Early Recordings From Steve Kilbey & Kim Salmon

Early Recordings From Steve Kilbey & Kim Salmon

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steve kilbey 2018
Steve Kilbey, 2018 (Photo by Scott Dudelson/Getty Images)

Nearly two years ago we told you about the pending release by American boutique archival label HoZac of material by Steve Kilbey’s band before The Church, the fabulous Baby Grande. We weren’t expecting a two-year wait, but the time is nearly upon us, and you can pre-order the Baby Grande album here. We can also now tell you that HoZac will at the same time be releasing the full recordings by the first band of another Australian rock legend Kim Salmon – the very first Western Australian punk band - The Cheap Nasties

As we told you last time, Baby Grande was Kilbey’s glam-influenced band. They were from Canberra, existed between 1975 and 1977, and once supported AC/DC. Church guitarist Peter Koppes was also a member early on. They recorded demos at EMI, Alberts and elsewhere but were never signed. Most of their material has a spiky “Ziggy” Bowie/Mott the Hoople flavor to it – the tune “Going There And Back” actually contains a chorus of “All The Young Dudes” in its midst - but at least one song “Zephyr”, which was recorded the same week that The Saints recorded “(I’m) Stranded”, has a definite punky feel.

 

baby grande steve kilbey

The Cheap Nasties, which preceded Kim Salmon’s first major band The Scientists by a couple of years, is punky throughout. The group, which also featured future members of Perth punk-pop greats The Manikins, has long been of the subject of interest for fans of Australian punk history, and their music was first released digitally a couple of years ago and partially on a 7” EP that came with a deluxe Scientists boxset in the US. HoZac’s LP release will be the first full physical release of all the material. It’s rough rehearsal room stuff, but the band’s theme song “Cheap & Nasty” is an absolute Oz punk classic, and the whole thing is a great listen. You can pre-order the album here.

 

the cheap nasties

 

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