Vinyl Vibes

In this episode of Vinyl Vibes Jack is joined by Al Kooper , a songwriter, producer, and well known session musician. Al has been in the music business since he was 14 when he joined The Royal Teens, a well known rock and roll group, in 1958. He co-wrote his first number one hit when he was 21 years of age in 1965, it was called "This Dimond Ring" and was made famous by Gerry Lewis and The Playboy...

On this episode of Vinyl Vibes, Jack is joined by Mike Rudd , founder of Spectrum. Mike grew up in Christchurch New Zealand, finding a talent for singing early on. He would join his first major group in 1964, The Chants R&B. After becoming popular around New Zealand, the group moved to Australia in 1966. Soon after their arrival, the band would split leaving Mike without a group. Luckily he ca...

On this episode of Vinyl Vibes, Jack is joined by Jay Aston, founding member of Bucks Fizz. Jay was born into a theatrical and talented family, solidifying her skills in music and dance at an early age. In 1981, Jay auditioned to be part of a group called Buck Fizz, a group put together to perform at the year's upcoming Eurovision. She got the gig and the band would win the 1981 Eurovision contest...

In this episode of Vinyl Vibes, Jack is joined by  Gary Talley , lead guitarist of  The Box Tops . Gary joined a group called The Devilles in 1966. Soon after joining the group the band's manager organised a recording session. For the session the band were given a song called  The Letter . Despite being the band first single It would become a number one hit in the US and a number four hit in Austr...

In this episode of Vinyl Vibes, Jack is joined by Les Gock , guitarist of Hush. Les grew up in Sydney amongst the music of the late ’60s such of that of Jimi Hendrix. In 1972, after performing with his high school band at a talent show, he was asked to join Hush. Originally from the UK, the band's lead singer, Keith Lamb, was aware of the music scene in England at the time and so Hush would become...

In this episode of Vinyl Vibes, Jack is joined by George T. Babbitt, the original drummer of The Ventures. George grew up amongst '50s rock and roll like that of the Everly Brothers. In 1958 Don Wilson and Bob Bogle formed the Versatones. They needed a drummer and Don's sister recommended her neighbour, the then 17 year old George Babbitt. It was 1959 by this stage, and George would join as the ba...

In this episode of Vinyl Vibes, Jack is joined by John Bois , bass player of The Dingoes. John grew up in Melbourne amongst the music of the '60s and would join his first professional band The New Dream in 1970. On John's arrival in the band, New Dream's sound changed to bubblegum pop having top-40 hits such as  Soft Delights and The Groupie. In 1972 John would leave the band to join   Country Rad...

In this episode of Vinyl Vibes, Jack is joined by Dodie Stevens , '50s music star and singer of Pink Shoe Laces . Dodie has been singing her whole life. She recorded for the first time at age 8 in 1954 with a song called "Merry-Go Merry-Go Round". After making many appearances on TV throughout her young life, her big break came in 1958 when she performed on the TV show Strictly Informal . It was o...

In this episode of Vinyl Vibes Jack is joined by Tony Hazzard , a legendary songwriter from the '60s. Tony grew up in Liverpool in post-war Britain. His earliest exposer to music include listening to war time records such as "Run Rabbit Run" but it was rock and rollers like Buddy Holly that captured Tony the most early on. Tony started writing songs while at  Durham University. One of his ear...

In this episode of Vinyl Vibes, Jack is joined by John Hood, founding member of Sid Rumpo. John has been fascinated with the blues since 1964. This interest was sparked by the Rolling Stones, most notably their classic "The Little Red Rooster" . At age 15 John got his first guitar and over the next three years would learn to play. In 1967 John would join his first band My Grandfather's Blues.  Thi...

In this episode of Vinyl Vibes , Jack is joined by John Bisset , founding member & organist of Fraternity. Fraternity are best known as being the band Bon Scott was lead vocalist of before his AC/DC days.   John grew up in New Zealand listening to the likes of The Shadows and The Beatles. He formed his first group The Shadracks while still in High School playing songs by the likes of The Ventu...

In this episode of Vinyl Vibes , Jack is joined by Dave Burgess , founding member and guitarist of The Champs. Dave recorded for the first time at the age of 17 in 1953 and by 1957 had his first top-ten hit, I'm Available which was made a hit by singer Margie Rayburn. However it is an instrumental song he helped write that he is most remembered for. Dave wrote a song called Train To Nowhere after...

In this episode of Vinyl Vibes , Jack is joined by Gil Matthews, drummer of  Billy Thorpe and the Aztecs. Gil could read drum music even before he could read English. By the time he was 11, his drumming took him on a six-month tour of the US. After being in various bands in the '60s, in early 1970 Gil became the in-house producer and engineer at Havoc Records. In 1971, the recently signed Bil...

