A post from a Facebook group about the streets I grew up in and the footballers who all came from one block.

 

FROM THE ARCHIVES

NELSON STREET BOYS AND ‘NEIGHBOURS’

NEIGHBOURHOOD OF STARS

Part 2

By GRAHAM GREENWOOD

CONTINUING The Nelson Street Boys story, it also includes some stars who made it big in sport from neighbouring streets.

But first, to finish off Nelson Street, one resident family was the Cutting family who lived there during the 1950s and 60s.

Kevin Cutting was closely aligned with East Gambier and was the manager of East Gambier Sportsmen’s Club during the early 1970s before becoming the publican of the Port MacDonnell Hotel.

Of his children, Anthony was a promising colts footballer with East but died as a result of accident in 1979. Kevin’s daughter Helen married Simon Carey who was instrumental in East’s success during the 1970s and 80s as a runner, selector and recruiter.

Over the years he recruited Paul Lynch from Beaufort, Victoria. Lynch later married Kevin’s other daughter Di. Lynch was a tough, no-nonsense follower from the Ballarat League and made a big impression at East. Carey also recruited top players such as David Wilson (son of Penola goal kicking champion Ernie who won the SEBFL goal kicking in 1959), John Sidebottom, Dennis Finn and Mike Wood. Many of these became premiership players at East.

Carey was a radio announcer with 5SE and moved to Sydney where he worked in radio there.

Surrounding Nelson Street were plenty of other young kids who kicked the footy with the Nelson Street boys. On some nights and weekends there were as many as 20 kids kicking the footy end to end in Nelson Street and it was highly competitive.

Nelson Street ran into Wayne Glynn’s family’s home in Werona Street. Glynn kicked 10 goals at full forward as a teenager in his first A grade game for South Gambier in the early 1980s and later, as a talented batsman, would become a Barber Shield cricket premiership player at South and later president of the footy club until just recently.

The Dempsey family home in Boandik Terrace backed onto the Brooksby home in Nelson Street and Michael Dempsey broke into A grade at 17 and was destined to become a top player until illness cut short his career.

Peter Dempsey played in six grand finals with East during the 1980s, after debuting in the late 1970s. He won flags in 1982, 83 and 88. He was quick around the ground and could hold his own in any key position such as centre half back but played his best footy in the centre. He played centre in East’s 1982 premiership win over South Gambier. He also captained the club. The 1988 premiership broke a “drought” of losing the previous three grand finals in succession.

Patrick Dempsey also played with East and was part of two Reserve grade premierships.

The Graney clan were just a drop kick away around the corner from Nelson Street and the boys followed their father Noel Graney who, with Soapy Heazlewood, were the first two players to receive life membership at East. They tossed a coin to see who would be named first on the honour board. Noel played in the back pocket with East through the 1950s and was highly regarded as a top defender.

Phil Graney broke into East A grade in the late 1960s after starring in colts footy. He played under state full back Tracey Braidwood as coach in 1969 and was a member of Gary Lazarus’ team which lost the 1971 grand final to West Gambier. Blessed with pace and ball skills he played as a half forward on that grand final day. David Graney was another who played at senior level and was talented player, while Steve Graney debuted at 15 years of age in A grade in the mid 1970s and was also an A grade basketballer with Waratah in the early 1970s.

A dashing half back flanker, or utility player, Steve played in East’s losing 1978 grand final while the youngest of the clan - Sean was a member of East’s 1988 premiership side and among their best players on that day.

At the east end of Nelson Street on the corner in Allawah Street, the Lucas family lived and Robert Lucas was a junior tennis star and as a teenager played in St Mary’s A1 grade tennis premiership side in the 1960s. He was also a top junior cricketer and footballer but did not pursue those sports into seniors as he later went into politics and was state Treasurer in the previous Liberal State Government.

What is interesting about Nelson Street and the surrounding streets is that in an area possibly not much bigger than the size of a soccer field, this small area produced so many top sports people during the 1950s, 60s and 70s.

