David Rossall (1946-2012)

Steel City Sound received the sad news this week that Davd Rossall from Rev. Black and the Rockin' Vicars had passed away from lung cancer on 4 January, 2012.  He was 65.

Peter Sheehan informs SCS that Dave smoked two packets a day even in the Vicars days, whilst former Rev. Black keyboardist Neil Williamson says he smoked right up until his death. Perhaps it may be relevant that David's 90-year-old mother, Alice, passed away only a few weeks ago, on the 12th December, 2010.

David arrived in Wollongong from the UK on a mission. Possessed of great ambitions and an irrepressible personality, he had a great singing voice and had been a very young guitarist in the Blackpool band Bruce And The Spiders, before George Rossall migrated with his family to Australia.

Street Press (1999)

I've always enjoyed writing about music. When I was a teenager I tried putting together my own metal 'zine. I interviewed a band, ripped into another's live show and drew a comic to go along with it all. It was hand-written. It never ventured outside my bedroom.

In the mid-nineties I applied - and was surprisingly successful - in getting a gig on the Tertangala, the University of Wollongong's student paper. This was a little controversial as I wasn't a uni student. Nonetheless, I was grateful for the opportunity and throughout the next four or five years built up my skills and made many friends, some of which I still maintain contact with.

During this time IMM, Zonk, Bulb and Pulse all came and went. I'm not sure what forces were at work but leading into the year 2000 my time at the Tert was coming to an end. It might've been the Howard Government's Voluntary Student Unionism which saw funds cut to zero, or maybe it was the Young Liberals getting a foothold on the SRC. Whatever the impetus, I thought I'd try my hand at being an editor of a street press - despite not being university educated.

Stiffler (2000-2006)

Stiffler circa 2006

By Rob Carr & Warren Wheeler
It is the year 2000, two years after the film American Pie transformed (or perhaps reinvented) the teen-comedy film genre with sexually-charged American jocks trying to score with band geeks.

Named after one of the most popular characters from the film, Stiffler's sound reached out to the all-ages audience and was popular locally because of the bands’ pop-punk appeal.

Describing your band as porn punk-pop "with a sprinkle of today's modern style emo rock" may never have attracted the respect of critics, but it did manage to target the appropriate audience.

Steel City Sound Presents The Occy: A Doco Nov. 13, 2011 (The Patch)

Steel City Sound is proud to present a FREE screening of Nathan Burling's 'The Occy - A Doco' along with local tunes from those closely associated with the Occy's past: Leadfinger, Money Killed Johnny, A Cat Named Kesey and DVA Swinging Beef & The Daptoids, on Sunday, Novemeber 13 2011 at The Patch (Cabbage Tree Hotel, Fairy Meadow).

Wollongong’s Oxford Tavern was a live music venue for over 30 years. Arguably, its heyday was in the nineties under the music co-ordination of local musician Steven Robinson. Throughout the nineties it became the hub of local original music as well as meeting place of likeminded artists, activists and students. It was Wollongong’s little slice of bohemia. However, in the mid naughties, there were rumours the Oxford was to be bought and that it would no longer continue as a venue for live music. Many in the music community were concerned this would be the end of the live music scene. Former Nabilone vocalist and guitarist Nathan Burling was one of them.

In 2006, as part of the Master of Journalism course Burling was enrolled in at UOW, he decided to interview stakeholders in the Oxford Tavern: bookers, bands, punters and staff were all interviewed and asked about the potential demise of our beloved Oxford.

In 2007, the sale went through. The Belmorgan Group bought the Oxford and the new owners claimed nothing would change in regards to live music. However, it did change.

“The Occy” is the story of the end of a venue and the rise of a new music scene.

Festival of Rock, Wollongong Showground (29 March, 1970)

Wollongong's 'first' pop festival was fraught with obstacles

On Australia Day weekend in 1970 Ourimbah hosted the 'Pilgrimage for Pop' - Australia's first rock festival. An estimated 8,000 people (some reports put the number closer to 10,000) witnessed the likes of Billy Thorpe & The Aztecs, Tamam Shud, Jeff St John & Copperwine, Doug Parkinson's In Focus, and the debut performance of Stevie Wright's Rachette.

Quick to capitalise on this success, promoter and Oliver's venue operator Brian Neville proposed Wollongong's first rock festival. Only a stone's throw from Sydney, and close to the beach Stuart Park seemed like the promoter's dream venue - unfortunately local Council saw differently.

Svegies Vegie's (1983-1989)

Svegies Vegie's at a WINTV Telethon

Ahhh... the much maligned 1980's: a decade where video killed the radio star and  we wanted our money for nothing (and our chicks for free). Greed was good, fluorescent hot-pants were tight, and keyboards were made to look like guitars. In the post-punk and post-disco era MTV had stamped its' mark on the industry, dictating local radio playlists from afar with synth-heavy, sacchrine-loaded pop performed by blokes easily mistaken for chicks.

Despite all it's colour and flamboyance however, the eighties were a relatively miserable time for our region. Starting with the Kemira strike in '82, the region suffered crippling unemployment, having generational impacts that are still being felt today.

Tiny Tim, Warrawong Shopping Centre (11 March, 1970)

Early 1970, and Tiny Tim - widely known for his unusual falsetto voice and ukulele prowress - had a 10-night engagement at Sydney's Chevron Hotel. In between shows, however he was scheduled to appear at the Warrawong Shopping Centre for two afternoon performances.

Speaking to the Illawarra Mercury before the scheduled appearance the centre's public relations officer Bill McCallum stated that his visit would "be all milk and honey" adding that a bathroom would be reserved for the entertainer and a "love diet of honey, fruit and peanut butter" would be available for him between shows.

With more than 4000 people expected to show up, this was to be four-year old Diane Hardy's big moment. Diane, daughter of caretaker Jim Hardy, was to present a sheath of flowers to Tiny Tim after his performance.

The Beach Boys, Capitol Hall (28 April 1970)

The sixties were a musically productive time for the Wollongong region. Local bands such as The Marksmen, The Executives, The Wanderers, Earl's Court and more played in the various venues, community halls and bars dotted throughout the city and its' suburbs. Acts from Sydney, Brisbane, Canberra and Melbourne would often call through on a Friday or Saturday night, and if you were lucky enough to be a teenager during that period you may have seen the likes of The Easybeats, The Twilights and The Loved Ones in their prime.

But in 1970, Wollongong got it's first taste of international pop culture as The Beach Boys played two shows on the same date at Capitol Hall, Corrimal.

Run by newly-weds Zondrae and Wayne King, Capitol Hall was situated where Northern Bowl now stands. It's history is one that I hope to detail in more depth in the not-too-distant future, but for now you can read how the Illawarra Mercury reported the Beach Boys visit.

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'Music group set own standard', Illawarra Mercury 30 April, 1970 (.jpg)