Sleek Bott - Music

1. Theme for "Road Hog" 3:32
2. Bella 2:36
3. Fire & Bones 4:41
4. Moonchile 3:11
5. Here Comes Moonie 1:55
6. Pappapaloosa 6:59
7. The Gang Iz Alrite 4:49
8. A Fire of Love 3:16
9. Ashes to Ashes 2:25
10. New Man 2:04
11. The Man In The Mood 2:35
12. The Great Possessor 2:28
13. The Playboy Mansion 3:56
14. 1001 Islandz 3:36
15. Tomorrow Alwayz Knowz 2:59
16. Some Place (Courage/McCabe) 2:03
17. Becoz I Luv U 3:43
18. New Kinda Smokin' 4:29
19. The Houndy Hound Thang 3:51
20. Theme For "Moody Blue" 2:36

BIG CHEAP MOTEL


[1983, The Axemen]
CD FORMAT currently, VINYL to be relaeased Jan 2009...

Not initially mastered onto RTR at time of recording. Re-mastered at a later date from the original recordings.

The story of "BCM" is:

Stu Kawowski went down to check out the Christchurch Botanic Gardens, the scene of the local council/"Big M" milk drink-sponsored "Summertime" concert-in-the-park series of free outdoor events, only to find the park plastered with billboard-sized posters of skimpily-clad young ladies advertising the sponsors wares. On reporting his findings, we immediately scrapped our existing set-list which praised the joys of festivals and basically put the council and Big M milk drinks on a pedestal as worthy town governors and milk-based food products respectively and replaced them with the enclosed set of ‘protest’ songs about the travesty, which were performed at the event, to the mild annoyance of the council & the sponsors.
After this brutal coming of age and awakening of the Axemen to the influence and power of advertising, the band swore to use advertising to its full extent in future, but only for good, never for evil (ie advertising the Axemen = GOOD).

Side 1:

1. PRELUDE 0:25
2. BIG FAT M 3:37
3. BIG FAT M 2:50
4. SCANTY TOWN RIDE 4:25
5. ANGEL MUST BE A CENTERFOLD 4:08
6. BIG CHEAP MOTEL 4:57
7. STOOPID SYMBOL OF WOMAN-HATE 4:16
8. JUST A POLLUTANT 4:23
9. THE PORNOGRAPHIC MILK DRINK 4:10
10. PETER AND THE MILK DRINK 0:42
11. CANT STAND UP FOF 40 " BUSTS 6:57
12. WE LOVE YOU (JAGGER-RICHARDS) 6:57
13. M DOESNT STAND FOR MOTHER 1:30

---

And they're still at it...

AK 87

(1987, S**t Pop Boyz/ The Axemen)
CD FORMAT

Bob and Steve hang out in Auckland waiting for Stu to come home (a slow day indeed). A four track reel-to-reel appears out of nowhere and all hell breaks loose! Contains the only known recording of Steve playing the drums that didn’t get wiped!

1. The Shit Pop Boyz 2:12
2. Maybe... 1:46
3. It Could Be 2:25
4. A Slow Day 4:58
5. S.H.I.T.P.O.P. 2:34
6. The Talker 3:15
7. Ritchie From Venus 3:51
8. Desperately Seeking Stooie 4:47
9. Reggie 1:42
10. Nite By Nite 7:00
11. Harbumble Grodzo 4:33
12. Scarface & Mr McQueen 4:12
13. Sunflower Delight 3:40
14. The Cold,The Dark And The Nite 5:24
15. The Mind 5:20

SCARY! (A.K.A. SCARY Part III)

(1989, Axemen, Sleek Bott Gang)
CD FORMAT, VINYL TO BE RELEASED November 2009

A personal favourite, also my wife’s fave. Possibly the archetypal Sleek Bott line-up combines on this one, and everyone is ‘on’.

1. HEART BULLET 2:40
2. CHURCH OF THE LOOSELY BRETHREN 3:38
3. 10 MILES (AS THE CROW FLIES) 3:07
4. THAT MUST BE HELL 2:05
5. SHACKED UP IN YR EGYPT TOMB 3:35
6. JOIN THE RAF 2:55
7. YOU, YOU CABINET 0:57
8. THE VIRGIN 2:14
9. ANIMALS HAVE RIGHTS, TOO 3:33
10. ACCUSATION OF MURDER 3:21
11. FREE WORLD 2:18
12. INTERMISSION 1:49
13. SUN UND MOON 4:10
14. BEER UND FLINTSTONES 2:07
15. THE WRECK OF THE WHISTLING MAREE 2:20
16. THE 2-BIT STAR 4:08
17. MUST LOVE DIE 3:10
18. NO LOOK BACK 5:41
19. NASTY MOON SHINE 2:35

AGE OF REASON

(1989, Sleek Bott Gang)
CD FORMAT

Good, sensible, rock’n’roll, with top-class performances by the Sleek Bott cronies in several guises.
Plenty of cross-pollination ensures the Sleek Bott seed is sowed widely.

