Rose Tattoo
Encyclopedia
Rose Tattoo is an Australian rock and roll
band, now led by Angry Anderson
, that was formed in Sydney in 1976. Their sound is hard rock
mixed with blues rock influences, with songs including "Bad Boy for Love", "Rock 'n' Roll Outlaw", "Nice Boys", "We Can't Be Beaten" and "Scarred for Life". Their first four albums were produced by Harry Vanda and George Young
who also worked with AC/DC
. They disbanded in 1987, subsequently reforming briefly in 1993 to support Guns N' Roses
on an Australian tour. They reassembled again from 1998 and have since released two more studio albums.
According to Australian rock music historian Ian McFarlane, Rose Tattoo are "one of the most revered bands of all time. The Tatts played peerless, street-level heavy blues with the emphasis on slide guitar and strident lyric statements". Guns N' Roses, L.A. Guns
, Keel
, Nashville Pussy
, Motosierra, Pud Spuke and Helen Schneider
have covered Rose Tattoo songs. On 16 August 2006, they were inducted into the Australian Recording Industry Association
(ARIA) Hall of Fame
. Five former members have died in recent years including four of the original recording line-up, Dallas Royall (1991), Peter Wells (2006), Ian Rilen
(2006) and Mick Cocks
(2009), and Lobby Loyde
(2007), who was a member between October 1979 and September 1980.
in 1976 with Leigh Johnston on rhythm guitar
, Tony Lake on lead vocals and were led by slide guitar
ist Peter Wells—who had just departed as bass guitar
ist of heavy metal
band Buffalo
. Drummer
Michael Vandersluys completed the line-up. Ian Rilen
from Band of Light
joined on bass guitar. He had taught himself to play while in prison and gave Wells' band the street-cred he was looking for. Rhythm guitarist Mick Cocks
soon replaced Johnston; Lake and Vandersluys were substituted by former Buster Brown members Angry Anderson and Dallas "Digger" Royall respectively. Melbourne-based Buster Brown had enjoyed local notoriety, playing at the 1974 Sunbury Festival and had included future AC/DC
drummer Phil Rudd
. Rose Tattoo made their public debut on New Year's Eve
at the rock club Chequers.
Chiefly inspired by The Rolling Stones
, Faces
and Billy Thorpe
and his 1970s Aztecs
, Rose Tattoo's hard-rocking sound quickly earned a devoted following in the Sydney area. Members of AC/DC were fans and recommended them to their label, Albert Productions
. The band's debut single "Bad Boy for Love" was written by Rilen, who left to form punk rock group, X
, prior to its release in October 1977. "Bad Boy for Love" was produced by Vanda & Young
(ex-The Easybeats
, AC/DC's producers) and peaked at No. 19 on the Australian Kent Music Report
Singles Chart. Initially Cocks switched to bass guitar to cover Rilen's departure, then Chris Turner (ex-Buffalo) was brought in. The band toured nationally on the pub rock
circuit competing with The Angels
, Cold Chisel
, Dragon
and Kevin Borich Express
.
One-time Buster Brown bass guitarist Geordie Leach was recruited to record their self-titled debut LP, Rose Tattoo, which reached the top 40 on the Australian Kent Music Report Albums Chart in November 1978. The album, produced by Vanda & Young, was released in some markets as Rock N' Roll Outlaw after their second single, "Rock N' Roll Outlaw" which did not reach the top 50. Leach left the band in May 1979 to be replaced in October by guitarist Lobby Loyde
filling in on bass (Coloured Balls, Purple Hearts
, Wild Cherries
). During his brief tenure, they recorded "Legalise Realise" which was released as an independent single in March 1980, backed with the track "Bong on Aussie" by country singer Colin Paterson, to publicise a campaign to legalise marijuana.
Later in 1980, they toured the United States and then toured Europe (including UK), but by September Loyde had left and Leach had returned.
Early in 1981, "Rock N' Roll Outlaw" started to chart in Europe, peaking at No. 2 in France, No. 5 in Germany and No. 60 in UK. The line up of Anderson, Cocks, Leach, Royall and Wells toured Europe from April. Three years after their debut the band issued the follow-up album, Assault and Battery in September, which reached the top 30 in Australia. Both Rock N' Roll Outlaw and Assault and Battery peaked at No. 1 on the UK heavy metal albums chart.
Rose Tattoo's 1981 tour of Europe included an appearance at the Reading Festival, where Anderson repeatedly head butted the amp stacks until his scalp started bleeding. They were hailed as the loudest band to play London's Marquee Club
since Led Zeppelin
. Returning to Australia, the band began work on their third album; with new guitarist Robin Riley replacing Cocks, who went on to join Heaven, they issued Scarred for Life in 1982, subsequently touring the US in support of Aerosmith
and ZZ Top
. The band's US visit was not a major success but proved to be influential on the underground sleaze metal
scene in Los Angeles
, with bands such as Guns N' Roses
which later cited Rose Tattoo as a favourite and recorded a cover
of "Nice Boys" on Live ?!*@ Like a Suicide in 1986.
In 1983, after the US tour, Riley, Royall and Wells all left. The remaining duo of Anderson and Leach recruited guitarists Greg Jordan and John Meyer from Perth
progressive metal
band Saracen. With drummer Scott Johnston, the band recorded 1984's Southern Stars, their last album for Albert Productions and Vanda & Young as producers. Leach then exited to join Cocks, Rilen, Royall and Wells in Illustrated Men which toured during 1984–1985. Anderson took time out to play the character 'Ironbar' Bassey in the 1985 film Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome
. That year Rose Tattoo, as Anderson, Johnston, Meyer, Andy Cichon (bass) and Tim Gaze
(slide guitar), released a cover of Steppenwolf
's "Born to be Wild
", their first release for Mushroom Records
. Meyer left and the group recorded 1986's Beats from a Single Drum as a four piece for Mushroom. Soon after Anderson started his solo career and the band separated by the end of 1987.
