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The Midwife of Australian rock and roll

That's Roddy Raydalj, ex-Scientists, Le Hoodoo Gurus, Johnnys, Dubrovniks and anything else that was worthwhile in the Australian musical underworld of the '70s and '80s. Patrick Emery has a superb interview with the man here.

Won't Get Fooled Again? We'll see.

There are a number of dilemmas thrown up by the imminent arrival of the long-awaited Neil Young Archives box set. Even if you're not a fan of the man and his music, bear with me because some of these issues go right to the heart of how recorded music is traded generally.

If you haven't caught up, Youngy has been working on a series of incredibly comprehensive archival recordings and ephemera for a hundred years. Christ was playing fullback for the South Sydney Rabbitohs when he started. Rumour is they were even winning, it was so long ago. The first installment, covering his career (Neil's - not Christ's) from 1963-72, will be released on June 2. There are three versions of this 10-disc monster - Blu-Ray, DVD and CD - and they'll retail for $300, $200 and $100 bucks respectively (that's American dollars so expect to pay 40 percent more in Australia.)

The recommended Blu-Ray version will carry much more material, be heavily interactive, be tied to a book and become "the gift that keeps giving" by pushing free material your way via the Internerd, whenever Neil finds another dusty suitcase in the garage with all his old harmonicas and Playboys.

The DVD will have audiovisual content and superior sound quality to the CDs. The CD box will be CDs (but you probably knew that already).

The whole project was unveiled at a special panel discussion at the SXSW music festival last week and there's a slick website that includes a personal pop-up message from Neil himself, telling you why you have to have the Blu-Ray version. If you pre-order for any format other than CD, he (or more likely one of his helpers) will send you a bonus Blu-Ray disc.

If you don't have a Blu-Ray player, Neil helpfully tells you to ask an electrical goods retailer to let you use one of theirs' and then you'll have to buy one.

If you are a Blu-Ray owner (PlayStation 3 will work too) you'll also get a jukebox 45 by the Squires (Young's schooldays band). I'm not sure a salesman will demonstrate that on a turntable but you can always ask.

Industry comment from the likes of Chicago journalist Jim Derogatis is that this package is the way of the future, that CDs will be dead in five years and that massive, one-off legacy box sets provide the only viable lifeline for the few Ma and Pa music shops that still survive the download onslaught.

I appreciate all that. Ditto Neil's opinion that Blu-Ray is far superior in the audio quality it can deliver and the interactivity is a given. I like the fact Young's a techno geek and always trying new things. But I have issues.

Firstly, I am sick to the back teeth of the global giants trying to shove new audio and audio-visual formats down my throat. I remember the Beta vs VHS farce of the '80s (Beta won.) I resisted the switch from vinyl to CD until it was inevitable and have been appalled time and time again with the criminally negligent way the uncaring big companies mastered music for the new format.

Yes, I've also been sucked into re-purchasing the same music over and over, re-packaged with bonus tracks and outtakes that more often than not weren't worth hearing (hence why they were left off the original albums).

But SACD? As redundant as eight-track tapes. 5.1 remixes are a wank unless you've shelled out big bucks for a top-end home theatre system. I have a cheapie because I watch little TV.

So if no-one trusts the big music conglomerates and lots of people are taking pleasure in watching them squirm under the relentless march of downloading (as much as it's at the expense of music-makers), do you have to wonder why?

Then there's the side issue that of the the 10 discs in the Neil CD box set, three have already been released. Warners should have made it clear they were integral to the bigger project and although the other seven CDs will be available individually, I'll bet the economics of that play heavily in favour of the record company, as usual.

I hope (and suspect) Neil Young's commitment to a new format that brings unprecedented quality to his fans is genuine. From a selfish perspective, it sure beats him tinkering with toy trains.

Part of me wants to embrace the Neil Young Archives and their almost irresistible marriage to Blu-Ray, but the buying into the whole thing at the optimum level involves a lot more than a one-off purchase. There are another four volumes planned and once critical momentum is achieved, it's certain other artists will be pushed over to the new platform.

