DOWNUNDER UK1398:RICK & BAD BOYS ORIG1966 OZ GARAGE 7"

	A$		106
	$		70

 Recently a friend passed away - he was a gem of a person, and aside from the obvious sadness involved in all that, he was renowned for having one of the best collections of 60's Garage, Beat, Punk & Psychedelic 7"s, EPs and LPs (especially of Australian artists) - gathered together meticulously and carefully for longer than the 36 year period I'd known him. Some things he'd parted with over the past few years of little work and continuing overheads, and a small section was stolen by someone also well-known here (I suspect her karma will come) - but the bottom line is, he had amazingly good taste, and (like a previous recent collection I was selling here) the gems he had were mostly handpicked for excellence....[with some others gathered to complete (often very obscure) label collections].

Anyway, this is one of that huge collection...all of which will appear here over the next few weeks.

::ARTIST:   RICK AND THE BAD BOYS    ::TRACKS:  "BAD BOY" / "LISTEN"   ::FORMAT:  …vinyl 7” single…   ::LABEL:     DOWNUNDER / Festival  

::CATALOGUE #:   UK-1398   

::PRESSED IN:     AUSTRALIA   

::RELEASE DATE:   June 1966 

::ORIGINAL FIRST PRESSING?:   ...Yes, it is!...

::CONDITION (cover/record):  ( - / VG+ ) ...has several light scuffs/marks but nothing deep or scratchy...plays very well, but with a few crackles - it's still a nice copy! ...never released in pic sleeve...comes in its original company sleeve...

::LABEL CONDITION:  

'A' side:   M-

'B' side:   EX-  ...a name had been written on this label but has been 'whited' out  - no text affected, on white background (see pic)...     

Here's some info gleened from a Library Museum site outta Hurstville, NSW:

Bad Boy (listed as written by Marty Wilde but actually written by Larry Williams) / Listen (R. Suey)

Personnel:
Rick Suey – vocal, Peter Snerling - bass, Bob Gunn - rhythm guitar,

Kim Humphreys – lead guitar, Barry ‘Butch’ McClause – drums

Other musicians known to have played with the band were drummers, Peter Jaggle and Michael McCormack, and guitarist Paul Adams who replaced Bob Gunn. Rick was about 17, the others 19 or 20 when the recording was made.

The Beatles had recorded a version of “Bad Boy”, but the UK hit was by Marty Wilde. The original on the US Specialty label was by the song’s writer, Larry Williams. When it came to bad boys, Larry’s inspiration peered back at him from his shaving mirror.

Go-Set published a fan letter for the band 8th June 1966: 

“A big go-go to Rick and The Bad Boys. The best and most exciting group in Sydney. Everybody is waiting for their new record – so hurry up please – Bad Boy Fans, Hornsby.
P.S. – They used to be called The Loose Ends.”

The Bad Boys prowled the Sydney suburban dance clubs for about 2 years, nearly always providing covers of recent hits, particularly those by The Beatles, The Yardbirds, The Rolling Stones and The Pretty Things. The Down Under single is the Bad Boys’ only release. 

The Bad Boys had been The Loose Ends who had played the upper North Shore venues of Sydney since April 1965. Confusingly, another Sydney band called The Loose Ends finished second to The Twilights in the 1966 National Battle of The Sounds. (Go-Set, 3/7/1968, p. 12) This band, originating from the Maroubra-Coogee area of Sydney, retitled itself The Other Ends and recorded 1 single for Melbourne’s Go!! label. Meanwhile, a Brisbane band also called The Loose Ends renamed itself The Movement and issued a 45 on HMV called “Looking Back.” Confusion compounded when, far away in Britain, another set of Loose Ends had already recorded for Decca. 1966 certainly had some Loose Ends to tidy up.

Nat and Ossie persuaded their Down Under group to change names, and their playing style. From gritty British R’n’B the former Loose Ends moved to melodic Merseybeat. 