" as a single. It was taken from Beats from a Single Drum, which was then re-released as his debut solo album in 1988. "Suddenly" had little chart success until it was used on television soap opera, Neighbours
for the wedding of characters Scott Robinson (Jason Donovan
) and Charlene Mitchell (Kylie Minogue
). "Suddenly" peaked at No. 2 in September 1987 and was kept out of top spot by Minogue's debut single, "Locomotion". In the early 90s, Anderson tried to reunite Rose Tattoo, but the death of Royall, who died in 1991 of cancer while trying to overcome substance abuse in the form of a heroin addiction and alcoholism, stalled the reformation.
In an interview with Australian journalist Nick Milligan on March 25, 2011, Anderson explained, "I was in Los Angeles in 1989 recording an album which the 'Bound For Glory' single came off and I was hanging around with the Gunners and a whole lot of other LA bad boy rock bands that we supposedly influenced. I realised then that apart from the fact that I was there to establish myself as a singer songwriter, there was still this great following for the band. I rang up the other members and said 'Let's reform. We've been apart for three years or more.' It was long enough for us to settle our differences and let all the wounds heal. I rang up each of the original members that were still interested and they all said, 'Yeah, let's get together.' So I said we should negotiate a deal where the band can come over and record in Los Angeles. But, of course, that was the year that our original drummer "Digger" Royall kicked his heroin habit. While he was recovering on methadone, cancer exploded through his body, quite sadly. That was the irony of it, because the cancer had been suppressed by the heroin addiction. Within months he was dead. That shook the band so badly on a personal level, because we had been so enthusiastic to reform. We didn't reform until '92. In '93, the word got around, because we had reformed with our existing drummer Paul DeMarco. The Gunners heard we were out playing again and said, 'We want you to do our support gigs throughout Australia.' We did those two [Guns N' Roses] raceways gigs - Eastern Creek in Sydney and the raceway down in Melbourne."
Rose Tattoo supported Guns N' Roses on the Australian leg of their Use Your Illusion Tour
. Anderson, Wells, Cocks, Leach and new drummer Paul DeMarco from Wells' solo band reunited for the 1993 tour. The reunion was brief and each returned to solo projects.
Around this time, ex-members of Rose Tattoo formed a short lived band with ex-Candy Harlots
vocalist Aiz Lynch. This band had numerous rehearsals, but only recorded one demo before disbanding. Rose Tattoo, with original bassist Ian Rilen replacing Leach, reformed yet again in 1998 for the "All Hell Breaks Loose!!" tour, however Rilen remained with the band only for the duration of this tour. By the following year, Leach had returned to the fold once more, although his place was taken by Steve King in 2000. Rock music historian Ian McFarlane wrote that they are "one of the most revered bands of all time. The Tatts played peerless, street-level heavy blues with the emphasis on slide guitar and strident lyric statements" in his Encyclopedia of Australian Rock and Pop
.
Since that time Rose Tattoo has toured regularly around Australia and throughout Europe
. In 2000, the band appeared at the Wacken Open Air
festival as part of their tour. These shows formed the basis of the 25 to Life live album. 2002 saw the release of Pain, the band's first studio album in 16 years. Cocks rejoined the group and they prepared material for a future album.
Plans for their next album, Blood Brothers were disrupted when Wells died on 27 March 2006, four years after his diagnosis of prostate cancer
. On 16 August, Rose Tatto were inducted by musician, Sarah McLeod, into the Australian Recording Industry Association
(ARIA) Hall of Fame
alongside former member Lobby Loyde and Daddy Cool
, Divinyls
, Icehouse
and Helen Reddy
. Founding member Ian Rilen
died on 30 October from bladder cancer
. One of his last public appearances was at the Hall of Fame induction.
Also in October, a number of Rose Tattoo songs were voted upon and ranked in the Triple M
Essential 2006 Countdown of songs, including "Bad Boy for Love" (voted #1060 out of 2006) and "We Can't Be Beaten" (voted #397 out of 2006). That month they were one of 55 acts voted and played in Triple J
's Impossible Music Festival
of 2006, with their live recording of a gig performed on New Year's Day
1980 at Mount Druitt, New South Wales
being selected out of over 1000 Live at the Wireless
recordings produced over the radio station's 31-year history.
On 21 April 2007, Lobby Loyde died, aged 65, in Melbourne, two years after being diagnosed with lung cancer
. In June, Rose Tattoo supported Guns N' Roses with Sebastian Bach
on their Chinese Democracy Tour's Australian leg. In October they supported Motörhead on their Australian tour dates. In an interview with Australian rock magazine Unbelievably Bad, Anderson announced his intention to retire the band after one more album.
In 2008 they played the Super Bock Super Rock
festival in Lisbon
, Portugal
, and the Download Festival
in England
. In April 2009 it was announced that guitarist Mick Cocks had liver cancer
—he died on 22 December. Five former members have died, all of cancer—Dallas Royall (cancer, 1991), Peter Wells (prostate cancer, 2006), Ian Rilen (bladder cancer, 2006), Lobby Loyde (lung cancer, 2007) and Mick Cocks (liver cancer, 2009).
Rose Tattoo are currently preparing to celebrate their 35th anniversary in 2011. They are demoing songs for a new album in 2012. In an interview with Australian rock journalist Nick Milligan on Friday, March 25, 2011, Anderson confirmed that the new record would be the group's "final statement".
Pub rock (Australia)
Pub rock is a style of Australian rock and roll popular throughout the 1970s and 1980s, and still influencing contemporary Australian music today....
band, now led by Angry Anderson
Angry Anderson
Gary Stephen "Angry" Anderson AM is an Australian rock singer, television presenter/reporter, actor and conservative political activist. He is best known as the vocalist with the hard rock band Rose Tattoo since 1976 but he is also recognised for his acting roles and his charity work...
