The Hoodoo Gurus
I think I first saw the Hoodoo Guru's at some shitty little
inner-city pub in Surry Hills, an inner-city suburb of Sydney.
There were probably just over a hundred people crushed into an
area the size of a normal living-room, condensation dripping off
the walls and ceiling, and a combined smell of sweat, over- proof
rum and 'herbal' smoking substances. There was also a hell of a
lot of paisley, both on the "stage" and in the crowd.
While Australia was awash in the early 80s with high-energy
60's-garage/grunge-inspired guitar-maniacs with names like The
Celibate Rifles, The Lime Spiders and The Screaming Tribesmen, The
Hoodoo Gurus were the head boys of the class.
By 1984 they had
taken the sound out of the tiny pubs and into the mega-venues and
the charts, becoming a major Aussie smash and a huge hit with US
college broadcasters as well.
The last time I saw them play as a band was in front of several
thousand people on a stage the size of a small block of flats with
a PA system that could probably launch a space shuttle.
The last time I saw Dave Faulkner (having bumped into him when
he was pissed as a fart at a Sydney North Shore pub) he tried in
vain for 20 minutes to order a pizza on the phone and collapsed in
a chair in the corner of Ron Peno's living room.
The Guru's were always rock stars (but they still can't get a
pizza in the wee hours of the morning!).
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