01_Lonesome Hobo - Eindhoven Triffids in the Effenaar, Eindhoven on May 11, 1985. This was recorded by our good friend Carlos Van Hijfte and is from a whole show that he recorded. This has only just surfaced and I'll add tracks as they become available. It is a great show from a period that is not very well represented by live recordings. We were trying to figure out how to incorporate pedal steel and we were in the process of putting Born Sandy Devotional together. 02_Bright Lights Big City - Eindhoven Triffids in the Effenaar, Eindhoven on May 11, 1985. This was recorded by our good friend Carlos Van Hijfte and is from a whole show that he recorded. This has only just surfaced and I'll add tracks as they become available. It is a great show from a period that is not very well represented by live recordings. We were trying to figure out how to incorporate pedal steel and we were in the process of putting Born Sandy Devotional together. 03_Hell Of a Summer - Eindhoven Triffids in the Effenaar, Eindhoven on May 11, 1985. This was recorded by our good friend Carlos Van Hijfte and is from a whole show that he recorded. This has only just surfaced and I'll add tracks as they become available. It is a great show from a period that is not very well represented by live recordings. We were trying to figure out how to incorporate pedal steel and we were in the process of putting Born Sandy Devotional together. 04_The Letter - Eindhoven Triffids in the Effenaar, Eindhoven on May 11, 1985. This was recorded by our good friend Carlos Van Hijfte and is from a whole show that he recorded. This has only just surfaced and I'll add tracks as they become available. It is a great show from a period that is not very well represented by live recordings. We were trying to figure out how to incorporate pedal steel and we were in the process of putting Born Sandy Devotional together.
A staple of the live set at the time, a favourite Box Tops song of Dave's. 05_Lonely Stretch - Eindhoven Triffids in the Effenaar, Eindhoven on May 11, 1985. This was recorded by our good friend Carlos Van Hijfte and is from a whole show that he recorded. This has only just surfaced and I'll add tracks as they become available. It is a great show from a period that is not very well represented by live recordings. We were trying to figure out how to incorporate pedal steel and we were in the process of putting Born Sandy Devotional together.
Here's Lonely Stretch, pretty wild version too. 06_Property Is Condemned - Eindhoven Triffids in the Effenaar, Eindhoven on May 11, 1985. This was recorded by our good friend Carlos Van Hijfte and is from a whole show that he recorded. This has only just surfaced and I'll add tracks as they become available. It is a great show from a period that is not very well represented by live recordings. We were trying to figure out how to incorporate pedal steel and we were in the process of putting Born Sandy Devotional together.
Property Is Condemned with a great slow burning intro. I think Dave was chuffed to get a request that he actually felt like playing. 07_Life Of Crime - Eindhoven Triffids in the Effenaar, Eindhoven on May 11, 1985. This was recorded by our good friend Carlos Van Hijfte and is from a whole show that he recorded. This has only just surfaced and I'll add tracks as they become available. It is a great show from a period that is not very well represented by live recordings. We were trying to figure out how to incorporate pedal steel and we were in the process of putting Born Sandy Devotional together.
Life Of Crime still being worked on obviously. 08_Jesus Calling - Eindhoven Triffids in the Effenaar, Eindhoven on May 11, 1985. This was recorded by our good friend Carlos Van Hijfte and is from a whole show that he recorded. This has only just surfaced and I'll add tracks as they become available. It is a great show from a period that is not very well represented by live recordings. We were trying to figure out how to incorporate pedal steel and we were in the process of putting Born Sandy Devotional together. 09 Red Pony & 10 Beautiful Waste - Eindhoven Two song that run into each other. The second finishes abruptly on the recording. 11_Raining Pleasure - Eindhoven 12_Monkey On My Back - Eindhoven 13_Field Of Glass - Eindhoven Triffids in the Effenaar, Eindhoven on May 11, 1985. This was recorded by our good friend Carlos Van Hijfte and is from a whole show that he recorded. This has only just surfaced and I'll add tracks as they become available. It is a great show from a period that is not very well represented by live recordings. We were trying to figure out how to incorporate pedal steel and we were in the process of putting Born Sandy Devotional together. 