If you think Aussie Rock and the bands that had most influence outside our fine borders – three names come to mind immediatley – AC/DC, Rose Tattoo and The Angels. Sadly we’ve lost two of those great voices, but Angry Anderson is still going strong and bringing a great show over to the West in July – Blood Sweat and Beers brings three hours of Aussie Rock to a venue near you featuring some great names from some great bands and the fine voice of Angry, we caught up to talk BSB, ACDC and other sets of initials.
The book, BLOOD SWEAT AND BEERS – OZ ROCK FROM THE AZTECS TO ROSE TATTOO begins in the late 1960s when Lobby Loyde was blowing up amplifiers on such a regular basis that equipment had to be specially constructed. King of the Sunbury festivals, and former child star, Billy Thorpe then took massive amplification to another level, making history along the way when his band, the Aztecs, pulled as many as 300,000 people to the Myer Music Bowl in Melbourne. Rose Tattoo somehow cranked everything up even higher and became the loudest, most threatening band to ever stalk the earth. Banned from the TV show Countdown, they often played in prisons, and occasionally had to fight, microphone stands in hand, to get out of the very venues they’d performed in. Then, of course, there were the Angels, Australia’s number-one live drawcard, who turned venues across the country into jam-packed paramilitary rallies. Against a backdrop of interviews with all the major Australian players and international heavyweights, one of Australia’s best known rock writers, Murray Engleheart hands out the earplugs and the morning-after aspirin with BLOOD SWEAT AND BEERS, a literally balls and all tour through the bar-brawling, riot-inducing and occasionally gun-toting Oz rock culture that The Monthly crowned as having ‘the highest expletive count in the history of non-fiction’.
RP: Aussie Rock has had a huge influence over the years on Hard Rock globally: the big three would have to be AC/DC, Rose Tattoo and The Angels, sadly Bon and Doc are no longer with us and a lot of other great names have fallen over the last few years, but thankfully the music never dies does it?
Angry: No it doesn’t good music lasts forever.
RP: Blood Sweat and Beers is a great concept – what exactly do we get at a show?
Angry: You get representation of four of the best Aussie pub rock bands including the Alberts stable worldwide famous and noted for producing some of the most original and influential rock and roll. Represented are AC/DC, The Angels, Screaming Jets and Rose Tattoo. Also offering what no other show can, the authenticity bought to you by the players who have been or are the band represented in these bands. No other cover band can offer this. You are getting the real deal!
RP: Three hours of great music, it’s a fantastic concept; it must be a lot of fun too?
Angry: For years I have been saying it is not over yet and it isn’t. As long as people want to come, we will be there and nobody can do it better, as we are the real deal.
RP: We love our Rock out in the West – and love getting you over to play for us. What is it about WA and Aussie Rock?
Angry: I think that in the early days it was the complaint that no bands ever went out west. But ‘we’ – the bands – love going to the west and Rose Tattoo always went there. To this day and, to a certain extent, the west remembers that certain bands made the effort to travel there. In the early days, we drove to the west and the fans loved the fact we came to perform there. I think this stands to this day. We made the effort because we found the west Aussies really love their rock.
RP: As well as yourself there are some great musicians on board for the show too?
Angry: The lineup consists of some of the best muso’s still breathing from that era.
RP: I always find it interesting that the role Alberts played in the Aussie Rock scene – they had it all really and the book ‘Blood Sweat and Beers’ sums it up nicely – what was it like back in the day – did you have any idea of how good this music was and how long it would last?
Angry: We kind of realised earlier on that we were doing something pretty special because of how people reacted to it. The people regarded the bands of that era and particularly the Alberts bands as being pretty amazing. We sort of did and, pretty much knew in a sense we were making history and we were onto something great. There will never be a time like it again will there? Probably not if ever, and if it does we probably all be dead and long gone.
RP: What’s you take on the Axl Rose to AC/DC saga? Some of us thought you might be asked to step in?
Angry: I knew I wouldn’t. I thought it was obvious it would be Axl – the other singer I thought it may be would be Sammy Hagar.
RP: If you’d got the call would you have been on that plane?
Angry: Depends on what they were offering – of course – why wouldn’t I.
RP: As well as a musician you’ve worn a lot of other hats too and always been good for a comment and an opinion. What gets you fired up these days?
Angry: The injustice, hypocracy, the lying, the cheating, the wheeling and the dealing. It’s obvious big government has forgotten about us or just doesn’t care.
RP: It’s been nine years since Rose Tattoo put out the ‘Blood Brothers’ album and with signing to a new label earlier in the year hinted that there would be some new music. How is that coming along?
Angry: Slowly but surely.
RP: We all know the hits and the greats, but what Rose Tattoo song from your back catalogue do you have a real soft spot for that might not be as well known to people?
Angry: ‘Calling’ – a hit of the first solo album
RP: How do you reflect on the fact that you’ve been such a major influence on so many great bands?
Angry: Obviously, very proud. An artist always likes to have their work validated one way or another by his piers. When they acknowledge your music it’s a good as it gets.
RP: When are we likely to see Rose Tattoo out on the road again?
Angry: When DeMarco leaves her majesty’s service.
RP: What was the defining moment for you when you knew that music was going to be your life?
Angry: When I got laid just for being the singer in the band…oops, I mean paid.
RP: Who do you cite as your biggest influence who has stayed with you over the years?
Angry: Doris Day or Roddy Stewart
RP: What do you think the future is for rock and music in general in this digital age?
Angry: Pretty dismal at the moment, but history repeats itself so we will go back to real rock and roll.
RP: If you could have been a fly on the wall for the creation of any great album just to see how the magic happened in the studio – what would the album be for you and why?
Angry: Sergeant Peppers – because it’s the greatest album ever made! You have to take into account when it was recorded and produced, it was an incredible achievement and they invented the technology to record that album, which was just extraordinary.
RP: And the easy one to close – what is the meaning of life?
Angry: Money makes women horny! I think John Lee Hooker said that.
See Blood Sweat and Beers – The Concert at:
Friday 1st July Ravenswood Hotel WA https://trybooking.com/LAFE
Saturday 2nd July Charles Hotel WA https://www.trybooking.com/LBLM