INSTANT KIWI

(1990, The Axemen)
CD FORMAT

You gotta be in to win!
Slice-of-life Axemen material of its day.
Every purchaser has the chance of winning up to $NZ 25,000.00 ($US 14,500.00 based on current exchange rate!).
Good Luck!

DIRTY DEN SESSIONS

(1991, The Axemen)
CD FORMAT

The first Axemen release after Steve's move to Auckland in ’92; a tighter, more urgent feel emerges; recorded on Steve's TASCAM 4 track in the Dirty Den on Galatos Street, Auckland, an edgy joyousness pervades this recording an a sense of purposeness re-emerges in the threesome's music.

RECLINER ROCKER

(1992, The Axemen)
CD FORMAT

The tightness is honed; songs are allowed to blossom; started recording at Frisbee studios also around this point (no releases from those sessions with the exception of "Across the Universe...", but about 20 tracks laid down); Frisbee is where the SHAFT EP’s were recorded.

THREE ROOMS
(AN ELTON JOHN TRIBUTE ALBUM)

The man can write ‘em!

The Axemen pay homage to Reggie Dwight.
Notable (?) for Stu Kawowski’s ‘singing’(?), especially on "Benny & the Jets" [Stu generally doesn’t sing a lot in public – Ringo Starr comparisons have been drawn....]

Across the Universe in 27879 days

(1992, Axemen 4-track EP recd @ Frisbee - CASSETTE ONLY)

The only stuff to be released (as yet) from the legendary 92-93 Frisbee sessions with the exception of 2 tracks on the "Axemen Singles Collexion" CD (see above).

Contains the legendary instrumental "Sputnik Stomp", used in the infamous "Fathers of the Axemen" hoax which actually fooled recognized rock critics into believing the Axemen's fathers had a band in the 60's!!!

Also the last Axemen release to date.

1: Sober is A Judge
2: Stop Staring at Me With your Third Eye

3: Sputnik Stomp
4: New York City Bowling Club

The AXEMEN Book

(1992)

Contains much information RE: the band; a must-have for serious researchers. Good summary of press releases, reviews to 1992, etc. Out of print, but... DIGITAL VERSION COMING SOON

THE AXEMEN SINGLES COLLEXION

(1998 - A retrospective of now-unavailable Singles material released in the early 90's, + some never before released material - The Axemen)
CD FORMAT

SWEAT IT OUT LP
12" LP Format,
SORRY OUT OF STOCK

(1987, LSM)
12" LP FORMAT,
Sorry, Out of Stock

LSM’s only LP Album release. Expensive to post, but a definite collector’s item (400 pressed). Limited stocks still available, hand-screenprinted cover + lyric sheet..

GERM EP

(1988, LSM)
7" EP FORMAT, record only available in plain cover and in limited quantities - remainder of 200 pressing at EMI Wellington...

Collectible 7" single; One of the last records to come out of NZ's EMI pressing plants before it was closed down. Still a few available, hand-screenprinted cover + lyric sheet. (cover and lyric sheet unavailable)

1: Germ
2: Terms of Trade

3: Teddy
4: ....

COUNTY LINESMAN


(1987, LSM
2-CD Set)
CD FORMAT

Notable as the first release after "Sweat it Out" LP. Finding my feet with the four track cassette deck (Tascam Porta One ministudio, which I only replaced in 1997 with a computer and a Tascam Portastudio 424 MkII!).

Features rare recordings of "The Sparkling Duet", Steve's brief but productive pairing with Rent Hamilton, formerly of Rent Hamilton's Country Connoisseurs;

Rent Hamilton (also known as Johnny Segovia, for his plectrum skills) was to later record with the Axemen, Axel Grinders & SHAFT, and is well known in NZ as one of the hottest session muso's to unravel a lead.
Served time in the early 00's with "The Dog's Bollix", a very successful Irish pub band playing nightly in their own pub, "The Dog's Bollix Bar & Band", in Central Auckland.

Other artists to have recorded with Mr Hamilton include:

• Ritchie Venus (as a member of the classic Blue Beetles line-up, which also featured another Sleek Bott stalwart, Mick Elborado, a stable of virtually every Christchurch band of the mid-late 80's)
  
  
• Johnny Devlin (Hamilton toured with Devlin in the 60's[!!!]. Devlin was NZ's answer to Elvis, and is still the record-holder for biggest selling locally made single in NZ I believe).
  
  
• Greg Johnson (As a member of The Trains)
  
  
• Bill Direen (he shares this distinction with Stu Kawowski, although I don't believe the two ever played together in the same line-up with Direen)
  

OMEGABYTE


(1987, LSM,
2-CD Set)
CD FORMAT

A variety of music forms are explored. The vastness of the musical universe has been revealed, and LSM want a piece of everything. The blues specifically are investigated and expounded upon in depth.