, that was formed in Sydney in 1976. Their sound is hard rock
Hard rock
Hard rock is a loosely defined genre of rock music which has its earliest roots in mid-1960s garage rock, blues rock and psychedelic rock...
mixed with blues rock influences, with songs including "Bad Boy for Love", "Rock 'n' Roll Outlaw", "Nice Boys", "We Can't Be Beaten" and "Scarred for Life". Their first four albums were produced by Harry Vanda and George Young
Vanda & Young
Vanda & Young are Harry Vanda , and George Young...
who also worked with AC/DC
AC/DC
AC/DC are an Australian rock band, formed in 1973 by brothers Malcolm and Angus Young. Commonly classified as hard rock, they are considered pioneers of heavy metal, though they themselves have always classified their music as simply "rock and roll"...
. They disbanded in 1987, subsequently reforming briefly in 1993 to support Guns N' Roses
Guns N' Roses
Guns N' Roses is an American hard rock band, formed in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, in 1985. The band has released six studio albums, three EPs, and one live album...
on an Australian tour. They reassembled again from 1998 and have since released two more studio albums.
According to Australian rock music historian Ian McFarlane, Rose Tattoo are "one of the most revered bands of all time. The Tatts played peerless, street-level heavy blues with the emphasis on slide guitar and strident lyric statements". Guns N' Roses, L.A. Guns
L.A. Guns
L.A. Guns is the name of a hard rock group formed in Los Angeles, California, of which two rival incarnations currently exist due to numerous line-up changes. The first incarnation of the group was formed, by Tracii Guns, in 1983 but disbanded in 1985 following its merger with fellow Los Angeles...
, Keel
Keel (band)
Keel is an American heavy metal band founded in 1984 in Los Angeles, California. They were known for their rock anthem "The Right to Rock." The band was active until 1989, with a brief reunion in 1998. Keel reunited in 2008 and is currently touring for their 25th anniversary.-History:Keel was...
, Nashville Pussy
Nashville Pussy
Nashville Pussy is an American hard rock band from Atlanta, Georgia. Their musical style mixes boogie rock, Southern metal and psychobilly. Much of the band's lyrical themes mostly revolve around sex, drugs, drinking, fighting, and rock 'n' roll...
, Motosierra, Pud Spuke and Helen Schneider
Helen Schneider
Helen Schneider is an American singer and actress working mainly in Germany.Born the daughter of Dvora and Abraham Schneider , she studied piano before starting to perform as a singer in venues in New England and New York.Between 1978 and 1984, she achieved success as a rock singer in Germany;...
have covered Rose Tattoo songs. On 16 August 2006, they were inducted into the Australian Recording Industry Association
Australian Recording Industry Association
The Australian Recording Industry Association is a trade group representing the Australian recording industry which was established in 1983 by six major record companies, EMI, Festival, CBS, RCA, WEA and Universal replacing the Association of Australian Record Manufacturers which was formed in 1956...
(ARIA) Hall of Fame
ARIA Hall of Fame
Since 1988 the Australian Recording Industry Association has inducted artists into its ARIA Hall of Fame. While most have been recognised at the annual ARIA Music Awards, in 2005 ARIA sought to create a separate standalone "ARIA Icons: Hall of Fame" event as only one or two acts could be inducted...
. Five former members have died in recent years including four of the original recording line-up, Dallas Royall (1991), Peter Wells (2006), Ian Rilen
Ian Rilen
Ian William Rilen was an Australian musician, he was bass guitarist and songwriter with Rock N' Roll band Rose Tattoo and led punk rock group X also providing lead guitar, rhythm guitar and vocals...
(2006) and Mick Cocks
Mick Cocks
Michael Thomas "Mick" Cocks was an Australian musician, most noted for his guitar work with Rose Tattoo. His original sound and style heavily influenced Guns N' Roses, who recorded a cover of the Rose Tattoo song ‘Nice Boys’. He was also a member of Heaven, Doomfoxx, Pete Wells Heart Attack and...
(2009), and Lobby Loyde
Lobby Loyde
Lobby Loyde , also known as John Barrie Lyde or Barry Lyde, was an Australian rock music guitarist, songwriter and producer....
(2007), who was a member between October 1979 and September 1980.
Early years: 1976–1987
Rose Tattoo was formed in SydneySydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
in 1976 with Leigh Johnston on rhythm guitar
Rhythm guitar
Rhythm guitar is a technique and rôle that performs a combination of two functions: to provide all or part of the rhythmic pulse in conjunction with singers or other instruments; and to provide all or part of the harmony, ie. the chords, where a chord is a group of notes played together...
, Tony Lake on lead vocals and were led by slide guitar
Slide guitar
Slide guitar or bottleneck guitar is a particular method or technique for playing the guitar. The term slide refers to the motion of the slide against the strings, while bottleneck refers to the original material of choice for such slides: the necks of glass bottles...
ist Peter Wells—who had just departed as bass guitar
Bass guitar
The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
ist of heavy metal
Heavy metal music
Heavy metal is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the Midlands of the United Kingdom and the United States...
band Buffalo
Buffalo (band)
Buffalo was an early heavy metal band formed in Sydney, Australia in 1971. The band left a legacy with Australia's heavy metal, pub rock and alternative rock movements. The band had evolved from the Brisbane blues-rock outfit Head, which was originally formed in 1968 by Dave Tice and Peter Wells...
. Drummer
Drummer
A drummer is a musician who is capable of playing drums, which includes but is not limited to a drum kit and accessory based hardware which includes an assortment of pedals and standing support mechanisms, marching percussion and/or any musical instrument that is struck within the context of a...
