It was June
1983 when Steve & Warren metfrom an advertisement in
the local
newspaper.
Their mission was simple: to unleash loud, brash rock on an
unsuspecting
Wollongong/Illawarra audience. The fact that it wasn't
Detroit in 1968, or Sydney in
1977 didn't enter the equation.
This was, as far as our intrepid would-be pied pipers were
concerned, immaterial.
Wollongong and it's environs offered little in the way of
original sounds in those
days, with art-rock/avante-garde outfits such as Visitor,
Sunday Painters, N-Lets,
NikNokNar and others, sparsely scattered over the post-punk
years, with rare
performances, often under the umbrella of the Acme
Musician's Co-op, a short-lived
collection of new wave fans and bands in the Gong's inner
city.
Gigs were nigh on impossible to attain, unless the locally
accepted 50/50 formula (i.e.
top forty hits and memories, with tapes of familiar hits
during the breaks) was
strictly adhered to. Perhaps now, the enormity of their
task becomes apparent......
After much auditioning, the lads began rehearsing 3 nights
a week with 17 year old
guitarist, Lawrence Graham, and gradually worked out how to
play selections from
Radio Birdman, the Saints, the Doors, MC5 and the Stooges,
gravitating toward the
lesser-known tracks from these artists, i.e. no singles!
Being winter, the sight of Steve doubling Lawrence home at
about midnight, complete
with Strat, on an old Honda must have seemed a tad surreal.
But stick to their guns,
they did, and it was after such a jam that they decided
that Raw Power was to be
their band's name.
By Spring, Lawrence had left and Dave Hooper (Animal Farm)
had joined for a while,
but couldn't convince our heroes to abandon their dogged
commitment to cover only
songs by the aforementioned artists and play songs "that
people know". On the
contrary, they presented Dave with set-lists for four sets,
taking in almost all of the
"I'm Stranded" album, "Back In The USA", "High Time","Raw
Power"
"Radios Appear" and a few selections from the Doors' first
two albums. Daveleft,
taking Gary Norwell (ex-TV Jones) with him to reform a
bluesier version of Animal
Farm. Perhaps the notion of a band with a distinct flavour
captured his imagination.
Their vocalist, Ewan, is still a prominent local blues
figure.
After enlisting the services of drummer Paul Winfield, the
trio staged their public
debut at the Figtree Hall, and Raw Power were officially
operating. The band's first
hotel engagement was the North Wollongong Hotel, with
Noddy's bass feeding back
and Logic rolling around the floor, to the shock of the
otherwise sheltered clientele,
obviously more familiar with the ubiquitous cover bands
usually on offer. More gigs
followed, and more drummers, with Ken Holmes from Nowra
eventually remaining as a
permanent member. By this time, their musical repertoire
had been widened to includecovers by the 13th Floor
Elevators and the Velvet Underground, as well as obscure
gemssuch as Q65's "I Got Nightmares", the Blues Company's
"She's Gone",and the Ugly Ducklings' "Just In Case You're
Wondering".
That summer of 1983/84 saw a total of 13 performances, each
wilder than the last,
resulting in the band being ejected and barred from such
venues as the Wollongong
Hotel, Woonona-Bulli RSL (where the committee wanted to
fight them!) and most
notably the Grand Hotel (now "Hal's Tavern"), where the
band's amplifiers wereso
loud that their performance interfered with 2Double O,
which was located on the top
floor of the building. On that occasion, the band continued
playing at a party, with
the entire audience from the pub present. A recording of
both halves of the evening
exists.
The band's "Staff Car" was a phenomenon in itself with a
giant band symbol (thealchemical symbol for Essence)
adorning it's bonnet and another on each door and
tailgate.Nitrous Oxide was consumed on a daily basis, the
band setting up a credit account withCIG, enabling them to
consume it by the cylinder with assorted friends and fans.
Already the folklore was emerging about this wild,
out-of-place trio, so at odds with
the pink and aqua mood of this otherwise electronic,
post-new romantic pop era.
Small details like the mirrored seventies sunnies, flared
jeans and brown motorcycle
boots spoke volumes about their quirky individuality.
Soon, there was virtually nowhere left to play. Gigs in
Sydney were out of the
question. So many bands had already existed in Sydney, in
Birdman's wake, and
transport was an obvious hurdle. The region's electric
train service was still a good
two years distant. The band played one final gig at the
Figtree Hall, before Steve
left for Papua New Guinea, where he would remain until the
end of 1985.
1986 saw a name change to Mutated Noddys, as other Raw
Powers were in evidence,
both in USA and our very own Adelaide. Local drummers
Trevor Fortran and Chris
Tirris were enlisted for the odd gig, along with Tony
Aidules and Andrew Driscoll.
Andrews band, The Barbs also did a couple of gigs with the
Nods, that year. By mid
1986, the band became a four piece with the inclusion of
Peter Komidar (Mudrac), founding
member of the Staynes, a local psychedelic outfit, which
spawned the Unherd. The
band soon returned to being a trio, with Sydney drummer
Mark "Mortdale"Davidson.
The band played it's first Sydney dates in early 1987,
along with support spots to the
likes of Flotsam Jetsam, Hummingbirds, Gary Hughes' Charm
School, The Cavemen
(featuring Peter Paterson of Rattlesnake Shake,
Thrillkillers Mother Jones, MeltingSkyscrapers). Still some
controversy followed the band with the police being called
at onePalace Hotel show in Darlinghurst and also a barring
from the Lismore Hotel in Sydney.
