July 26, 2008
Rose Tattoo
lady lascivious reminds us of a forgotten band of Australian rockers
For a long time, I've wondered why very few people I meet have even heard of this band. Hell, I made it all the way to the age of 20 without hearing them, and when I did I was shocked that it took me that long. In my exhaustive research, which, admittedly, is little more than me posing the question WTF, I've found that there's generally two issues that keep this fucking rocking band under the radar (at least in the case of good American rock and roll folk between the ages of 15 and 46): Issue 1: they're from fucking Australia. That's a real long fuckin way from Austin, and sometimes it takes things a while to get across that much ocean. Shit, it took High Voltage 15 months to get to America, and by the time it did it was all fucked up and out of order with different songs. Which ties into...
Issue 2: overshadowing. Rose Tattoo made their debut in 1976 (ACDC's High Voltage was released in Australia in 1975) playing at Chequers (the club where ACDC got their start). Now I'm not discrediting the RT boys at all, but ACDC is in fact the most badass balls-to-the-wall straight-up rock and roll band ever to walk the earth, so it's easy to see how another very awesome rock band from the same city playing at the same club one year later might get sidestepped. Secondly, look at the list of "Top 10 '80s Artists from Australia and New Zealand" (thanks to about.com, which seems to be the only other website that cares about such things enough to list them); during Rose Tattoo's heyday, they were fighting for space on the Import racks against acts like Crowded House, The Church, INXS, Men At Work, Air Supply, Rick Springfield, Nick Cave, and Olivia Newton-John. Now I do believe that Rose Tattoo rocks way harder than these guys (although I'll give a pass to Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds because they're effin brilliant), but one can't deny that there were a whole helluva lot of people getting "physical" and singing about vegemite sandwiches in the early 80s.
All that being said, I'm making it my personal mission to get the word out about these boys from down under who didn't exactly change the face of rock and roll, but left it with some pretty nasty bruises.
Let's go back to the beginning, shall we? Rose Tattoo was thrown together in 1976 by slide guitarist Peter Wells, formerly of Buffalo. He recruited Ian Rilen, who had taught himself to play bass while in prison (the ultimate qualifier to be in an Australian rock band), then dredged up Mick Cocks (real name), Tony Lake, and Michael Vandersluys. Of course some shifts occurred, and Lake and Vandersluys were replaced by Buster Brown members Dallas "Digger" Royal before the boys cut an album. They played around Sydney and garnered plenty of attention, especially from members of ACDC who recommended them for a spot on the Albert Productions label. Ian Rilen penned their first single, "Bad Boy For Love", before leaving the band to be replaced by Geordie Leach, then later Lobby Lloyde on bass. Amidst the shakeup, Rose Tattoo put out the self-titled LP Rose Tattoo in 1978 followed by Assault and Battery in '81. Rose Tattoo took a tour of Europe in '81, and were hailed as "the loudest band to play London's Marquee Club since Led Zeppelin." They jumped over to the US to promote their 1982 album Scarred For Life, opening for acts like Aerosmith and ZZ Top. While they didn't grab the attention of mass audiences, they made some friends in the LA Underground, namely the boys in Guns N' Roses. You might have heard GNR cover Rose Tattoo's Nice Boys on their album GN'R Lies; other bands to cover Rose Tattoo include Nashville Pussy, L.A. Guns, and Lower Class Brats, to name a few. So while the American pop charts were virtually ignoring these rockers, they still had a few pretty raunchy and influential fans.
More lineup changes yielded the 1984 album Southern Stars, after which the boys took a little hiatus, mostly to pursue solo projects or other short-lived bands. Angry Anderson, however, used his time off to portray the character of "Ironbar" Bassey in the cult classic/apocalyptical awesomeness Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome. (Remember him? He's the guy that took over after Master Blaster bit the big one...no? Look here. Awesome.) The band reunited with yet another lineup for 1986's Beats From a Single Drum, playing as a four-piece with Angry Anderson, Scott Johnston, Andy Cichon, and Tim Gaze. The group all but disbanded to pursue solo projects, but toured Australia with GNR in 1993. Since then, various members have toured as Rose Tattoo around Australia, Germany, and France, yielding the 25 to Life live album. Rose Tattoo put out their first studio album in 16 years, Pain, in 2002. And we'll wrap up this lengthy history in 2007, when Rose Tattoo toured Australia with the likes of Guns N' Roses, Sebastian Bach, and Motörhead, then released one more album, Blood Brothers.
Let's talk musically: From their first album, Rose Tattoo, their raunchy, gritty sound really established the band's status as a dirty beer-fueled bar band. Every song on this album is flat-out rock and roll. The kind that makes you want to drive fast, drink Jack Daniels from the bottle, and get dirty sweaty naked...maybe all at the same time. Assault and Battery, while sounding cleaner and tighter, didn't lose the edge or the sound. It's got the speed, the soul, and the suck-it attitude of the s/t, just with a little more production. Scarred For Life and Southern Stars seemed to lose their way a bit, feeling a little old and forced, especially some of the eerily patriotic numbers on Southern Stars. Luckily, by the time we get back up to Pain and Blood Brothers, it feels like the boys are getting back on track. The voice sounds a little bit older, but the raunch is back with a vengeance. I give them mad props for not sucking on their recent releases.
So please, do me a favor, do yourself a favor, and hunt these guys down...their albums, that is. Listen to them. Love them. Spread the word to your friends. Show Rose Tattoo some love!! Me, I'm gonna go watch Thunderdome again...