Deep down, I don't want to see that much control over fandom put back into the hands of capricious, uncaring brokers of music as a commodity (and I don't mean Neil). It's that simple.

Elvis is Everywhere

Seen one Elvis, seen 'em all. Not quite. Everything's bigger in Texas and Ken Shimamoto contributes this clip of Extreme Elvis:

Well that's alright, Mamma

I did attend an Elvis party last weekend so this is appropriate.

From Las Vegas (where else?) comes news that Big Elvis (aka impersonator Pete Vallee) is offering to take a DNA test to prove his is indeed a direct descendant of The Big Prez. Judge for yourself.

Blowin' in the Wind

Bob Dylan's toilet is infringing human rights. It took fly-overs by news helicopters to bring the story to the viewing public in all its graphic glory. No shit. More here.

Band will spend their winnings "immorally"

Good news on the weekend. Melbourne darlings Eddy Current Suppression Ring won the indie music prize.

New Doors doco: When You're Strange

There have almost been too many of these but another one is previewed here.

"Lipstick On Your Collar" - The Saints

Been digging that limited edition Live in Brisbane 2007 CD by the Saints, so here's something to remember them by in their time in London 30 years earlier. It reminds me that I liked Slovenly Chris Bailey better than today's Lord Byron Chris Bailey.

More Brisbane bands

Why this doesn't rate a repeat screening on free-to-air TV is beyond me.

It gets a bit into hair product from here biut, hey, it was 1988:

Probably only right the Go-Between dominate the last part.

Brisbane Bands documentary c1988

Plenty more where this came from. Funny to see some of the principals looking so young. And, wow, live Leftovers footage!

Tangled Shoelaces?

Hopefully, it's not just Cauze THEY Say So

From the Please Kill Me Mailing list comes news of the Two York Dolls' new album. The studio reunion record was this side of OK, the live show that came to Australia a lot of fun if light on for the classics.

The jury's out on this one but we can live in hope it doesn't suck as bad as the Stooges' "The Weirdness" which is the benchmark for dreck :

Legendary rockers NEW YORK DOLLS will release their new album, "Cause I Sez So", on May 5 via the Atco label (which has been specially re-launched) through Warner Brothers.

After working together on the NEW YORK DOLLS' influential debut in 1973, the group reunited this winter with producer Todd Rundgren to record the new LP at Rundgren's studio on the island of Kauai, Hawaii.

"Cause I Sez So" features 11 original compositions and a new version of "Trash", which was on the band's 1973 debut album. "It was amazing working with Todd again, and I think we were able to evoke the special sound of our first album and drag it by the hair into the present," says frontman David Johansen.

Prior to the album's release, the NEW YORK DOLLS — David Johansen (vocals); Sylvain Sylvain (guitar); Steve Conte (guitar); Brian Delaney (drums); and Sami Yaffa (bass) — will appear at the South By Southwest (SXSW) music conference and festival in Austin, Texas.

The NEW YORK DOLLS swaggered onto the New York music scene in the early '70s, influencing a generation with its subversive mix of high-decibel rock and high-heeled androgyny. The original band recorded a pair of milestone records — "New York Dolls" (1973) and "Too Much Too Soon" (1974) — before breaking up in 1977. The surviving members reformed the group in 2004 to much acclaim, but soon lost bassist Arthur Kane to leukemia. Two years later, Johansen and Sylvain reunited again to record the NEW YORK DOLLS' third studio album, "One Day It Will Please Us To Remember Even This".

"Cause I Sez So" track listing:

01. Cause I Sez So
02. Muddy Bones
03. Better Than
04. Lonely So Long
05. My World
06. Ridiculous
07. Temptation To Exist
08. Making Rain
09. Drowning
10. Nobody Got No Bizness
11. Trash
12. Exorcism Of Despair