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A brief but reverential look at The Coloured Balls and Australian Sharpies If you're like me and grew up in the post-punk, and post (glory days of) hardcore world of the early and mid 1980's, you probably remember the rhetoric that there was no good music between about 1969 and 1977. Besides The New York Dolls and various Iggy/Stooges incarnations, naturally. I myself have heard and read this statement and variations on it literally countless times in various fanzines, mags and books. It's about time this idea was laid firmly to rest. I can't possibly claim to be heading any sort of vanguard in terms of this denouncement, I just want to state firmly that I was such a victim of this brain washing that it took me years to look at anything issued during that supposed drought of creativity. There was plenty of good music around during this era. Then, as now, it merely took an adventuresome sort to find it. If you were just going to flip on the radio, of course all you would hear were the bloated big name bands that everyone loves to complain about. If you were paying attention you'd find tons of great material. Of course, at this time the only music I actually requested was umpteen playings of Gilbert O' Sullivan's "Get Down" but I was FOUR in 1973 so you couldn't really have expected me to be demanding my parents to slide on a Pink Fairies or Third World War disc. In any case, some of my favorite music these days emanates from that era that I've heard referred to as "doldrums", "wastelands" or even "quiet". The pub rock and Northern Soul scenes of England are particularly prominent in my tastes. And thanks to Sleazegrinder, I'm developing a budding fascination with Australia. This leads us to that ultra fabulous band with a silly name...The Coloured Balls. And the scene that helped propel them to cult status...Australian sharps. (Also known as sharpies and not to be confused with current Skinheads Against Racial Prejudice, also known as Sharps).
While Sharpies shared the sartorial obsessiveness of the former and the predilection for toughness of the latter, they remain a uniquely Antipodean youth cult, never duplicated anywhere else. They thrived in the ready made suburbs of the cities of Melbourne, Sydney and Perth. Patterned sweaters, DIY T-shirts, (see "Blackburn Sharps" pic ) tailored pants or jeans with Italian boots were the standard uniform, topped off with a rather astonishingly ugly haircut that was cropped close all around except for a fringey rat tail in the back, rather like a proto-mullet. These were indeed the "gangs of short haired boys" that Rose Tattoo refer to in their gang fight epic of "The Butcher & Fast Eddie". |
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It's fitting that Rose Tattoo paid tribute to the Sharpies as, unlike their English cousins who preferred soul (mod) or ska (skinhead), the Sharpies were bona fide 1970's rock fans, and they had plenty of good material to listen and occasionally bash heads to.AC/DC, Rose Tattoo and perhaps most significantly the Coloured Balls all had substantial Sharpie followings. |
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The Balls don't re-invent the wheel with "Ball Power". They simply refashion it into something entirely different. Loyde and his cohorts--like a bunch of heat crazed petrol heads in the Outback--take parts made up of Detroit rave up, Hendrix, Flamin' Groovies and perhaps little early Tull-- and proceed to re-torque, demolish, jerry-rig, and refurbish them into something unique and wonderful. On the minute and a half blast of "Won't you Make Up Your Mind" they sound like "Back in the USA" era MC5 if those malcontents had been, err....skinheads? "Hey! What's your name?" takes the riff from the Trogg's "Wild Thing", stands it on it's head and marries it to a call and response gang shout that presages the likes of Sex Pistols or Sham 69. "Liberate Rock", is a strutting statement of purpose also channels a clairvoyant punk energy mated to a traditional blues backing. Other clues to the blueprint include a thunderous cover of "Whole Lotta Shakin' " and the almost CCR-ish country stomp of "Mr. Mean Mouth".
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However, the twin epics of "Ball Power", "That's What Mama Said" (clocking in at 10:45) and a live rendition of "G.O.D." ( 16:05 ) sound pretty much like nothing else that have been recorded before or since. At least that I've heard. "Mama" is Loyd communicating with the Mother Ship via six string and the news appears to be good enough for the title to be repeated hypnotically as a refrain towards the end of this track. "G.O.D" is a entirely instrumental piece that contains the casual menace of a wounded crocodile limping towards it's prey. And it's as good as rock and roll gets. Outside of Australia the Coloured Balls were, of course, virtually unknown, except to a discerning few. (Apparently David Fricke was their sole American champion for many years). Like so many other deserving groups they had to become a word of mouth legend outside their country. And I am pleased to report, believe the hype. Links of interest: http://www,blackburnsouthsharps.com(from which the "t-shirt pic" was lifted. Larry Jenkins, a legendary Sharpie of the era took the photo, as he did all the pictures on this fascinating site. |
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Also.... and...search youtube for "Melbourne Sharpies" for great clip that shows Sharpie grooving to the Coloured Balls at a live performance.
-Sascha |
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Sharpies
were an Aussie phenomenon of the early 1970's. Although they've
alternately been described as an offshoot of the hard mods of Britain of
the late 1960's, or as an Australian take on skinheads of the same era,
they were really neither. 
The Coloured Balls
were led by the late Lobby Loyde (1941-2007), an amazing guitarist who
seemed to be tuned into a non-terrestrial wavelength during his playing
and composing. "Ball Power", released in 1973, remains their finest
moments, if not one of the all time high water marks of Australian rock in
general. It's sixteen pulverizing tracks of hard pysch-out that will leave
a listener as breathlessly excited today as it no doubt did twenty five
years ago. When you hear Loyde referred to as "The Godfather of Australian
Rock", that is simply fact, not hyperbole. Name an Australian rock band
that doesn't bear at least traces of his aggressive influence in them and
I will mail you your very own "Western MA. Sharps" t-shirt.