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Sunday 5 July 2015

The Aliens - 1980 - Translator


Too Late Now/Follow That Girl/L.O.V.E. Love/Till The Beast Is Dead/Girls/She's So Dangerous/He's An Angel/The Boys In Black/Go Away/The Machine Wants To Know/ Confrontation/Bomb Squad



In 1975 Greg Webster (guitar), Dave Lewis (guitar), Danny Johnson (vocals), Geoff Stapleton (drums), Grant Lang (keyboards) and Grant Lewis (bass) were playing in an Adelaide band called Gold. A local band they played around Adelaide, as well as a number of country performances. In 1976 Gold were winners

In 1977 Riff Raff consisted of Stapleton and Johnson together with Greg Webster (guitar, vocals),and Rob Grosser (drums). In February 1978 Stapleton and Johnson moved to Melbourne and in April that year formed The Aliens. In June 1979 they signed with Mushroom Records. The Aliens recorded their first single, "Confrontation", with producer Charles Fisher between Saturday, 11 August, and Monday, 13 August 1979, at Trafalgar Studios, Sydney, Australia, during a national tour with the band The Sports. "Confrontation" reached #15 in Sydney, #35 in Brisbane and #36 on the national singles charts.

Their debut album, Translator, was recorded at The Music Farm, in northern New South Wales, between 24 November and 9 December 1979, with producer, David Tickle. The band performed on television shows like Countdown, Nightmoves, Sounds Unlimited, and Hey Hey Its Saturday. In January 1980 the band toured nationally with (U.K.) Squeeze and in March 1980 toured with The Police. The band released its second single, "Follow that Girl", on 25 February 1980. "Follow that Girl" reached #4 in Canberra and #48 on the national singles charts.
of the 5KA 'Battle of the Bands'. Gold soon turned into Riff Raff, which had a much punkier name and this change in image was reflected in their material.


On 20 May 1980 following a performance at the Canberra Theatre, Webster quit and returned to Melbourne. In that brief sixteen month period they played 356 shows around Australia. The band continued as a three piece, working in a whole new repertoire and sound, which included more keyboards from Geoffrey Stapleton.

In September 1980 Randy Bulpin from Mondo Rock briefly joined on lead guitar until the end of October when the band relocated to Sydney. Pierre Baroni joined the band on the day they left Melbourne for Sydney. Baroni was recruited for his voice and song writing ability, as well as his guitar arrangements. On 27 November 1980, Grosser left the band and was replaced by Alex Bash on drums in December 1980. On 6 March 1981, Danny Johnson left the band, leaving Stapleton as the only original member. Greg Trennery joined the band on bass on 31 March 1981. The new line up of Stapleton, Trennery, Baroni, and Bash recorded a new single, "I Don't Care", on 23 May at EMI Studios 301. The A-side featured Stapleton on lead vocal and the B-side, "Over my Head", had Baroni on lead vocals. It was eventually released on their own label, Planet X Records, through EMI in December 1981. On 29 May, Bash left the band and was replaced by Malcolm Fogg on 3 June 1981. They toured Melbourne during October and November 1981. Bash rejoined the band, replacing Fogg for the band's last performance on the television show, Countdown, on 11 December 1981, performing "I Don't Care".







Stapleton went on to play with GANGgajang. Baroni worked in the art department of Mushroom Records.

Members
Alex Bash — drums (1980-1981)
Pierre Baroni — guitar, synthesiser (1980–1981)
Randy Bulpin — guitar (1980)
Rob Grosser — drums (1979–1980)
Malcolm Fogg — drums (1978)
Danny Johnson — vocals, bass (1978–1981)
Graham Lewis — keyboards (1978–1979)
Kevin Patricks — drums (1978-1979)
Geoffrey Stapleton — vocals, guitar (1978–1981)
Greg Trennery — bass (1981)
Greg Webster — vocals, guitar (1978–1980)





                       L-R : Greg Webster, Rob Grosser , Danny Johnson, Geoffrey Stapleton.

Discography

Albums
Translator — Mushroom (1980)

Singles
"Confrontation"/"Boys in Black" — Mushroom (December 1979) AUS #36
"Follow That Girl"/"The Hyding of Dr Jekyll" — Mushroom (February 1980) AUS #48
"I Don't Care"/"Over My Head" — Planet X (December 1981)

5 comments:

  1. Vinyoleum,- Just would Like to thank you very much for The Aliens -Confrontation LP.
    It was on my hunt list for a few months. I have the 45 Single for Confrontation (Non-Picture sleeve) but hey this and you re-upping the Jo Jo Zeps have definitely made my day or past few years !!

    Now would you happen to have any Models (Altern/New Wave), Daryl Cotton Album with Same Old Girl, Mondo Rock Nuevo Mondo or 12" Extended plays, Mental As Anything - Get Wet Album. If not, I'm just asking and thanks again for the music !!!!

    1AussieMusicLover (plus A whole lot More.....)

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  2. Great Stuff - Another early 80's beauty. Bought this on the strength of the 2 singles and was pleasantly surprised by this album. Sad that they released such a strong debut album and broke up not long after.
    Thanks

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  3. I have the Models Alphabravo etc on the blog but will have to update the link I'll se what else I have

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    1. Much Appreciated!! The Church 12 Inch and the Mondo Rock 12 Inch’s you have, if possible, can you re-up them.
      The stuff I’m looking for is on eighties vinyl(Blog/Site) in their sections (Mental as Anything 12 inches, Models 12 inches, and Mondo Rock (Different from your vinyl extended versions (Wow !! So many different Australian versions I had no idea existed, amazing!) Yes! I have tries to contact and leave messages about re-upping those bands music, the site is alive and music is still being posted on there. No answer or re-ups yet !!!
      The time and effort you have put into this along with other peoples (Blogs/Sites)music collections just has me stunned, great job and excellent selections!!
      Request or enquiry, would have the Mi-Sex - Where do they go? (Australian pressing Vinyl edition). As it has different tracks from the U.S. version?
      A few others - Wendy & the Rocketts - Mini LP (Live I believe), Australian Crawl - EP’s or Live, The Expression – EP’s or 12 inch Versions, and Divyls 12 inch versions or other. If you have or do not have, thank you for the reply, thanks again!!
      The Orphans – ( I did get this 45 single you had, great stuff!!) and they had another song “Big Ronnie”, now did they have an album or was it just the 2 singles?
      1AussieMusicLover (Plus a Whole Lot More…)

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  4. Hey Deutros - thanks for this one.

    What a great album!

    I remember playing and enjoying Confrontation, and I'm a bit surprised that I didn't seek this out at the time.

    It really is a beauty.

    Cheers

    Tony

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