14_Can't Help Falling In Love With You - Effenaar 15_Chicken Killer and 16_You Don't Miss Your Water - Effenaar A Trick Of The Light ICA Early and quite lively version of A Trick Of The Light. You have to imagine Marty wearing a dress as you listen to this. This was no optical illusion. Alsy explains the band's name An interview with The Triffids 2nd Jan 1983 Pat Monaghan, Peter Bonner and possibly Michael Shuttleworth interviewed Dave, Alsy, Marty and Rob on a hot day early in 1983. The interview was conducted in the band's van Happy Wheels outside the Shaftesbury Hotel. It is very illuminating in many ways and sheds light on a pivotal point in the career of The Triffids. Beginning To See The Light - Shaw Theatre The Velvet Underground Song. Comes from the Shaw Theatre 12th April 1989. Butterfly Recorded at the Old Melbourne Hotel in Perth 10/03/84 - the Triffids farewell to Perth as they headed over east. An over the top version of a song that is something of an oddity. Clear Out My Mind From the Red Ponies' 1994 tour of Europe Recorded in Malmo, Sweden. Unreleased. Dave - Calenture Dave - Calenture crits Dave - Calenture's layers Dave - Jerdacuttup Man Dave - Lonesome Hobo Dave - The Triffids head to Sydney Dave - a variety of instruments Dave - cliches are important Dave - country music Dave - gloom and doom and balance Dave - happy songs Dave - homesickness Dave - how it should have ended Dave - no scene Dave - no slogans Dave - not a guitar band Dave - not ambitious enough Dave - serious intentions Dave - studio philosophy Dave - the move to London Dave - the need to be moved Dave - unrequited love Dave - wants some dignity Dave - we have no home Dave - we're only a rock band Dave and Alsy - BSD Dave and Alsy - early label history Dave and Alsy introduce Evil Dave and Alsy on why they were better than Genesis Dave and Alsy talk about playing Leederville Punk Fest Dave on Pat Monaghan's Zootime - 6UVSFM From Calenture period, Dave is interviewed on Perth's 6UVSFM by Pat Monaghan a good friend of his. Covers a lot of territory in this snippet including what Dave regarded as an unwelcome journalistic intrusion into his personal life at the time. Some nice ads at the beginning too. Thanks Pat. Dave talks about early cassettes and White Rider Records Dave's earliest remembered song Day Of My Ascension 17th Feb 2011
Day Of My Ascension in demo form. This was recorded in 1992 on an 8 track machine at Dave's place in Vere St, Collingwood. Dave, Phil, me and Rob Snarski. I think this is an amazing version of this song. Dear Miss Lonely Hearts One of the B-sides of the 12" single Wide Open Road from 1986.
"Look at the blood dear me I must have cut myself, can't for the life of me think how I cut myself." Devil Please A demo done in my front room, '97 or so, this one is a song written by Dave with Paul Kelly. Early influences - NY punk Everything Fixed Is Killed This is from the costar recording done by Julian Wu. It's not been officially released but has been heard by many, just like a real bootleg I guess. Stuart Soler on drums, Kiernan Box on piano and organ, Graham Lee on electric guitar, Martyn P Casey on bass and David McComb on acoustic guitar and spine chilling vocals. Everything Fixed Is Killed - Red Ponies On 14/03/94 The Red Ponies (Dave McComb, Warren Ellis, Graham Lee, Bruce Haymes, Peter Luscombe and Michael Vidale) played a live session for Triple J radio. When the official tracks were done we cajoled Chris Thompson the engineer/producer into letting us play some more songs for the hell of it what with a Euro tour coming up soon. Here are three tracks from that session. I'd completely forgotten about this stuff until I found it on a cassette yesterday. Listening to it made me wonder what might have happened had Dave stayed healthy and kept this band together.
I think Warren turned up late because of other commitments as he only seems to be on Raining Pleasure. Actually, on second thoughts he must have had to leave early as this was a bit of a late one.
The version(s) of Everything Fixed Is Killed are presented here as an example of an early working version of a song that later appeared in a dramatic and more complete incarnation done by costar. There are two versions, the first one falls away after a promising start and we do another straight away that's much better as a whole. We (the Red Ponies) never did this song in live performance as far as I recall. It sounds like I had been listening to Robert Quine.
