THE KELPIES - Take Me Away 7'' 1982

One of my favourite Aussie Band are the Kelpies. They were a superb band in Sydney during the early 80s. They began in March of 1981 and, according to the liner notes of their one and only LP, developed "a knack of being banned from venues as quickly as they packed them out." They lasted until August of 1982, leaving behind the Phantom Records single "Take Me Away/Second By Second" and three tracks on the brilliant Aberrant Records compilation Flowers From The Dustbin to go along with their lone album.

The Kelpies consisted of Ashley Thomson along with James Gelding as lead singer, Mark Easton and Brian Conolly on guitars, Con Murphy on bass. Con and Mark had been in the Sydney punk band Suicide Squad, with Mark also having played in the Bedhogs and the delicately named Vic Vomit and the Varicose Veins. James had also been in the Bedhogs & another band called Black Runner. Brian had been in the Swankers & Aftermath.

Their first gig was at the Royal Exhibition Hall on March 27, 1981. The band did well from the start because their members had good reputations among the gig-going crowd from their previous efforts, but they were plagued by violence at many of their gigs. They played places like the Manly Vale Hotel, Sydney Trade Union Club, Sgt. Peppers and Brownies. In May 1981 they recorded a 9 song demo at the 8-track Now Studios in Sydney. 

Three of these tunes ("Television", "My Wall", and "Truro Murders") are the ones that appear on Flowers From The Dustbin. After a temporary break up in September 1981, they reformed for another demo recording session in March of 1982. Subsequently they went to a 16 track studio and recorded three more songs, two of which made up the Phantom single. But it wasn't to last; the band played their last gig on July 30, 1982 at Mosman Hotel and split for good in September. They have now reformed and are releasing a new album and doing their first show back on the 9th oct 2003 at the annandale hotel Sydney! (source: mp3.com)

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