For me my favorite cd is the Stockade Hotel Gig (27.03.1982). Your cd captures the atmosphere of that night very well. As soon as I heard the cd I remembered the cavernous sound produced in the live band room that night. It was a very atmospheric gig. The nice thing about the cd is that it shows how Brendan's vocal was partially lost in the cavernous sound of the room. It also displays (more than the other recordings) the awesome power and sound of Brendan's guitar work in this era. When you saw them live you were always struck by the power of his vocal and guitar. You were taken up and enveloped by the beautiful melodies and washes of sound he pulled from his guitar. In those days he used an overdrive pedal(I think it was the orange Boss Distortion pedal), an electro harmonix electric mistress flanger and an analogue Korg or Roland delay unit(it was a grey half rack unit with four or five knobs). He would then run this set up into two late 70's era 100 watt vox amps. His guitar was his beloved Italian made 1960's vintage EKO guitar. It was a copy of a fender Jaguar which had a metallic flake blue sparkle finish. You can see this in the photo's. In 1984 he gave this guitar too his brother Robby as he had picked up a black Japanese les Paul copy. Apparently Robby at this time was a big fan of "A big Country" and he learnt to play a number of their songs on the EKO. On your CD of the last Seaview gig and the Stockade I can clearly identify my own voice and that of William Carter's cheering the band. William carter played keyboards in my first band "All Things Unseen". At the time of these gigs he was 13 years old, very drunk and having a fucking brilliant night at the stockade. We used to stand right at the front and cheer DCD on. We were their youngest and most dedicated fans. You can hear William yell out just before they play the second song "Frontier" at the Stockade. In his voice I can still hear and feel the euphoric drunkenness of the evening and the womderfull atmosphere conjured by the early DCD. The Stockade did not usually put bands on. It was not usually a venue for alternative bands. The management were blown away when they put DCD on and around two to three hundred people turned up to see DCD. This night was the first time I experienced Brendan(then known as Ron Perry) and Lisa having one of their famous arguments. They faced away from each other on the stage and were not on speaking terms. After the gig William, Myself and my girlfriend Glenys Osbourne(a few years later in 1996 she was one of the main stars in the feature film "Dogs in Space") flagged down a Taxi Cab. As we were about to get in Lisa tried to "push in" and take the cab of us. Needless to say we did not let her have the cab and as we sped off I can clearly remember Lisa standing on the curb side throwing a tantrum and yelling out "Fuck, fuck, fuck , fuck.......". We though it was hilarious and Glenys imitated Lisa continually for the rest of the cab ride. Back in those days I did not know Lisa on a personal level. I began to know Lisa as a friend in 1986. In 1982 DCD was very much Ron, Des and Paul's band. What a powerful rhythm section Paul and Des were - you can hear it on the cd's. Very few bands ever have such a strong rhythm section. Paul went to the UK a few months after Ron and Lisa and played on the first album and the early London shows. I rember him telling me that they were horrified how the audience went beserk to Xmal Deuthland(DCD were supporting). He felt that the very physical reaction the audience expressed for Xmal Deutshland was disturbingly violent and midless. Paul came home to melbourne 12 months later - a broken man and very disillusioned. Around 12 months after returning he had a serious mental breakdown and gave up music. A big shame because he was a very original, talented Bass player who had a unique feel(very rare). Though he was often playing bass parts written by Brendan, he brought a unique and stylish feel to those parts. He used to tell me that he was influenced by "strip tease" music. Des(drums) was meant to go to London but he pulled out. Enter James Tinker. James was a very good drummer but not as powerfull as Des. I remember Paul complaining about James and being frustrated that Des had not gone to the UK. It's a shame that the early songs were not recorded on 24 track : actually "A means of Escape" and "Frontier" were recorded at Richmond Recorders(where the Birthday recorded "Hee Haw" and "Prayers on Fire" with Tony Cohen) in 1982 with Chris Thompson engineering. At the time Chris was a junior engineer and he sneaked DCD into the studio during the middle of the night to record the two songs(free of charge I believe). I do have a poor copy dub of these recordings somewhere - Paul gave me a tape in 1982.


Having heard the 1982 Melbourne live material you can see how the 1984 DCD first album is the next step in the evolution. It is still cousin to the Melbourne sound but Lisa's role as vocalist is emerging and the intensity and diversity of Des Hefner's drumming is no longer present. Des and Paul worked together extremely well. Musicaly they were a perfect marriage. They were reunited in 1984 in the Melbourne group "Permanent Press". I was at the first show - the Seaview Ballroom. Paul and Des playing together was explosive - so tight and Loud. The audience was in awe. The power, precision and creative expressive between those two players was a wonder to behold. Especially with a few thousand watts amplifying the effect.

sean bowley