Various Artists - So You Wanna Be A Rock 'n' Roll Star

Cheers to cob

DISC ONE
BILLY THORPE & AZTECS - Poison Ivy
RAY BROWN & WHISPERS - Pride
NORMIE ROWE & THE PLAYBOYS - Tell him I'm not home
TONY WORSLEY & BLUEJAYS - Just a little bit
MIKE FURBER & THE BOWERY BOYS- You stole my love
JOHNNY YOUNG & KOMPANY - Step back
JEFF ST. JOHN & THE ID - Lindy Lou
RAY HOFF & THE OFFBEATS - Let's go, let's go, let's go
CHRIS HALL & THE TORQUAYS - Don't ask me why
MARTY RHONE & THE SOUL AGENTS - Thirteen women
GLEN INGRAM & THE HI-FIVE - Skye boat song
VINCE MALONEY SECT - She's a yum yum
STEVE & THE BOARD - The giggle eyed goo
PURPLE HEARTS - Early in the morning
DELLTONES - Hey girl, don't bother me
EXECUTIVES - Wander boy
AMAZONS - Ain't that lovin' you baby
SUNSETS - When I found you
RAJAHS - Kiss me now
BLACK DIAMONDS - See the way
BLUE BEATS - She's coming home
POGS - The Pog's theme
MORLOCH - Every night
MYSTRYS - Witch girl
SHOWMEN - Don't deceive
LIBRETTOS - Kicks
LOST SOULS - This life of mine
THE FIVE - Bright lights, big city
THE A SOUND - Tomorrow I met you
KEVIN BIBLE & THE BOOK - Rockin' pneumonia & the boogie woogie flu
JIMMY CROCKETT & THE SHANES - Lovin' touch
BLUES RAGS 'N' HOLLERS - I just want to make love to you

DISC TWO
PASTORAL SYMPHONY- Love machine
DAVE MILLER SET- Mr. Guy Fawkes
HEART & SOUL- Lazy life
EARL DALBY & PYRAMID- Can't wait for September
PHIL JONES & THE UNKNOWN BLUES- If I had a ticket
KING FOX- Unforgotten dream
VALENTINES- Peculiar hole in the sky
PROCESSION- Listen
RUNNING JUMPING STANDING STILL- Diddy wah diddy
BILLY THORPE & THE AZTECS- Good morning little school girl
WILD CHERRIES- Krome plated yabby
BAY CITY UNION- Mo'reen
CHAIN- Mr. Time
MECCA- Black Sally
JEFF ST. JOHN & YAMA- Nothing comes easy
DOUG PARKINSON IN FOCUS- I had a dream
ROCKWELL T. JAMES & THE RHYTHM ACES- Love power
DAISY CLOVER- Tell me
GUS & THE HOUSE- The bed
TYMEPIECE- The bird in the tree
THE BUCKET- Can't stop thinking of you
FROG HOLLOW- Over under sideways down
JEFF ST. JOHN & COPPERWINE- Cloud 9

DISC 3
SAMAEL LILITH- Nights in white satin
CLEVES- Sticks & stones
AFFAIR- Shoeshine boy
VELVET UNDERGROUND- Somebody to love
CLAPHAM JUNCTION- Emily on Sunday
THE CLIK- Mary, Mary
MELISSA- Mississippi Mama
ELM TREE- Lonely nights
SHERBET- Crimson ships
RAM JAM BIG BAND Sunshine & I feel fine
LOVE MACHINE- The lion sleeps tonight
IGUANA- California, my way
NEW DREAM- Groupie
WHITE WINE- The train song
LLOYD'S WORLD- Brass bird
JAMES TAYLOR MOVE- Magic eyes
CAM-PACT- Drawing room
QUESTIONS- Something wonderful
RAY BROWN & MOONSTONE- Start of a new day
THE 69ERS- On the road again
TOL PUDDLE MARTYRS- Love your life
LINDA CABLE & LEVI SMITH'S CLEFS- Gonna get a Siezure
GALADRIEL- The lady was a thief
TOBY JUG- (If paradise is) Half as nice
FLAKE- This wheel's on fire
plus A word from Glenn A. Baker

"Essential" is a oft-abused word (so is "legendary and we're as guilty as anyone of overusing them both!) but this 3-CD set is without doubt an essential purchase for anyone with a serious interest in Australian music of the '60s and '70s.

The original version was issued back in the mid-70s as a double LP set, put together by band manager, fanatical collector and rock brain Glenn A. Baker. It was the first album of its kind in Australia, breaking new ground in taking a comprehensive, serious look back at the music of that era, as represented by releases from the leading label of the time, and full credit is due to Glenn for his pioneering efforts in getting it all together. As the track listing indicates, it's a very extensive overview of the enormous range of Festival's pop-rock output from 1964 to around 1972, covering both the big hits and long-forgotten releases by lesser known acts, and it can scarcely be bettered. The sound quality ranges from fair to very good, and given the primitive technology available at the time, Festival have done a sterling job of polishing up the tracks for digital reissue. It's even more valuable in its CD recent incarnation as a 3-disc set, with an entire extra disc of music added.