AUTHOR’S NOTE: Acknowledgment is given to Harry Young for jolting my memory and reminding me how many stars came out of Nelson Street (part 1) and Peter Dempsey for assisting with some of the names and details in Part 2 of The Nelson Street story and neighbouring streets.

· PHOTO: Three-time East premiership player, Peter Dempsey

Ends

 

In the Western Border League team at Victoria Park, Collingwoods ground. If you were to play in the VFL you were "zoned" for Collingwood. I'm up the back with my green and white surf shirt under my guernsey. Mark Yeates far right in bottom row, famously tried to destroy Dermott Brereton at the start of the 1989 AFL Grand Final.

My brother Steve, second from left in the second row. A whole team of Under 18 bruisers. 

 

 

My younger brother Sean and his mates post 1988 WBFL Grand Final which was won by East Gambier.

 

The Mistly Players

 

After the show in Murwillumbah I was sitting having a cup of tea in our very nice bandroom and Dave Wray was continuing his way through his bottle of Talisker whisky. If he was dousing himself, he was not getting any more mellow. He spoke so fast he was outrunning his own mind. We were just talking of jazz people. he loved Louis Jordan and I was throwing names I’d know or heard of throughmy own investigatons into late 40s or early 50s black American music. Wynonie Harris, Lowell Fulson, T Bone Walker, Nat King Cole, Amos Milburn, Charles Brown, he could talk about any of them. And when we approached the legend of Charlie Parker it was like walking through an art gallery with an actual painter who knows all about the game and the rooms and the grifts and the original rulers. The ones who laid down the grids.

 

 

He was talking about his own playing and how he was exhausted physically from being tensed up and holding himself ready to blow as he followed my changes on the guitar. He was saying that more time to rehearse and play the songs would get him to a different level with the material. He talked of Charlie Parker hitting every note hard and clean. No sliding into or out of notes or phrases, he knew the lines and played them perfectly. He was saying how good it sounds when a horn player is there – in the groove or pocket and right there on the beat. 

 

 

 

It had been great playing with him on sax and he and Adele had taken in and played a lot of new material in a very short time. A whirlwind weekend.

Adele Pickvance comes from a very different musical place. She started playing bass in Brisbane rooms with her father as a duo. Keyboards and bass. They got paid more as a duo. At first she was even plugged in but she stood there and learned all the notes to the songs. It was her school, where she paid her dues. She has never been phased by being on a stage. Her favourite band is Queen and she loved Paul McCartneys musical Give My Regards To Broad Street. In other words, her taste is yet to touch the bottom! (Another MCCartney album title, almost – Kisses On The Bottom). She plays in a very McCartneysque way. Ask Robyn Hitchcock! Melodic and playful and full of bounce.

She plays and records with her band Adele And The Chandeliers and does a show on ZZZin Brisbane with Ian Powne from the Stress Of Leisure called Brighten The Corners. 

Here is a live clip which also feature Robert Forsters partner, Karin Baumler.  

 

 

Stu Thomas introduced us to the ever expanding world of Lee Hazlewood when he did a show of Lees songs. “None of the hits- just deep album cuts”. Such amazing material. Stu’s first instrument was the trumpet and he brought that along to the Bewdy Of Speed show in 2009 when we made a mad run through Miles Davis In A Silent Way. He was great to sit and talk music with. He loved all periods of Miles, even the last electro styled ones with Marcus Miller being most of the band. Stu also loves Kiss. His generation, I guess, we could never buy into that stuff. Stu is a fearless solo performer and takes songs way out of their comfort zones . He professes a love for 60s surf instrumental sounds and loves to fuss over reverb and delay pedals. His first solo gigs I saw were all songs from biker movies. The only one I can remember is Killing For Satan. He also “finished off” a sketch of a song that either Nick Cave or Brad Pitt sang in Johnny Suede called Mamas Boy. He also sang Lee H’s Girl On Death Row and Johnny Guitar from the movie of the same name starring Joan Crawford. He did a great version of the movie theme (covered by David Bowie on Station To Station) Wild Is The Wind as well as the Bond song Thunderball. All this done mostly with vocal and a Burns Baritone guitar. Stu can really get to the jazz elements of my chord voicings and his harmony vocals are great, either the super high or super low notes.

