When Johny Comes Marching

Rip It Up, Issue 33, 1 April 1980, Page 8

When Johny Comes Marching

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Since they left in November 1978, the Marching Girls (formerly the Scavengers) have been steadily gaining a following in Melbourne. Ironically, it seems that their homecoming tour will give the band the financial boost they need to go onto greater things. Rip It Up writer Paul McGowan spoke to Des Hefner and Johnny Cook on the second-to-last day of their stay.

Des looks a little the worse for wear as Johnny paces the floor listening intently to tapes of the last Marching Girls gig. The playing leaves something to be desired in places and the room erupts in laughter as a really bad piece of feedback comes through. “Oh,” says John, "that sounds good. I think I’ll do that all the time." "You’ve done that millions of times.” How does it feel to be back in Auckland? Des: It was great for the first couple of days. Are you Melbournites now? Des: Sort of Tasman Sea. Shane (soundman and part-time drummer) is a true-blue Melbournite Melbourne bitters and Melbourne sheilas. How about Ron? (Ronnie Dawson, their vocalist/bass player) Des: I saw Ron this afternoon. I said, “Hey Ron, what about the Rip It Up interview?” Ron said, “F**k the interview.” He’s got better things to do. Ron’s probably deciding which end of the Windsor to go out. "Will I go out the front or the back? Or shall I have another beer and think about it? I’ll have another beer." When will you tour NZ again? Des: I’m never coming back if the audiences are like they were at the Windsor this afternoon. They were just sitting there. They’re all punks and they just talking about raging. Even my dad says "hassle" now! What’s your definition of rage? Des: Let’s wreck the party! John: In Aussie, a rage is when you’re all at a party, standing around trying to be cool. And some f**kwit rips open a bag of Cheezels and throws them all over the room. Everyone goes, “let’s have a rage. Rip the place to bits.” Des: Yeah, smash chairs and hippies. The skinheads come and the Police come and everyone gets dragged away. That’s a rage. Whenever we haven’jt got enough food, we go to a Melbourne party where there’s supposed to be a rage and while everyone’s smashing things, we slip out the back with all the food. John: Yeah, trays of steaks, loaves of bread and wine. What do you think of Auckland punks? Des: They've all got their own personalised, in-

dividual ... uniform. Shane: In Aussie they all dress up like Sid Vicious. Des: Yeah, I’ve been in a pub with about six Sids in it. All are tall and sick looking, with black hair and padlocks around their necks. Their reactions towards Auckland groups is generally quite favourable. Everyone agrees that Terrorways are the best band they’ve seen here. Des gives his verdict on some of the locals. Spelling Mistakes "excellent”, Primmers "okay”, Proud Scum "a wonderful band", Swingers "a load of shit, no, sorry Buster, they’re alright.” They’re not so favourably disposed towards Toy Love. "Aussies aren’t into all that rolling around the kit. That's wank,” says Shane. "That’s a wank,” echoes Des. "Chris Knox has to think when you say something to him in the pub. He has .to think really fast of something really witty. What do you think of AK.79 album? John: Bloody terrible! Des: I think it misrepresents the band. What’s your Australian management like? Des: They’re okay. John: Our manager (Dave Russell) used to be with Ray Columbus and the Invaders. "She’s A Mod" went to number one in Aussie. Was it hard getting places to play? John: Des is a great PR man. Everyone in Carlton knew about us before we’d even played there. Did they come and see you? Des: Yeah, they thought we were great and wondered why they hadn’t seen us earlier. What are the audiences like? Des: Oh, they’re ugly. Doesn’t matter what their age is, they’re f**king ugly. John: Melbourne crowds are great. They get up right from the start. Des: They really enjoy wrecking parties. We’ve really taught them how to wreck parties. John: We’ve probably got more fans from wrecking parties, than from actually playing. What are you gonna do when you get back to Aussie? Des: We’re straight back into playing down the Champion Thursday, Friday and Saturday, then maybe a tour of Adelaide. What about records? Are you thinking of doing an album? John: No. What’s the next single? Des: "First In Line" and “Breaking Up”. Hey quick, tell me something else, the tapes running out! Des: Well, what would you like to know Tommy? My favourite colour's red. I like eating pizzas. I’m a Sagittarius, born in the beautiful year of 1956 ... The End