Song Of the Day; April 3, 2006
This one is something of a shout-out to my junior high friend Doug Pumphrey, who was absolutely mad for the Swingers, particularly this terrific bit of new wave fluff. The Swingers were a trio led by ex-Split Enz singer Phil Judd, who seems to be following the pure-pop direction that his former band went into after he left: this song is every bit as catchy as "I Got You" or "One Step Ahead," just a little more manic. Great goofy video, too, which was a staple of Boulder public-access channel KBDI's late night video show FM-TV. The Swingers -- who also featured bassist Dwayne Hillman, who later joined Midnight Oil -- didn't last long, releasing only this one album before Judd went solo with a 1983 EP confusingly called The Swinger. Oh, and if you ever get a chance to Netflix the 1982 Australian new wave film Starstruck, directed by Gillian Armstrong, do so: there's a great club scene featuring the Swingers performing their song "One Good Reason." This is an album and a band that just disappeared into the ether, which is particularly unfair because they're really quite terrific.
-Stewart Mason
14 Comments:
Great song!
I think this tune actually got some commercial airplay in Boston. Certainly I heard it offen enough on radio.
I remember the swingers. They were featured on the great movie sound "Starstruck" featuring Jo Kennedy.
Ah, fond memories... The Swingers were my brother's A#1 favorite band when I was about 12-13 years old. When I opened your song post it was like the music was coming from my brother's bedroom next door. Thanks.
HA! Great to hear this. Dave B. in the Milkmen was a big fan of Aussie rock and he had this disc.
I had this album, but I never would've remembered it if not for your site. Thanks and keep up the awesome nostalgia trip!
I grew up in Boulder, over the hills from Broomfield and remember rigging up crazy antenna contraptions so that I could tune-in KBDI and watch the videos that they played. Truly a formative influence. I wish public television like this still existed.
Aussie Rock? ..The Swingers were from New Zealand...
Well, Phil Judd was from New Zealand, but the Swingers formed in Australia, and the other members were Australian. (I don't think any member of Split Enz has lived full-time in NZ since the band's earliest days, and there were actually a couple Brits in the TRUE COLOURS lineup.)
They still use this song as the background music in K-Mart commercials here in Australia.
It's hard to listen to it without picturing models posing in low-cost casual wear...
Dear Stewart,
Formed in Australia? You're full of ..it!
Read http://www.frenz.com/philjudd/bio-sw2.html.
Stop claiming Kiwis as Aussies, like you guys are good at!
...plus they're all KIWI born and bred musos, moved over to Oz in 1980.
If you are going to claim something - then verify your facts first. Aussie Knob!
...by the way, so much for your remakable statement 'I don't think any member of Split Enz has lived full-time in NZ...'. Actually only Neil and Tim Finn & Eddie Rayner, the main creative force behind Split Enz etc...still live happily in NZ.
didn't the bass player from this band end up in Midnight Oil? Was Phil Judd later a member of Schnell Fenster?
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