Stoneage Romeos turns back time to vinyl

Who would have thought that it has been 40 years since the Hoodoo Gurus released their first album, Stoneage Romeos?

Songs like “My Girl”, “Leilani”, “Tojo” and “I Want You Back” seem to have been around forever, firmly a part of the Australian musical landscape.

These songs came out of a time when bands did not normally have longevity, yet in the ensuing years after their release the Hoodoo Gurus have not only endeared themselves to Australia, but have also built up a healthy international touring reputation that will see them embark on a month long USA tour in September.

To mark the occasion, the Gurus have delved into the vault and come up with a bunch of archival treats plus some unheard gems for a reissue of Stoneage Romeos on vinyl.

“We have gone back to the original tapes and there are other songs that weren’t included then,” Dave Faulkner, Hoodoo Gurus said.

“The album was originally on vinyl only, and we did some work on the audio and made it slick.”

The 40th Anniversary Vinyl set will include the unreleased 1984: Live at the Chevron as a 12 inch album, featuring a zoetrope vinyl with characters embedded within that will come alive on the turntable.

“It was recorded for the ABC’s Rock Arena and will not be available on streaming, though some fan did put five or so songs from the TV show on Youtube,” Faulkner said.

Also in the show-bag of audio delights will be a double sided issue of “Hayride to Hell”, a song originally recorded for Stoneage Romeos but left off for its country feel, eventually making it onto Mars Needs Guitars.

“There were two outtakes from Stoneage Romeos, of which “Hayride to Hell” was one, which we recorded with our new drummer (Mark Kingsmill),”Faulkner said.
“On the b-side is part two which we recorded for a John Peel show at the BBC in 1987, and putting that song back is part of the record I had in my mind.”

“Hayride to Hell” will be issued with artwork from Reg Mombassa; how it came about is quite the story.

“I bought the Reg a few years ago and gave it to my sister as a gift, and when the idea came about for the repackage I thought that the image kind of fits “Hayride to Hell”,” Faulkner said.

“It has a truck that looks like a dinosaur in the outback, so I asked Reg for his permission and paid a license fee.

“He hadn’t done a Hoodoo Gurus cover and he loved the idea.”

Stoneage Romeos, named after a Three Stooges episode, also contains “Lielani” which has remained one of the Gurus all time favourite live songs.“‘Lielani’” was an important song in our set and it had only ever been on a small independent label so we recorded it with the new lineup,” Faulkner said.

“We recorded it again one more time after that when we did a reunion of all of the old members and we had a supersized version on an EP called Gravy Train.”

When asked if “My Girl” is about a dog, Faulkner replies with an emphatic “NO! Categorically not.” Faulkner said.

The clip is about a greyhound that loses an important race, but the owner loves his dog despite this.

“The song is a much more straight ahead sixties classic boy meets girl, boy loses girl,” Faulkner said. “It’s a heartbreak song.”

Stoneage Romeos will be reissued in its original garish day-glo colours as designed by Yanni Stumbles.

Featuring a dinosaur about to monster a maiden in distress it leapt out of the record bins and set the Gurus apart from other bands for their strong original artwork.

This bold statement was not, however, to the liking of their American record company, who ordered a new cover they believed was less threatening. This eventually played into the band’s favour.

“When we went to the States, all of our fans were buying import copies because they wanted the original artwork,” Faulkner said.

Also included in this limited edition package will be a poster replica of the Hoodoo Gurus artwork, an essay by Toby Creswell exploring the band’s origins, and a postcard poster designed by Faulkner from an old Doctor Who annual.

Pre-order from hoodoogurus.net