 

 

 

 

 

Stu Thomas is playing in a Melbourne band called SILVERSOUND with Shane O'Mara and Andrew Tanner. 

 

 

Stuart Perera has played with us since 1998 when we saw him playing in a Victorian College Of the Arts jazz band. He is still playing the same guitar, a black left handed solid body Rickenbacker. He has gone through a few different kinds of amps and at the moment has the same kind as me, a Vox MV50 head with a speaker box. These heads are 22W valve but the size of a large-ish pedal. Stu is always into making things small and compact. He lives that way too, leaving a small footprint. He is the best educated of any of us and is a very thoughtful person. A positive guy. Musically he tunes into my stuff very instinctively and his playing on In A Mistly (on four tracks) is amazing. Once, when we had Stu and Billy Miller on guitar- around 2001-2- I thought I would stop playing my guitar and just be a stand up singer again. (That’s what I did through all the music we made all through to end of the Coral Snakes period). They looked at each other sheepishly as they had to admit that neither of them actually knew the chords to any of my songs. They had just been playing licks by ear all the while.

Stu doesn’t really collect any kind of music or go to lots of shows. He is certainly not an indie rock guy. He practices guitar and plays it. 

He used to play a lot around bars and clubs in Melbourne with dance bands. Again, not real rock culture outfits and the players were all from the mutli cultural world that Stuart comes from and lives in. This was one of them. 

 

 

Thursday March 23rd we play our Melbourne In A Mistly album launch at the Nightcat in Johnston st Fitzroy.  We played every Wednesday night in 1999 at 8pm at this venue in one of the first things we did in our post Coral Snakes period. Mick Medew and Ursula will be coming down from Brisbane to open the show as a way to launch their album Love Is Calling in Melbourne as well. 

Friday March 31st we play Smiths in Canberra.

Saturday April 1st we launch In A Mistly in Sydney at the Great Club in Marrickville. 

Sunday April 2nd we play The Link And Pin  -
18A Railway St, , Woy Woy NSW 2256

 

Our West Australian dates have been re-scheduled for May.

Lyric's Underground (Maylands, WA)

Friday, 12 May 2023 7:30 PM

Saturday 13 May 2023 7:00 PM - 11:00 PM (UTC+08)

The Vault Restaurant
21 Haynes Street, Kalamunda WA 6076

 

6:00pm, Sun 14 May, 2023

The Duke of George, Fremantle WA

Robert Brokenmouth critiques In A Mistly from within the i94bar rock action web magazine

 

WA Dates re-scheduled-Melbourne Canberra and Sydney happening soon.

 We were both testing negative as we headed to Brisbane to hook up with Adele Pickvance who was to play bass with us for a weekend of shows. Sounds easy and it actually turned out that way. Of course, it could have gone pear shaped at any turn and we were probably expecting that. (Nothing to do with Adele, more to do with airlines and trashed gear and hire cars etc). 

 

Adele had played with us from 1998 to 2004 so she knew a lot of our songs. She learned quite a few from the new album and we were able to do two sets. The first show was on the Gold Coast and Dave Wray - who was to play sax - met us at Adele's flat in Brisbane and drove with Clare and some of the gear to the venue. He had driven from Lismore. 

Dave had sang a few songs on our album The Devil Drives back in 1997 but had never got his sax out. We had gone over a few songs via Zoom in the previous week. He had also played on three tracks on the album In A Mistly.

The venue was  in an industrial estate and was totally tooled for rock music. Great gear and facilities. We had plenty of foldback and played a loud couple of sets .

I had never played my songs with a band containing sax before and it felt so good. I felt like Lou Reed in the 70s! It added to the groove and the melodies. Old songs like You're Just Too Hip got a new dimension to them. I loved it. 

