JUNKYARD (1988)
With the demise of SMEGMA in late 1987, I was keen to jump right back in and form a new band as quickly as I could.
I took a road trip to Townsville to check out Ruth and Ned’s new band NOISE and met Andy Anarchy, Dennis the Menace, and Stu McSpew, all embarking on their 1st punk rock musical adventure together. I also caught up with Tim and the Lethal Injections, newly renamed THE MADMEN, and saw them play an energetic and lively set to a small bar full of yobbos and AJ’s.
When I arrived back to CQ I knew that I definitely wanted to continue making music with Robbie Ward, and spent the summer demo-ing various new songs with him, with Angela G. also co-writing some originals and playing bass and guitar.
Also around this time I started work on my own zine, provisionally titled “1988”, but which I renamed “A piss in the ocean”. See ZINES section of this website for the full story.
Even after the cultural shock of SMEGMA had subsided, Rockhampton was back to business as usual, and nothing had changed in regards to getting gigs anywhere for a band wanting to play original material. It was a whole city locked down, and blinkered – only employing travelling circuit bands playing the worst commercial 80s music imaginable, or the old redundant musicians rehashing bad versions of 70’s prog rock and pub rock covers. Vile and disgusting stuff.
Undaunted I decided to find out what had become of Brett Nash, who I had last seen when he came to see the July 1987 SMEGMA show at Pedros Wine Bar.
He was chuffed to see me, and had drifted away from heavy metal and into punk rock. He had also been busy practising guitar and was an amazing guitarist, especially for his age. I had asked Robbie to drum but he had work and family commitments, and probably wary of re-entering the punk rock cauldron so soon after his experiences in SMEGMA.
Around this time Brett was keen to adopt a punk nickname as well.
At this time ABC TV aired a woeful show called THE FACTORY, a kinda youth lifestyle – music show hosted by Cameron Daddo and Alex Paps.
Not one to resist a gag, I suggested Brett rename himself Alex Papsmear.
So successful a nickname that to this day many people only know Brett as Alex or Paps!
By August 1988, Alex stepped up and found us a drummer, a nice guy by the name of Michael Henderson, who also went to Glenmore High School with Alex, and later became a professional musician in the RAAF. A multi-instrumentalist Michael (aka Hendo Stix) became our drummer.
Alex and I had a lot of similar influences and were busy finding new music and discussing bands and music every chance we got.
We were knocked out by Husker Du’s “flip your wig” album, loved Dylan’s “Highway 61 revisited”, all the 77 punk stuff, all the 80s hardcore bands including The Exploited and GBH, the Bad Brains, the Dead Kennedys. We loved X’s “at home with you” album. We also became big fans of Nick Cave, both his solo work (His latest album was “Your funeral, my trial”), and also the Birthday Party and their various offshoots (Crime & the City Solution, These Immortal Souls, Anita Lane, etc)
We both loved the Birthday Party album “Junkyard”, so that’s what we decided to call our new band. Husker Du inspired us to keep the band as a three-piece, we decided that there was no room for passengers in a three-piece and we would all have to step up musically to make it work.
JUNKYARD (1988)
Alex and I had become regular patrons of the Grosvenor Hotel, in fact I’d been seeing bands there since 1980. An English guy called Patrick had taken over, and we’d regaled him with stories of the Grosvenor’s glory days, when bands such as The Church, The Models, Skyhooks, Rose Tattoo, Jimmy & The Boys etc always included it on their regional touring schedule.
It had a big niteclub room where in the past a million touring circuit cover bands would play three or four nights a week, and a medium size lounge bar – both with proper stages. There was also a tiny front bar setup as well.
We convinced Patrick to let us run our own show from the medium sized room, bringing in some drinkers for his bar, and we charged $2 on the door for our efforts.
We played our first show on September 2nd 1988, and Robbie and Greg Ward lent us their PA and did the sound for us. Angela G. and Bruss also helped us get the gear setup and looked after the door money for us too.
We had about 72 paying people turn up to support us and prove that there were people in Rockhampton who were outside of the mainstream. Patrick was really supportive and kept us supplied with free beer all night. In return we played from 9pm to 2 a.m. !!
We played four sets which went over one hour each, talk about enthusiasm!
In the meantime our Townsville friends gave us the heads-up of a Battle of the Bands being run at James Cook Uni in Townsville. We hired a car and drove the nearly 800 kms to have the plug pulled five minutes into our set, remarkably we’d squeezed seven songs in!! I remember it being a great trip socially meeting our northern friends again.
Drinking at Kim’s pub THE HERBERT, we were on the footpath on closing and Ruth introduced me to a young punk guy with a mohawk by the name of Garth Anonymous.
