Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
Latest Breaking News
General Discussion
The DU Lounge
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
R.I.P. Aussie rock legend Doc Neeson (Lead vocalist of The Angels)
Over the Top: Remembering Australian Rock Legend Doc Neeson
By David Fricke
POSTED: June 11, 8:50 AM ET
http://www.rollingstone.com/music/blogs/alternate-take/over-the-top-remembering-australian-rock-legend-doc-neeson-20140611
"Okay, this is it, folks, over the top!" With that promise, Doc Neeson, the long-legged howler in Australian nuclear-boogie band the Angels, leads 1400 boozed-and-ready ravers at Melbourne's Hotel Manhattan into the high-speed ecstasy of "Take a Long Line," from the 1978 album, Face to Face. As guitarist-brothers Rick and John Brewster drill the hall's beer-sweat-and-cigarette fog with double-buzzsaw riffing, Neeson – a skyscraper-sized Mick Jagger in an improbably formal tuxedo and silver-satin waistcoat – "alternately stalks the stage wearing his mike stand like a crucifix and leaps into the humid air with manic glee," as I wrote soon after that August, 1983 gig.
"In this country, they call our band a 'rage,'" Neeson explained before the show, during an interview for an Australian-rock-scene story I was writing for Musician magazine. "And a rage here is a great time."
In their prime, 1977-1991, Neeson and the Angels were an explosive and theatrical rage – a guaranteed great time anywhere, including America where they stubbornly fought to repeat the massive success they enjoyed. It never happened, mostly for dumb reasons like U.S.-label indifference and trademark issues over the Angels' name. Most of their records came out here as by Angel City. But I never stopped writing about and believing in their addicting blitz. I had 1991's Beyond Salvation blasting on my iPod early last week, as I routinely do.
Two days later, I learned of Neeson's death on June 4th in Australia, at 67 from brain cancer. The loss was acknowledged there with nationwide press, TV and online tributes. "A mighty talent . . . You showed us how," wrote an equally towering peer, Midnight Oil vocalist Peter Garrett. Over here, Axl Rose paid rowdy honor at Guns N' Roses' June 4th show in Las Vegas, covering the locomotive "Marseilles" from Face to Face.
By David Fricke
POSTED: June 11, 8:50 AM ET
http://www.rollingstone.com/music/blogs/alternate-take/over-the-top-remembering-australian-rock-legend-doc-neeson-20140611
"Okay, this is it, folks, over the top!" With that promise, Doc Neeson, the long-legged howler in Australian nuclear-boogie band the Angels, leads 1400 boozed-and-ready ravers at Melbourne's Hotel Manhattan into the high-speed ecstasy of "Take a Long Line," from the 1978 album, Face to Face. As guitarist-brothers Rick and John Brewster drill the hall's beer-sweat-and-cigarette fog with double-buzzsaw riffing, Neeson – a skyscraper-sized Mick Jagger in an improbably formal tuxedo and silver-satin waistcoat – "alternately stalks the stage wearing his mike stand like a crucifix and leaps into the humid air with manic glee," as I wrote soon after that August, 1983 gig.
"In this country, they call our band a 'rage,'" Neeson explained before the show, during an interview for an Australian-rock-scene story I was writing for Musician magazine. "And a rage here is a great time."
In their prime, 1977-1991, Neeson and the Angels were an explosive and theatrical rage – a guaranteed great time anywhere, including America where they stubbornly fought to repeat the massive success they enjoyed. It never happened, mostly for dumb reasons like U.S.-label indifference and trademark issues over the Angels' name. Most of their records came out here as by Angel City. But I never stopped writing about and believing in their addicting blitz. I had 1991's Beyond Salvation blasting on my iPod early last week, as I routinely do.
Two days later, I learned of Neeson's death on June 4th in Australia, at 67 from brain cancer. The loss was acknowledged there with nationwide press, TV and online tributes. "A mighty talent . . . You showed us how," wrote an equally towering peer, Midnight Oil vocalist Peter Garrett. Over here, Axl Rose paid rowdy honor at Guns N' Roses' June 4th show in Las Vegas, covering the locomotive "Marseilles" from Face to Face.
