In this episode of Vinyl Vibes, Jack talks with Peter De Jong, founding member of Heroes. This is the seventh episode in an eight-part Newcastle Vinyl Vibes series. Over the course of this series, Jack has spoken with a range of local rockers important to the Newcastle music story.

Pete started playing in bands during the late ‘60s, but his first professional band was Armageddon, which took shape in 1970. Armageddon initially played around Toronto, performing blues covers by the likes of The Kinks and John Mayall. The band would rise in popularity and in 1971, would enter the Newcastle heat of the Hoadley’s Battle of the Sounds, at the time the biggest music competition in Australia. The band played two original songs and won the Newcastle heat of the competition securing Armageddon as Newcastle's top group of the early ‘70s. Armageddon came to an end in 1975.

In 1976, Heroes was formed with Pete on lead guitar and co-lead vocals. For the first year of their existence, the band had a residency at the Clinkers Tavern in Belmont before starting to play at other Newcastle venues. The band began by playing covers of songs by 10cc and Thin Lizzy, but they also started writing original music. In 1978, the band's bass player at the time, Allan Cook, presented a song to the band called Star and the Slaughter. It was a country-pop sounding song at first, but after fellow Heroes member Mark Tinson worked on the song, it became the punchy rock track it is known as today. The song brought the band notoriety after Heroes played it as their encore at the Star Hotel riot gig in September 1979.

After their Star Hotel riot gig, Heroes were soon signed to Albert Productions by George Young and Harry Vanda. The band released their first single, Baby Got a Taste, in August 1980. The single reached number 2 locally in Newcastle and number 76 nationally on the Kent Music charts. Their self-titled album followed in October 1980, and their second single, The Star and the Slaughter, came out in January 1981. The band continued playing until they disbanded in 1982.

In 2015, Heroes released their second studio album, So Far. The album was made up of songs both written in the ‘80s for the second Alberts album that never happened, as well as newer songs penned by Peter and Mark Tinson. The band played their final gig at Lizottes in 2019 on the anniversary of the Star Riot, closing the page on one of Newcastle's greatest bands.

Jack phoned Pete to talk about his early musical memories, how Armageddon came to be, his memories of playing and winning the 1971 Newcastle heat of the Hoadley’s Battle of the Sounds, the formation of Heroes, the band's residency at the Clinkers Tavern, Pete's memories of the Star Hotel Riot, how the band was discovered by Harry Vanda and George Young, recording for Alberts, what it was like playing on Countdown, the disbandment of Heroes in 1982, and the band's 2015 album So Far.

"A whole bunch of things came together to make that song have a power that it was never really intended to have... but even the lyrics matched what was going on, you know? 'I want action, I want fighting in the streets, going to take this town by storm' – haha, it was almost like a narrative to what was going on outside, even though we weren’t aware of it." - Peter De Jong on the song Star and the Slaughter being played during the Star Hotel Riot

Episode Hosted and Produced by Jack Hodgins.

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In this episode of Vinyl Vibes, Jack talks with Rick Pointon, founder of Benny and The Jets. Last time Rick was on the show, in episode 2 of this Newcastle Vinyl Vibes special, he talked about his music work in the ‘60s. In this episode, he discusses his music work in the ‘70s with Benny and The Jets.

Prior to forming Benny and The Jets in 1973, Rick was in a local group called Keg. While in Keg, Rick had the idea of performing a 20-minute medley of rock and roll songs from the late ‘50s and early ‘60s. Toward the end of Keg, while at the Star Hotel watching Bob Hudson one day in 1973, Rick had the idea to form a band based around the rock and roll of the late ‘50s and early ‘60s. Rick aspired to launch this new band, Benny and The Jets, at The Star Hotel. This was no easy task at the time, as The Star was primarily a jazz pub. However, after much persistence, Rick convinced the publican, Don Graham, to let Benny and The Jets play a free night at the Star. This first performance was a success, and the band soon rose to prominence around Newcastle. Upon their first gig, the band became Australia's first rock and roll revival group.

In 1975, Rick contacted Copperfield Records in Sydney, and the band recorded its first single, a cover of Barry Mann’s We Put the Bomp (In the Bomp Bomp Bomp). For Benny and The Jets, the single became a number one hit on the local Newcastle charts and reached number 90 nationally on the Kent Music charts. This marked the beginning of a string of local hits for the group. In 1976, Benny and The Jets released their well-known album Hey Rock and Roll, which reached number one locally in Newcastle.