By late 1987, Nik Nikolaidis (Throwdowns, Strawmen) filled
the drum-stool and the
band went into Soundbarrier studios for their first taste
of multi-track recording
with Dave Boyne (ex-Missing Links) at the controls. All
four songs were played on 2JJJduring the following
months.The band also played it's first Wollongong show for
18 monthsat the Ironworkers Club, supported by The Melt, to
a capacity crowd.
Still without an official release, the support spots
continued; Southern Fried Kidneys,
Olympic Sideburns, Bambalams, November Criminals, Yard
Animals, Waxworks,
Stifled Scream, Died Pretty, Johnnys, Ed Kuepper & the
Yard Goes on Forever, NakedLunch, New Christs, with the
band now able to headline at such venues as St.George
RockRoom, Royal Hotel Sutherland and Palace Hotel, thus
opening the door for other Wollongongacts, such as the
Staynes, Proton Energy Pills and the Rainbow Monsters.
February 1989 saw the cassette release of "A Night of Zen,
Art & Pop" which
included "The Ride to Desperation". Brett Bradley, (Murder
One, Minnesota Strip)
replaced Nik, and a couple of months later founding member
Noddy left to pursue
medi�val composition, on a home-made lute! Noddy's
immediate replacement was LeeThompson, who was replaced
shortly after by Gary "Fred Flintstone" Uren. InAugust, the
band recorded 2 tracks at Electric Avenue with Rob Younger
producing and PhilPunch at the helm. The year ended with
the band regularly gigging at the North Gong,supporting the
Lime Spiders and the Hummingbirds, whilst also building a
following inSydney at the Evil Star.
Survival records signed the band in early 1990 on the
strength of the Electric Avenue
tracks and also 2 songs recorded at the Australian Film
Television & Radio School,which were engineered by Tom
Lubin who had worked on Jonathon Richman's albums, as well
assome of Jimi Hendrix's sessions in the 60's. Those songs,
"Nobody" &"Plastic Prophets" were rerecorded at
Electric Avenue, the result being theself-titled EP,
released 26/5/90. The year would prove to be the band's
biggest yet, withgig after gig and steady sales of the EP,
both at home and in Germany."Nobody"got to #6 on the OTS
Jukebox Charts, and stayed there for 5 weeks. North Gong
gigs, inparticular, were becoming bigger each time, whether
headlines or the wild night that wasthe Exploding White
Mice support.
To finish the year on a high, Rob Younger joined the band
for a one-off gig at the
Coledale Surf Club, an event that drew some 400+ fans to
the sleepy beach suburb. Theband, known as the Surfboarders
From Hell included Bafres guitarist Matt Ellery andspawned
4 originals amidst covers of Lou Reed/VU, Jim Carrol, Chuck
Berry, Them and to topit off, "You're Gonna Miss Me", the
same 13th Floor Elevators track covered byRadio Birdman on
the overseas version of their "Radios Appear" album.
January 1991 saw the band, now a cohesive unit, record 12
tracks with Rob, for an
album release. Brett left to live in Nimbin and was
replaced by Andrew Driscoll. Shortlyafter, it was learned
that former drummer Nik had passed away in his sleep, as a
result ofheart failure. Andrew left after a Died Pretty
support and was replaced by Ian Pilgrim
(Chaotic Delusion).Gigs and recording continued, with Gary
leaving in November, to be
replaced by Kirk Makse (Chaotic Delusion, The Melt). Early
in 1992, the band became
a four piece again, with Michael "Mex" Jerrard joining on
guitar. The debutperformance
of the new line-up was at the Evil Star, but included
visual enhancement in the form
of Steve accidentally slashing a finger which coated his
well-worn Gibson with fresh
blood. Some excellent supports followed, such as Celibate
Rifles at Feathers and
Spiderbait/Nunbait/Tumbleweed at the Lansdowne. As good as
these performances
were, Kirk and Ian decided to leave.
Undeterred, gigs were booked and Brett and Gary brought
back in to complete the
foursome. The album was finally completed, but remains
unreleased, as mixes were
not "aggressive" enough, and will be remixed at some
stage.Unable to enlist
committed members, Gary and Brett stood in again in 1993
for a series of gigs, as
Steve performed on crutches, due to a cracked Tibia
Plateau. Late in the year, with
Steve relocating to Sydney, a rhythm section was enlisted
in the form of
Mark "Sharkey" Garrett (D-Control, Queen Anne's Revenge,
Crankcase) on Bass and
Alan Strom on drums. First gig was support to Screaming
Jets at Waves, at the time
that the Jets had "Helping Hand" rapidly climbing the
charts. After a few moregigs, internal disputes/onstage
brawls/backstage altercations took their toll, the
bandsplitting with Steve again being the only member. It
was decided to put the band on hold.
In early 1995, Steve was approached by Edwin Garland
(Waxworks) to form a totally
new-sounding band with a totally fresh approach. Together
with Michael Daly (Youth
Of Christ - NZ, Leadleg, This Cage) and Murray Brown
(Waxworks, Clumpft) they
became Dwarfthrower with Steve on bass. An EP and
self-titled album later, Steve
left mid-1997 and once again began writing and recording
with Warren for what
would become a rebirth of the original Mutated Noddys,
dating back to the Raw
Power era and those blurred Nitrous Oxide memories of a
Wollongong so long ago and
so far away.
In 1998 and 1999, over 30 tracks have been recorded, with
drumming being provided
by Brett, Michael Daly and even Rob on electric drums.
Negotiations are currently
underway to get these out and into CD players everywhere.
From a nostalgia
viewpoint, dozens of live tapes exist, as well as numerous
videos of many of the
line-ups described in this text.