Pop Ruins - a clip made for us by Delaney Davidson

Delaney Davidson was over from New Zealand in late November/early December to do some shows in Melbourne and he shot some images on his phone when we went to get a coffee in Box Hill.
He shot some of Clare at a  show she was doing in Reservoir and just this week he sent us this clip. Thanks so much Delaney!





The song is one of the central thematic pieces on our album ONE MILLION YEARS DC, along with COMRADE OF POP.




Two opposites really. One focuses on abandoned, brokedown palaces and rock'n'roll movie sets and hotels with Marquee Moons and the other riffs on the underground connections a person can make in the musical demi monde of shadows and elemental shapes in the smoke machined interiors you spend so much time awake and dreaming within. Doncha?
The lyrics reference houses and scenes associated with the Grateful Dead, Rolling Stones, Bob Marley , the Saints and the potent names of famous theatres and clubs

lyrics   

Oh look at that beautiful song lyin’ there in the sand 

hey, where did that sand come from? 

must’ve come in with the song 

Pop Ruins 

 I love this song! 

Hey, you know, we built this song 

this song in the sand 

Pop Ruins 

Edith Grove - Powis Square - 56 Hope Road - Petrie Terrace 

This Brokedown Palace on Shakedown Street 

this Family Dog 

we listened from a window in the Mars Hotel 

there’s a Marquee Moon as well 

busted 

absolutely wrecked 

Pop Ruins 

The Roxy - The Odeon - Apollo - Palais - Olympia - The Whiskey - Detroit Grande 

yeah I felt bad for places and times that were never mine 

Brooklyn 79 

back in the day, back in the day 

the Zen Arcade 

arcady 

arcadium 

with the Jimmy Castor Bunch 

Pop Ruins 

yeah I love this song 

credits Dave Graney - vocals, guitars. Clare Moore - vibes, bass xylophone, melodica, backing vocals Stu Thomas - backing vocals

Otherwise, I've been writing a lot of songs. We have some dates coming up this weekend in Central Coast NSW and Canberra and then further. Working out what and how to play things. While doing thata. I've been writing more songs. I'm at a time of my life when its just all rushing at me and through me. This incredible time of political corruption and attendant bending of reality via the  corporate media when run alongside the absolutely crazy weather is really pushing me to try and understand or articulate things about my life and world. For instance, Australia used to be a place you could feel good about being a part of. Its being trashed by thugs.

I've been thinking of recording some things on a  4 track cassette player and that got me to pulling out a load of re-recorded cassettes that have been sitting on a  shelf for DECADES.  

I've been throwing up the listening experience on Instagram. (I shared some on Twitter but thats a different kind of social media. people argue and comment a lot more. Not as much as Facebook. Instagram is the softest. Nicest.) I'll share them again here. Its been very enjoyable opening up this box of sound.

Old School double cassettes in the house. Deadheads, Jerrys playing is great on this and the two drummers sound terrific. The Tim Buckley Dream Letter double live has been very inspirational over the years. The fearlessness of the playing within the minimal format #cassettes #timbuckley #gratefuldead #dreamletter #withoutanet

 Today’s cassettes and today’s truck. #derekandclive #vanmorrison #blackandblue

 

 Today’s cassettes and vintage ride. #weatherreport #sydstraw #jaguar

 Yes I was trying to get organazized (Travis Bickle word) and got distracted. By a deluxe tape deck I haven’t been using enough. Today’s cassettes. And truck. #keithjarrett #gatobarbieri

 

 Today’s cassettes and vintage muscle car. In homage to sulphuric Sydney nightlife as sung and played by rogues such as Peter Wells (Rose Tattoo) and Marc Hunter (Dragon). I loved their music and got to say hello to each once- sadly- at benefits for them when they were in ill health. #peterwells #rosetattoo #marchunter #dragon #kingscross #sydney

 

 Today’s vintage ride and cassettes. Some vintage British individualities. Ian Dury with Kilburn and The High Roads, Roxy Music with Paul Thompson , Phil Manzanera oh and BRYAN, and Clare Moores fave AUDIENCE with the amazing Howard Werth and the brilliant Hipgnosis sleeves. #roxymusic #audience #howardwerth #kilburnandthehighroads #iandury #hipgnosis

 

Today’s cassettes and vintage vehicle. The Associates POPERA and two late 80s bootleges. The Jesus And Mary Chain and Iggy Pop. Bought latter at a stall as we walked out of the Hammersmith Odeon from the actual gig! It was the Blah Blah Blah tour. Barry Adamson on bass and Seamus on guitar/ keys. He’s the figure Australians have seen for years on the opening to RAGE tv show in the Alien Sex Fiend shirt. We bought tickets at the door, it was his first tour since Bowie’s hit with China Girl allowed him to stop touring and get healthy. He came on and did side one of Funhouse with short hair and a black leather jacket. #theassociates #iggypop #jesusandmarychain

 

Today’s cassettes and vintage ride. A Morris Major Woody van I think. Barry Adamsons amazing debut Moss Side story, all instrumental but I wrote some liner notes. Coming out of his bass player corner to be a band leader/soundtrack composer, He started singing on subsequent albums and has kept up a stellar flow of superb quality music. Cyndi Lauper , I love her songs like I Drove All Night and Money Changes Everything. Henry Rollins finest recorded moment letting his freak flag out with the Hard Ons on an AcDc song. My sister Julie left this with me. She and her mates came out of Waverley after a rare Saints win and put this tape in as they put the foot on the gas and drove back to inner city civilisation. #henryrollins #thehardons #cyndilauper #barryadamson #mosssidestory

