Hoodoo Gurus: 2 Albums: Mars Needs Guitars 1985 + Blow Your Cool ! 1987

MARS NEEDS GUITARS  1985

The Hoodoo Gurus followed the excellent Stoneage Romeos with the equally swell Mars Needs Guitars!, a second helping of Dave Faulkner's wonderfully skewed kitsch-pop confections.

While the band's basic m.o. hasn't changed all that much in the interim '60s-era pop, garage rock, and cowpunk remain their key musical reference points Faulkner's skills as a songwriter have grown perceptibly: the opening "Bittersweet" is an absolute gem, with other highlights like "Death Defying" and "Show Some Emotion" trailing not far behind.

Also commendable is the Gurus' sharp wit from the hillbilly freakout of "Hayride to Hell" to the primitive B-movie stomp of the title track, their affection for the guilty pleasures of trash culture is infectious. Irresistible fun.
(By Jason Ankeny)

Hoodoo Gurus: Mars Needs Guitars

Label: Chrysalis 82675-1 S A

Manufactured By: Big Time Records

Format: Vinyl, LP, Album

Made In: Greece

Released: 29 Jul 1985

Country: Australia

Genre: Rock

Style: Garage Rock, Indie Rock, Alternative

TRAXS (From The LP)

SIDE ONE

A1. Bittersweet     3:44

A2. Poison Pen             4:09

A3. In The Wild     3:07

A4. Death Defying     3:21

A5. Like Wow-Wipeout     3:09

SIDE TWO

B1. Hayride To Hell     3:15

B2. Show Some Emotion     2:56

B3. The Other Side Of Paradise     3:31

B4. Mars Needs Guitars!

    (Lead Vocals – Brad ShepherdWritten-By – B. Shepherd, C. Bramley, D.              Faulkner, J. Baker, M. Kingsmill)  2:52

B5. She     3:28

BONUS TRAXS (From The CD)

1. Bring The Hoodoo Down 2:54

2. Turkey Dinner     4:14

3. Death Ship (Live)     2:42

4. In The Wild (Live)     3:29

5. Teenage Head (Live)     3:00

MUSICIANS

Clyde Bramley: Bass, Vocals

Mark Kingsmill: Drums, Cymbal 

Brad Shepherd: Guitar, Vocals, Harp [Mouth Harp] 

David Faulkner: Lead Vocals, Guitar 

Management – Michael McMartin

Mastered By – Don Bartley

Photography By – Rhonda Thwaite

Producer – Charles Fisher

Written-By – D. Faulkner* (tracks: A1 to B3, B5)

BLOW YOUR COOL ! 1987

For the Hoodoo Gurus' third album, the group's American record label was hoping the band could come up with something a bit easier to market than the witty, '60s-obsessed pop/rock of Stoneage Romeos and Mars Needs Guitars, so they paired the group up with producer Mark Opitz, who had previously twisted the knobs for AC/DC, INXS, and the Divinyls.

Opitz gave the band a smoother, slicker surface and a cracking, radio-friendly drum sound, he also weeded out the band's wackier material (nothing like "Dig It Up" or "Hayride to Hell" this time out) in favor of mega-hooky pop ("Out That Door" and "Good Times," the latter featuring the Bangles on backing vocals) and straight-ahead rock & roll ("Where Nowhere Is" and "Party Machine"). As a result, Blow Your Cool! is the least idiosyncratic album in the Hoodoo Gurus' catalog and doesn't reflect the sneaky wit or goofy charm that won them many of their early fans.

But it also makes them sound like the great rock & roll band they always were and leaves little doubt that these guys didn't need to be funny to get over; Dave Faulkner even seems to enjoy having the opportunity to play it straight on the politically slanted "In the Middle of the Land," and the band rarely rocked as hard as they did on the tunes here where they throw the engine into fifth gear. Blow Your Cool! is in some respects a compromised Hoodoo Gurus album, but it's strong enough to prove that these guys could make a worthwhile album even while playing by someone else's rules.
(By Mark Deming)

1987's Blow Your Cool! found the Hoodoo Gurus adding a considerable amount of polish to their production and toning down their trademark humor in a bid for a wider audience. But in the United States, it didn't pay off. Blow Your Cool! opened few new doors for the Gurus, and they were dropped by Elektra Records.

Label: Elektra ‎– 9 60728-2, Elektra ‎– 60728-2

Format: CD, Album

Made In: US

Released: 1987

Country: Australia

Genre: Rock

Style: Garage, Indie Rock, Alternative

TRAXS

1.  Out That Door (Guitar [Guest] – Mal Eastick)   4:14

2.  What's My Scene     3:49

3.  Good Times (Vocals [Guest] – Debbi Peterson, Michael Steele, Susanna Hoffs, Vicki Peterson)   3:03

4.  I Was The One  (Saxophone [Guest] – James Valentine)   4:11

5.  Hell For Leather     3:28

6.  Where Nowhere Is  (Vocals [Guest] – Geoff Rhoe)   4:02

7.  In The Middle Of The Land  (Vocals [Guest] – Mark Walton (2), Paul Thirkell, Steve Wynn)   4:34

8.  Come On     2:43

9.  Heart Of Darkness     3:04

10. My Caravan  (Saxophone [Guest] – James Valentine)   4:19

11. On My Street     3:16

12. Party Machine  (Vocals [Guest] – Alan Wright, Debbi Peterson, Geoff Rhoe, Mark Opitz, Michael Steele, Mike Kloster, Stevo Glendinning, Susanna Hoffs, Vicki Peterson)  5:09

