Grown Up Wrong! Records reissue THE EASTERN DARK’s classic 1985 single and love letter to the Ramones, “JOHNNY AND DEE DEE”/”JULIE IS A JUNKIE”, and archival albums from ’70s Apple Isle bona fide pop stars & Beatles freaks BEATHOVEN – AT PASCOE VALE HIGH SCHOOL 1977 and long-lost ’79-’80 Sydney power pop band THE BREAKERS – NIGHT AFTER NIGHT, featuring members of chart toppers OL ’55 and seminal Melbourne ’77 punks BABEEZ & NEWS
THE EASTERN DARK “JULIE IS A JUNKIE”/”JOHNNY AND DEE DEE” 7″
To commemorate the 40th Anniversary of the passing of James Darroch, singer/songwriter/guitarist for Sydney’s incredible The Eastern Dark, Grown Up Wrong! is thrilled to announce a long-awaited reissue of the band’s classic 1985 single “Julie Is A Junkie/Johnny and Dee Dee”.
Heavily influenced by the Ramones – the band opened their first live show with ‘Blitzkrieg Bop’ and from then on opened with a new Ramones song every time they played, working through the band’s complete catalogue in chronological order – and all manner of hyper-melodic and high energy pop and rock, The Eastern Dark were a classic trio. Powered by former Celibate Rifles bassplayer James Darroch‘s blazing guitar and anchored by former Lime Spiders backing vocalist Bill Gibson‘s hard driving and melodic bass playing (and supreme backing vocals) and Geoff Milne‘s untouchable beat keeping, they set Sydney’s Radio Birdman-influenced scene alight in 1984 and quickly built an international following on the back of their classic single. Sadly, just hours after completing what would become their next release – the mini-LP Long Live the New Flesh – on 4 March 1986, the band’s life, and that of 25-year old James Darroch, was brutally ended in a road accident whilst the band was on its way to Melbourne.
On the back of the tragedy, the band’s timeless music lived on and its global impact was reflected in the influence it bore on numerous bands, from Boston’s the Lemonheads (Evan Dando was such a fan he had Bill Gibson join the Lemonheads in the ‘90s!) to Tokyo’s Teengenerate, and obviously a succession of Australian bands from the Hard-Ons through to God, the Meanies, Mach Pelican and beyond.
After years of searching, surviving members Bill Gibson and Geoff Milne recently found the single’s original multi-track tapes, and for the new release, the original recordings (which were produced by Radio Birdman‘s Rob Younger) have been both remixed and remastered (by Aussie power pop wizard Michael Carpenter) for maximum impact under their supervision. This new edition is the first time the tracks have been available on vinyl since the original single went out of print some four decades ago.
BEATHOVEN – AT PASCOE VALE HIGH SCHOOL 1977 LP & CD
Beathoven At Pascoe Vale High School 1977 is a previously unreleased live album from the legendary Tasmanian ’70s pop revivalists/power pop precursors who later turned into the Innocents. Loved by the current generation of indie power poppers, including the Lemon Twigs, Beathoven appeared some years ahead of the punk/new wave-inspired power pop explosion of ’78 with a sound that was equal parts Cavern Club and later day Beatles-inspired bands like Badfinger and Rockin’ Horse, and briefly rose to prominence alongside the emerging punk scene. As Beathoven they only released two singles in their day but they recorded numerous demos, some of which were released on an ’80s Raven Records Beathoven/Innocents collection.
An essential addendum to that release, Beathoven At Pascoe Vale High School 1977 sounds not unlike The Beatles at the Hollywood Bowl transposed to lunchtime at a ’70s suburban Melbourne high school!
Recorded in stereo courtesy of two mic’s taped to the front of the stage and with the non-stop screaming pushing excitement levels to fever pitch, this a raw, raving snapshot of a young band living out their big beat fantasies for the world to see and hear.
