Contraband
Band members Related acts
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line up 1 (1973-76) as Stillwater - Graham Kennedy -- guitar, backing vocals - Peter McFarlane -- drums, percussion - Owen Orford -- lead vocals - Gary Quince -- guitar - Bob Spencer -- guitar - Tony Strain -- bass
line up 2 (1976) as Finch - Graham Kennedy -- guitar, backing vocals - Sam Mallett - guitar (replaced Gary Quince) - Peter McFarlane -- drums, percussion - Owen Orford -- lead vocals - Bob Spencer -- guitar - Tony Strain -- bass
line up 3 (1976-77) - Graham Kennedy -- guitar, backing vocals - Sam Mallett - guitar - Peter McFarlane -- drums, percussion - Owen Orford -- lead vocals - Sketa Pereira -- guitar (replaced Bob Spencer) - Bob Spencer -- guitar - Tony Strain -- bass
line up 4 (1977) - Rick Evans -- bass, backing vocals - Chris Jones -- guitar - Graham Kennedy -- guitar, backing vocals - Peter McFarlane -- drums, percussion, backing vocals - Owen Orford -- vocals
line up 5 (1977) as Contraband - Rick Evans -- bass, backing vocals - Graham Kennedy -- guitar, backing vocals - Peter McFarlane -- drums, percussion, backing vocals - Owen Orford -- vocals
supporting musician (1978) - Chris Jones -- guitar
line up 6 (1978) - David Hinds -- guitar (replaced Chris Jones) - Graham Kennedy -- guitar, backing vocals - Peter McFarlane -- drums, percussion, backing vocals - Owen Orford -- vocals - Graham Thompson -- bass (replaced Rick Evans)
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- AC/DC (Mark Evans) - The Angels (Bob Spencer) - Feather (Chris Jones) - Finch - Rabbit (David Hinds) - Skyhooks (Bob Spencer) - Stillwater
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Genre: rock Rating: 3 stars *** Title: Nothing To Hide Company: Portrait Catalog: JR
35450 Country/State: Sydney, Australia Grade (cover/record): VG+/VG+ Comments: white promo label; includes original inner sleeve Available: 1 Catalog ID: 342 Price: $15.00
Best time to play: nice road trip LP
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Here's one that sat in my to-listen-to pile for a couple of years before I got around to giving it a spin. The somewhat bland cover and bland title didn't exactly help its cause. Shame since this 1978 album offered up a surprisingly enjoyable set of AC/DC-styled Australian hard rock.
Contraband trace their roots back to the mid-'70s Sydney-based band Stillwater which featured the talents of guitarist Graham Kennedy, drummer Peter McFarlane, singer Owen Orford, guitarist Gary Quince and Bob Spencer, and bassist Tony Strain.
By 1976 they were known as Finch, over the next two years the recording five tracks for the 1974 soundtrack "Drouyn", and two studio albums - 1976's "Thunderbird", and 1976's "Nothing To Hide".
And here's where is starts to get a little confusing. By 1978 the line-up had coalesed around former AC/DC bassist Rick Evans, guitarist Kennedy, drummer McFarlane, and lead singer Orford. Following the release of their third Australia album "Nothing To Hide" the band was signed by the American Portrait label. The resulting exposure found the band's management concerned about the possibility of a lawsuit given there was a Dutch band operating under the same name. With that in mind the band elected to morph into Contraband. After making a slight and meaningless modification to the cover art, the album was released in the States under the Contraband moniker Produced by Peter Dawkins, "Nothing To Hide" showcased material from three of the four members.
