Before things get too serious at Rock On Vinyl, I thought it might be fun to post a song at the end of each month, that could be considered to be either Weird, Obscure, Crazy or just plain Korny. It was 1976, and at the age thirty, Billy Thorpe felt he was being hampered by his past, roped in with guitar leads, hemmed in by walls of amplifiers and the anticipation of a crowd wanting more of the same old pisssucking bullshit. But any artist who is content to stagnate in the past would never take the opportunities Billy was preparing to take. And so, he left Australi ..read more

(U.K 1967-70) . The Gun were a little-known 60s British acid rock band who evolved into the 70s progressive hard rock trio Baker Gurvitz Army. The Gun began as The Knack, formed in 1963 by guitarist/vocalist Paul Gurvitz (born Paul Anthony Curtis, 6 July 1947, High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire; he was known by the surname Curtis until the early 1970s. Thereafter he adopted his family's actual surname, Gurvitz. The Knack changed its name with the development of a psychedelic style in the spring/summer of 1967, performing] at the final UFO Club concerts with bands such as Pink Floyd. In November, 19 ..read more

(U.K 1962 - Present) By the time Eric Clapton launched his solo career with the release of his self-titled debut album in August 1970, he was long established as one of the world's major rock stars due to his group affiliations -- the Yardbirds, John Mayall's Bluesbreakers, Cream, and Blind Faith -- which had demonstrated his claim to being the best rock guitarist of his generation. That it took Clapton so long to go out on his own, however, was evidence of a degree of reticence unusual for one of his stature. And his debut album, though it spawned the Top 40 hit "After Midnight," was typica ..read more

(U.S 1965 - Present) Bette Midler (born December 1, 1945, Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) American actress and singer who was known for her dynamic energy, comedic wit, and campy humour. Midler was raised in rural Aiea, Oahu, the third of four children of a house painter and his wife. She began singing as a child, and her mother encouraged an interest in theatre. By the time she graduated from high school, Midler had performed in several amateur shows. She studied for a year at the University of Hawaii but dropped out in order to pursue acting. In 1965 she landed her first professional role, a ..read more

(Australian 1972 - 2008) . Richard Clapton is an Australian singer-songwriter and guitarist from Sydney, New South Wales. His solo top 20 hits on the Kent Music Report Singles Chart are "Girls on the Avenue" (1975) and "I Am an Island" (1982). His top 20 albums on the related Albums Chart are 'Goodbye Tiger' (1977), 'Hearts on the Nightline' (1979), 'The Great Escape' (1982), and 'The Very Best of Richard Clapton' (1982). As a producer he worked on the second INXS album, Underneath the Colours (1981). In 1983, he briefly joined The Party Boys for a tour of eastern Australia and their live albu ..read more

Before things get too serious at Rock On Vinyl, I thought it might be fun to post a song at the end of each month, that could be considered to be either Weird, Obscure, Crazy or just plain Korny. Based on Henri Charrière’s massively successful memoir of life in a French prison camp in Guyana, Papillon can boast the star power of Steve McQueen and Dustin Hoffman (the former giving one of his finest performances) and Franklin J. Schaffner’s film is an entertaining yarn, albeit one in which disbelief frequently has to be suspended (while Charrière almost certainly was impri ..read more

(U.K 1962 - 2023) The 'Greatest Hits' (1974) compilation, remains as the best seller album of Elton John's catalog. In the States, it became the first hits package to reach number one. In Canada, it’s one of few albums to ever ship one million copies. Volume II 1977 wasn't far behind but never reached the heights of its predecessor. About Greatest Hits Volume I: In 1974, there was no bigger music star than Elton John. His Greatest Hits collection came out at the peak of his career and not only topped the charts in the U.S. – a rarity for a compilation – but stayed there for 10 weeks. It ca ..read more

(Canadian 1976-Present) . Pat Travers was thirteen when he saw Jimi Hendrix play live in Ottawa in 1968, and by fourteen the Toronto native was playing guitar with a competence that belied his age. By fifteen he was playing in his first group, Red Hot, before Merge then featured the teenage Travers. Pat then grabbed the opportunity to play with rock and roll / rockabilly artist Ronnie Hawkins, a move that allowed him to gain valuable touring experience. However in the seventies the other side of the Atlantic was the place to be for any budding rock musician, and in May 1975 Pat left his homela ..read more

(U.K 1968 - 2004, 2009 - Present) 9012Live: The Solos is the third live album by English rock band Yes, released as a mini-LP on 7 November 1985 by Atco Records.  Recorded during their 1984 world tour in support of their eleventh studio album, 90125 (1983), the album features a selection of solo tracks performed by each of the five band members [Jon Anderson, Chris Squire, Trevor Rabin, Alan White and Tony Kaye], plus live versions of two songs from 90125. The album was an accompany release to the band's 1985 concert film, 9012Live. In March of 1984, the long overdue show went on ..read more

(Australian 1969-1984) 'The Sherbet Phenomenon' - How else might one explain a run of twenty consecutive hit singles (to say nothing of five for Daryl), twelve albums yielding ten platinum and eight gold discs, every possible Australian music award of the seventies and the honor of being not only the biggest domestic record sellers of all but the first act to sell a million dollars worth of records in Australia. Sherbet were the first Australian band to insist on taking their music to the people - all the people - on long, tedious national tours. Lugging seven tons of equipment, they would ..read more