Fairytale Love Acoustic version Acoustic demo
Here's a solo acoustic demo done by Dave of the song Fairytale Love. I don't think this has appeared anywhere else. Some slightly different lyrics and, as ever, the final version is lyrically better than this almost there one. Field Of Glass This version of FOG, recorded live at the 2985 David Patterson recorded Seaview Ballroom show is yet another interesting insight into the evolution of this little ditty. Not quite as revealing as I had first thought though...it's from 1985 not 1984 as I had first thought (dummy..) Field Of Glass (Barrowlands '84) At Barrowlands. In which The Triffids take on a rabid Bunnymen crowd with their killer punch. Not sure that the crowd is impressed but Dave certainly gives his all. This was when the band toured as support for Echo and the Bunnymen in 1984. Field Of Glass - London School Of Economics '84 From a show at the London School Of Economics on October 13th 1984. The show starts out uneventfully before an apparently quite small crowd who have mostly never seen the band before. It gathers a huge head of steam as they realise this is no ordinary band and Dave seems to be loving it and giving his all. Field Of Glass was the second to last song. The bit from the first breakdown on is stunning and you can hear that they're still knocking it into shape. How Dave could still have any voice left after this kind of performance is beyond me. Field Of Glass - early version A version of Field Of Glass notable for the very evident wrestling to find an arrangement. It's almost like a block of marble. We can all hear the final thing waiting to get out. Exhilarating final minute or so too.
Foggy Notion Foggy Notion - the Red Ponies in Amsterdam, 28th April 1994. Get Into The Groove I would hope this track would prove as controversial here as it apparently was in Greece in 1988. Go Home Eddie - solo demo A version of Go Home Eddie recorded solo into a cassette deck sometime in 1987 I guess. A request for James that I thought I might as well share with everyone. Hanging Shed From a 1985 Seaview Ballroom show recorded by David Patterson a great version of Hanging Shed. Not sure why this song never re-appeared in set lists in latter days. I would love to have played it. Hell Of A Summer Hell Of A Summer from Hultsfred Festival in Sweden, 1986. A turning point for us as far as recognition in Scandinavia goes. I Can't Stand It On 14/03/94 The Red Ponies (Dave McComb, Warren Ellis, Graham Lee, Bruce Haymes, Peter Luscombe and Michael Vidale) played a live session for Triple J radio. When the official tracks were done we cajoled Chris Thompson the engineer/producer into letting us play some more songs for the hell of it what with a Euro tour coming up soon. Here are three tracks from that session. I'd completely forgotten about this stuff until I found it on a cassette yesterday. Listening to it made me wonder what might have happened had Dave stayed healthy and kept this band together.
I think Warren turned up late because of other commitments as he only seems to be on Raining Pleasure. Actually, on second thoughts he must have had to leave early as this was a bit of a late one. I Want To Conquer You - Hasselt 17th April 2010 Here's a preliminary master of I Want To Conquer You from the Saturday night show in Hasselt, recorded by Shaun Hoffmann. Guitars - G. Lee, M. Harvey, R. McComb, drums - Alsy, bass - Marty, violin - Warren Ellis, piano - Chris Abrahams, vocal - Melanie Oxley, backing vocals - Mick, Rob Snarski. It's always such a powerful experience to play this song and I really like this version. Warren's stuff in the big instrumental passage is stunning, couldn't hear that properly when we actually played. Enjoy. Many thanks to Shaun for getting it all together. I've Heard Things Turn Out This Way A beautiful song recorded in the early nineties in London. Very Triffids like. The Blackeyed susans have performed this at their regular Christmas shows as it is just slightly Christmassy. In The Pines - Sydney Festival In The Pines beautifully sung by Rob Snarski at the Metro Theatre, 2008. Mark Dawson and Alsy are working together brilliantly on this one. This is from Saturday night's show, thanks to Steven Levett for the desk tape. In The Pines - the Red Ponies 14/03/94 recorded for Triple J radio. Live At The Wireless - this was The Red Ponies line-up that toured Europe later that year. Dave McComb, Graham Lee, Warren Ellis, Bruce Haymes, Peter Luscombe, Michael Vidale. A great version of In The Pines with drama to spare. Jeremy Joy Tape 4 From Tape 4
I ended up using an earlier version of Jeremy Joy on the 10CD set because it had a certain life to it even though it was quite rough around the edges. You couldn't call this version slick, nor could you accuse it of lacking life. "Don't call us, we'll call you, in fact we'll just ignore you..." It cracks me up every time. Jesus Calling - ICA 25/04/87 A rocking version of Jesus Calling from the ICA in '87. I'd forgotten that we used to drag this one out in that era every so often. Kellys Blues ITP out-take In The Pines (out-take) Kiss Him (He's History) This is costar live at the Cherry Tree Hotel. Someone requested this song recently on the forums so here it is - badly recorded but you might be able to get the drift. There's a Stolen Propertyish ending that was actually quite dramatic on a good night. Yet another of Dave's songs inspired by 60s girl-groups.