 

“I was on the backseat. Being taken to Bordertown. There was nothin for me there. I pulled the window and let my hand stray. I Held The Cool Breeze.” PIC JULIE GRANEY

 

 Today’s vintage cassettes and ride. Sorry for the break in posts, I was looking for another Robyn Hitchcock tape, Queen Elvis. Unfortunately the house has eaten it. First got into Robyn via what was to be his last album with the Egyptians,the masterful Respect CD. It contained the brilliant sex-religion splainer SERPENT AT THE GATES OF WISDOM (think about it) and the wonderful musical pastiche homage THE WRECK OF THE ARTHUR LEE. Since then I’ve kept up as best as I can. He works a tight and well defined area but brings you into a universe. So this is Globe Of Frogs. Note the rare landscape perspective cassette album artwork. Also Jeremy Spencer, a solo album from a member of the best era of Fleetwood Mac. Back then, to leave a band you had to lose your mind with acid, bring Yoko to a rehearsal or join a religious cult. Jeremy did the latter I think. #robynhitchcock #jeremyspencer #fleetwoodmac #liptontea

 

Today’s vintage cassettes, ride and slide. Southern Rock was a fave jam when I was a teen. The Allman Brothers Live At Fillmore East. They apparently played until dawn. Duane and Berry both dead before the next release. Amazingly dramatic band. Invited to Jimmy Carter’s inauguration. Fellow Southerners. Is Texas “southern” ? ZZ Tops Billy Gibbon was in The Moving Sidewalks on Nuggets. That came out in ‘72 and ZZ Top were still on the boogie circuit. They hit biggest in the 80s. I hear Billy is an art collector. Abstract.  #zztop #allmanbrothers #treshombres #riograndemud

 

 Today’s vintage cassettes and truck. The Everly Brothers and Gene Vincent and The Blue Caps. The latter were Mark E Smith’s faves as he approved of the way they were said to like a fight on occasion. The Boys Next Door also did a great version of Genes song CATMAN which suited them so well. John Cale could be heard to speak highly of the Everlys beautiful harmony singing. They liked to disagree as well. The music of both acts is so simple and should be studied by any indie act as examples of what you can do with a few simple elements. Almost acoustic recordings. Of course you need talent, immersion in a vibrant, rich culture from a young age, obsessive drive, beautiful and loud Martin guitars. And maybe some great diet pills. And grease for your hair. #pomade #everlybrothers #genevincentandthebluecaps #dietpills #martinguitars

 

 Today’s vintage cassette and ride. An American Prayer by Jim Morrison with music by The Doors. Well an awkward construct there as Jim was in The Doors too but the music business always had to isolate the singer. Music added after Jim’s death. Some live tracks, some recordings of his poetry and him just talking. Fantastic, as is everything put down by these young guys in “five mean years”. I love his rap on astrology here which ends “ gonna get my kicks before the whole shithouse goes up on flames” . I also covered Ode To My Cock in our show Live In Hell. “Death and my cock are the world”. Once drove from the city to our place ( an hour trip) in our old HQ on a hot day with Kim Salmon getting very angry in the back seat as I made everybody enjoy this piece of magic ( he don’t like the Doors) . #jimmorrison #anamericanprayer #thedoors #kimsalmon #Itouchedherthighanddeathsmiled

 

 Today’s vintage cassettes with no rides (street level stuff here) . I got to stress, these tapes have been sitting on a shelf since the cassette era ended! There are also the mixtapes. Street Beats is very early hip hop with Grandmaster Flash headlining but great support from Treacherous Three and also West Street Mob #streetrap #streetbeat #queenofclubs #discofrenzy #oldskool

 

Today’s vintage cassettes and truck. When I was a teen in Mt Gambier everybody had Vans album Tupelo Honey and I heard THEM classics like Here Comes The Night on radio. That was a Bert Berns production and co write, I’d learn later on. He was Vans mentor in the USA. Apparently they argued on the phone and Bert died of a heart attack and his widow blamed Van. Van wanted out of the contracts he’d signed and the settlement was that her company would own the copyrights to his next album. He recorded this one TB SHEETS which is pretty harrowing stuff. The next album was Astral Weeks and some of those tunes were in the deal as well. (I was told to listen to that thinking of the singer being obsessed with a young girl). Anyway, any Van Morrison album is touched with some magic. Veedon fleece has such a unique sound and I love his mid 70s AOR FM songs like Wavelength.#vanmorrison #them #tbsheets

2020 shows

Feb 7th Dave Graney and Clare Moore play Hardys Bay Club, Central Coast NSW

Feb 9th Dave Graney and Clare Moore play Smiths in Canberra with Coral Snake Robin Casinader joining them on mellotron.

Feb 20th Dave Graney and Clare Moore play the Ember Lounge (Memo Music Hall) St Kilda.

Feb 22nd , Mona Foma, Hobart 1pm show
Feb 23rd , Longley, Tasmania 2pm show

Dave Graney solo dates in WA in February.

Thur 27 Feb - Freo Social, Fremantle WA
Fri 28 Feb - The River Hotel, Margaret River WA
Sat 29 Feb - The Prince Of Wales, Bunbury WA
Sun 1 March - The Indi Bar, Indian Ocean Hotel - Scarborough WA

Dave Graney and Clare Moore
Friday March 27th Junk Bar, Ashgrove, Brisbane QLD
Saturday March 28th Junk Bar, Ashgrove, Brisbane QLD
Sunday March 29th Sol Bar, Sunshine Coast , QLD