I used to have a ritual as a teenager. I’d set the ghetto blaster to record 3RRR when I left for school. I’d get about an hour on one side of a C120 tape (no doubt taping over one of the old man’s Kenny Rogers albums). As soon as I got home each day I’d lock myself in my room and throw on the headphones to see if I caught anything. Pretty much every new band I discovered growing up came with the help of the R’s. One day I caught Julie is a Junkie… and it blew my tiny, angsty teenage mind. I had the guitar cranked up in a flash and probably spent the best part of the next six months playing along with it. Never could quite get that lead break though.

The Eastern Dark burst onto the Aus live scene in mid 1984 when James Darroch (ex-Celibate Rifles) and Bill Gibson (ex-Lime Spiders) joined up with drummer Geoff Milne. They quickly developed a reputation as the pub rock band you simply HAD to see live, something I sadly never got to do. In 1986 they finished recording their debut EP Long Live The New Flesh! with Rob Younger producing. They were heading to Melbourne to play a few shows, I was finally going to see them. I think I wore nappies for a few weeks leading up the the tour because I kept pissing myself with excitement. It wasn’t to be. Their tour van ran off the road and guitarist / singer James Darroch was tragically killed. Like many who die too young you can only wonder how big these guys might have become.

There are a few live recordings floating around of The Eastern Dark, but not loads. This clip is from one of their last gigs, February 27th, 1986 at the Tivoli in Sydney (just a few days before the accident). A collection of the band’s live and studio recordings, Where Are All The Single Girls?, was released in 2000. It was re-issued last year and you can grab it from the Half a Cow site. I cannot recommend this cd highly enough for anyone who has even a passing interest in Aus Garage Rock.

Watch the video