He later became good mates of Alex and I, and I was gob-smacked when he reminded me when we first met, as he was too young to have a drink in the pub with us all. The night at the pub was especially good with Alex entertaining our friends with his Exploited barmy-army singalongs and his Nick Cave impressions!
We took the long drive home, narrowly missing a huge roo outside of Marlborough, and spooking ourselves with UFO stories! We’d had a fun weekend of partying and socialising and started practising again straight away for our next gig at the Grosvenor.
We played the Grosvenor one last time in October 1988, again playing huge sets that started at 9pm and finished around the 1 a.m. mark. Unfortunately Alex got a bit too smashed on the free beers this time around and the show ended with Hendo walking off stage around 1 a.m. as he said the drum-kit smelt like a toilet.
Seems during the sets Alex was urinating onstage just behind the drums.
Predictably, Patrick was not impressed by the river of stale piss that had ran down the main hallway of his pub the next morning,
Hendo was not enamoured of it either, and we lost our drummer and venue in the one night!
But it had been a fun night, and the many practices Alex, Hendo and I had in this band hold many happy memories of learning a ton of new songs, and having a great laugh along the way. It seemed like we were in this band for years, but we were probably only together as JUNKYARD for about two months!
LINEUP
Alex Papsmear (aka Brett Nash) – guitar , vocals
Bollox (aka Cameron Borg) – Bass, vocals
Hendo Stix (aka Michael Henderson) – the drums
ORIGINALS
World won’t listen (Bollox)
We don’t care (Alex Papsmear)
Anarchy by Alex (Alex Papsmear)
The angry song (Alex Papsmear)
Junkyard (Alex-Bollox-Stix)
Drinkin’ Coopers Ale (Alex-Bollox-Stix)
Alex’s 12 bar (Alex Papsmear)
Massacre at McDonalds (Alex-Bollox-Stix)
The ballad of Robin Hood (Alex-Bollox-Stix)
COVERS
Smash the discos (the Business)
Real enemy (the Business)
Do they owe us a living? (CRASS)
Girl in the sweater (The Hard-Ons)
Low life (PiL)
Public image (PiL)
Cheat (The Clash)
Trust your mechanic (Dead Kennedys)
California Uber Alles (Dead Kennedys)
Too drunk to fuck (Dead Kennedys)
Grinding halt (the Cure)
In my eyes (Minor Threat)
Minor threat (Minor Threat)
Steppin’ stone (Monkees)
Pretty vacant (Sex Pistols)
No feelings (Sex Pistols)
You really got me (The Kinks)
I feel alright (The Stooges)
Last train to Clapham Junction (the Business)
Killing an arab (The Cure)
Something else (Eddie Cochran)
C’mon everybody (Eddie Cochran)
No fun (The Stooges)
Twist n shout (The Beatles)
100 years (The Cure)
In a rut (The Ruts)
It’s not you (the Cure)
Johnny B. Goode (Chuck Berry)
Roadrunner (Modern Lovers)
Way of the world (Flipper)
Can your pussy do the dog? (The Cramps)
Anarchy in the U.K. (Sex Pistols)
What’s inside a girl? (the Cramps)
The Queen is dead (The Smiths)
God save the Queen (Sex Pistols)
Sex n violence (The Exploited)
Computers don’t blunder (The Exploited)
Goin’ crazy (X)
Problems (Sex Pistols)
Anarchy in Woolworths (Chaotic Dischord)
I don’t wanna go out (X)
GIGS PLAYED
The Grosvenor Hotel, Rockhampton 3rd September 1988
Battle of the Bands James Cook Uni. Townsville 14th October 1988
The Grosvenor Hotel, Rockhampton 28th October 1988
PHOTOS
Bollox guest spot with NOISE. Animal Shelter gig, Townsville. Dec 1987
Pic © John Bright
Cover of 1st issue of APiTO fanzine – (June 1988)
© Cameron Borg 1988
JUNKYARD Live at the Grosvenor Hotel 2nd Sept 1988
Pics © Angela Gill & Leslea Biglia
Original door ticket stub – Junkyard @ Grosvenor Hotel 2nd Sept 1988
Courtesy of Leslea Biglia
JUNKYARD Road trip photos – Townsville October 1988
Pics © Ruth Rebel
RECORDING SESSIONS
Rehearsal – Gracemere Hall August 1988
1st Gig (90 mins recorded) Grosvenor Hotel Rockhampton 2/9/1988
Rehearsal – Diggers Hall, North Rockhampton Sept 1988
3rd Gig (90 mins recorded) Grosvenor Hotel Rockhampton 28/10/1988