Michael Vandersluys completed the line-up. Ian Rilen
Ian Rilen
Ian William Rilen was an Australian musician, he was bass guitarist and songwriter with Rock N' Roll band Rose Tattoo and led punk rock group X also providing lead guitar, rhythm guitar and vocals...
from Band of Light
Band of Light
Band of Light was an Australian heavy blues style based rock band formed in October 1972 and disbanded in late 1974. Phil Key was the founding member, bringing with him Peter Roberts, both of whom were originally with The La De Das. Ian Rilen replaced Roberts after three gigs, with Norm Roue and...
joined on bass guitar. He had taught himself to play while in prison and gave Wells' band the street-cred he was looking for. Rhythm guitarist Mick Cocks
Mick Cocks
Michael Thomas "Mick" Cocks was an Australian musician, most noted for his guitar work with Rose Tattoo. His original sound and style heavily influenced Guns N' Roses, who recorded a cover of the Rose Tattoo song ‘Nice Boys’. He was also a member of Heaven, Doomfoxx, Pete Wells Heart Attack and...
soon replaced Johnston; Lake and Vandersluys were substituted by former Buster Brown members Angry Anderson and Dallas "Digger" Royall respectively. Melbourne-based Buster Brown had enjoyed local notoriety, playing at the 1974 Sunbury Festival and had included future AC/DC
AC/DC
AC/DC are an Australian rock band, formed in 1973 by brothers Malcolm and Angus Young. Commonly classified as hard rock, they are considered pioneers of heavy metal, though they themselves have always classified their music as simply "rock and roll"...
drummer Phil Rudd
Phil Rudd
Phillip Hugh Norman Rudd is an Australian drummer. He is best known for his membership of rock band AC/DC from 1975 until 1983, and again from 1994 to present. After the 1977 departure of bass guitarist Mark Evans, he became the only Australian-born member of the band...
. Rose Tattoo made their public debut on New Year's Eve
New Year's Eve
New Year's Eve is observed annually on December 31, the final day of any given year in the Gregorian calendar. In modern societies, New Year's Eve is often celebrated at social gatherings, during which participants dance, eat, consume alcoholic beverages, and watch or light fireworks to mark the...
at the rock club Chequers.
Chiefly inspired by The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones are an English rock band, formed in London in April 1962 by Brian Jones , Ian Stewart , Mick Jagger , and Keith Richards . Bassist Bill Wyman and drummer Charlie Watts completed the early line-up...
, Faces
Faces (band)
Faces are an English rock band formed in 1969 by members of the Small Faces after Steve Marriott left that group to form Humble Pie...
and Billy Thorpe
Billy Thorpe
William Richard "Billy" Thorpe, AM was a renowned English-born Australian pop / rock singer-songwriter and musician...
and his 1970s Aztecs
Billy Thorpe & the Aztecs
Billy Thorpe and the Aztecs were an Australian pop and rock group dating from the mid-sixties. The group enjoyed huge success in the mid-1960s, but split in 1967. They re-emerged in the early seventies to become one of the most popular Australian hard-rock bands of the period...
, Rose Tattoo's hard-rocking sound quickly earned a devoted following in the Sydney area. Members of AC/DC were fans and recommended them to their label, Albert Productions
Albert Productions
Albert Productions, a division of music publishing and recording company Albert Music, is one of Australia's longest established independent Australian record label to specialise in rock and roll music. The label was founded in 1964 by Ted Albert, whose family owned and operated the Australian...
. The band's debut single "Bad Boy for Love" was written by Rilen, who left to form punk rock group, X
X (Australian band)
X is an Australian punk rock band, formed in Sydney in 1977 and led by the late Ian Rilen. The band has split and reformed several times.Although X has had several members, its sound has been defined by two distinctive elements: Rilen's basslines and Steve Lucas's guitar...
, prior to its release in October 1977. "Bad Boy for Love" was produced by Vanda & Young
Vanda & Young
Vanda & Young are Harry Vanda , and George Young...
(ex-The Easybeats
The Easybeats
The Easybeats were an Australian rock and roll band. They formed in Sydney in late 1964 and broke up at the end of 1969. They are regarded as the greatest Australian pop band of the 1960s, and were the first Australian rock and roll act to score an international pop hit with their 1966 single...
, AC/DC's producers) and peaked at No. 19 on the Australian Kent Music Report
Kent Music Report
The Kent Music Report was a weekly record chart of Australian music singles and albums which was compiled by music enthusiast David Kent from May 1974 through to 1998...
Singles Chart. Initially Cocks switched to bass guitar to cover Rilen's departure, then Chris Turner (ex-Buffalo) was brought in. The band toured nationally on the pub rock
Pub rock (Australia)
Pub rock is a style of Australian rock and roll popular throughout the 1970s and 1980s, and still influencing contemporary Australian music today....
circuit competing with The Angels
The Angels (Australian band)
The Angels are a hard rock band that formed in Adelaide, Australia in 1970. The band later relocated from Adelaide to Sydney and enjoyed huge local success until well into the 1990s. For the purposes of international release, their records were released under the names Angel City and later The...
, Cold Chisel
Cold Chisel
Cold Chisel is a rock band that originated in Adelaide, Australia. It is one of the most acclaimed Australian rock bands of all time, with a string of hits throughout the 1970s and 1980s and huge sales that continue to this day, although its success and acclaim was almost completely restricted to...
, Dragon
Dragon (band)
Dragon is a popular New Zealand rock band, they were formed in Auckland, New Zealand in January 1972 and relocated to Sydney, Australia in May 1975. They were previously led by singer Marc Hunter and are currently led by his brother bass player Todd Hunter...
and Kevin Borich Express
Kevin Borich
Kevin Nicholas Borich is a New Zealand-born Australian guitarist and singer-songwriter...
.
