It’s a very sad day today for me.  Doc Neeson, the lead singer of The Angels, has died. He was 67 and
died of a brain tumour. The Angels were, and still are, my all-time favourite
band.  I first went and saw them at Latrobe
University in 1979 (see video above, I was there). I was in the first year of
university at the time, staying at Menzies College. The Colleges at Latrobe are
located on campus and are only a few hundred metres from Union Hall, which became
a big live music venue while I was at uni.

A few months into my first year at uni, a concert was put
on, featuring The Sports and a band I
had never heard of, The Angels. I didn’t plan on going, but me and a mate
scored pass outs from a couple who were more interested in each other than live
music. I can’t remember much about The Sports set, but then The Angels came on.
They were loud and aggressive, with an amazingly energetic front man, Doc
Neeson. By the end of the night I was in a state of euphoria from jumping
around to them. 
I rushed out and bought their second album, Face
To Face
. It contains some of their classic songs  like Take
A Long Line
, I Aint the One and After the Rain. I then bought their
third album No Exit which contained further classics like Shadow Boxer,  Can’t
Shake it
, and my all-time favourite song of theirs: Ivory Stairs.

Lyrics of Ivory Stairs:

Rumour has it that
you got a well laid plan
To make yourself a singularly self-made man
Imported shirts from Yves St. Laurent
You got everything that you want
Catch you running to your candy colored Chevrolet
Consumer consumed, the loser has to pay
The higher you climb, the deeper you go
Talking about a change, nothing changed so slow

Climbing up the ivory stairs
Never gonna get anywhere
Slipping on the first step, can’t get a good grip
Climbing up the ivory stairs

Any kid on the street with his ear to the ground
Knows credit card conspiracy and flesh by the pound
Harlequin dancin’ ‘tween the sun and the moon
They got you dancing to a gallows tune

Climbing up the ivory stairs
Never gonna get anywhere
Slipping on the first step, can’t get a good grip
Climbing up the ivory stairs

Climbing up the ivory stairs
Never gonna get anywhere
Slipping on the first step, can’t get a good grip
Climbing up the ivory stairs

(Solo)

Oh no, you found the door
Too late you found that you never got the key
Oh no, in the confusion
Don’t turn your weary eyes on me

Harlequin dancin’ ‘tween the sun and the moon
Got you dancing to a gallows tune
Tell me what happened to your well laid plan
To make yourself a singularly self-made man
Catch you running to your candy colored Chevrolet
Consumer consumed, the loser has to pay
The higher you climb, the deeper you go
Talking about a change, nothing changed so slow

Climbing up the ivory stairs
Never gonna get anywhere
Slipping on the first step, can’t get a good grip
Climbing up the ivory stairs

Climbing up the ivory stairs
Never gonna get anywhere
Slipping on the first step, can’t get a good grip
Climbing up the ivory stairs
Ivory Stairs

(Watch your step)
(Watch your step)
(Watch your step)
Climbing up the ivory stairs

(Watch your step)
(Watch your step)
(Watch your step)
Climbing up the ivory stairs

It’s a song that contains my all-time favourite lyric: consumer consumed, the loser has to pay.
 I loved the Angel’s introspective lyrics.
They were singing about me and the world I lived in. 

I saw Neeson launch himself from the speaker stacks many
times.  One of their most memorable
performances was with Midnight Oil
at the Melbourne Showgrounds. I even paid to see AC/DC at the Sidney Myer Music Bowl, because the Angels were their
support act. The crowd was so ecstatic after The Angels set that AC/DC waited
45 minutes for us to calm down before they started ringing their bell.

The Angels huge amount of live performances lead to them
making the greatest live album ever, Live Line.

So it is a sad day for me and all the fans of Australia’s
greatest ever rock band. I feel like the rain has started to fall. 

Somebody save me,
the water’s rising
sweet Jesus take the blame
who knows whose star is falling
after the rain, after the rain.
 

You will be missed Doc.  


0 Responses

  1. It is sad – so many great rock stars dying these past few years.

    I didn't know that song – that's pretty cool. Wow, you saw some great acts. The Sports were pretty cool too – and I never saw AC/DC – just a bit young… but like most aussies of the time, grew up listening to The Angels among other great acts.

    Sorry to hear.

  2. A lot of bands played at Latrobe. Mental As Anything, Men at Work, INXS, Icehouse, – Iva Davies collapsed on stage after five songs, from drugs – The Angels twice while I was there. They filmed the late night television show Nightmoves there. I saw a heap of other Australian bands at other venues, including one of the last Skyhook concerts and one of the last Cold Chisel concerts.

  3. Wow – that's awesome. I love all of those bands. You were lucky. Some legendary bands there. I was stuck out in the country and didn't see any bands until '85 and most of those from overseas – though did see Pseudo Echo in Shep and Jimmy Barnes out your way in Wang. lol.

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