Disc One covers 1964 to about 1968 and is my personal favourite of the three (although there are gems studded throughout). Hearing it for the first time will bring back many memories if you were in your teens or twenties in that era, but if you grew up a little later (as I did) you're in for a treat as you discover some of the very best sides cut in this country in the 60s, almost none of which have ever had any airplay since they were first released. It's not really possible to do justice to all these tracks in such a short space; some are brilliant, some simply average, others just plain silly odd or downright naff, so I'll only mention a few that I think are of special interest.

Some tracks are, of course, are well known and much anthologised, like Thorpie's breakthrough Poison Ivy, which has deserved pride of place as the opening track. There are other Beat Boom chartbusters like Ray Brown's galloping Pride, Normie Rowe's impassioned teen heartbreak anthem Tell Him I'm Not Home and Johnny Young's swinging Step Back (written for him by The Easybeats). But there are many lesser-known but still brilliant singles by acts who are barely remembered today, including the tragic Mike Furber's You Stole My Love (surely the template from which The Sunnyboys cut their signature tune Alone With You) and Ray Hoff & The Offbeats barnstorming party classic Let's Go. Also deserving of five-star ratings are Chris Hall & The Torquays proto-punk Don't Ask Me Why and The Purple Hearts' amazing psych-shanty Early In The Morning, one of the most extraordinary singles of the '60s, bar none. A real discovery for me was The Black Diamonds' shimmeringly brilliant See The Way, from their astounding debut single, which also featured their searing garage punk classic I Want, Need, Love You (antholgised on Ugly Things). Other tracks worth checking out include The Librettos' hot cover of Paul Revere & The Raiders' Kicks and Blues Rags-n-Hollers snarling take on I Just Wanna Make Love To You, which makes the Stones' version sound about as threatening as The Wiggles by comparison.

There are several tracks which would probably make their creators cringe these days, but despite some rather amateurish performances -- e.g. The A Sound's mushy Tomorrow I Meet You and The Rajahs' delightfully dizzy Kiss Me Now -- there's a lot of charm, even on the less compelling tracks.

Disc 1 http://www.mediafire.com/?13n9h1tm1xf

On Disc Two we plunge into the swirling stylistic maelstrom of the late 60s and early 70s. The psychedelic genre is perhaps nowhere better represented than by The Dave Miller Set's masterpiece Mr Guy Fawkes, which remains a classic of the era and far surpasses the original by Irish band Eire Apparent. With its cinematic, ethereal feel, and its restrained, elegant arrangement it's the perfect counterpoint to Russell Morris' operatic, over-the-top epic The Real Thing. Other notable psychedelic tracks are The Valentines' faithful cover of The Easybeats Peculiar Hole In The Sky, Chain's elegiac Mr Time and Listen (aka Anthem) by much-hyped supergroup Procession. The stylistic changes during that time are well represented, with bubblegum the only notable absence. The selection ranges through oddities like the psych-schlock studio artefact Love Machine, the sentimental balladry of Can't Wait Til September and Lazy Life, the prototype progressive rock of King Fox's epic Unforgotten Dreams and Jeff St John & Copperwine's awesomely commanding prog-soul cover of The Temptations' Cloud 9 (recently reissued as part of that band's classic Joint Effort LP) and the first stirrings of the new Oz Rock of the '70s with The (New) Aztecs' Good Morning Little Schoolgirl, The Wild Cherries indelible, incredible Krome Plated Yabby and Mecca's pounding Black Sally.

Disc 2 http://www.mediafire.com/?6kymn14mjmp

Disc Three comprises the remainder of the tracks from the earlier LP, compilation plus another hour of additional material, and while it jumps back and forth across the era there are still plenty of gems here, including Clapham Junction's beguiling Emily On Sunday, The Iguanas' breezy California My Way, Cam-Pact's supercharged remake of Drawing Room and Flake's great cover of Dylan's This Wheel's On Fire.

The shadow of Pat Aulton looms large over this set. Pat was Festival's house producer from 1967-1973 and prior to that he worked as a freelance producer for associated labels like Ivan Dayman's Sunshine, for whom he produced most of the classic hits by Normie Rowe. Pat produced many other tracks on these three discs, and the music is a testament to his tireless efforts, his golden ears, his inventive mind and his relentless quest for to make better Australian music and better Australian records.

Disc 3 http://www.mediafire.com/?fi1jtoq1edd