One-time Buster Brown bass guitarist Geordie Leach was recruited to record their self-titled debut LP, Rose Tattoo, which reached the top 40 on the Australian Kent Music Report Albums Chart in November 1978. The album, produced by Vanda & Young, was released in some markets as Rock N' Roll Outlaw after their second single, "Rock N' Roll Outlaw" which did not reach the top 50. Leach left the band in May 1979 to be replaced in October by guitarist Lobby Loyde
Lobby Loyde
Lobby Loyde , also known as John Barrie Lyde or Barry Lyde, was an Australian rock music guitarist, songwriter and producer....
filling in on bass (Coloured Balls, Purple Hearts
Purple Hearts (Australian band)
The Purple Hearts were an Australian rock group, formed in Brisbane in 1964. The band consisted of lead vocalist Mick Hadley, lead guitarist Barry Lyde , rhythm guitarist Fred Pickard, bassist Bob Dames, and drummers Adrian 'Red' Redmond and Tony Cahill .It is notable that Brisbane, traditionally...
, Wild Cherries
Wild Cherries
The Wild Cherries was an Australian rock group, which started in late 1964 playing R&B and became "the most relentlessly experimental psychedelic band on the Melbourne discotheque / dance scene" according to commentator, Glenn A...
). During his brief tenure, they recorded "Legalise Realise" which was released as an independent single in March 1980, backed with the track "Bong on Aussie" by country singer Colin Paterson, to publicise a campaign to legalise marijuana.
Later in 1980, they toured the United States and then toured Europe (including UK), but by September Loyde had left and Leach had returned.
Early in 1981, "Rock N' Roll Outlaw" started to chart in Europe, peaking at No. 2 in France, No. 5 in Germany and No. 60 in UK. The line up of Anderson, Cocks, Leach, Royall and Wells toured Europe from April. Three years after their debut the band issued the follow-up album, Assault and Battery in September, which reached the top 30 in Australia. Both Rock N' Roll Outlaw and Assault and Battery peaked at No. 1 on the UK heavy metal albums chart.
Rose Tattoo's 1981 tour of Europe included an appearance at the Reading Festival, where Anderson repeatedly head butted the amp stacks until his scalp started bleeding. They were hailed as the loudest band to play London's Marquee Club
Marquee Club
The Marquee was a music club first located at 165 Oxford Street, London, England when it opened in 1958 with a range of jazz and skiffle acts.It was also the location of the first ever live performance by The Rolling Stones on 12 July 1962....
since Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin were an English rock band, active in the late 1960s and throughout the 1970s. Formed in 1968, they consisted of guitarist Jimmy Page, singer Robert Plant, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham...
. Returning to Australia, the band began work on their third album; with new guitarist Robin Riley replacing Cocks, who went on to join Heaven, they issued Scarred for Life in 1982, subsequently touring the US in support of Aerosmith
Aerosmith
Aerosmith is an American rock band, sometimes referred to as "The Bad Boys from Boston" and "America's Greatest Rock and Roll Band". Their style, which is rooted in blues-based hard rock, has come to also incorporate elements of pop, heavy metal, and rhythm and blues, and has inspired many...
and ZZ Top
ZZ Top
ZZ Top is an American rock band, sometimes referred to as "That Little Ol' Band from Texas". Their style, which is rooted in blues-based boogie rock, has come to incorporate elements of arena, southern, and boogie rock. The band, from Houston Texas, formed in 1969...
. The band's US visit was not a major success but proved to be influential on the underground sleaze metal
Glam metal
Glam metal is a subgenre of hard rock and heavy metal that arose in the late 1970s and early 1980s in the United States, particularly on the Los Angeles Sunset Strip music scene...
scene in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
, with bands such as Guns N' Roses
Guns N' Roses
Guns N' Roses is an American hard rock band, formed in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, in 1985. The band has released six studio albums, three EPs, and one live album...
which later cited Rose Tattoo as a favourite and recorded a cover
Cover version
In popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...
of "Nice Boys" on Live ?!*@ Like a Suicide in 1986.
In 1983, after the US tour, Riley, Royall and Wells all left. The remaining duo of Anderson and Leach recruited guitarists Greg Jordan and John Meyer from Perth
Perth, Western Australia
Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia and the fourth most populous city in Australia. The Perth metropolitan area has an estimated population of almost 1,700,000....
progressive metal
Progressive metal
Progressive metal is a subgenre of heavy metal originating in the United Kingdom and North America in the late 1980s...
band Saracen. With drummer Scott Johnston, the band recorded 1984's Southern Stars, their last album for Albert Productions and Vanda & Young as producers. Leach then exited to join Cocks, Rilen, Royall and Wells in Illustrated Men which toured during 1984–1985. Anderson took time out to play the character 'Ironbar' Bassey in the 1985 film Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome
Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome
Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome is a 1985 Australian post-apocalyptic film directed by George Miller and George Ogilvie, written by Miller, Doug Mitchell and Terry Hayes, and starring Mel Gibson and Tina Turner. It is the third installment in the action movie Mad Max franchise...
. That year Rose Tattoo, as Anderson, Johnston, Meyer, Andy Cichon (bass) and Tim Gaze
Tim Gaze
Tim Gaze is an Australian rock and blues guitarist, songwriter, singer and producer. He was a member of several prominent Australian groups of the 1960s and 1970s including Tamam Shud, Kahvas Jute, Ariel and Rose Tattoo.-Biography:...
(slide guitar), released a cover of Steppenwolf
Steppenwolf (band)
Steppenwolf are a Canadian-American rock group that was prominent in the late 1960s. The group was formed in 1967 in Los Angeles by vocalist John Kay, guitarist Michael Monarch, bassist Rushton Moreve, keyboardist Goldy McJohn and drummer Jerry Edmonton after the dissolution of Toronto group The...
's "Born to be Wild
Born to Be Wild
"Born to Be Wild" is a rock song written by Mars Bonfire and made famous by the Canadian-American rock band Steppenwolf. It is often used in popular culture to denote a biker appearance or attitude...
", their first release for Mushroom Records
Mushroom Records
Mushroom Records is an Australian recoJrd company formed by Michael Gudinski and Ray Evans in Melbourne in 1972. After its sale in 1998, it merged into Festival Mushroom Records. From 2005 to 2009, it is one of the record labels operated by Warner Bros...
. Meyer left and the group recorded 1986's Beats from a Single Drum as a four piece for Mushroom. Soon after Anderson started his solo career and the band separated by the end of 1987.
