Blood, Sweat & Beers: Oz Rock from the Aztecs to Rose Tattoo

by Murray Engleheart

It all began in the lats 1960s when Lobby Loyde was blowing up amplifiers on such a regular basis that equipment had to be specifically constructed.

King of the Sunbury festivals, and former child star, Billy Thorpe then took massive amplification to another level, making history along the way when his band, the Aztecs, pulled as many as 300,000 people to the Meyer Music Bowl in Melbourne.

Rose Tattoo somehow cranked everything up even higher and became the loudest, most threatening band to ever stalk the earth. Banned from the TV show Countdown, they often played in prisons, and occasionally had to fight, microphone stands in hand, to get out of the very venues they'd performed in.

Then, of course, there were the Angels. Australia's number one live drawcard, who turned venues acroos the country into jam-packed paramilitary rallies.

Against a backdrop of interviews with all the major Australian players and international heavyweights, Murray Engleheart hands out the earplugs and the morning-after aspirin on a tour through the bar-brawling, riot-inducing and occasionally gun-toting OZ rock culture.

Genres: Nonfiction, Music

378 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2010

Reviews

[Aaron · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this book a lot.

A classic quote. Lobby Loyde: The death of music was Countdown...everybody that I knew pathologically hated that show...yet today they talk about it like it was the birth of rock'n'roll. It was a shit show and everyone knows it...It did awful stuff to music and it slowly replaced all the good rock'n'roll with crap.

[Cameron · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great, informative read, some mangled grammar makes it a bit of a slog and the interjection of Engleheart's own words into direct quotes really destroys the flow of the Aussie slanguage - although most likely necessary to make it comprehensible to foreigners.

[Mitchell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent book on the Australian rock music scene of that era with funny stories and interesting interviews. Focuses on The Angels, Rose Tattoo and Billy Thorpe. A scene where the ability to fight was probably as important as the ability to play. A true time capsule.

[Nicola · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bit of a heavy read. Very interesting as they get into the 80s (my era) but so many names to keep straight!

[Kami · Rating 4 out of 5]

a good music bio makes you want to listen to the bands again. Murray's book did that in spades!

[Phill Searle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant insight into Aussie Pub Rock!!