Although still popular, in May 1978, Benny and The Jets came to an end after Rick underwent an intensive throat operation. Rick has remained a fixture of the music scene in Newcastle and, more recently, has written a book called Hey Rock and Roll, which reflects on his time in music and the Newcastle music scene of the ‘60s and ‘70s.

Jack talked with Rick in the studio about his time in Keg, what inspired Keg to play a rock and roll medley, how Bob Hudson inspired Rick to form Benny and The Jets, how the band came to play The Star, the success the band had throughout the '70s, the recording of hits such as Hey Rock and Roll, the writing of songs such as JOK, why the band came to an end, and his book Hey Rock and Roll.

"He (Don Graham) didn't know who I was, so then he would say, 'Well, where have you been playing?' and I’d reply, 'We haven't been playing anywhere.' In the end, he said, 'Look, just keep in touch,' so I rang him back every second day, drove him crazy... I said, 'We'll do a free night for you.' Don said, 'Oh, okay, what about next Tuesday?'... Halfway through the night, it was jumping, so they got us back." – Rick Pointon on this episode of Vinyl Vibes, talking about Benny and The Jets playing The Star for the first time.

Episode Hosted and Produced by Jack Hodgins.

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In this episode of Vinyl Vibes, Jack talks with Mark Tinson in the fifth instalment of the Vinyl Vibes Newcastle series. This 8-part series talks with a range of local rockers important to the Newcastle music story.

Mark grew up in Maitland amidst the music of the ‘60s listening to the likes of the Rolling Stones and the Beatles. While still in High School, Mark would form his first professional band, Bluegrass, in 1968. Along with Bluegrass, Mark would enter Newcastle heat of the 1971 Hoadley’s Battle of the Sounds, at that time the biggest music contest in Australia. Although the band would loose the heat to fellow Newcastle band Armageddon, for Mark it would bring an important moment in his musical journey as he would meet Peter De Jong, a future long-time music collaborator. After seeing acts live such as The Rolling Stones and Led Zeppelin, Mark had the idea to form a group that could make records and also tour. This would lead to the formation of glam rock band, A Rabbit in 1973. At the Insistence of Ted Mulry, In 1975 the band would be joined on lead vocals by original AC/DC Dave Evans. Soon after this the band would be singed to CBS records and become known simply as Rabbit.

After recording their debut self titled album, Rabbit would moved from Newcastle to Sydney. Their first efforts in Sydney included recording their single Wild Fire, which saw the band gain some national recognition when the single reached 86 on the national Kent Music Charts. After recording this Wild Fire single, the band would record their second album, Too Much Rock 'n' Roll. The single and title track off the album, Too Much Rock 'n' Roll, would reach 64 on the national charts and was written by Mark.

During Ted Murly Gang's national 1976 Stepping Out tour, Mark would leave Rabbit and return to Newcastle. He would first join a jam band called Bandits before forming Heroes in the same year. Heroes would play constantly throughout Newcastle and would rise to national prominence following the 1979 Star Hotel Riot.

Following the Star Riot, Heroes would be signed to Alberts Productions and in August 1980 the band’s first single, Baby’s Had a Taste, would be released. The B-side to this debut Heroes single, Waiting for You, was a song written by Mark. The single would reach 76 on the Kent music charts. This single would be followed by a self tiled album in October 1980 and a second singe, The Star and The Slaughter in January 1981. After money troubles the band would come to an end in 1982. More recently, Mark has written a book called Too Much Rock and Roll, which covers his time in music.

In this episode Jack talks with Mark about his early musical influences, the experience of hearing an electric guitar for the first time, his first profession band Bluegrass, his memoires of playing the '71 Hoadleys Battle of The Sounds, the formation of A Rabbit, working with original AC/DC front man Dave Evans, the recording of Rabbit's first album, his memoires of playing on Countdown, the writing of Rabbit hits such as Too Much Rock and Roll, TMG's 1976 Stepping Out Tour, his time in The Bandits, the formation of Heroes, the early Heroes gigs, The Star Hotel Riot, the recording the band did with Alberts, his recent memoir and his recent music work.

"The infamous Star Hotel Riot occurred, that brought some attention to us from Alberts and they came up to see the band play which is kind of surreal when George Young and Harry Vanda sitting up the back of the room" - Mark Tinson on this episode of Vinyl Vibes talking about getting signed by Vanda and Young

Episode Hosted and Produced by Jack Hodgins

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