Later reformations
Anderson mounted his solo career from mid-1987. He released the ballad, "SuddenlySuddenly (Angry Anderson song)
"Suddenly" is a power ballad by Angry Anderson from his debut solo album Beats From A Single Drum. Released in 1988,the song became the biggest hit for Angry Anderson, reaching number 1 in the ARIA Singles Chart, and number 3 in the UK Singles Chart.Part of the song's chart success is due...
" as a single. It was taken from Beats from a Single Drum, which was then re-released as his debut solo album in 1988. "Suddenly" had little chart success until it was used on television soap opera, Neighbours
Neighbours
Neighbours is an Australian television soap opera first broadcast on the Seven Network on 18 March 1985. It was created by TV executive Reg Watson, who proposed the idea of making a show that focused on realistic stories and portrayed adults and teenagers who talk openly and solve their problems...
for the wedding of characters Scott Robinson (Jason Donovan
Jason Donovan
Jason Donovan is an Australian actor and singer. He initially achieved fame in the Australian soap opera Neighbours, before beginning a career in music in 1988. In the UK he has sold over 3 million records, and his début album Ten Good Reasons was one of the highest-selling albums of 1989...
) and Charlene Mitchell (Kylie Minogue
Kylie Minogue
Kylie Ann Minogue, OBE - often known simply as Kylie - is an Australian singer, recording artist, songwriter, and actress. After beginning her career as a child actress on Australian television, she achieved recognition through her role in the television soap opera Neighbours, before commencing...
). "Suddenly" peaked at No. 2 in September 1987 and was kept out of top spot by Minogue's debut single, "Locomotion". In the early 90s, Anderson tried to reunite Rose Tattoo, but the death of Royall, who died in 1991 of cancer while trying to overcome substance abuse in the form of a heroin addiction and alcoholism, stalled the reformation.
In an interview with Australian journalist Nick Milligan on March 25, 2011, Anderson explained, "I was in Los Angeles in 1989 recording an album which the 'Bound For Glory' single came off and I was hanging around with the Gunners and a whole lot of other LA bad boy rock bands that we supposedly influenced. I realised then that apart from the fact that I was there to establish myself as a singer songwriter, there was still this great following for the band. I rang up the other members and said 'Let's reform. We've been apart for three years or more.' It was long enough for us to settle our differences and let all the wounds heal. I rang up each of the original members that were still interested and they all said, 'Yeah, let's get together.' So I said we should negotiate a deal where the band can come over and record in Los Angeles. But, of course, that was the year that our original drummer "Digger" Royall kicked his heroin habit. While he was recovering on methadone, cancer exploded through his body, quite sadly. That was the irony of it, because the cancer had been suppressed by the heroin addiction. Within months he was dead. That shook the band so badly on a personal level, because we had been so enthusiastic to reform. We didn't reform until '92. In '93, the word got around, because we had reformed with our existing drummer Paul DeMarco. The Gunners heard we were out playing again and said, 'We want you to do our support gigs throughout Australia.' We did those two [Guns N' Roses] raceways gigs - Eastern Creek in Sydney and the raceway down in Melbourne."
Rose Tattoo supported Guns N' Roses on the Australian leg of their Use Your Illusion Tour
Use Your Illusion Tour
The Use Your Illusion Tour was a concert tour by the rock band Guns N' Roses which ran from January 20, 1991 to July 17, 1993. It was not only the band's longest tour, but one of the longest concert tours in rock history, consisting of 194 shows in 27 countries...
. Anderson, Wells, Cocks, Leach and new drummer Paul DeMarco from Wells' solo band reunited for the 1993 tour. The reunion was brief and each returned to solo projects.
Around this time, ex-members of Rose Tattoo formed a short lived band with ex-Candy Harlots
Candy Harlots
Candy Harlots were an Australian glam metal band from Sydney, active between 1987 and 1995. They also released material as Helter Skelter and The Harlots...
vocalist Aiz Lynch. This band had numerous rehearsals, but only recorded one demo before disbanding. Rose Tattoo, with original bassist Ian Rilen replacing Leach, reformed yet again in 1998 for the "All Hell Breaks Loose!!" tour, however Rilen remained with the band only for the duration of this tour. By the following year, Leach had returned to the fold once more, although his place was taken by Steve King in 2000. Rock music historian Ian McFarlane wrote that they are "one of the most revered bands of all time. The Tatts played peerless, street-level heavy blues with the emphasis on slide guitar and strident lyric statements" in his Encyclopedia of Australian Rock and Pop
Encyclopedia of Australian Rock and Pop
The Encyclopedia of Australian Rock and Pop or Rock and Pop by Australian music journalist Ian McFarlane is a guide to Australian popular music from the 1950s to the late 1990s...
.
Since that time Rose Tattoo has toured regularly around Australia and throughout Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
. In 2000, the band appeared at the Wacken Open Air
Wacken Open Air
Wacken Open Air is a summer open air heavy metal music festival. It takes place annually in the small town of Wacken in Schleswig-Holstein, northern Germany...
festival as part of their tour. These shows formed the basis of the 25 to Life live album. 2002 saw the release of Pain, the band's first studio album in 16 years. Cocks rejoined the group and they prepared material for a future album.
Plans for their next album, Blood Brothers were disrupted when Wells died on 27 March 2006, four years after his diagnosis of prostate cancer
Prostate cancer
Prostate cancer is a form of cancer that develops in the prostate, a gland in the male reproductive system. Most prostate cancers are slow growing; however, there are cases of aggressive prostate cancers. The cancer cells may metastasize from the prostate to other parts of the body, particularly...
. On 16 August, Rose Tatto were inducted by musician, Sarah McLeod, into the Australian Recording Industry Association
Australian Recording Industry Association
The Australian Recording Industry Association is a trade group representing the Australian recording industry which was established in 1983 by six major record companies, EMI, Festival, CBS, RCA, WEA and Universal replacing the Association of Australian Record Manufacturers which was formed in 1956...