They recorded their single over three days. Bass player Peter Snerling recalls the drumming had to be dubbed last. Rather like The Rolling Stones and their guitarist Keith Richard, the Bad Boys followed the beat of Kim Humphreys’ guitar work. One day during the marathon recording session, The Bee Gees were in the studio’s front office. “Acting the goat” is how Snerling cryptically remembers them. 

Unfortunately for Rick and co, Adelaide’s Twilights issued “Bad Boy.” Down Under delayed releasing the Sydney version, but the South Australians had stolen the limelight.

After Peter Jaggle replaced McClause on drums, Rick and the Bad Boys recorded again at St. Clair. A song called “I’ll Find Out” was prepared for release but never issued. Peter Snerling: “Vince Melouney gave us the song. I think it was by an English r’n’b band called The Downliner Sect.”

Kim Humphreys recalls that in their time The Bad Boys were attacked by bikies at a New Year’s Eve party in Bathurst, ushered out of Katoomba by irate parents, and earned the displeasure of a North Shore meeting of the Young Liberals - a worthy track record for any bunch of bad boys.

Here's some label info, taken from the "Milesago" site:

Downunder was one of a few shortlived Australian Sixties labels -- it lasted only five months, from June to October 1966, and released just thirteen singles. It was set up by producer-engineer Ossie Byrne and producer-songwriter-entrepreneur Nat Kipner to release recordings they made at Ossie's St Clair Studios in Hurstville. All thirteen singles were manufactured and distributed by Festival Records.

The label was owned by LKB Productions; it is probably safe to assume that Nat Kipner was the "K" and Ossie Byrne the "B" in this partnership. According to historian Bill Casey, Derek Lee, a Wollongong singer-songwriter who was a friend of Ossie Byrne, recorded demos at St Clair studio. Derek won a talent contest on Johnny O’Keefe’s TV show Sing Sing Sing, the prize being a trip to England and when Byrne and The Bee Gees left Australia on the Fairsky in January 1967, Derek Lee was with them. These associations makes it probable that Derek Lee was the "L" in LKB. In addition, the B-side of the Derek's Accent single was a song written by Lee.

The Downunder singles were either produced solely by Nat Kipner or co-produced by Kipner and Byrne. Both sides of the Barrington Davis single were written by Nat and Ossie, and several other songs --including those on the Bip Addison single -- were written collaboratively by Maurice Gibb and Nat Kipner. Downunder is of considerable interest to Bee Gees aficionados, since it operated during the extraordinarily fertile period when the Bee Gees were working almost round the clock at the St Clair studio and collaborating freely with almost all the other performers who came through the studio.

"June and July (1966) witnessed the Bee Gees virtually living at the St Clair studio, with all night recording sessions involving themselves and other artists for whom they provided songs and musical backing. Production duties were shared around between Nat Kipner, Ossie Byrne and the Bee Gees themselves."

You can pay in US$'s, Australian $'s, or UK pounds...whatever suits you best (using www.xe.com for any conversions). 

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Thanks for considering this item. Best of luck if you decide to bid...Cheers, Jules.

POSTAGE

: within Australia: AU$3.50 : first class airmail to anywhere outside of Australia = AU$5.95
...and...take note: postage for a second 45 is FREE
and each subsequent 45 (after the first two) is only AU$1.00 within Australia....or AU$2.40 to anywhere outside Australia. (Peachy, huh?)

PAYMENT

IN AUSTRALIA:
Pay by Paypal, MoneyOrderR, BankCheque, PersonalCheque (allow 5 days for clearance)...or DirectDeposit into our account (quickest method).. .. ..   OUTSIDE AUSTRALIA:
You can pay by: 1. MoneyOrderr (there are fees associated...check with me first)
.. .. ..or.. .. ..
2. Paypal ...by far the easiest and quickest .. .. ..or.. .. .. 3. CASHbut it MUST be sent in a registered envelope
PACKING:
Don’t worry - we pack anything you buy VERY CAREFULLY to make sure it arrives in EXACTLY the condition it left here. More specifically, in the way we'd like to receive parcels ourselves.
WE MAIL OUT AT LEAST TWICE A WEEK.

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