HOODOO GURUSTHE STORY SO FAR:
Episode 1 - The Party: Dave Faulkner, newly arrived from Perth, met Kimble Rendall of the XL Capris and two other Perth immigrants (drummer James Baker and guitarist Rod Radalj). Dave and James had been in the seminal punk band the Victims in Perth with a legendary 45 ‘Television Addict’ and the Scientists. They started Le Hoodoo Gurus without a bass player.
The Surry Hills rock scene was hot in those days - Flaming Hands, Sunnyboys, Died Pretty, Hoi Polloi, Sekret Sekret, and the Lipstick Killers. The Gurus were hot. They cut a 45, ‘Leilani Parts 1 and 2’. Rod and Kimble bailed. Clyde Bramley joined on bass. Brad Shepherd joined on guitar.
The first album, ‘Stoneage Romeos’ (1984) had great garage punk songs, big fat rhythm section and a wall of guitars. The first track, ‘(Let’s All) Turn On’ was a manifesto - checking off the Flaming Groovies, Ramones, Elvis, the Stones T-Rex and the Archies.
"The trouble with that song is that it names such famous songs," Dave once said. "It would have been better if it names a few more obscure ones. I mean every rock & roll fan should know every one of those songs or the artists. We wanted to put things like Sky Saxon in the same context as Elvis, even though one was a millionaire and the other was unheard of in the mainstream. To us they were equally valid. But we weren’t trying to be hipper than thou. Unhipper than thou is closer to it for us."
Episode 2 - Mars Needs Guitars!: The Gurus were off. So was James. Mark Kingsmill filled the drum stool. Second album ‘Mars Needs Guitars!’ topped the charts. Less "comic narratives" more direct songs that are now radio classics - ‘Death Defying’, ‘Bittersweet’ and ‘Like, Wow - Wipeout!’.
The Gurus found a sizeable following in the US on the College circuit where they toured extensively. Unfortunately, their US label was not all it could have been and they weren’t able to capitalise on the group’s momentum.
Both ‘Stoneage’ and ‘Mars’ were two of the biggest albums on the college radio circuit. So the Gurus toured North America (twice famously with the Bangles) extensively. By this time they were one of the hottest live acts in Australia as well.
The difficult third album was a massive pop hit, propelled by the brilliant ‘What’s My Scene’ and the anthemic ‘Middle Of The Land’ and the psychedelic ‘My Caravan’.
The secret of the Hoodoo Gurus longevity is that they don’t care about cliques, they don’t care about the music biz. They are equal opportunity entertainers.
"Absolutely from day one the Gurus were determined to not confine ourselves to some kind of elite groovy neighbourhood," said Dave. "We just played to whoever liked music. I came from Perth and a lot of bands wouldn’t go over there because of the logistics of touring in Western Australia so you’d always feel deprived. I was determined not to let that happen when I was playing. So, whoever I could get to listen to me could."
The thing of it is that most people who are inner city hip come from the suburbs. A whole generation of Australian and international rock stars - Lindsay from Frenzal, Wally Meanie, Andy Strachan from the Living End, Dave Gray from Rocket Science - all were inspired by the Gurus playing at the local or on some daggy Saturday Morning TV show.
Episode 3 - Louder! Kinky! Cranky! At this point, Clyde hung up his bass. Rick Grossman, from the Divinyls, Bleeding Hearts and elsewhere came on board. Rick brought a new, tougher and louder sound to the band. A harder edge. It was apparent on the fourth album, ‘Magnum Cum Louder’. ‘Axegrinder’ was their heaviest single to date, somewhat lighted by the excellent lyrics. ‘Come Anytime’ was a beautiful power ballad.
By the time they made ‘Kinky’ in 1991 the band was ten years old and a completely different beast. The garage punk influence had been replaced by a voice and a sound that was decidedly their own - the firm hand of Mark Kingsmill and the meshing guitar interplay was uniquely the Gurus.
The next album, ‘Crank’ was a step onward where an overdose of Roger Corman/Russ Meyer ‘cycles-n-sex movies gave the record a greasy rock feel. These albums move like well-oiled machines. Although primarily a straight-up rock sound, there is a huge amount of detail in the tracks, subtle lines of melody, swinging interesting tempos.
Then there was the ‘Blue Cave’ that took the greasy rock and amped it up a little more - a little more intense. The classic tracks were here as well, ‘If Only...’, ‘Down On Me’, ‘Waking Up Tired’. Of all the Gurus records, ‘Blue Cave’ was the most polished and the most pop. The classic song writing extends the tradition of the Hoodoo Gurus but the record also shows what a decade of writing and recording and indeed living can do to broaden the palette.
Episode 4: A Kiss Is Just A Kiss. Other projects beckoned - Rick with Ghostwriters, Dave with film scores, the Antenna project with Kim Salmon, Brad formed the Monarchs. In 1997 the Gurus bit the bullet and embarked on a massive farewell tour. It was the biggest tour undertaken by and Australian band that year and they rocked houses from Fremantle to Cairns. Never again they said.
Like Harry and Sally, Burton and Taylor or John and Yoko. The divorce was a failure. Dave started to write some rock songs that cried out for Kingsy and Brad and Rick’s touch.
First there was the Persian Rugs - a different sound with Dave on organ and Rick sitting out the bass part, but what the hell. Homebake offered a spot on the 2001 festival and one thing led to another. The Gurus returned to the turntable or tray or whatever with ‘Mach Schau’, another collection of great tunes.
The fundamental things apply as time goes by - bass and drums that swing and that colour the song and don’t just keep time - guitars that grind the rhythm and then stab out great licks. When that’s firing and right in the middle of the heaving dance floor sweating like a maniac you loose your cool and loose your head and find the existential truth of rock & roll.
The Gurus can take you there. On top of that they have songs that will preclude kissing on the dance floor and will bring a tear to the eye so there’s no dancing on the kissing floor. The ancient Zen masters in Japan claimed that one of the steps of wisdom was to hold two contradictory concepts in the mind and reconcile them. Being Gurus the have perfected this - it’s trash and it’s cool.