(ARIA) Hall of Fame
ARIA Hall of Fame
Since 1988 the Australian Recording Industry Association has inducted artists into its ARIA Hall of Fame. While most have been recognised at the annual ARIA Music Awards, in 2005 ARIA sought to create a separate standalone "ARIA Icons: Hall of Fame" event as only one or two acts could be inducted...
alongside former member Lobby Loyde and Daddy Cool
Daddy Cool (band)
Daddy Cool is an Australian rock band formed in Melbourne in 1970 with the original line-up of Wayne Duncan , Ross Hannaford , Ross Wilson and Gary Young . Their debut single "Eagle Rock" was released in May 1971 and stayed at number 1 on the Australian singles chart for ten weeks...
, Divinyls
Divinyls
Divinyls were an Australian rock band formed in Sydney in 1980 and featuring vocalist Christina Amphlett and guitarist Mark McEntee. As the focal point, Amphlett performed on stage wearing a school uniform and fishnet stockings, often using an illuminated neon tube as a prop and displaying...
, Icehouse
Icehouse (band)
Icehouse is an Australian rock band, formed as Flowers in 1977 in Sydney. Initially known in Australia for their pub rock style, they later achieved mainstream success playing new wave and synthpop style music and attained Top Ten singles chart success in both Europe and the U.S...
and Helen Reddy
Helen Reddy
Helen Reddy , often referred to as "The Queen of 70s Pop", is an Australian-American singer and actress. In the 1970s, she enjoyed international success, especially in the United States, where she placed fifteen singles in the Top 40 of the Billboard Hot 100. Six of those 15 songs made the Top 10...
. Founding member Ian Rilen
Ian Rilen
Ian William Rilen was an Australian musician, he was bass guitarist and songwriter with Rock N' Roll band Rose Tattoo and led punk rock group X also providing lead guitar, rhythm guitar and vocals...
died on 30 October from bladder cancer
Bladder cancer
Bladder cancer is any of several types of malignant growths of the urinary bladder. It is a disease in which abnormal cells multiply without control in the bladder. The bladder is a hollow, muscular organ that stores urine; it is located in the pelvis...
. One of his last public appearances was at the Hall of Fame induction.
Also in October, a number of Rose Tattoo songs were voted upon and ranked in the Triple M
Triple M
The Triple M Network is an active rock radio network in Australia owned by media company Austereo, who also own the Today Network.- History :...
Essential 2006 Countdown of songs, including "Bad Boy for Love" (voted #1060 out of 2006) and "We Can't Be Beaten" (voted #397 out of 2006). That month they were one of 55 acts voted and played in Triple J
Triple J
triple j is a nationally networked Australian radio station intended to appeal to listeners between the ages of 18 and 30. The government-funded station is a division of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation...
's Impossible Music Festival
Triple J's Impossible Music Festival
The Triple J's Impossible Music Festival is a recurring event that has been broadcast on Australia's Triple J radio station over 55-hour periods in 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008. Each event comprises 55 live music recordings from Triple J's music archives. The first went to air over the 26–29 August...
of 2006, with their live recording of a gig performed on New Year's Day
New Year's Day
New Year's Day is observed on January 1, the first day of the year on the modern Gregorian calendar as well as the Julian calendar used in ancient Rome...
1980 at Mount Druitt, New South Wales
Mount Druitt, New South Wales
Mount Druitt is a suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Mount Druitt is located 43 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the City of Blacktown, and is part of the Greater Western Sydney region.There are numerous...
being selected out of over 1000 Live at the Wireless
Live at the Wireless
Live at the Wireless is a radio show, and now a long standing tradition, of Triple J, an Australian radio station. Live music is one of the central philosophies of the station....
recordings produced over the radio station's 31-year history.
On 21 April 2007, Lobby Loyde died, aged 65, in Melbourne, two years after being diagnosed with lung cancer
Lung cancer
Lung cancer is a disease characterized by uncontrolled cell growth in tissues of the lung. If left untreated, this growth can spread beyond the lung in a process called metastasis into nearby tissue and, eventually, into other parts of the body. Most cancers that start in lung, known as primary...
. In June, Rose Tattoo supported Guns N' Roses with Sebastian Bach
Sebastian Bach
Sebastian Bach is a Canadian heavy metal singer who achieved mainstream success as frontman of Skid Row from 1987 to 1996. Since his departure from Skid Row, he has had many television roles, acted within Broadway plays, and leads a successful solo career.-Early life:Bach was born Sebastian...
on their Chinese Democracy Tour's Australian leg. In October they supported Motörhead on their Australian tour dates. In an interview with Australian rock magazine Unbelievably Bad, Anderson announced his intention to retire the band after one more album.
In 2008 they played the Super Bock Super Rock
Super Bock Super Rock
Super Bock Super Rock is a rock festival in Portugal, created in 1994.It has become one of the biggest festivals in the country, luring many rock and metal fans....
festival in Lisbon
Lisbon
Lisbon is the capital city and largest city of Portugal with a population of 545,245 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Lisbon extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of 3 million on an area of , making it the 9th most populous urban...
, Portugal
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
, and the Download Festival
Download Festival
The Download Festival is a three day rock music festival held annually at Donington Park, England . It usually takes place in June...
in England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. In April 2009 it was announced that guitarist Mick Cocks had liver cancer
Liver cancer
Liver tumors or hepatic tumors are tumors or growths on or in the liver . Several distinct types of tumors can develop in the liver because the liver is made up of various cell types. These growths can be benign or malignant...
—he died on 22 December. Five former members have died, all of cancer—Dallas Royall (cancer, 1991), Peter Wells (prostate cancer, 2006), Ian Rilen (bladder cancer, 2006), Lobby Loyde (lung cancer, 2007) and Mick Cocks (liver cancer, 2009).
