The Lighthouse Keepers Gargoyle 7in single 1983 Guthugga Pipeline release Rare

	A$		45
	$		30

The Lighthouse Keepers Gargoyle 7in single 1983 Guthugga Pipeline private release! Rare

Original Australian private pressing on Guthugga Pipeline, with hand-painted sleeve and hand-drawn labels.

The Lighthouse Keepers (aka The Light-Housekeepers) were an Australian country and indie pop band formed in 1981 in Sydney. In November 1984 the group issued their debut studio album, Tales of the Unexpected, and a single, "Ocean Liner". In 1985 the band toured the United Kingdom supporting fellow Australian label mates, The Triffids. The Lighthouse Keepers combined a "loosely-rehearsed, casual ethos" with humour, punk attitudes and pure pop song craft. The ensemble disbanded in 1986 releasing a compilation album, Imploding, in November that year. According to rock music historian, Ian McFarlane, their "tasteful, jangly brand of country-tinged folk rock was at odds with prevailing trends on Sydney's early 1980s, Detroit-besotted independent scene. The band nevertheless issued a number of albums and singles, and always lived up to audience expectations".

The Lighthouse Keepers (initially known as The Light-Housekeepers) founders Greg Appel on acoustic guitar, bass, keyboards and vocals, and Stephen O'Neil on drums, bass, guitar and saxophone were members of Canberra-based groups The Grant Brothers and Guthugga Pipeline. The pair were joined by Juliet Ward on vocals, bass guitar and keyboards as Tex Truck and the Semis, for a University of Technology, Sydney (UTS) student talent quest. In 1981 augmented by Michael "Blue" Dalton on slide guitar, dobro, bass guitar and harmonica they formed The Lighthouse Keepers. Dalton a vintage music enthusiast, contributed a country blues style to arrangements as a foil to multi-instrumentalist O'Neil's nifty and melodic bass, drums, guitar and C melody sax playing, further complimenting the rich timbre and interpretive abilities of vocalist Ward, with Appel's understated but skillfully rendered jangling Maton brand 12 string guitar. All members rotated to bass playing duties both on stage and also in the studio to facilitate various song arrangements.

In 1983 The Lighthouse Keepers issued their first single, "Gargoyle", as a three-track 7 inch vinyl 45rpm on their own independent label, Guthugga Pipeline Records. Early pressings sported individually hand drawn disc labels and cover art with the words "Strike a Lighthouse!" etched near the matrix numbers of the run-out grooves.

The A-side, a somewhat licht gothic-styled track, "Gargoyle", featured vocals by Ward. Its B-side had two tracks: the rockabilly influenced "Demolition Team", and the 12-string, groove driven "Quick Sticks", both sung by Appel. All three original compositions were written by Appel and recorded at the band's request as "first takes", Appel playing guitars with O'Neil on a borrowed drum kit. Bass guitar was overdubbed by Appel with some harmonica and slide guitar contributed by Dalton, along with doubletracking of Ward's vocals. The 12-string guitar parts utilised a stomp box effects unit compressor.

Recorded at Dream Studios Mk3 for $50 ('studio opening rate') plus tape costs, on a 1/2 inch 8-track reel to reel analog tape recorder running at 7 1/2 ips and mixed to 1/4 inch 2 track 15 ips using Auratone 5c sound cubes for referencing.

“In Australia where a sense of light and space is much more relevant than any amount of gothic/industrial Hunters & Collectors or Nick Caves, bands like The Lighthouse Keepers along with, say, their Hot records labelmates The Triffids, put a uniquely off-centre spin on post-punk. They may even have invented Australian lo-fi! Certainly, they remain one of the best bands ever to have come out of Canberra, and that’s no faint praise when stacked up against the likes of Tactics and The Church.”

~ Clinton Walker (Australian music critic)

"Gargoyle"/"Demolition Team", "Quick Sticks" (Maxi-single, 1983, Guthugga Pipeline Records GPR 001)

CONDITION:

SLEEVE: VG++

RECORD: EX++ to NM

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TOS current 7 October, 2009