THIS IS OUR PROPAGANDA: If you consider yourself a music fan and youve not heard the name Hard-ons then you must have lived in a cave for the last 21 years! Certainly the Hard-ons are, or should be in this scribes humble but hopefully pertinent opinion, a house-hold name in every country!!!!! Consider the facts. 17 consecutive number 1s on the independent charts in Australia. TV appearances on major shows in Japan, England, Germany, Finland, Spain, France and Greece! A top 10 hit in Spain, a top 5 hit in Greece! The only Australian band still based in Australia to hit the top 5 in the NME charts (in 1989, with LP "Love is a Battlefield of Wounded Hearts") and at the time, the only Australian artist besides Nick Cave or the Go-Betweens to hold that position! Fans include and included Henry Rollins, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Jello Biafra, UK Subs, Captain Sensible, members of Radio Birdman and the Saints, Sky Saxon, Brody Dalle, Mike Davis from MC5 (who wrote fan mail!), DJ Speedranch, C.J. and Joey from the Ramones, members of Sepultura and a countless number of big profile metal and punk bands, and even the mayor of Burgos, Spain who in 1991 gave the boys the key to the city! The humble beginnings of Hard-ons can be traced back to Punchbowl Boys High school, 1981, when Keish (vocals, guitar, drums) and Blackie (vocals, guitar), 15 and 14 respectively, thought it was a good idea to jam together with their mate Brendan (vocals, drums). Shambolic it was, to be sure, but no doubting their punk pedigree it was raw as hell! In 1982, Brendan parted for the Gold Coast to play in his own band THRUST and full-time surfing, being replaced by Ray, a school friend who shared their love for bands such as BUZZCOCKS, DAMNED, RAMONES, SAINTS and THE BIRTHDAY PARTY. Plus he had a bass guitar. After rehearsing three nights a week for two weeks, they ran head-long into the fast and furious world of birthday parties and school dances. This lasted until the boys were old enough for pub shows, the first show being June 20 1984 at the Vulcan Hotel in Ultimo, Sydney. The band quickly gained a reputation for being an action-packed live attraction, combining pop, punk, metal, 60s garage, psychedelia and white noise into a previously unheard of irresistible mix. Attendance records were smashed, venues slammed their doors in the band's faces for their vulgar yet well-meaning sense of humour, and mass media ignored them. Until the time the Hard-ons first broke up at the end of 1993, Hard-ons made their brand of pioneering hybrid cross without artistic or ideological compromise. As a sharp juxtaposition to the butt-licking hair-cut corporate alterna-rock one sees and hears through the mediums these days thanks to major corporations' tactic of carpet-bombing one's brain into submission, the Hard-ons produced what could only be described as: at once beautiful and brutal noise. Every one of their numerous releases and live concerts paid testimony to that fact. Try this description of them from BEAT magazine, 1987: "Motorhead meets the Beachboys". Or this one from a Melbourne fanzine, 1988: "Motorhead Archies of your dreams". Yes, thats right. Beautiful. And Brutal. Of course this unique melodic/brutal approach to rock n roll won them admirers everywhere resulting in collaborations with Henry Rollins (1990), Captain Sensible (1991), and Jerry A of Poison Idea (1992)!! Now for the good news. You probably know already that the Hard-ons reformed in 1998 at the request of the Greek chapter of their European fanclub. After quickly recording and releasing a couple of singles as well as a BEST OF through CITADEL records, the Hard-ons toured Europe in 1999. Yes that's right- they were back! Then of course, the year 2000 saw the threesome record their tour-de-force comeback album "This Terrible Place" culminating with the said album being released in 2001 on CHATTERBOX in Australia and New Zealand and BAD TASTE in Europe!!!! Further touring adventures followed: the biza   |
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