Kneel So Low - unreleased From a 1996 cassette of "new songs". This one has some recycled bits and is solid evidence that Dave's songs were still up there with the very best even when his health wasn't. Kiernan Box on piano, I think I'm playing guitar but couldn't be certain. Lanallu From 1982, features some lyrics Dave used again, much, much later.
Leave This is how Goodbye Little Boy started life. Just Dave and acoustic guitar with an early version of the song before he decided to tailor it for Jill.
Lonely Avenue The Red Ponies live on 2JJJ in 1994. Lonely Stretch - solo demo A demo of Lonely Stretch done solo, only one chord... Lonesome Hobo A stomping version of possibly one of the bands best cover versions, one that bears very little resemblance to the original. This is from the early eighties at a Sydney pub. Lullaby A demo done at Dave's place in about 1993. On a cassette 8 track machine with Dave, Phil Kakulas and me. This was a B side on Clear Out My Mind single.
Marty - Calenture Memories from Malmo '94 From the Red Ponies' 1994 tour of Europe Recorded in Malmo, Sweden. Unreleased. Neighbours Dave taped this from the telly. A tune dear to our hearts is interwoven in the masterful tapestry of a Neighbours script. Night Life - Shenton Park Hotel '84 Dave was a Willie Nelson fan well before it was cool and here's a striking version of the Willie classic, Night Life. This is a song Willie is said to have sold for $50 before it became a monstrous hit for Ray Price. He had to be content with a few bucks as opposed to a few cadillacs.
No Fun Recorded in 1985 at The Seaview Ballroom by David Patterson from the audience, here's a song that I'm told Jill sang from time to time. This version is Dave however. No Vox - Falling Over You With no vocals the tracks from The Black Swan sound surprisingly hifi. They still sound very interesting to me, but perhaps for fanatics only, I don't know. No Vox - Good Fortune Rose No Vox - New Years Greetings No Vox - The Spinning Top Song No Vox - Too Hot To Move Not The Marrying Kind Demo of Not The Marrying Kind recorded at the McComb family home in Peppermint Grove sometime in '82. Ocean Of You All good things come to those who wait. Julian found the DAT with this song sung by D Mc and here it is. Done with Stephen Street again I believe, in 1992. Expect fully scrubbed up version at some later date. Old Ghost Rider - JJJ '83 Live on 2JJJ 1983 Pale Blue Eyes T&C 1987 At the Town and Country. If there's a better version of this song anywhere I'd like to hear it. Adam Peters joining us on cello. Paradise - Tape 4 Paradise from Tape 4. This one didn't quite make it onto the boxed set but it's presented here for your listening pleasure on Dave's birthday 2013. The band was Dave, Alsy, Rob, Byron Sinclair and Margaret Gillard. Property_Is_Condemned - Seaview Ballroom I was asked recently about this 1985 show and was mildly scolded because I couldn't remember playing at such a momentous show at an iconic Melbourne venue. The answer is simple enough, I wasn't there. I had to go back to Sydney probably to play with my friend John Kennedy. I hadn't joined The Triffids yet .
Anyway, great version of Property with Margaret Labi on backing vocals. Raining Pleasure - Red Ponies On 14/03/94 The Red Ponies (Dave McComb, Warren Ellis, Graham Lee, Bruce Haymes, Peter Luscombe and Michael Vidale) played a live session for Triple J radio. When the official tracks were done we cajoled Chris Thompson the engineer/producer into letting us play some more songs for the hell of it what with a Euro tour coming up soon. Here are three tracks from that session. I'd completely forgotten about this stuff until I found it on a cassette yesterday. Listening to it made me wonder what might have happened had Dave stayed healthy and kept this band together.
I think Warren turned up late because of other commitments as he only seems to be on Raining Pleasure. Actually, on second thoughts he must have had to leave early as this was a bit of a late one. A pleasure to hear Dave sing this song.
Raining Pleasure Hasselt 17th April 2010 Here's a preliminary master of Raining Pleasure from the Saturday night show in Hasselt, recorded by Shaun Hoffmann.There are a couple of minor glitches and we weren't quite together at the start but this is a very good example of why Jill is such a great singer of Dave's songs. Rent Recorded during the sessions for Stockholm. Reverie What a song...1982 EP lead track, recorded at Mutant Mule Records. Produced by Tim Lambert and engineered by Evan Smiths. Originally released on Resonant Records.
