SIXTIES DOWNUNDER series

The first disc in this superlative and very popular series came out in 1988. Sixities Downunder was also the first release in the new CD format from renowned reissue specialists Raven Records, who had already made their name with classic compilations of The Masters Apprentices and The Twilights. Compiled and annotated by Oz rock guru Glenn A. Baker, they are as near to a definitive collection of '60s Australia pop as we're ever likely to get. Now into its fourth volume, this is a true musical feast, and the most remarkable thing is that there's barely a dud amongst its 112 tracks. The only number I could happily live without is Glenn Ingram & The Hi Fives' lugubrious 'beat' version of the dreaded Skye Boat Song. Apart from that, I'd consider virtually every song here to be essential listening.

Raven have taken 1964 as their starting point, and Volume 1 kicks off in appropriate fashion with Thorpie's epoch-making Poison Ivy, the song that marked the start of the Beat Boom in Australia, and it's uphill all the way from there. Every track on this first disc is a gold-plated classic, and Disc One alone must rate as perhaps the best sampler of Australian '60s pop every released. It shares a number of tracks in common with the excellent Festival compilation So You Wanna Be A Rock'n'Roll Star?, but that set necessarily featured only Festival (or Festival distributed) artists and focused primarily on NSW acts. The Sixties Downunder series covers the whole gamut of Australian pop, with tracks from every major label (and a few minor ones!), every major city, and virtually every important act of the period.

There are some major omissions of course. One is The Atlantics, whose pre-'64 surf singles are classics of Australian rock, recognised the world over. Even considering this series' starting-point of 1964, there are some great Atlantics recordings made after that time that would surely merit inclusion. Another omission is Sydney's legendary The Missing Links. Possibly these were due to licencing problems and/or the unavailablility of recordings, but The Links's non-inclusion is rather curious, given that Raven reissued the prized Links Unchained EP on vinyl back in the '80s. Their complete recordings have since been issued on CD by Nic Dalton's Half A Cow label, so their absence from this series this is not a major problem for aficionados, and to be fair, the Links were virtually unknown outside Sydney, but their influence on later bands like The Saints was considerable and with the benefit of hindsight both groups are notable by their absence.

Vols 1, 2 and 4 are general selections ranging across all styles and taken from eavery year of the 1964-70 period; Vol. 3 concentrates more specifically on the "R&B and psychedelic ends of the pop spectrum". The only possible criticism of the track order is that the discs are not chronologically arranged, which would help to show the development of styles and recording techniques. A fuller credit for producers, engineers, studios and session players would be desirable, but given the paucity of information in these areas, it's more a wish list than a criticism, and Baker does recognise important behind-the-scenes figures like producer Pat Aulton and key session players like The Strangers' John Farrar.

The value of these discs is greatly enhanced by the fact that the acts are in most cases represented by their best work, rather than their biggest hit -- which is not always the same thing. A perfect example of this is Tony Worsley & The Blue Jays' ripsnorting Just A Little Bit. They are probably best remembered for their sentimental, surf-tinged ballad Velvet Waters, but in fact that song was the least typical track they ever recorded. The Blue Jays were a hard-rocking outfit with a passionate interest in rock'n'roll, blues, R&B and soul and a live clout that few of their peers could match, providing powerhouse backing for Tony's dynamic proto-punk vocal style. Velvet Waters was really something of a throw-away. recorded in minutes at the very end of a recording session. But on release it became a smash hit, much to the amazement of its creators, who were puzzled by the fact that the song could have such enormous appeal when it was so atypical of their repertoire. Just A Little Bit is an inspired choice, one of the Blue Jays' finest tracks. It's superior to both The Purple Hearts' later version and simply miles ahead of the pedestrian reading by The Animals (whose own version was cut the same year but not released until many years later) and if there is a better version, I'm yet to hear it.

There's no point in a song-by-song dissection of the series -- a quick perusal of the track listing should be enough to convince even the most skeptical critic that all four volumes are "must have" items. As usual, Baker's liners notes are comprehensive and authoritative, and Raven prints them in easy-to-read black on white type. Photos are necessarily small and of relatively poor quality but this a minor quibble considering the wealth of music contained in these discs. Sound quality is variable, since some tracks had to be remastered from vinyl due to the unavailability of master tapes -- a continuing and serious problem for the preservation of Australia's musical heritage.

The packaging is OK -- the first two volumes have a certain "DIY" charm, but they would be unlikely to win any awards. The design of the latter two volumes is much more eye-catching and up-to-date, a distinct improvement on that of the earlier two. (It's interesting to note that the record-player design for Volume 3 has recently been "imitated" for Festival's Spinning Around compilation). Maybe it's just the slender budgets, but cover design seems to be a bit of an afterthought at Raven, who tend to resort to the predictable photo-and-type routine, and this is a shame because a decent package would really enhance the overall appeal of their reissues. We can only wonder why Raven and other labels are not using the services of Australia's pre-eminent cover artist, the great Ian McCausland, who created the covers for Spectrum, Carson, Chain and so many others, as well as the famous original Mushroom logo.

The first two volumes are reasonably priced at $22.20. Vols 3 and 4 are $26:95 rrp each for a single disc which is hardly cheap, considering these tracks are all re-issues and are all well over 30 years old. By way of comparison, Ross Wilson's exemplary Now Listen! gives you two CDs for $30, much of which has never been available on CD before, and Festival's ... Rock'n'Roll Star set has three CDs for a mere $40. But it would be churlish to begrudge a hard-working independent like Raven the chance to make a bit of money, and the tendency of the major labels to charge like the proverbial wounded bull for licencing fees is no doubt another a cost factor that has to be taken into consideration.

It would be nice to think that one day Raven will be able to give this magnificent collection the treatment it deserves, and issue it as a complete set, appropriately sequenced, presented in longbox format with a properly designed and illustrated booklet (cf. releases like Rhino's acclaimed Nuggets). Such a repackaging would be a great improvement, but on content alone the Sixties Downunder series easily holds its own alongside Nuggets as a vital repository of '60s music. It illustrates brilliantly what a wealth of talent we had (and still have) and only reinforces my anger and disbelief at the way Australasian music of this era is still being so roundly ignored overseas by supposedly "authoritative" organs like Mojo magazine.

Taken as a whole, the Sixties Downunder series must be regarded as a cornerstone work in the continuing effort to preserve, study and celebrate Australian popular music of the past 50 years. Whether reliving your youth or visiting this vibrant era of music for the first time, you can be sure of hours of great listening, and you'll realise that beyond the "hits and memories" formats foisted upon us by radio lies a treasure trove of great music by great local artists.

DK