Frequently described as the Bay City Rollers of Tasmania, Beathoven were a mid-’70s phenomenon on the Apple Isle – genuine hitmakers and heart throbs – and they moved to the Australian mainland in ’77 hoping to break nationally. Somewhat unsuited to the pub circuit, the band decided to play high schools to get themselves heard. It worked; this very recording helped them get a deal with EMI. Bizarrely though, the label wanted them to ditch the early Beatles style and they sat on their hands while the band amassed a legion of school age fans to rival what they had at home. After one more single “Shy Girl”, a couple of Countdown appearances and a Best New Group nomination on TV’s Countdown Awards – which caused a small riot when another group won – Beathoven were cut loose. They were still label-less when American manager/Svengali-type Kim Fowley met up with them in Melbourne around Xmas ’78 and the next chapter began as The Innocents.
Beathoven At Pascoe Vale High School 1977 is at once a time capsule of more innocent times and a breathless blast of rampant rock’n’roll pop hooks. It is an essential listen for students of power pop history and the Australian rock scene alike.
THE BREAKERS – NIGHT AFTER NIGHT LP & CD
The Breakers are a long-lost late ’70s/early 80s Australian power pop band and the unlikely meeting of members of chart topping ’50s/60s revivalists Ol’ 55 – songwriter/bassplayer/heart throb Jimmy Manzie (who also produced The Innocents‘ classic “Sooner or Later” single) and drummer Geoff Peterkin – and infamous early Melbourne punks Babeez and News – guitarist Jarryl Wirth.
Formed under in ’79 under the long distance guidance of infamous LA producer/Svengali Kim Fowley (Runaways, Hollywood Stars etc, and a man with writing credits for Kiss, Alice Cooper and many more) they only released one single in their lifetime but recorded enough high quality demos for an album, which, as presented here, reveals a hitherto untold story significant in terms of both Australian rock history and the lore of international power pop might-have-beens….
The vinyl edition of Night After Night brings together fourteen of the The Breakers’ best tracks, all studio recordings bar great live recordings of the News classic ‘Sweet Dancer Au-Go-Go’ and a great and otherwise unrecorded original called “Can You Hear Me Singing On The Radio”. Included is the track “‘The Girl with Stars in Her Eyes” which the band appeared performing on stage in a Sydney pub in the cult Australian film Puberty Blues, and superior demo versions of the two tracks featured on their sole single, “When I’m On TV” (which they performed on Countdown) and “Lipstick And Leather”, the latter being a Manzie-Fowley co-write which also featured in Puberty Blues as was later demoed by Kiss!
Pretty much everything on here could be a hit single, and over the fourteen tracks you’ll hear echoes of the likes of The Innocents, Cheap Trick, The Cars, The Rubinoos, The Records, The Quick and even later bands like Candy and Redd Kross!
The LP features a four-page full colour 12×12 insert featuring numerous images, press clippings and lengthy liner notes by Grown Up Wrong!‘s Dave Laing, who compiled and annotated last year’s acclaimed I Wanna Be A Teen Again: North American Power Pop of the ’80s 3CD set for Cherry Red. The CD packaging features the same contents converted to a 16-page booklet.
The CD and digital releases album include an additional TEN tracks including the later and more polished single recordings of “When I’m On TV” and “Lipstick and Leather”, and fantastic high energy live covers of the Monkees, Beatles, Easybeats and, revealing their taste in truly sublime ’60s pop, Cat Stevens’ 1967 baroque gem “Matthew & Sons” and Herman’s Hermits’ Graham Gouldman-composed masterpiece “No Milk Today”. As a special treat for Innocents fans, the CD and digital releases also include a demo of “Night After Night” featuring Greg Cracknell on lead vocals!
JULY 16 2025 – NEW RELEASE JUST ANNOUNCED. CLICK COVER IMAGE FOR DETAILS!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The Lipstick Killers are the darlings of the UK Press!!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Announcing First Ever Lipstick Killers Anthology Release Strange Flash – Studio & Live ’78-81
Released 2nd July 2021
Available on Limited Orange 2LP / Black 2LP / 2CD
HINDU GODS ARE CALLING YOU!!! Grown Up Wrong! Records is thrilled beyond belief to present the LONG-AWAITED anthology of material by the legendary Lipstick Killers, who blazed a trail in late ‘70s post-Radio Birdman Sydney before gigging with the likes of the Gun Club and the Flesh Eaters in Los Angeles where they crashed and burned in 1981.