 

Dave had learned parts for every song we played. Rhythmic and melodic lines as well as solo parts. Tenor and soprano sax. He is an amazingly energetic character and dazzles with Shakespearean soliloquoys in a  George Formby one moment and then talk of Louis Jordan and Charlie Parker and the Simpsons and Witnail and I the next. He is like Neal Casady must have been, energy itself. 

We stayed on the Gold Coast and then drove to Lennox Heads where we visited friendsand then to Eltham where we played at the hotel. Eltham is basically a cafe, a hotel and some tennis courts. People come from all over the area and we played in an outdoor area for two sets.

Three old time Mt Gambier people were in the audience and it was great catching up after the show.

I was wearing sandals and short sleeved shirts and I was playing my Maton Mastersound guitar.

On Saturday we drove to Murwillumbah and set up to play at the Citadel, a lovely old Salvation Army hall, run as a collective by local people.

We had played there previously but as a duo. As we slammed into the first song a woman in the front row got up loudly to complain that it was far too loud and she had to leave. Dave got upset but I thought we'd just keep on playing as you can't please everybody. It turned out that she was a cousin of a cousin of mine and came up to apologize and said it was better for her to sit outside and listen. A room full of very nice people at this venue. All sorts of ages and a lot of women. Smart people.  

We stayed until it was far too late, talking with people.

On Saturday afternoon February 25th Clare Moore and I play an opening set for Dog Trumpet at the Northcote Social Club. We will be on quite early. About 1:30pm.

 

Thursday March 23rd we play our Melbourne In A Mistly album launch at the Nightcat in Johnston st Fitzroy.  We played every Wednesday night in 1999 at 8pm at this venue in one of the first things we did in our post Coral Snakes period. Mick Medew and Ursula will be coming down from Brisbane to open the show as a way to launch their album Love Is Calling in Melbourne as well. 

Friday March 31st we play Smiths in Canberra.

Saturday April 1st we launch In A Mistly in Sydney at the Great Club in Marrickville. 

Sunday April 2nd we play The Link And Pin  -
18A Railway St, , Woy Woy NSW 2256

 

Our West Australian dates have bee re-scheduled for May.

Lyric's Underground (Maylands, WA)

Friday, 12 May 2023 7:30 PM

Saturday 13 May 2023 7:00 PM - 11:00 PM (UTC+08)

The Vault Restaurant
21 Haynes Street, Kalamunda WA 6076

 

6:00pm, Sun 14 May, 2023

The Duke of George, Fremantle WA

Robert Brokenmouth critiques In A Mistly from within the i94bar rock action web magazine

WA dates to be re-scheduled and QLD-NSW happening this weekend

 

 

 

We had planned some shows in Perth and Fremantle last week but then I got Covid and then Clare got it too and all the plans went out the window. We are looking at rescheduling the dates soon and May is looking good. Apologies to everybody. We were and are really looking forward to playing in the West.

Clare Moore and I had done a gig at a private party and wore masks when in the room except when performing. As usual, we had our own mics and our own air purifier. Its the second time we've had it and caught it playing at a party the first time! Annoying.

RIP BURT- I was about to yell at the photographer (to quit it) . 1997.

I was able to get the anti virals due to having an underlying lung condition but Clare had to battle the bug cold.

We are now both testing negative.

Anti virals should be freely available to people like musicians who work in public situations.

Tomorrow we fly to Queensland and hook up with Adele Pickvance who will play bass with us and Dave Wray aka Frank Bennett who will play sax  at these venues...

Thursday February 16th we play at Mos Desert Clubhouse in Burleigh Heads.

Friday February 17th at the Hotel Eltham in Eltham (Lismore).

Saturday February 18th we play the Citadel in Murwillumbah.

 

Adele Pickvance with The Dave Graney Show 1998. Photo Tony Mahony.

 

Adele played with us in The Dave Graney Show from 1998 to 2004. We first met her when she was playing with Robert Forster and she later played in the latterday Go Betweens. A fantastic player. We look forward to these dates with Adele as well.

