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Cowboy Reins

Giddy Up I revisited my 1950’s Hohner Lone Star Rider and noticed two anomalies. Firstly, the six sided star is present (usually an indicator of pre WWII) and secondly, the label in the box suggests it was made in the 1930’s (4,500 men & 25,000,000 harmonicas per annum). One thing I’ve learnt on my harmonica … Continue reading Cowboy Reins →

Fairlight Festival Revisited (or the adventures of the Mittagong Mafia).

Fairlight Festivals 1971 Venue: 200 acre farm (Fairlight) four miles south of Mittagong on the way to Berrima NSW. Set in a gentle sloping clearing divided by a stream. One side set for camping the other music. Stage: An old Sydney tram elevated six feet off the ground with a twenty foot extension out the … Continue reading Fairlight Festival Revisited (or the adventures of the Mittagong Mafia). →

Ring Ring Goes The Bell

Bring back the harmonica in schools. Teach them blues and country licks. Throw out the recorder, ukuleles and triangles! Just saying! Vine Vale School Tanunda (South Australia) Mouth Organ Band 1933 Bulimba (Queensland) State School Girls Mouth Organ Band 1939 Boys of the Buranda (Queensland) School Mouth Organ Band 1937 Orange Grove (New South Wales) … Continue reading Ring Ring Goes The Bell →

Wizard Master Blaster

Popping up in my research a few years back was evidence of the existence of a Jazz Master Chromatic. Victorian Laurie Smith evidently possessed one. A year after publishing this information, so did Canadian collector Doug Dawson. Where did he locate this Australian brand harmonica? Of all places in Sweden. Doug Dawson’s specimen. Recently I … Continue reading Wizard Master Blaster →

Song for Winter (Spring, Summer & Autumn too!)

North wind rolling down my friends are leaving townI know they're waiting just for meOne more summer gone and one more winter songAnd one more time I tried to leave Wintersong (Quill/Tolhurst/Dubois) Country Radio’s follow up single to Gypsy Queen was the brilliant avant-garde Wintersong. Another co-write by Greg Quill and Kerryn Tolhurst, following on … Continue reading Song for Winter (Spring, Summer & Autumn too!) →

Aussie Groups (with Lickin’ Stick)

Spectrum/Murtceps Daddy Cool The Dingoes Chain Country Radio Fraternity Mental As Anything John Farnham Band Captain Matchbox Whoopee Band Sid Rumpo Dynamic Hepnotics Western Flyer The Elks Billy Thorpe & The Aztecs Carson SCRA - Southern Contemporary Rock Assembly Galapagos Duck Langford Lever Stars Big Pig Snowdroppers Midnight Oil Mickey Finn Hoodoo Gurus Things Of … Continue reading Aussie Groups (with Lickin’ Stick) →

Barran Can (The Holy Grail)

Started out seeking fortune and glory It's a short song, but it's a hell of a story, when you spend your lifetime trying to get Your hands on the Holy Grail Mark Seymour Eureka! Lucky strike! Location: Tamworth the heart of Country music and former venue of the now defunct Hohner Golden Harmonica Championship. The … Continue reading Barran Can (The Holy Grail) →

The Great Mouth Organ Heist

I’m sure most of you have heard of The Great Train Robbery of 1963 when the Roy Mail train from Glasgow to London was brought to a halt and robbed. Some of you may even be familiar with The Great Bookie Robbery of 1976 when six men stole between fourteen and sixteen million from bookmakers … Continue reading The Great Mouth Organ Heist →

Honeycomb Home

That’s wot’s in the box. An old 1934 Crackajack counter top display. Courtesy of the Lumsden family whose Great Uncle exhibited in his Newsagency. David Lumsden kindly provided extra detail to HRR. “My great uncle's name was Cliff Cairns and his newsagents was at 524 Toorak Rd, Burwood, at the then tram terminus. He ran … Continue reading Honeycomb Home →