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ALBUM: The Easybeats ‘Friday on My Mind’ (1985, compilation)
MVC Rating: 4.0/$$$
I can’t quite figure out the Easybeats, the 60’s-era band from Australia. This could be framed as a tale of two videos by the Aussie band, one bad beyond redemption, one amazing beyond compare. But more on that later.
Billed as Australia’s answer to the Beatles, they had two truly great songs: ‘Friday on My Mind” and ‘Good Times’ are rock songs that rank among the best, dare I say, or at least in the better category in our historical referencing language. ‘Friday’ is No. 726 on Dave Marsh’s list of the top 1001 songs of all time. Looking at that list, which I have in the form of an actual 1989 book, I’d move ‘Friday” up and put ‘Good Times,’ which isn’t even on the list, higher than Friday or at least on par.
‘Good Times’ probably loses points for inane lyrics, but the old film footage of the band doing this song has rock screamer lead vocalist Stevie Wright doing a flying knee drop at the right time. Not to be missed although the singing doesn’t always match the lips, if you know what I mean.
In the pantheon of rock songs, these two songs are hanging out at Itchycoo Park. (Damn that’s bad writing). But that Small Face pantheon, er, or park is not a bad place to be. OK let me just say it. Good Times wins by sheer force of it balls-out music and singing. Friday wins by capturing in words and music the powerful promises of an upcoming weekend.
But still it’s hard, as I said earlier, to understand this band, which is later linked to AC/DC through band members George Vanda and Harry Young. Young was the older brother of Angus and Malcolm of AC/DC and were connected to that group through songwriting and production work. I’ll have more about V&Y when I review Flash and the Pan, a bizarre Vanda and Young project that generated several albums.
Back to the Easybeats. My main issue is that as good as those two songs are, I expected more hidden gems on this greatest hits albums. Instead I wander through what sounds like early Kinks outtakes or Dave Clark Five b-sides. Sounds like the band came unglued, torn between a hard-rocking psychedelic-tinged sound (Heaven and Hell) and hitsmakers a la early era Beatles thing (She’s So Fine.)
Their version of the much covered ‘River Deep/Mountain High’ is decent enough. I don’t know what to think of ‘Heaven and Hell’ whose title and lyrics got it banned in some places. It’s riveting in a rendition done on French TV but riveting in that your frozen in place if this could be heaven or this could be hell.
‘Come and See Her,’ which is not on the album fortunately but is captured on YouTube is inexplicably bad. What are they doing? I can barely watch it. Is this the band that has a live performance of ‘Good Times’ which I think is one of the best rock songs of that era. (INXS covered it years later, but the song never got the notice it deserved). Maybe it was all too easy. Easy fever.
Here’s their most popular song:
So two videos. One hideous and one brilliant. Either way, enjoy them here:
Worst video.
Did you catch the young woman dancing in the background at the end? She appeared to have pulled her arms out of the socket or something. Anyway, here’s what I think is their best rock song (performance). CLICK HERE.