 

We are endeavouring to play music from In A Mistly at these shows so we need to make some rock action and drama with bass, drums and guitar. We will be playing other material from our back catalogue as well.

 

Dave Wray aka Frank Bennett - playing sax with us this weekend. He's a mensch!

 

 

Dave Wray performed as Frank Bennett in the 90s (and still does occsasionally ) , a Frank Sinatra act. He put out two wonderful albums of contemporary music as sung by FRANK. Five O'Clock Shadow and CASH LANDING. These albums are highly sought after - mainly because they are so great! He appeared on several songs on our last album as Dave Graney and the Coral Snakes, THE DEVIL DRIVES. But he has always been a GREAT SAX PLAYER. He plays on three tracks on In A Mistly and I am really looking forward to these shows this weekend. 

On Saturday afternoon February 25th Clare Moore and I play an opening set for Dog Trumpet at the Northcote Social Club. We will be on quite early.

 

Thursday March 23rd we play our Melbourne In A Mistly album launch at the Nightcat in Johnston st Fitzroy.  We played every Wednesday night in 1999 at 8pm at this venue in one of the first things we did in our post Coral Snakes period. Mick Medew and Ursula will be coming down from Brisbane to open the show as a way to launch their album Love Is Calling in Melbourne as well. 

Friday March 31st we play Smiths in Canberra.

Saturday April 1st we launch In A Mistly in Sydney at the Great Club in Marrickville. 

Robert Brokenmouth critiques In A Mistly from within the i94bar rock action web magazine

 

I answered some questions about shows I'd seen here and there...

 

 

 

1. First concert - The Masters Apprentices Kings Theatre Mt Gambier 1970. (I was an actual kid)

 
2. Last concert - Unsure. Might have been a Tex Perkins and Matt Walker gig. Or Bob Downe. All were excellent. (I'm in the middleof a lot of touring - see below) 

 
3. Worst concert – seen loads of bad shows. Probably something Jon Spencer was doing. 

 
4. Loudest concert - The Other Side at the Marryatville in Adelaide 79 or 1980. But I liked them and everything Rob Younger does. A great guy. The Flaming Lips at the Palace were loud but they seemed to be all about distracting from their essential emptiness anyway. It didn't work. Probably the loudest I've experienced as a player is a couple of nights playing bass with Harry Howard and Edwina  Preston and that was just their raw, powerful singing. It was like being in a fire one night on Smith street. I tried to lie down to get under the sound but there was no escape...

5. Best Concert - again - there have been many... I loved seeing Arthur Lee and Love at the Corner after he got out of gaol and I'd seen him at the Sir George Robey in London just before he went in. Johnny Cash and Glenn Campbell with orchestra at the Albert Hall ( and we were sitting and drinking in a private box a friend had for the night) , Mark Stewart and The Maffia wiping the floor with the Swans in London 1987. The Pop Group in Edinburgh 2016 or so. Every gig I saw of the Boys next Door and then the Birthday Party tours when they were back recording Prayers On Fire and Junkyard. Every gig I've seen Tav Falco do. One of my favourite nights was seeing The Mike Flowers Pops play two sets in a theatre club in London. They were like a crazy big band and did versions of film themes like Cool Hand Luke as well as tv themes and irrreverent swings through pompous hard rock classics. In 1996 we were in London and I saw The Divine Comedy on morning tv and they mentioned a gig they were doing that night so we went along to the then rarely used St Pancras Hall to see them launch their genius album CASANOVA. Neil Hannon was fearless, yet bookish and totally confident yet distant. Perfect.