Recorded At: Rhinoceros Studios

Recorded At: Albert Studios

Recorded At: The Sound Factory

Mixed At: Rhinoceros Studios

 

MUSICIANS

Clyde Bramley: Bass 

Mark Kingsmill: Drums [Batterie] 

Brad Shepherd: Guitar, Harmonica

Dave Faulkner: Lead Vocals, Guitar, Keyboards

Backing Vocals: Hoodoo Gurus

Design [Cover], Art Direction: Richard Allan

Engineer: Alan Wright

Engineer [Assistant]: Heidi Cannavo, Kathy Nauton, Paula Jones, Chad Blake 

Mars Needs Guitars      MP3 @ 320 Size: 106 MB        FLAC  Size: 314 MB 

Blow Your Cool !         MP3 @ 320 Size: 115 MB        FLAC Size: 360 MB

Hoodoo Gurus : Stoneage Romeos 1984

Hoodoo Gurus (referred to as the Gurus by fans) are an Australian rock band, formed in Sydney in 1981, by the mainstay Dave Faulkner (songwriter, lead singer and guitarist) and later joined by Richard Grossman (bass), Mark Kingsmill (drums), and Brad Shepherd (guitar, vocals, harmonica). Their popularity peaked in the mid to late 1980s with albums Mars Needs Guitars!, Blow Your Cool! and Magnum Cum Louder.

Hoodoo Gurus had a string of acclaimed pop-rock singles including "Leilani" (1982), "Tojo" (1983), "My Girl" (1983), "I Want You Back" (1984), "Bittersweet", "Like Wow - Wipeout!", and "What's My Scene?". After touring the United States from 1984 onwards they gained popularity on the U.S. college rock circuit with singles "Come Anytime" (1989) reaching No. 1 and "Miss Freelove '69" (1991) reaching No. 3 on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart.

Three Hoodoo Gurus founders were from Perth protopunk and punk bands: Dave Faulkner (guitars) and James Baker (drums) of The Victims; while Baker had been with Roddy Radalj (aka Roddy Ray'Da) (guitars) in The Scientists. The fourth founding member, Kimble Rendall (guitars) was formerly in Sydney punk rockers XL Capris. The three guitarists Faulkner, Rendall and Radalj met at an end-of-1980 New Year's Eve party and were joined by Baker to form Le Hoodoo Gurus.

Le Hoodoo Gurus unorthodox line-up of three guitars and no bass player, fused pop melodies, punk guitars and an American trash culture ethic. This was captured on their first single, "Leilani" released in October 1982, on Phantom Records. This told the story of a maiden sacrificed to the gods and an erupting volcano while her true love looked on helplessly. They dropped the 'Le', to become Hoodoo Gurus, not long after the single's release. As the Hoodoo Gurus, they gave their first ever performance on a segment of the kids' TV program Simon Townsend's Wonder World; this was followed by a performance alongside a man and his singing dog, on The Don Lane Show.

Gurus new line-up (Baker, Bramley, Faulkner and Shepherd) recorded the band's first album in 1984, Stoneage Romeos. The title came from a 1955 Three Stooges short Stone Age Romeos. The album was dedicated to characters from Get Smart, F-Troop and Petticoat Junction. They were awarded 'Best Debut Album' of 1984 at the July 1985 Countdown Music Awards. When Stoneage Romeos was released in America it stayed at number 1 in the Alternative/College charts for seven weeks, becoming one of the most played albums for the year on the college network.

Initially a cult inner-city act, their popularity expanded due to regular airplay on radio station Triple J and nationwide pop TV show Countdown from mid-1983. Their breakthrough single "My Girl" was accompanied by a video clip featuring a dog trainer with his once champion greyhound. Members of Spiderbait described seeing the video for the first time as "a beautiful, classic pop song". Some viewers insisted the song was "written about a dog". This was closely followed by "I Want You Back", which featured animated plastic model dinosaurs. Both videos were aired frequently raising the group's profile around the country.

Original drummer James Baker was sacked from the band in August 1984 and was replaced by Mark Kingsmill (The Hitmen, New Christs, Screaming Tribesmen, Hellcats and Super K). Based on the success of the Stoneage Romeos the Hoodoo Gurus, with their new drummer, then embarked on their first tour of the United States in late 1984.

TRACKS 

01. (Let's All) Turn On - James Baker, Darcy Condon, Faulkner, 3:04
02. I Want You Back           3:12
03. Arthur - Faulkner, Radalj     3:10
04. Death Ship - Faulkner, Radalj, Alan Sharples     2:37
05. Dig It Up       3:36
06. My Girl       2:40
07. Zanzibar       3:25
08. Leilani - Faulkner, Baker, Radalj, Kimble Rendall     5:36
09. Tojo       3:23
10. In the Echo Chamber  3:44
11. I Was a Kamikaze Pilot  3:12

Personnel

James Baker — drums
Clyde Bramley — bass, vocals
Dave Faulkner — guitar, lead vocals, keyboards
Brad Shepherd — lead guitar, vocals, harmonica, percussion
Michael Farmer — additional percussion
Producer, Engineer — Alan Thorne
Mastering — Bob, Carbone, Frank DeLuna
Artwork (cover concept and design) — Yanni Stumbles
Photography (pics) — Tom Takacs
Other (the boss) — Stuart Thorne

FLAC  Size : 272 MB