THE
SUNNYBOYS ARE ONE OF MY ALL TIME FAVORITE BANDS. AND THIS RECORD IS AN ABSOLUTE CLASSIC. I WOULD
DEFINITELY RECOMMEND THE EARLY SINGLES AND THE FIRST TWO ALBUMS. AFTER THAT, THEY GET A LITTLE SHAKY DEPENDING ON YOUR TASTE. MY COPY IS THE 7" VERSION, I HAVE ALSO SEEN A 12" VERSION OF THIS RECORD. Sydney band The
Sunnyboys remain one of the most highly regarded and best-loved bands of the Australian '
post-punk' era. Fronted by the enigmatic and youthful singer/songwriter cum guitarist
Jeremy Oxley, the band breathed some freshness and vitality into the Sydney music scene in the early 80s.
Essentially The
Sunnyboys wore their influences on their sleeve;
The Remains,
The Flamin' Groovies,
The Kinks and
The Beatles with a dash of Detroit muscle thrown in for good measure. They produced melodic power pop classics and were rewarded with an immediate positive response. Things happened very quickly for The
Sunnyboys, who went from playing inner-city venues to scoring hit singles for the prestigious Mushroom label all within a year of formation. What set the band apart in many ways was
Oxley's song writing ability. The chemistry between the four members was perfect too.
The
Oxley brothers and Bill
Bilson hailed from the northern New South Wales town of
Kingscliff where they played in a garage band called Wooden Horse. The band gained early experience when the students of Tweed River High School were obliged to attend a compulsory concert in school hours arranged by the
Oxley's father, who was an Art teacher at the school. Anyone who failed to applaud or was in any way
unsupportive was awarded detention. Richard
Burgman came from
Wagga Wagga, and they all met in
Sydney in 1979, forming The
Sunnyboys. On August 15
th 1979, they played their first gig, supporting inner-city faves The Lipstick Killers.
In October of that year the band recorded four songs with
Lobby Loyde. The tracks, "Love To Rule", "The Seeker", "What You Need" and "Alone With You", all appeared on the band's self-titled and independently released 4-track 7"
EP on
Phantom Records. The initial pressing of 1,000 copies sold out in two weeks.
The
Sunnyboys signed to
Mushroom Records early in 1981, becoming the first Sydney-based band on the label, and by July that year had cracked the mainstream charts with the single "Happy Man". The same month they released their own independent
EP which was given away at gigs, entitled Happy Birthday containing the tracks "What You Need", "Why Do I Cry?", "I Want To Be Alone" and "Let You Go". Their eponymous debut LP, was recorded at
Alberts Studio during May, June and July 1981 with producer/mentor Lobby
Loyde. The album had an initial print run of 2,000 on yellow vinyl, reached number 13 on the national album charts in October 1981 and remains an Australian classic. The album produced a second hit single, a new version of "Alone With You", which reached number 15 on the national singles chart, establishing The
Sunnyboys as a
bona fide headline attraction.
In the midst of their heavy touring schedule the band recorded their second album, Individuals (issued May 1982). The album peaked at number 19 and two singles from the record charted briefly: "You Need A Friend" and "This Is Real".
Their fifth single, "Show Me Some Discipline" charted in Sydney only. The band meanwhile travelled to the United Kingdom where they played two sold out shows at the famous
Marquee Club before recording their 3rd album at
Ridgefarm Studios, Surrey. The resultant album, Get Some Fun displayed a greater diversity and more confident musicianship. To coincide with the album's release, the band embarked on their first national Australian tour since May 1983. Unfortunately, neither the LP or the singles from the album ("Love In A Box" and "Comes As No Surprise") charted strongly enough.
Internal dissent also plagued the band and The
Sunnyboys announced their break-up in June 1984. Their farewell tour produced the album Real Live which was recorded over two nights in Sydney (29
th and 30
th June).
In 1985, the French label Closer combined The
Sunnyboys' first two albums as a double set entitled Days Are Gone for the European market. Following the demise of The
Sunnyboys, Jeremy
Oxley launched a new band called Chinless Elite. Shortly thereafter he formed another (and more successful) group, called The Fishermen. This band released one brilliant pop single entitled "Can't You Stop?" on the Waterfront label before calling it a day.
Richard
Burgman meanwhile joined
The Saints and ultimately
Weddings Parties Anything. He later emigrated to Canada.
Peter Oxley and Bill
Bilson formed the soul band The Sparklers with another
Oxley sibling,
Melanie.
In late 1987,
Jeremy Oxley attempted to revive The
Sunnyboys with a new line-up. The new band signed a deal with
RCA and released an album entitled Wildcat (produced by ex-
Sherbert keyboard player, Garth Porter). The album failed to convince old
Sunnyboys fans and the band broke up again in 1990.
In July 1991, Mushroom released the compilation album Plays The Best and the original line-up reunited for a national tour.
From 2001 onward, Jeremy
Oxley has returned to writing and playing. Releasing Internet albums, Sanctuary 9,
[1] and Monastery, and is currently working on an up coming album, Companion THIS INFO CAME FROM
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page.
1. LOVE TO RULE
2. ALONE WITH YOU
3. WHAT YOU NEED
4. THE SEEKER
.
PHANTOM RECORDS 1979 OR 1980?
.
***DOWNLOAD***
The Stomachmouths pioneered the Swedish garage punk rock boom in the 1980s. They road the crest of the global 80s garage wave between the years 1984-1987 becoming one of the leading exponents of the genre at the time. When the Stomachmouths began playing vintage American teen music in Stockholm 1983, they had no European predecessors. There had been a few new wave-era bands in Britain and Sweden that covered a Nuggets tune or two, but for those bands it was always part of something else. None of them had gone the whole nine yards and stripped away all alien elements from 1960s punk, like the Stomachmouths. The 1980s garage scene was created and has to be understood as a complete immersion in American pop culture from the 1950s and pre-hippie 1960s. It wasnt about heavy fuzz guitars or tattoos, it wasnt about wearing leopard skin pants and proclaiming a revolution. Everything like that just had to go. It wasnt a retro scene either, because nothing like this had ever existed in Scandinavia. In this pure garage scene the Stomachmouths were undoubtedly kings. They were the best live band, they had been around the longest, they had the most developed sense for the right moves and attitude. Musically the band was top-notch, with no loose ends or weak links. Few would challenge the notion that the Stomachmouths spearheaded this scene because they took it so seriously, like a mission. 
