Besides the
lp Eternally Yours, this is my next favorite record from the Saints . My copy is the
gate fold version . When the Saints first stepped in to a recording studio (Brisbane’s Window Studios) in June 1976, they had already been in operation for three years. The fact that the howling, milestone song they cut, ‘(I’m) Stranded’, had been written in 1974 is doubly prophetic. Issued in September 1976, in a limited run of 500 copies, on the band’s own Fatal Records imprint, ‘(I’m) Stranded’ remains one the greatest singles this country has ever seen.
Alongside Radio
Birdman’s ‘Burn My Eye’
EP (issued in October) ‘(I’m) Stranded’ kicked off the Australian new wave movement in a shower of teenage sweat and pure adrenaline. Fuelled by Ed
Kuepper’s frenetic, surging power chords, Chris Bailey’s cheap’n’nasty vocal sneer and the reckless rhythmic drive provided by Kym Bradshaw and Ivor Hay, the song was an instant classic. When Bailey snarled “Aw-right!!” at the end of the chorus, you knew it was a celebration: he was happy to be stranded! Writer Stuart Coupe later called the single “powerhouse rock’n’roll” and “desperately exciting”.
From an historical perspective, it’s important to note that this was when the
Ramones debut album was still fairly new, and prior to the Damned, the Sex Pistols or the Clash even making it on to vinyl. The Saints seemed ideally placed for a prime spot amid the burgeoning punk phenomena, although the band members themselves
didn’t see it that way. ‘(I’m) Stranded’ revealed more of a reverence to rock’n’roll’s timeless tenants than most of the then spiky-topped upstarts would ever have deemed important or even, heaven forbid, creditable.
The single received scant attention in Australia; nevertheless the band sent copies overseas and were swiftly rewarded with glowing reviews in England’s Melody Maker, Sounds and punk fanzine
Sniffin’ Glue, plus French paper Rock News. ‘(I’m) Stranded’ became a pioneering international
proto-typical punk hit, yet the band still
hadn’t played outside of hometown Brisbane; it was symptomatic of the times that Australia just
didn’t know what it had in the Saints. Naturally
EMI’s UK headquarters ordered the Australian office to sign the band.
Harvest released, the ‘One-Two-Three-Four’
EP in October 1977. In the UK, the
EP initially came out as a double single set with
gatefold sleeve in a limited pressing of 12 000 copies, which then reverted to the standard, 4-track 7-inch
EP packaging. Australia simply got the release as the 4-track 7-inch
EP. Whatever the configuration, it was another strong release which matched re-recordings of two cuts from the debut album (‘Demolition Girl’ and ‘One Way Street’) with ragged but inspired covers of Ike and Tina Turner’s ‘River Deep Mountain High’ and Connie Francis’s ‘Lipstick on Your Collar’.
The two covers had been in the Saints’ repertoire for many years, and what seemed to them to be a natural choice was, to many observers, an audacious, surprising and perhaps fool-hardy move. By that stage, the Saints had replaced bass player Bradshaw with Englishman Alasdair ‘
Algy’ Ward (who joined in July), and completed work on their second album.
This is a
summarised version of some great info on the Saints. The link for the site this came from is below . This is liner notes from a double
cd, available from Raven Records . I purchased a copy of it a few years back . If it's still available it's a worth while collection of Saints material . Go check it out .
.
REFERENCES -
http://www.saintsmusic.com/raven_wild_2.html /
.
HARVEST RECORDS 1977
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1. LIPSTICK ON YOUR COLLAR
2. ONE WAY STREET
3. DEMOLITION GIRL
4. RIVER DEEP MOUNTAIN HIGH
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***DOWNLOAD***
This record is definitely a powerpop classic . Their are two many great tracks on this to mention . The Toms was actually the solo project of singer/songwriter Tom Marolda, who was a Las Vegas - based songwriter and producer who was nominated for a Grammy for his work on Stayin Alive. A firm believer in D.I.Y. principles who played all of the instruments on this 1979 self-titled debut effort. The album was the group's lone recording, and as a result of distribution problems, it became much sought after. This record plus bonus tracks were reissued on the not lame record label in 2005. Go pick it up.