As lead singer Orford was pretty good - exemplified by performances like 'Changes', 'Say You'll Be There' and 'Leave the Killing To You' he had a nice hard rock screech that was well suited to the genre, but not as irritating as the late Bon Scott could occasionally be. In fact, that served as a good baseline for the entire album - AC/DC-styled hard rock, but more melodic and musically varied than much of the competition, with a couple of tracks even incorporating a modest, but attractive southern rock feel ('That's Your Way' and the ballad 'Say You'll Be There'). Kennedy and former member Chris Jones were both accomplished guitarists adding the right amount of crunch to these tunes, while the Evan-McFarlane rhythm section was first rate throughout. Admittedly the band occasionally brushed a bit too close to anonymous AOR ('Foolin''), but luckily those were the exceptions to the rule. As I said, a surprisingly good and largely unknown late-'70s hard rock release that's well worth looking for. Since it's the same track listing as the original Australian Finch release, they're effectively interchangeable. "Nothing
To Hide" track listing: 1.) That's Your Way (Mark Evans - Graham Kennedy - Owen Orford) - 3:20 Showcasing Orford's likable voice, 'That's You Way' was a nice introduction to the band's brand of bar band rock. There wasn't anything particularly original on this one, but it had nice acoustic guitars and a suitably catchy melody that kind of stuck in your head. Not exactly AC/DC rock ... more like Little River Band actually taking on a rock and roll swagger, or a second generation American southern rock outfit - say The Outlaws, or 38 Special. rating: **** stars 2.) Changes (Mark Evans - Graham Kennedy - Owen Orford) - 4:10 Along with some unexpected horns, 'Changes' found the band taking aim at a harder AC/DC-styled blues-rock sound. In addition to a killer solo, Kennedy turned in a nice little riff that kept this one rolling. rating: **** stars 3.) Foolin' (Owen Orford - Peter Pereira) - 2:40 Not meant as a criticism, but 'Foolin'' was a rather AOR-ish number that could have easily been mistaken for one of dozens of early-'80s American hair brands. Nice enough (Marks and McFarlane were particularly strong on this one), but there wasn't any thing original, or particularly enjoyable on this one. rating: *** stars 4.) Say You'll Be There (Graham Kennedy - Owen Orford) - 5:01 So every late-'70s rock album had to have at least one back-to-the-simple-life ballad and 'Say You'll Be There' serves that purpose on this collection. As far as the subgenre goes, this one was pretty good, mixing a touch of Allman Brothers with 38 Special and other Southern rock influences. rating: *** stars 5.) Leave the Killing To You (Mark Evans - Graham Kennedy) - 4:03 A commercial rocker with highly commercial edge, 'Leave the Killing To You' has always reminded me of a cross between AC/DC and Bad Company. Kennedy provided the song highlights with some nice bottleneck slide guitar and a compact solo. rating: **** stars
(side
2) Opening up with some take-no-prisoners Kennedy lead guitar, 'Nothing To Hide' was probably the album's best rocker. Again, the woman-you-hurt-me lyric coupled with Orford's bluesy delivery reminded me a bit of Bad Company (in a good way). rating: **** stars 2.) Dreamer (Owen Orford - Peter Pereira) - 3:40 While i liked the guitars, the rest of 'Dreamer' was rather pedestrian AOR. rating: *** stars 3.) Where Were You (Mark Evans - Graham Kennedy - Owen Orford) - 4:12 A pretty acoustic ballad, 'Where Were You' was probably the album's most commercial track. It's always reminded me a bit of an early Journey performance - not that there's anything wrong with that. YouTube has a ponderous promotional video for the song at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ADoJkBLcTSM rating: *** stars 4.) One More Time (Mark Evans - Graham Kennedy - Owen Orford) - 3:32 Ah, 'One More Time' found the band going back to Bad Company blues-rock moves complete with a catchy title refrain. rating: *** stars 5.) Rainy Day for a Riot (Mark Evans - Graham Kennedy - Owen Orford) - 4:52 Not sure what the crowd was chanting, but the pounding 'Rainy Day for a Riot' came very close to the sound of prime AC/DC with Orford even managing to turn in his best Bon Scott screech. Great tune. rating: **** stars
Yeah, it's one of those albums that continues to puzzle me in terms of what I like about it. Totally unoriginal, but I put this one on the turntable every couple of months - particularly side one (and you can still find affordable copies).
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