The Lipstick Killers released just one single in their life time – the perfect ’79 Deniz Tek-produced pairing of “Hindu Gods of Love” and ”Shakedown USA” on their own Lost in Space Records and Greg Shaw’s Voxx Records – but a posthumous live album and a couple of archival releases followed. It was all incredible. All that material is included here, as is a plethora of additional stuff, all from the best-available sources (mostly original tapes).
The Lipstick Killers’ enigmatic and high-energy sound – heavily inspired by the Stooges and the ‘60s psychedelic punk sounds of bands like the Thirteenth Floor Elevators and the Chocolate Watchband – bridged the gap between Radio Birdman and subsequent Sydney groups like the Sunnyboys (whose first-ever show was opening for the Lipstick Killers), Lime Spiders, Hoodoo Gurus and the Psychotic Turnbuckles. And of course they anticipated generation after generation of other bands with similar things in mind, right up to today’s ‘60s-inspired freaks like The Straight Arrows, The Living Eyes and Thee Oh Sees.
Announcing new Flamin’ Groovies compilation Between The Lines: The Complete Jordan/Wilson Songbook ’71-81
Announcing the upgrade reissue of the long-lost Flamin’ Groovies collection I’ll Have A… Bucket Of Brains
APRIL 16 2019
Yes, it’s coming back. Grown Up Wrong! Records, which started in 1986 and morphed into Dog Meat Records in 1989, has crawled from the wreckage and will kick back into life with two incredible releases in June. Whilst nothing’s been formally announced yet, we can give you the lowdown here.
The Scientists’ “Not For Sale: Live 1978/79” is something of a dream come true for us. We remember taping the live set that comprises the bulk of the set when it was broadcast live to air on Melbourne’s 3RRR back in December 1979, and we flogged that tape to death over the years. It was cool to find the original master in the RRR archives and get permission from all involved. It’s a killer set – recorded around the same time as their great White Rider Records EP, and featuring a lot of songs that later appeared, in sadly watered down form, on their posthumously released ‘Pink album’. Also included is a bunch of raw tracks recorded by fan Doug Thomas (of Dagoes & Greasy Pop records fame), amongst which is my favourite unreleased Salmon/Baker tune “Kinda Girl”, and, on our vinyl release, great covers of the Velvets, Searchers and Masters Apprentices. And finally there is the complete ‘Loft Tape’ – a rough and ready 1978 session recorded at Kim Salmon’s pad in Perth. A couple of these tracks surfaced on the early ‘80s ‘fan club’ tape “Rubber Never Sleeps” and on the Citadel Scientists collection “Pissed on Another Planet”, but most of it has remained unheard. And we’ve managed to get the long lost epic from this session, “Baby, You’re Not For Sale”, a hypnotic Velvets-inspired piece which rhymes “Groovies” with “movies” and clocks in at over 10 minutes. Coming on CD and deluxe double vinyl, this is Perth’s “Legendary” Scientists as they should be heard.
Our second release is one of the great live albums, and probably the great ever recorded example of the Detroit/Sydney axis of energy – better even than the legendary New Race live album “The First & The Last”. Recorded in 2002, “Ann Arbor Revival Meeting” in the teaming of legendary Radio Birdman leader Deniz Tek with fantastic Ann Arbor/Detroit band Powertrane, who were fronted by Sonic’s Rendezvous Band and Rationals singer Scott Morgan, and featured journeyman Detroit guitarist, best known for his work with both Mitch Ryder and MC5 singer Rob Tyner. Joining them for some of the show was legendary Stooges guitarist Ron Asheton – the Stooges’ reformation was still a year or so away – and local legend Hiawatha Baily. Apart from a small set of Stooges tunes with Ron and Hiawatha, the material is a mix of Morgan tunes and Birdman and Tek solo tunes, including a phenomenal versions of Tek’s greatest solo tune “Outside”. The energy on this record is unbelievable. Previously released on Real O Mind Records on CD only back in the day, we’re releasing it with a few extra tracks (including a seriously wild “Smith & Wesson Blues”) on double LP as well as a remastered CD edition.
With killer stuff from Sydney legends The Lipstick Killers and The Hard-ons coming up next, and loads more that we’re working on, Grown Up Wrong! is back for the long haul this time. Stay tuned for formal announcements and more details.
grownupwrongrecords.com 