In this episode of Vinyl Vibes , Jack is joined by David Fenton, lead singer of The Vapors . Dave saw his first concert when he was Ten. It was The Beatles performing at the the Gaumont Cinema in in August 1963. He was hooked on music from this point onwards and got his first guitar in the same year. He started playing in various acoustic bands during his teenage years such as Magician and Ano Bun...

In this episode of  Vinyl Vibes , Jack is again joined by Keith Hopwood, rhythm guitarist of Herman's Hermits. When Keith was 18 he wrote his first ever song, 'Don't try to Hurt Me'. It would end up as an album track on the first Herman's Hermits album in 1965. This would begin his journey in songwriting. Since Jack's last interview with Keith, two EPs have been released by Keith. Freedom Calls Ch...

In this episode of   Vinyl Vibes Jack talks with Mark Holden, the carnation kid, an Australian '70s pop artist. Mark grew up Listening to the likes of Bob Dylan and Joni Mitchell and so he began to write many folk inspired songs during his teenage years. Appearing on shows such as Adelaide Today , Mark would be discovered by the shows host Ernie Sigley. Through Sigley, Mark would make appearances...

In this episode of Vinyl Vibes Jack talks with Les Hall, founding member and guitarist of Ted Mulry Gang . Les grew up in Maitland during the '50s and early '60s. After playing piano at the insistence of his father, he was inspired to start playing guitar due to George Harrison of The Beatles. In 1964 he would see the Beatles live when they came down under on their world tour. Four years later in...

In this episode of Vinyl Vibes , Jack is joined by Tony Currenti, an early AC/DC session drummer. Tony grew up in Sicily in the '50s and early '60s listening to local Sicilian artists as well as Elvis and The Beatles. In 1967 he and his family immigrated to Australia where his love for the drums would soon flourish. He started playing drums in local bands around the Sydney area. First he played in...

In this episode of  Vinyl Vibes , Jack is joined by Peggy Seeger , a folk music icon. Peggy grew up in a musical family with her mother Ruth being a modernist composer and her father Charles being a musicologist. The music she grew up with would be greatly made up of the blues and folk music recordings collected by Alan Lomax. One of the artists she listened to growing up was Leadbelly, whom she w...

In this episode of Vinyl Vibes , Jack is joined by Andy Anderson , lead singer of The Missing Links. Andy grew up during the '50s and early '60s in New Zealand. He was exposed to rock and roll for the first time when he heard Little Richard's "Can't Believe You Wanna Leave" over the radio. He would soon start playing drums and playing in various local bands such as being the drummer for The Corvai...

In this episode of Vinyl Vibes , Jack is joined by Rick Pointon , a '60s and '70s Newcastle music legend. Rick spent his first ten years of life in England before becoming a Ten-Pound Pom in 1956 when he and his family moved to Australia. His moving to Australia also marked the beginning of rock and roll with Buddy Holly and Bill Haley being early influences. However, it was Hank Marvin of the Sha...

In this episode of Vinyl Vibes , Jack is joined by xf Lizotte, owner of Newcastle's own Lizotte's Restaurant. Brian grew up in the United States during the '60s. His childhood music memories include hearing the sounds of Crosby, Stills And Nash as well as the Doobie Brothers . In 1970, Brian and his family moved to Australia. His interest in food began to flourish and thus at the end of his high s...

In this episode of Vinyl Vibes , Jack is joined by Mitchel Eaton, owner of Newcastle's own Hiss And Crackle Records . In recent years, vinyl records have seen a resurgence, leading to a big return of the local record shop.  Owner of Hiss and Crackle, Mitch got into music at a young age listening to his dad's music such Jimi Hendrix and Tamam Shud. Mitch has been a part of the music sales industry...

In this episode of Vinyl Vibes , Jack is joined by Graham Russell , co-founder of Air Supply. Since Graham was z kid, all he wanted to be was a songwriter. Growing up amongst Beatlemania in 1960s UK, the music of the Beatles inspired him greatly. On the other side of the world in Australia, Russell Hitchcock was also inspired by the Beatles. Russell and Graham would meet on the set of a production...

In this episode of Vinyl Vibes , Jack is joined by Keith Potger , founding member of The Seekers . In the late 1950s Keith was in a group called The Trinamics  and Athol Guy was in a group called The Ramblers . They would come together to form The Escorts . By 1962 the band was called The Seekers and they were looking for a female lead singer and thus Judith Durham became part of the group. By 196...