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Journalist
Jeff Jenkins' weekly column featuring Australian music news,
interviews, a look at the charts and more. Updated every
Tuesday night around 10pm. Click
here for the archive page.
Jeff
is a semi-regular guest on
The Australian Mood with Neil Rogers, 8-10pm Thursdays
on 3RRR in Melbourne
and Evenings
with Lindy Burns 7-10pm weeknights on ABC 774 Melbourne
Contacting
Jeff: If you need to contact Jeff Jenkins you can email
me (Lee-Roy) at and I'll forward the
email onto Jeff
August 16th 2017
BURN FOR YOU
Where would the Melbourne music scene be without Davey Lane
and Ashley Naylor? They're the hardest-working men in showbiz,
the human jukeboxes, the go-to guys when a band needs a
great guitarist. Of course, Davey is an integral member
of You Am I and he's also played with Crowded House, The
Masters Apprentices, Jimmy Barnes and The Saints. But Davey
is more than just a sensational sideman. Just check out
his solo albums, 2014's Atonally Young and I'm Gonna Burn
Out Bright, which he's launching at the Gasometer on Friday.
Davey's life changed when his dad brought home a copy of
Sgt. Pepper's when Davey was just six or seven years old.
"I didn't realise that music could be so colourful and kaleidoscopic,"
Davey recently told Clare Bowditch on ABC radio. Though
he looks like a rock star, Davey says he was "super awkward,
an introverted nerd" at school. "I twigged that my obsession
with music was a way I could communicate with people." Kaleidoscopic
is a great word to describe Davey's music. He makes grand,
eloquent, joyous pop. Think ELO, Queen and The Beatles.
The lyrics, however, reflect a darker side. "I was going
through times of questioning one's own existence," Davey
reveals. "One of my biggest failings as a human being is
my inability to communicate. I feel I can put into a song
things I can't put in the spoken or written word."
REMEMBERING TONY
Howzat! has long been saying that Tony Cohen should be in
the ARIA Hall of Fame. As Nick Cave remarked after Tony's
passing, he's a "national treasure". A highlight of working
on Molly Meldrum's life story was interviewing Tony, a kind-hearted,
generous and entertaining soul. "I learned a lot from Molly,"
Tony told me. "It was one of the best educations you could
get, and I'm not just talking about recording. I loved Molly's
unforced imagination." You could say the same about Tony.
A label should release a Tony Cohen compilation - it would
tell the story of Australian alternative rock.
NEW SENSATION
Happy Birthday to INXS - they did their first gig 40 years
ago today (16 Aug), playing at Tim Farriss' 20th birthday
party. And 25 years ago this week, INXS scored their first
number one album in the UK with the underrated Welcome To
Wherever You Are.
HOT LINE
"Let the lovers love" - Sand Pebbles, Lovers' Love.
CHART WATCH
Just one Aussie single in the national Top 30.
Fallin' JESSICA MAUBOY (number 21)
Waves DEAN LEWIS (34)
Fake Magic PEKING DUK & ALUNAGEORGE (35)
Lay It On Me VANCE JOY (36)
A Top 10 debut for Sydney duo Boo Seeka.
Never Too Soon BOO SEEKA (number eight, debut)
Killer DAN SULTAN (13)
Count On Me JUDAH KELLY (18)
Perennial VERA BLUE (24)
Beautiful - A Tribute To Carole King VARIOUS ARTISTS (31)
Wish You Were Here THE TEN TENORS (34)
Low Blows MEG MAC (36)
Our Backyard TRAVIS COLLINS & AMBER LAWRENCE (40, debut)
HOWZAT! PLAYLIST
Biggest Star DAVEY LANE
Green God SAND PEBBLES
Every Day's The Weekend ALEX LAHEY
Across The Wire DAN FLYNN
Honey Slide THE HEARTACHE STATE
Contacting
Jeff: If you need to contact Jeff Jenkins you can email
me (Lee-Roy) at and I'll forward the
email onto Jeff
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