Hoodoo Sex Magic and the Beat Goes On

Rip It Up, Issue 86, 1 September 1984, Page 14

Hoodoo Sex Magic and the Beat Goes On

Russell Brown

THE HOODOO GURUS

The Hoodoo Gurus sound like a band who got together because they all owned a lot of the same records. Dave Faulkner agrees. "That’s pretty much true actually,” says the singer-guitarist. "That's not actually the way we formed but it's certainly the way the band is now we all know pretty much where we're all coming from. When the band formed it was just a good time really no

serious intent." Shake Some Action, Psychotic Reaction, No Satisfaction ... Sky Saxon ... Blitzkrieg Bop, do the Jailhouse Rock... Twist And Shout ... Ride A White Swan, Get It 0n ... Blue Suede Shoes ... that’s what I like ... A few of the names rattled off in the Hoodoos’ song 'Let’s All Turn On'. Are these the records you all own? "Well they’re some of the more

influential ones, I guess. I couldn’t really put it down to any category. I got a letter from a fan the other day asking me what I listened to and I thought, well, what do I say? I listen to a hell of a lot it’s probably easier to say what I don’t listen to. I don't listen to very much jazz, I listen to a little, I don't listen to very much folk music ...” I think the Stoneage Romeos album (named after a Three Stooges short, "and a damn good one too") reflects that. It's almost like an exercise in stylism taking a variety of old styles and production sounds and putting them to your own use. The glitter beat of Leilani’ for example ... "Yeah, there is a bit of pillaging going on there. But if I thought that was all I was doing when I wrote a song I wouldn't bother writing it. I'd rather think that it was just being selective about what you use and don’t use. You don’t just take something for the sake of it."

What I was really getting at was whether you were interested in style in that sense. "Oh sure. There was a song that didn’t go on the album that was a pure country song. We left it off because we thought it would be just too ridiculous to have in the middle of the rest of the stuff. We had to sort of narrow things down a bit so the record wouldn’t sound too much like a slopped-together pot-pourri.” It strikes me that when the band visits in October we’ll get

something rather dirtier than the record. "Yeah, that’s true. Some of that’s necessity and some of it’s affinity. We like making a bit of a din. Hopefully it won’t be seen as heavy-handedness or anything ... It’s hard in a recording studio to bring out the best qualities of a song sometimes requires a defter touch.” Do you do any covers live? "Oh yeah, we do a... smattering of covers. At the moment we’re not sure what we’re going to be doing when we head your way. We’re just rehearsing a few more because we’re sick of the ones we’re doing.” What were they? "We did 'Lightning’s Girl’ by Nancy Sinatra, 'Sense Of Purpose’ by Creedence Clearwater Revival, ’Galveston’ by Glen Campbell...” And not ’Witchita Lineman’? The Hoodoo Gurus once backed Phil Latterly and His Singing Dog on national TV on the Don Lane Show. Faulkner explains that the band’s former guitarist Kimble Rendall used to manage the dog, who actually cut a single, ’Howlin’ AustraliaV'RSPCA' ("It’s fun to stay at the ...”). "I thought the dog was pretty good but I wouldn’t like to make a career out of backing it up it wasn’t very rewarding artistically. We just did it for the free hotel accomodation and the liquor cabinet in the Green Room afterwards.” I thought you really looked the part of the greyhound trainer in the 'My Girl’ clip. "Yeah that yellow coat. When I wore that in the clip people said what a great tacky coat, you must have dug that up from some opp shop! But it’s a real coat of mine! From the King's Road and all! Circa 1979 which I suppose is about right for a greyhound trainer in 1984.” The clip caused much confusion amongst slow-witted Aussies, who assumed the song itself was about a greyhound (Faulkner claims it probably cost the band a hit single because nobody wanted to buy a

record about a greyhound.). ”We did the clip that way because you see so many clips with this girl who’s there for no other reason than she looks pretty. I suppose it’s meant to show the band’s got good pulling power or something. And anyway, the lyrics to My Girl’ are so straightforward thajt to act out a storyline would just be the end.” You’re a connoisseur of the pop music of past years. What do you think of the state of pop music today? "Well, I don’t really know what the state is. It depends on the song doesn’t it? Some songs are great and some are shithouse and I think that’s the way it's always been. "I think to try and draw any large comparisons is really perilous. Either you like it or you don’t and I think that's all it has ever tried to present itself as. I don’t think any pop song has ever changed the history of mankind I don’t think any song has ever done that, maybe ‘We Shall Not Be Moved’ helped a few strikes along. Even though people might represent them as such I don’t think there’s any particular song that changed the course of history. And I don’t think that’s what music’s supposed to do anyway, even if it could. I guess the lyrics might but not the music.” Some people might describe the Hoodoos as a band that won’t take anything seriously. I mean ’Arthur’ is about a friend dying, forgodsake, and even that’s not sombre. ‘‘Well death isn’t sombre anyway I think it’s a fine thing. I mean, why not? Sure, if you leave behind a whole lot of debts for someone else to pick up then it’s not so good but as far as for yourself it’s not hurting. For people to get too cut up about death well you've got to face it some day. "I wouldn’t like to think that a song of mine would come on the radio when someone had just had a really horrible experience with a relative or close friend dying and make them feel worse. But there’s not many subjects you can write about that won't make someone

feel pain in some way or another. And death is one of those subjects that I think is far too sacred. It’s like religion and politics and all those other things, they’re far too important, too serious for people to even look at them on a human scale." After their tour here in early October the Hoodoos head for a "grass roots” tour of the USA, playing colleges and small clubs. They’ve had some measure of success there already the single 'I Want You Back’ entered the national college charts at N 0.7 (“I don’t know if that means we’ve actually sold any.”). Faulkner is adamant that the band won't go in trying to trade on the Australia-as-flavour-of-the-month fad in that country. "I’ve never really swallowed that stuff anyway and I think if it was true then it’s certainly subsided now. People have apparently begun to say ‘what about good ol’ American stuff?’ after being bombarded with imports from England, Australia or wherever. "Which suits me— I’m sure there are people better qualified to be ambassadors than me. I mean, I certainly wouldn’t malign the country but I don’t think that we, as a band, are pushing anything indigenous. It’s more the fact that we’re trying to write good songs that relate to past music, wherever it comes from than it relates to the Australian environment.” But there’s New Zealand before then and Faulkner strangely sounds more unsure of playing here the first gigs outside Australian shores, with a new set and a new drummer (Mark Kingsmill, who replaced foundation member James Baker a few weeks ago) than he is of tackling America. It will be interesting to see what the live Hoodoo Gurus can add to the album, which has moments of inspiration side by side with the not-so-notable- Last words to Faulkner. "I trust there’ll be a party or two.”