Came a Bott Friday


(1987, Garam Masala)
CD FORMAT

An bunch of new and existing Sleek Bott collaborators combine on this pleasing and most ethereal release (voted "Most Ethereal album of 1987").

KOJAK

(1988, Sleek Bott Gang)
CD FORMAT

Some crossover w/ "Scary" [see track listings], but a different overall ‘feel’ (Kojak is more ethereal and other-worldly, with a nice feeling of wholeness as an album, while Scary has a sharper edge and more venom, and more of a "Sleek Bott Sampler" feel about it).

IT'S ACADEMIC


(1988, Sleek Bott Gang, 2 CD Set)
CD FORMAT

So-called as it was recorded while LSM was at university (studying Music, English Grammar, Philosophy and drinking).

Steve's "serious" composition pieces, composed for his music courses, are (for better or worse) included here (marked *).
There are also some experiments in linguistics, featuring Steve's alter-ego of no discernable language [but definitively Slavic in origin], Hans Schtomach, on screeching and indiscernable vocalising.

Many collaborations on this one, but no other students (fortunately).
Call it nasty, leery, youthful exuberance, whatever you will, it documents a search for knowledge at a difficult time.
Some good times, some bad times, some experiences.

Also features a rare recording of The Gorillas, Steve's high school two-piece, featuring the understated and under-utilised Pete Rees, last heard of drawing/selling comics in Christchurch, who later guested on the Flying Nun Axemen Double LP "Three Virgins" (No longer available, but highlights of which are available on the FN CD "Peter Wang Pud").

Good examples are also included of Dragan Stojanovic's flashy guitar solo-isms.

YARDBIRD

(1988, LSM)
CD FORMAT

Bottom-end Keyboards and samplers are explored and put through their paces.

Thoughtful and thought-provoking lyrics pervade this release, many personal devils are invoked and slaughtered.

Despairing, tinged with sadness, and yet somehow hopeful, a period of reflection in a time of change.

Interesting and valuable experimentation.

P.A.


(1989, Bob Brannigan/r.j. cardy)
CD FORMAT

Bob ‘comes out’ under his real name, having become disheartened at being known by a name attached to him by someone else (tell that to his mother!)

LINDY LOU


(1991, LSM & the DDD Drum Band, 2 CD Set)
CD FORMAT

Recorded on LSM’s return from stateside, being now happily married and starting a new life with wife Linda (Listen to "Clark County Courtroom" Click here for REAL AUDIO PREVIEW for the full story!).

Perky and enthusiastic, a generally joyous release. Good times.

I, ROBERT

(1991, Bob Brannigan,
2 CD set)
CD FORMAT

Soul-searching, personal, heartfelt songs (a double CD's worth!) straight from the soul of Robert Cardy, the artist formerly known as Bob Brannigan. Evidence starts to emerge of his deeper side and hints of song-structures later to be developed by SHAFT are apparent here.
Early versions of some currrent SHAFT songs are also present.

Disc One:
1. The Monster is loose 4:18
2. Alive, Alive 2:29
3. Broken Picture Window 2:29 4. Suckin' the Pig 5:23
5. The Man I Most Admire 2:15
6. One of Many 3:06
7. A Fond Farewell 2:55
8. 08 Fiction 10:53
9. Golden Goose 3:06
10. The Wedding 3:07
11. Little Sounds 3:23

Disc Two:
1. PO MAN 1:52
2. THE LEATHER SHOP 2:43
3. RUNAROUND 4:01
4. PERSONAL SATAN 2:34
5. FART FOR JIMI 0:44
6. BOWLCLEAN MCCABE 4:09
7. VLAD HAS WINGS 4:04
8. 36A LOYOLA 1:47
9. BOO BOO CHA 2:47
10. THREE LITTLE PIGS 2:22
11. THE BEAUFORT SCALE 5:06
12. KITTYKAT 4:00
13. HE JUST KILLS ME 5:57

ROCK'N'ROLL HOUND-DOG

(1992, LSM)
CD FORMAT

Back to Rock’n’roll roots. Stevie pits his ‘standards’ against the ‘standards’ of others. Earthy, raw, some live material. You be the judge.

HOUNDSTOOTH


(1992, LSM)
CD FORMAT

Another personal favourite... loose ‘concept’ album revolving around a fairground clown who accidentally swallows some smuggled diamonds, and is pursued throughout by his arch-rival, the Strongman, and his cohort the Barker (read the liner notes for full story).

NEVER-ENDING PARTY


(1992, LSM)
CD FORMAT

The nightmare continues...

The party continues, this time without any booze... Joyous, with a festive and celebratory feel.

Party atmosphere, some rapping and evocative covers also included!