Way back (well, two years) before Bon Scott was a hairy hippy in Fraternity (see yesterday’s post), he was in a bubblegum band called The Valentines. Bon shared co-lead vocal duties with a chap called Vince Lovegrove (that’s a great name for a bubblegum singer). Here’s one of their ditties:
The Valentines – “My Old Man’s A Groovy Old Man” (1968) (instrumental)
Groovy.
The reason I chose this particular song over any of the others that The Valentines recorded (they’re all very similar in their bubblegumminess) is that it was written by Australian songwriting stalwarts Vanda and Young, and that means it has some history to it – specifically, Easybeats history.
There are two versions of “My Old Man…” by The Easybeats, and they both have the same backing track, but one has vocals and the other one doesn’t. I think they’re both interesting, but for different reasons (1. I find it fascinating to hear 1960’s tracks without the singing on them; and 2. when The Easybeats did get around to adding vocals to this song – three years later – they decided to add weird vocals):
The Easybeats – “My Old Man’s A Groovy Old Man” (1966) (instrumental)
The Easybeats – “My Old Man’s A Groovy Old Man” (1969)