|
The
Scientists played their own punk/R&B tunes (when R&B meant something good)
alongside Heartbreakers and Flamin' Groovies covers, booted out bass player
Boris (over the ridiculous technicality, etc etc) in favour of Dennis
Byrne and recorded one of the greatest singles of all time, Frantic Romantic.
To
celebrate this fine achievement, Rod decided Kim and James were too technically
proficient and left to form the Rockets with Boris. Kim and James retaliated
by replacing Rod with guitarist Ben Juniper and (possibly accidentally)
replacing Dennis with new bass player Ian Sharples. With this line-up
they recorded the fantastic "The Scientists" EP and performed the opening
track, "Last Night", on Countdown, Australia's national equivalent to
"Top Of The Pops".
This
was witnessed in the tiny, country town of Kulin, WA, by Tony Thewlis
who, until that point, believed there were no decent groups in the world
besides the Beatles, the (early) Stones, Blondie & the Sex Pistols and,
unfortunately, the wacky, arty pranksters Split Enz. Tony and his mate,
Croc, immediately drove to Perth in Croc's ute in order to see them, and
to buy copies of the EP before it went to Number 1 and inevitably sold
out. They saw the Scientists twice, the second one notable for being Juniper's
final gig. The following day, whilst stocking up on Scientists EPs before
the masses caught on, Croc pointed at a poster in the record shop saying
the Scientists were hunting for a replacement for Juniper and Tony phoned
up James and was invited round to meet him. Unfortunately, Tony blew it
by mentioning Split Enz and James and Kim (of Perth, pop 17) decided that
Tony (of Kulin, pop 2) was a country hick and didn't call him back.
Kim,
James & Ian carried on until 1980 as a 3-piece (almost every gig attended
by a country hick making a nuisance of himself) and finally called it
a day with a final gig at Hernando's Hideaway (supported by Tony's group,
The Resistants) and a posthumous, 1980 LP The Scientists (the 'Pink' Album).
If we can insert a bit of editorial comment, here, the songs on the LP,
whilst undoubtedly pop gems, were too politely mixed and came nowhere
near the exhilarating, Heartbreakers-ish swagger of the way they were
performed live.
After
the Scientists, Kim formed Louie Louie with Brett Rixon and Kim Williams
(co-writer of Swampland and other early Scientists Mark II tunes Hopeless
Case and Perpetual Motion) and, when they folded, Kim decided to take
Brett to Sydney (pop 100) to form a new Scientists with Boris Sujdovic.
He revealed this to Tony, one day, when he happened to bump into him in
the Hay St Mall, and Tony had enough sense to suggest they go to a bar
and plied Kim with enough drink for him to recklessly invite him to come
to Sydney, too.
The
new Scientists grew their hair, donned tacky shirts, smashed their guitars
at the Vulcan, the Southern Cross and the Trade Union Club and, when every
independent label in Sydney turned them down, travelled to Melbourne in
desperation and forced themselves upon Au Go Go records in 1981. Over
the next 3 years they ruled the Inner City Sydney live circuit and recorded
2 singles (plus one "limited edition" free single which was given away
at one gig in Sydney and one gig in Melbourne) and 2 mini LPs for Au Go
Go, all of
which topped Australian Independent charts, and made some small dent in
similar charts in Europe and England.
The
Scientists then moved to London in 1984, played numerous festivals in
Europe (i.e., Holland) recorded a brutal EP in Brussels and recorded their
first full LP, You Get What You Deserve* for their manager's own London
label, Karbon.
To
celebrate this (in the traditional Scientists' manner) Brett left, to
be replaced briefly by Robert Coyne, until he was discovered to be too
young to play in (or even enter) pubs.Ê A succession of drummers followed:
Lucas Fox, Philip Hertz (with whom they recorded You Only Live Twice),
Leanne Chock (with whom they re-recorded their "Greatest Hits" for the
Big Time LP "Weird Love") and, finally, long-time ally Nick Combe. Somewhere
amongst this Boris also returned to Australia, and was replaced by Robert's
(slightly older) Silver Chapter band-mate Joe Presedo.
Eventually,
with just Kim, Tony & Nick left, they recorded their final Karbon LP "The
Human Jukebox" (1986) which also featured Robert (this time on bass) and
Kevin Rooney. The Scientists then called it a day, with Kim moving back
to Australia and Tony remaining in London to record demos with Rob & Kevin
under the name "The Scoundrels".
In 1987 Tony was on holiday in Sydney, playing snooker with Boris in the
Trade Union Club, when they were spotted by Dennis, the Trade Union's
owner, who asked them to perform one last time. For Dennis, the original
(Mark 2) Scientists performed 2 nights at the Trade Union and one night
in Perth. Unfortunately, these shows were so successful that Dennis organised
a full tour to "promote" the Human Jukebox, which had just been released.
The Scientists who toured this were Kim, Tony & Nick, with Brett involved
again, but on bass and guitar.
All
members then went their separate ways.
In
1991, having regained control of their earlier recordings from Au Go Go,
a Scientists' approved CD compilation "Absolute" was released on Red Eye
& Sub Pop. Sadly, Brett Rixon died a year later.
Ten
years later, the world seemed to catch on and, with Tony again holidaying
in Australia, the Scientists were invited to perform a live, half-hour
set (with guest drummer Phil CollinGs) for the ABC TV show, Studio 22.
When this was followed by favourable reminiscences in "A Long Way To The
Top" Citadel and Sympathy For The Record Industry released 2 compilation
CDs, Blood Red River 1982 -84, and The Human Jukebox 1985-87.
In
2002 Kim, Boris, Tony and Richard toured Australia, for the final time,
to promote the Blood Red River compilation.
Unfortunately,
a proposed February/March 2003 reformation tour of the USA and Europe
has been postponed.Ê We will post details here if and when...
|