Reverie - '82 Reverie taken from a 1982 show at Players in Paddington Green, Sydney. It's a little rough and ready on the audio side but brings me a smile. Satisfied Mind This song stuck around in various guises for quite a while. This is from 1983 live at Players nightclub in Sydney. Shaftesbury Hotel 1983 #1 Snake Pit/Joan Of Arc/Nothing Good Is Going To Come Of This/Lover Please/Nothing Can Take Your Place

The Triffids minus keyboards are in a transitional phase. They have realised that they belong somewhere other than Perth. This show is very well recorded and was sold as a cassette on the Lock Up Your Cats tour. Shaftesbury Hotel 1983 #2 Branded
MGM
Family Name
No Desire
It Was A Wednesday
This Boy Shaftesbury Hotel 1983 #3 The Way I Walk (Ray Brown)
Left To Rot
You Can Keep It
Man Who Can
Reverie Shaftesbury Hotel 1983 #4 Southern Religious Programme
Lonesome Hobo
Place In The Sun
I'll Have It
Everybody Likes To Disco
Butterfly Somewhere In The Shadows From Tape Six I believe. It sounds very like Jill singing with Dave but is Margaret Gillard if I'm not mistaken. Dave liked this song well enough to put it on a compilation cassette he called Early Triffids Songs For Teens And Tycoons
Spanish Blue Live at Players, Paddington Green, October '83. A live track from a very productive period, the band sounding tight as ever. Spanish Blue from Dungeon Tape This is from Dungeon Tape and probably is familiar to quite a few of you. I've cleaned it up a bit. Stand Up The first vinyl single from 1981. StolenProperty A Dave solo demo into a cassette recorder of Stolen Property. Some bits you'll be familiar with, others perhaps not so. This almost made it onto the BSD re-issue as a bonus. Surfer Boy In Leather From Tape 5. The Long Fidelity Recorded in 1984, this demo is taken from a London portastudio recording from November, '84. What a song, especially when you hear it in this very raw form and out of its normal context as the closer of BSD. Taken from the Jack Brabham cassette only release (if you can call 50 cassettes a release).
The Nervous Side Of Town This is from Tape Five, a particularly good early Triffids cassette. March/April 1980 with a lineup of David McComb (guitar & vocals), Rob McComb (guitar & violin), Margaret Gillard (keyboards), Bryon Sinclair (bass), Alan MacDonald (drums & vocals). Enjoy.
The Spinning Top Song A demo of Spinning Top Song recorded in Perth in 1988. A little low tech perhaps but you get the idea. This Whole World's About To Slide A song of Dave's from '97 or so. Proof if it was needed that he still wrote top notch songs in later life. This Whole World's About To Slide (better mix) A slightly better mix of this song from '97 or so. Too Hot To Move - Dave and Graham Just me and Dave from a similar Dutch radio broadcast as Wide Open Road. Too Hot To Move - G Lee version Trying out a microphone (Behringer B-1 if you're interested) plugged into my shitty laptop I recorded Too Hot To Move with one voice and three acoustic guitars. Very exclusive, a bit rough, but the microphone passed the audition. You might hear the odd truck thundering past my place.
Too Hot radio version From Swedish radio I believe, an acoustic version of Too Hot To Move (too hot to think). Trick Of The Light - Malmo '94 From the Red Ponies' 1994 tour of Europe Recorded in Malmo, Sweden. Unreleased. Trick Of The Light - early version Recorded during the In The Pines sessions. This appeared on the revamped, remixed ITP re-issue. Wide Open Road - acoustic Acoustic version from Dutch radio broadcast I think. Worlds Smartest Man Recorded with Stephen Street in early nineties in London. Worlds Smartest Man From 1992 in collaboration with Stephen street. This track, along with plenty of others, will probably get released when Love Of Will finally surfaces. I haven't done too much in the mastering of it but it sounds pretty good. Also known as Pictures From Life's Other Side. Woz When we played in Hultsfred in Sweden on our '94 tour of Europe Warren Ellis played a version of Memories that was so impassioned that he broke his fiddle. Dave hopefully asks the audience if anyone has any glue. The fiddle was temporarily repaired the next day by a craftsman in a violin shop in Stockholm. He had a leather apron and looked like an elf. He admonished Warren and told him he must respect the violin. You Minus Me I've always liked this song. We recorded a version of it during the Black Swan sessions, late one night after returning from the pub. I played wonky banjo on that version. This is Dave and Phil Kakulas and was recorded in Perth.