One of the original Aussie volume dealers, an inspiration to AC/DC (and the odd Endless Boogie member or two), passed away yesterday in Sydney after suffering a heart attack. Billy Thorpe and the Aztecs' 1972 live blowout at Sunbury is remembered with much reverence Down Under, and was recently reissued on the Aztec label along with some studio albums. In the Aztecs' poppy early days, they kicked the Beatles off the Australian charts while Fab Four were touring their country; they split in 1967 and reemerged with Thorpe taking on lead guitar by default, dropped acid, cranked the stacks, made side-long burners and floored Festival audiences shortly thereafter. The band also provided springboard for Lobby Loyde of Coloured Balls fame and they continued to vibe from each other. Thorpe's final gig was Sunday night. I actually just posted a link to some live Billy a couple weeks ago, but here it is again (You Tube, thanks to Jesper Eklow for the original pass-on), as well as Real Audio of "CC Rider" from the Sunbury show just played on FMU last week.
R.I.P Billy....I have made an ambient all aussie soundscape dedicated to Thorpie...www.myspace.com/djhdd
Posted by: DJ HDD | February 28, 2007 at 04:21 AM
children of the sun is sweet rock n roll.
Posted by: nawyecky | February 28, 2007 at 01:25 PM
Amazing video.
Posted by: notafood | February 28, 2007 at 09:23 PM