Rose Tattoo are currently preparing to celebrate their 35th anniversary in 2011. They are demoing songs for a new album in 2012. In an interview with Australian rock journalist Nick Milligan on Friday, March 25, 2011, Anderson confirmed that the new record would be the group's "final statement".
Current members
- Angry AndersonAngry AndersonGary Stephen "Angry" Anderson AM is an Australian rock singer, television presenter/reporter, actor and conservative political activist. He is best known as the vocalist with the hard rock band Rose Tattoo since 1976 but he is also recognised for his acting roles and his charity work...
– lead vocals (1976–1987, 1992–1993, 1998–present) - Robin Riley – guitar (1981–1983, 2000–present)
- Dai Pritchard – slide guitar (2007–present)
- Geordie Leach – bass guitar (1977–1979, 1980–1984, 1992–1993, 1999, 2007–present)
- Paul DeMarco – drums (1992–1993, 1998–present)
Former members
- Leigh Johnston – rhythm guitarRhythm guitarRhythm guitar is a technique and rôle that performs a combination of two functions: to provide all or part of the rhythmic pulse in conjunction with singers or other instruments; and to provide all or part of the harmony, ie. the chords, where a chord is a group of notes played together...
, backing vocalsBacking vocalistA backing vocalist or backing singer is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists...
(1976) - Tony Lake – lead vocalsLead vocalistThe lead vocalist is the member of a band who sings the main vocal portions of a song. They may also play one or more instruments. Lead vocalists are sometimes referred to as the frontman or frontwoman, and as such, are usually considered to be the "leader" of the groups they perform in, often the...
(1976) - Ian RilenIan RilenIan William Rilen was an Australian musician, he was bass guitarist and songwriter with Rock N' Roll band Rose Tattoo and led punk rock group X also providing lead guitar, rhythm guitar and vocals...
– bass guitarBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
, vocals (1976–1977, 1998) (d.DeathDeath is the permanent termination of the biological functions that sustain a living organism. Phenomena which commonly bring about death include old age, predation, malnutrition, disease, and accidents or trauma resulting in terminal injury....
2006) - Michael "Stork" Vandersluys – drumsDrummerA drummer is a musician who is capable of playing drums, which includes but is not limited to a drum kit and accessory based hardware which includes an assortment of pedals and standing support mechanisms, marching percussion and/or any musical instrument that is struck within the context of a...
(1976) - Peter Wells – slide guitarSlide guitarSlide guitar or bottleneck guitar is a particular method or technique for playing the guitar. The term slide refers to the motion of the slide against the strings, while bottleneck refers to the original material of choice for such slides: the necks of glass bottles...
, bass guitar (1976–1983, 1992–1993, 1998–2006) (d. 2006) - Mick CocksMick CocksMichael Thomas "Mick" Cocks was an Australian musician, most noted for his guitar work with Rose Tattoo. His original sound and style heavily influenced Guns N' Roses, who recorded a cover of the Rose Tattoo song ‘Nice Boys’. He was also a member of Heaven, Doomfoxx, Pete Wells Heart Attack and...
– guitar, bass guitar, backing vocals (1976–1981, 1992–1993, 1998, 1999, 2003–2009) (d. 2009) - Dallas "Digger" Royall – drums (1977–1983) (d. 1991)
- Chris Turner – guitar (1977)
- Lobby LoydeLobby LoydeLobby Loyde , also known as John Barrie Lyde or Barry Lyde, was an Australian rock music guitarist, songwriter and producer....
– bass guitar (1979–1980) (d. 2007) - Scott Johnston – drums (1983–1984, 1985–1986)
- Greg Jordan – slide guitar (1983–1985)
- John Meyer – guitar (1983–1985)
- Steve Balbi – bass guitar (1984–1985)
- Robert Bowron – drums (1984)
- Andy Cichon – bass guitar, pianoPianoThe piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
, keyboardsKeyboard instrumentA keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments...
, backing vocals (1985–1986) - Tim Gaze – slide guitar (1985–1987)
- Jake Landt – bass guitar (1987)
- Rick Melick – keyboards (1987)
- Steve King – bass guitar (2000–2007)
Discography
- Rose TattooRose Tattoo (album)Rose Tattoo is the debut self-titled album by Australian hard rock band Rose Tattoo released in November 1978 on the Albert Productions label. It was produced by the famous Vanda & Young team who have worked with AC/DC, The Angels and Stevie Wright. The album was released as Rock 'n' Roll Outlaw ...
– (1978, Albert ProductionsAlbert ProductionsAlbert Productions, a division of music publishing and recording company Albert Music, is one of Australia's longest established independent Australian record label to specialise in rock and roll music. The label was founded in 1964 by Ted Albert, whose family owned and operated the Australian...
) - Assault & BatteryAssault & Battery (Rose Tattoo album)Assault & Battery is the second album by Australian hard rock band Rose Tattoo. It was the first sort of full-length release in three years after three years non stop on the road.-Track listing:# "Out of This Place"...
– (1981, Albert) - Scarred for LifeScarred For Life (album)Scarred For Life is the third album by Australian hard rock band Rose Tattoo. Scarred For Life launched Rose Tattoo to international success with the rock anthem "We Can't Be Beaten." A video was filmed for the ditty "Branded."-Track listing:...
– (1982, Albert) - Southern Stars – (1984, Albert)
- Beats from a Single Drum – (1986, Mushroom RecordsMushroom RecordsMushroom Records is an Australian recoJrd company formed by Michael Gudinski and Ray Evans in Melbourne in 1972. After its sale in 1998, it merged into Festival Mushroom Records. From 2005 to 2009, it is one of the record labels operated by Warner Bros...
) - Pain – (2002, SPVSPVSPV can refer to the following:* Second person verified/verification, a Good Documentation Practice requirement for critical data entry in the pharmaceutical industry* Surface photovoltage, a semiconductor characterization technique...
) - Blood Brothers – (2007)