 

 
I saw Jimi Tenor play solo a few years ago in Melbourne and he was great. Always is. One of my fave shows was at the Basement in Sydney in 1998. He had an all female band. Drums, bass and trumpet I think. He played organ and sax. Every A&R guy in Australia was there to see the opening act who were the Avalanches. They were still an instrumental trio ( I mean drums and bass and keys or guitars - no samples involved) and acted up for the occasion. Like an audition. Jimi was brilliant. Always love seeing Matt Walker play and hope to see Margret Roadknight again (even though she says she is retiring) . Greg Walker aka machine Translations was the first person I ever saw using a loop pedal and he did it best because he had such great songs. Always love to see what he is doing. In recent years it has been the venues that acts have chosen that has really inspired the occasion for me. the whole Eastmint Crew and their under the radar art factory with the brilliant On Diamond and Cold Hands Warm Heart. I also saw Leah Senior do a great show there. The Go Betweeens were great in the early 80s in Melbourne and when we all went down to Frankston to play in a hall, fully expecting to die- that was - as the late Chris Farley would have said - awesome! Loved seeing the Cruel Sea dozens of times at different stages in their career- always such a wonderful unit. The Beasts Of Bourbon I saw very early and very late and probably the most human glimpse of them was in London in 1987 or 88 and I'd been away from Australia for a few years. Theyd been in Europeand were doing a London gig for the hell of it at the Borderline in the West End . Black Milk was the album and I think Spencer and Kim both has plaster on their arms or wrists. It was amazing to see what a unit they had become (seeing as they started out as something like an accident or a bunch of opportunities- less than serious anyway) .
Always love seeing Jodi Phillis in whatever she does too. 

 
Steely Dan at Rod Laver Arena with Steve Winwood opening (playing a lot of Traffic stuff) was superb.
 

In the early 2000s Melbourne we used to go see a band called ROOM 101 who were a jazz big band who only played Charles Mingus, that was also always great.

 
6. Seen the most – probably either Boys Next Door/Birthday Party/Cave/Bad Seeds or The Cruel Sea ( we did two long tours together) 

 
7. Most surprising – Billy Bragg. I was just impressed by how good he was at playing, projecting and presenting and he held your interest for a whole concert. With just an elecctric guitar- no pedals (especially no loop pedal)

 
8. Happy I got to See – Roky Erikson who had been a strangely influential person on me. Just for his language in his songs more than anything. We were invited by Stewart Lee to play at the last All Tomorrows Parties event and it had a lot of underground heroes on it. Sun Ra Arkestra, Shirley Collins CTMF (!) Roky Erikson, The Raincoats, the Fall, The Nightingales, The Ex, (John Cale pulled out) . 

Also glad I got to see James Chance play, and Tim Rose. And Alan Vega in Lausanne , Swizterland in 1990. And David Johansen and Syl Sylvain in Melbourne in 2011. ( Its not my thing but I had to go and say hi to both Alan and David as they'd both been such big influences).

 
9. Wish I could have seen - The Steve Miller Band, Allman Brothers Band, Grant Green, Wes Montgomery, Davey Graham, The Stones with Jones, Miles Davis at any period, Charlie Parker in a club, Richard Hell And The Voidoids. Wynonie Harris, Bo Diddley. Elvis Presley, Tim Buckley. Lord Buckley.

10. Still need to see - Paul Westerberg.  

 

 

 

Tomorrow we fly to Queensland and hook up with Adele Pickvance who will play bass with us and Dave Wray aka Frank Bennett who will play sax  at these venues...

Thursday February 16th we play at Mos Desert Clubhouse in Burleigh Heads.

Friday February 17th at the Hotel Eltham in Eltham (Lismore).

Saturday February 18th we play the Citadel in Murwillumbah.

We are endeavouring to play music from In A Mistly at these shows so we need to make some rock action and drama with bass, drums and guitar. We will be playing other material from our back catalogue as well.

On Saturday afternoon February 25th Clare Moore and I play an opening set for Dog Trumpet at the Northcote Social Club. We will be on quite early.

 

Thursday March 23rd we play our Melbourne In A Mistly album launch at the Nightcat in Johnston st Fitzroy.  We played every Wednesday night in 1999 at 8pm at this venue in one of the first things we did in our post Coral Snakes period. Mick Medew and Ursula will be coming down from Brisbane to open the show as a way to launch their album Love Is Calling in Melbourne as well. 

Friday March 31st we play Smiths in Canberra.

Saturday April 1st we launch In A Mistly in Sydney at the Great Club in Marrickville.