Wild About You: The Sixties Beat Explosion in Australia and New Zealand
The astonishing outpouring of rock’n’roll in the mid-1960s in Australia and New Zealand produced such iconic bands as the Easybeats, the Masters Apprentices, the La De Da’s, Billy Thorpe and the Aztecs, the Loved Ones, and the Missing Links. It was also the launching pad for a generation of musicians who would go on to greater fame with groups like the Bee Gees, Little River Band, Daddy Cool, Spectrum, and the Coloured Balls.
But that’s only half the story: there were lots of lesser-known bands who also created music of enduring brilliance and power during those explosive years. The Black Diamonds, the Elois, Chants R&B, the Others, the Bluestars, and the Moods, to name just a few, may have achieved only fleeting public acclaim, but each released at least one single (in some cases, their only release) that ranks among the best of the entire decade.
From pop icons to underground legends, this book has them all. There are profiles of 35 of the bands who made the scene, along with the a list of the top 100 beat and garage songs compiled by authors Iain McIntyre and Ian D. Marks. Profusely illustrated, and with a detailed discography, Wild About You! celebrates a unique time in rock history.
“This is a towering achievement. Gloriously hi-fidelity but wonderfully accessible at the same time. Wild About You! is the definitive book on this greatest of musical eras.”
– STUART COUPE
“There are insights and images here, gathered and presented with obvious dedication, affection and understanding, that must astound the protagonists, who surely thought that what they were doing would be around for months and not decades. . . Ian and Iain tell tales, or allow tales to be told, of some of the most explosive sounds captured in the ’60s. In many cases these maniacal musicians knew not what they did but, bloody hell, they did it with such screaming passion that it will never be forgotten.”
– GLENN A. BAKER