One of the bands I promoted/managed and who also got me to fill in on drums for a while in 1983/1984. One of the most fun times I’ve ever had in a band and a great bunch of guys to ‘hang out’ with!! Here’s the release bio…coming April 29 2024
‘I remember the first time I saw the Grooveyard. It was as a support for the Hitmen at a local southern beer barn called the Caringbah Inn in 1983. It was only months after their debut at the Leichardt Hotel and one of the last times for the original 5 man line up featuring Geoff Rhoe, who would leave to entertain thespian pursuits with a leading role in ‘Puberty Blues’.
The five of them barreled through a set that chimed with the rap of snare and great pop on 6 and 12 strings. It was a set spliced with the sound of the sixties and late seventies/early eighties. You could hear the Byrds, the Beatles and Moby Grape in their sound and it gave much cause for hope.
Into the next year and the songs and the gigs kept coming. Nights with the Lime Spiders, the Church, and the Most. Then all goes quiet for a short while, as drummer Sean Maguire leaves to pursue his flying career and a temporary fill in, their promoter Richard Lawson fills in. After a small taste on a 48-crash compilation cassette of a Jon Scofield original ‘I don’t remember’, they finally crack vinyl through Stuart Coupes Green records label with another Jon Scofield original called Avalanche of love backed with a Bob Wackely original ‘I told you so’.
In Sydney mid 1984 it was an unknown quantity and unlike anything heard before, no other local record sounded like it. People responded in kind and the first pressing sold out. It was looking on the up, tours of Brisbane and Melbourne followed. Gigs in picture theatres and a video appearance on ‘After Dark’ raised the confidence but didn’t raise the crowds and the cupboard was bare.
Richard received the call to rejoin the Lime Spiders and then the writing was on the wall. Jon joined Jeremy Oxley’s ‘Chinless Elte’ then went onto success with Paul Kellys Colored Girls and Bob Wackeley went to the Screaming Tribesman whilst Ian Little joined the Bambalams.
Six months later the Grooveyard reconvened to play a series of 5 shows and this time the audience had caught on and the shows were well attended. The band grabbed the opportunity and went into the studio to record a follow up 5 Track EP with Chris Masuak [who had produced Avalanche of love] before returning to their respective bands and careers.’ Tom Czarnota 1989
The Grooveyards brand of sixties infused Power Pop was against the grain of the hard Detroit style rock in Sydney in the burgeoning mid-eighties. The songs that flowed from Jon Scofield’s pen are world class and show great maturity and craftmanship. Now with the digital release of the Avalanche of Love single and self-titled EP we have evidence of a peculiar time in the glory days of Aussie pub rock and the enduring quality of these songs.
Richard Lawson Music 