The Boys Next Door - Door, Door (1979)

Australia's Crow received high praise from Juice magazine as it was deemed "Australia's greatest band". The last band to hold that honor, according to that particular Australian music journal, was a post-punk outfit by the moniker The Birthday Party. The Birthday Party, however, was not always a post-punk outfit and it was not always called The Birthday Party. This once greatest Australian band began at Caulfield Grammar School with a group of boys that called themselves The Boys Next Door.

Nick Cave on vocals, Mick Harvey on guitar, and Phill Calvert on drums were the core of the band from its inception in 1973. Other students John Covivera (guitar), Brett Purcell (bass), and Chris Coyne (saxophone) were also one-time members, but only Chris Coyne had any input (as a non-member) on any Boys Next Door recordings. While still in school, the core's influences came from glam and art rockers like David Bowie and Roxy Music. As they graduated in 1976, the Australian punk movement exploded and the affects could be felt in the band's changing live sets. New Wave material also found its way into their act. Guitarist Rowland S. Howard joined the band in 1978 and became a catalyst in its sonic experimentation.

During the last years of their existence, The Boys Next Door toured Australia prolifically (bootlegs of their performances are common) and garnered both critical and moderate commercial success. In 1978, the group saw the release of their first two singles: a cover version of "These Boots Are Made for Walking" and "Shivers". They followed this up in 1979 with the release of their debut album Door, Door, a selection of slightly poppy, punkish songs from their concerts. The EP Hee Haw marked the last official release of the group as The Boys Next Door and is representative of the constantly shifting direction they would take as The Birthday Party.

Here is the discography surrounding The Boys Next Door's debut album:

These Boots Are Made for Walking (1978 single)
Shivers (1978 single)
Door, Door
Hee Haw (1979 EP)
Scatterbrain (1979 gig freebie)





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Crow - My Kind of Pain (1993)

No, I'm not doing the same band twice in a row. It turns out there are about eight bands (that I could find) that go or went by the name of "Crow" such as a prog-rock group from the UK, punk rock and visual kei bands from Japan, and a hardcore band from South Korea. Not to mention bands and artists like DJ Crow, Sheryl Crow, Bart Crow Band, The Crows, Counting Crows, The Black Crowes, and Russel Crowe's various bands. The band that caught my eye, however, was an Australian band called Crow.

Friends Peter Fenton and Peter Archer formed the band in 1986 in Canberra, Australia. The two would share guitar, vocal, and songwriting roles. They were joined by Jim Woff on bass and brother John Fenton on drums. The band moved to Sydney and gradually became renowned on the underground circuit for their explosive and confrontational performances.

Crow's first experience with a record label was in 1990 with EP and single releases under Phantom Records, but they were not able to capture the energy of their live set and found no commercial success. The band nearly broke up before Half A Cow Records were able to convince them into a new deal that resulted in their 1993 debut album My Kind of Pain. The album was successful on an underground level and considered one of Australia's greatest rock records of the nineties.

Here is the discography surrounding Crow's debut album:

Sunburnt Throats and Happy Thunderclouds (1990 EP)
Ravine (1992 single)
Crow (1992 EP)
Vermonstress (1992 live recording)
Railhead (1993 single)
My Kind of Pain
The Helicon Days (1994 EP)





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Crow - Crow Music (1969)

Black Sabbath's debut album was most notable for its original songs but did feature two well-executed covers. An extended version of The Aynsley Dunbar Retaliation's "Warning" ends the album, and "Evil Woman", a 1969 hit by Minnesota band Crow, was the album's only UK single.

Many musicians of the mid-1960s Minneapolis music scene went in and out of band line-ups trying out different sounds and looking for that next top 20 hit that would propel the scene to a national audience. At the behest of local manager David Anthony, South 40 formed in 1967 as an amalgam of members from local favorites The Rave-Ons and The Jokers Wild. The group got their biggest break after winning an audience with Columbia Records in a "contest for rock bands" in Des Moines.

The band changed their name to Crow (after all, who doesn't love bands named for birds), but Columbia didn't pick up their option because they were "a little bit too funky for them" according to bassist Larry Wiegand. The band also featured David Wagner on vocals, Dave "Kink" Middlemist on organ, and Larry Wiegand on guitar. Harry Nehls originally contributed his skills on the drums, but he left to join another Minneapolis group T.C. Atlantic. The band replaced him briefly with Mike Malasgar and finally filled the vacancy with Denny Craswell previously of Minneapolis one-hit wonder (one of the many) The Castaways.

Their growing stock was noticed by Dunwich Productions A&R man Bob Monaco who began shopping the band around to potential record labels. Although they had a potential audience with Atlantic Records, Crow was signed with the much smaller Amaret records though they eventually proved unable to "cover" them. On top of that, Amaret overlayed a horn section to some of Crow's tracks in post-production against their will. Still, the group decided to play along just to get their first album on the shelves. The band's first single "Time to Make a Turn" was unsuccessful on the charts. Finally listening to the band's input, Amaret put out "Evil Woman" as the album's second single which went on to hit the top 20 of the Billboard 200 in 1969. Later that year, Crow would change its base of operations to Chicago, play every possible gig, and eventually tour on a national stage.

Their debut album Crow Music sold well in due part to the success of "Evil Woman". Although the band complained about the alteration to their music, the horn section can only be heard on their two singles and b-side "Gonna Leave a Mark". The rest of the album ranges in style from heavy blues to R&B, but the sonic foundation comes from Crow's garage rock, Minneapolis roots.

Here is the discography surrounding Crow's debut album:

Baby Don't Love Me (1965 single as The Rave-Ons)
I Want You to Love Me (1965 single as The Rave-Ons)
Love Pill (1966 single as The Rave-Ons)
All I See Is You (1967 single by Jokers Wild)
Good Lovin' (1967 single as South 40)
Because I'm Free (1968 single by Jokers Wild)
I Want Sunshine (1968 single as South 40)
Live at Someplace Else! (1968 live album as South 40)
Peace Man (1969 single by Jokers Wild)
Crow
Time to Make a Turn (1969 single)
Evil Woman (1969 single)
Liquid Giraffe (2013 compilation album by Jokers Wild)



If you have any ideas for where the tour should go next, give a shout.

Pass the Headphones!!