarra in a potato sack. 		 
 
 
Elwood Blues
17.12.07 - What does a bloke do when he's got nary a gig till well after Christmas? Why, he pops down to the Elwood RSL where there's a regular get-together of blues' dudes and dudettes on a Sunday evening and muscles his way into the house band, of course. There's my Strat in the middle of the stage as mute testament to my presence. read more
 
Limelight - kudos for musos
9.12.07 - Things are a lot better than they used to be, but there still aren't enough avenues for the budding songwriter these days, so if you're a writer in the Shire of Yarra Ranges (and you'll know where that is if you live there) and you're looking for exposure and an altruistic assessment of your work, go to the Limelight website and get your entry in quick smart. (Make sure to read the rules and conditions).
If you're looking for a workshop on how to write and present your songs live, you should book a seat for one of the two workshops that Mike & Bill are doing for Limelight on a couple of Wednesdays in January - the 16th and the 23rd - in Healesville and Warburton.
Limelight Music is the brainchild of dashing Dave Walker (pic) who lives in the Yarra Ranges area and obviously hasn't got enough to keep him occupied.
 

1) Sandra and Chris used to follow The Heaters 2) Bill and Paul model Bill's basses		 gig report
Crudd & Pump at the Manhattan
9.12.07 - Peter Carolan says he can remember Ariel doing the Manhattan in the '70s. I can remember that (just) too, but it wasn't in the Lager Bar on a Sunday arvo where Bill and I played today. It was a pretty laid back gig - our work sheet said 4.00 - 7.00, but the posters around the place
said 5.00 - 8.00, and when we asked the blonde waitress what we should do, she said we should just do what we felt like. We'd already set up, so going home wasn't really an option, and we elected to start at 4.00. Actually it was fun, although Bill got a bit distracted by the Hatten/Mayfield fight highlights that came up on the screen behind us, and we could have done a second encore if we'd wanted. Oh yeah, Paul (pic 2) brought along Bill's original Precision and Bill used it in the third set just for old times sake. Bill's written a little story about his original Precision on the Guitar Horror page.
 

Some feedback on the Music Deli broadcasts from the Queenscliff Festival
9.12.07 - Well, as I've suggested, there isn't much - but the little there is has been enthusiastic. Take these comments from old friend Brecon Walsh for instance:
This might sound a little OTT but I heard the RN broadcast on all three scheduled plays over the weekend. It was just so stylish and utterly indelible. Sonically brilliant too! And later: Listening to you still makes me proud to be an Australasian. This is not just a dumb Boomer ‘s Story. Riches beyond compare and they are yours collectively as Spectrum, the unique and matchless ensemble we love. Albatross, well every composition just smashed me silly. I recommend that you attach it to some future CD & DVD release.
Noel Dillon agrees with Brecon about Albatross:
I caught the performance at Queenscliff on the Friday night and heard the replay on Radio National on the Sunday afternoon. Thought it was a great performance and the highlight of the festival. The version of Albatross you played was sensational, it did give me a chuckle that Nick Charles also played it straight after you. Do you have any intensions of putting this out somehow. I have a friend in the States who would love to hear this.

 

Chants R&B hypnotises baldies		 Chants R&B - the legend lives on!
5.12.07 - Who could tell? But John Baker's street-level instincts were spot on, and there was indeed a great deal of interest in seeing Chants R&B, The Breakaways et al take the stage again - not only from the people that were there back in the sixties, but from an speculative band of youngsters eager to see the origins of Antipodean 'garage' music in the flesh. (Well, maybe not quite in the flesh). Al's Bar in Christchurch proved to be an ideal venue to evoke the privations of the Stagedoor, but I don't think the crowd of balding, bespectacled blokes (and women) minded being on their feet for all that time to relive their misspent youth for what could be the last time. The Auckland gig the following night was a slightly more elaborate affair, with some of the better known acts of the era, like Ray Columbus and Pete Nelson, rubbing shoulders with the passionate pioneers of grunge in the Monte Christo Room, a neglected but nonethless very sexy venue. Read more about the whole thing in Mike's story of the Chants R&B's tour.
 
 
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