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ELECTRIC RUSTY LAND
Last week, Jack Jones supported Tears For Fears and Spandau
Ballet. During his acoustic set, a member of the Rod Laver
Arena crowd yelled, "Electric Mary!" Jack, as Irwin Thomas
(his real name), is the guitarist in Electric Mary, the
band fronted by his good buddy Rusty Brown. This Sunday,
they're playing with Deep Purple at Festival Hall. "It's
a dream come true for me," Rusty tells Howzat! "Deep Purple
are part of my musical DNA. When you play their songs every
day, it has to sink in." Rusty will now have played with
all of his Deep Purple heroes, apart from former guitarist
Ritchie Blackmore. Last year, Electric Mary supported former
Deep Purple bass player and singer Glenn Hughes, and also
toured Europe with David Coverdale's Whitesnake. The guys
were told not to talk to Coverdale and to "move all your
gear out of the backstage area as soon as your show is finished".
But after their performance, Coverdale marched up to Rusty,
grabbed his hand and declared, "Fucking great show, man!"
The guys also bonded with Glenn Hughes, who even went to
a Mary gig when he had a night off in Sydney. "I even tried
to dissuade him," Rusty reveals, "because we were on late
and it was a long way from his hotel. But he insisted on
coming. There are no bullshit airs and graces about Glenn
Hughes, he's just a great guy."
Electric Mary - whose merchandise contains their motto:
"Rock 'n' Roll The Way It Used To Taste" (you can even buy
band bikinis) - have also recently supported Judas Priest
and Alice Cooper. "It's been a big year," Rusty smiles.
Electric Mary have come back to Australia for the Deep Purple
tour, after shows and recording in the US. They've been
working on their new album with producer Jason Corsaro,
who worked on Soundgarden's Superunknown and INXS' The Swing.
In New York, they did several shows at Arlene's Grocery,
which was a regular haunt of Diesel at the end of the '90s,
and was also the site of one of Jeff Buckley's final gigs.
The venue is now run by singer-songwriter Julia Darling,
whose career started in Melbourne (she was managed by Inpress
creator Andrew Watt). "Arlene's is smaller than the Evelyn,
but it's got a great vibe," Rusty says.
After the Deep Purple tour, Electric Mary are heading to
South Africa for some World Cup shows with Powderfinger.
Wazza, from Aussie supporters group "The Fanatics", is a
big fan and he organised the soccer shows. The guys will
then return to Europe, where they're playing at Hellfest
in France. Electric Mary are opening day two of the festival,
which also features Airbourne, Anvil, Ratt, Alice Cooper
and Twisted Sister.
Rusty is a rock veteran and states that the aim when he
formed Electric Mary was simple: "I just wanted to make
a band that was good." They took their name from "Electric
Mary" Campbell, who ran Jimi Hendrix's Electric Lady Studios.
Mary now provides the band with a place to stay when they're
in New Jersey. As for Electric Mary's classic sound, Rusty
says: "A lot of people get softer as they get older, but
I've actually gotten harder. It's all about the intensity
and the energy for me." As well as Deep Purple, local band
Horsehead was an inspiration. Rusty is proud to reveal that
he once got an email from a fan who asked, "Are you the
singer from Horsehead?"
GEORGIA FIELDS A COUPLE OF QUESTIONS
The wonderfully eclectic Georgia Fields - who Fred Negro
has called "my latest favourite band in the whole world"
- launches her new single, Something Borrowed, Something
Blue, at the Toff on Thursday. She's also getting set to
release her debut album. The album's first single, last
year's One Finger, featured Georgia's "stadium glock" cover
of Sweet Child O' Mine. The original, of course, was on
Guns N' Roses' Appetite For Destruction, a fine debut album.
What's Georgia's favourite debut? "Hmmm, if I'm going to
be totally honest, I would say it's a tie between Tori Amos'
Little Earthquakes (if we can discount her previous album
as the band Y Kant Tori Read), and Mariah Carey's self-titled
debut. That lady sure can wail." Who are Georgia's favourite
Aussie songwriters? "I really admire Clare Bowditch's way
with lyrics and storytelling. I aspire to be able to write
as vividly as she does. Sally Seltmann has a gorgeously
genteel compositional style, and Dean Manning, of Holidays
On Ice, is a superb poet and a chord-smith."
CHART WATCH
Not one homegrown hit in the national Top 30 - a disastrous
result.
Mr Mysterious VANESSA AMOROSI (number 34)
On A Mission GABRIELLA CILMI (36)
Love Lost THE TEMPER TRAP (40)
The new Gyroscope album lands at number three. And breaking
up proves to be a good marketing move for Powderfinger -
Golden Rule returns to the Top 40, jumping 42 places to
24. James Reyne's album of Elvis covers arrives at 32. Meanwhile,
Gabriella Cilmi's not-so-perfect Ten departs the Top 40
after just three weeks. And Sally Seltmann's new album,
Heart That's Pounding lands at 73.
April Uprising THE JOHN BUTLER TRIO (number two)
Cohesion GYROSCOPE (three, debut)
Down The Way ANGUS & JULIA STONE (eight)
Conditions THE TEMPER TRAP (14)
Emperor's Box KATIE NOONAN & THE CAPTAINS (21, debut)
On Broadway DAVID CAMPBELL (22)
Golden Rule POWDERFINGER (24)
Wonder LISA MITCHELL (28)
TCB JAMES REYNE (32, debut)
40 Years True Blue JOHN WILLIAMSON (33)
Wrapped Up Good THE McCLYMONTS (35)
HOWZAT! PLAYLIST
Let Me Out ELECTRIC MARY
Something Borrowed, Something Blue GEORGIA FIELDS
Nowhere Boys BRITISH INDIA
Mascara THE WEEKEND PEOPLE
Will You Shine? PERRY KEYES
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