‘Jon English & The Foster Brothers at Billboard 1981’ will be the next release in the Australian Road Crew Association’s (ARCA) Desk Tape Series.
In 1981 concert was recorded at Melbourne’s Billboard club for radio station 3XY’s Winter Rage.
“I really loved working with these guys,” Jon English once recalled of his days with the Foster Brothers. “We had a great sound, it was huge fun, and we were very creative and wrote some great songs together.”
The band’s rhythm guitarist Keith ‘Stretch’ Kerwin is more compelling: “I rate the Foster Brothers as one of the top three acts in the country in their time, as a touring entity which delivered monstrous shows.
“We were playing five or six shows a week, and doing doubles on the weekends, to up to 6,000 people at a time.
“Jon was an incredible front-man, he knew his craft to a tee. He could be spellbinding. He knew how to reach an audience. Sometimes it would take him 20 minutes to introduce a song like ‘The Shining’ or ‘She Was Real’ because they had a story behind them which he wanted his fans to be involved in.
“The lighting and the sound at the shows were stunning, and people would be really spellbound.”
Jon English passed away on 9 March 2016.
JON ENGLISH & The FOSTER BROTHERS LIVE at Billboard 1981
TRACKS
1. (In The Hall Of The Mountain King – Grieg) / Overture / Survivor
2. Turn The Page
3. You Might Need Somebody
4. Been In Love Before
5. Handbags & Gladrags
6. Josephine (Too Many Secrets)
7. The Shining
8. Beautiful Loser
9. Carmilla
10. Six Ribbons
11. Straight From The Heart
12. Last Night In Hollywood
13. Words Are Not Enough
14. The Punk & The Godfather / Hot Town
15. Stranger In A Strange Land
16. Hollywood Seven
17. We Gotta Get Out Of This Place
Jon English (R.I.P) – vocals, 12-string guitar
John Dallimore – guitar, flute, vocals
Keith ‘Stretch’ Kerwin – guitar, vocals
Peter Deacon – keyboards
John Coker – bass
Greg Henson – drums
CREW
John Cashion – lights
David Williams – sound
Wayne King – monitors
Simon Thomas – rigger
Jack Frost – stage
Jon English & The Foster Brothers LIVE at Billboard 1981 live tape and all the ARCA Desk Tape Series recordings are available through Black Box Records – ARCA (australianroadcrew.com.au)
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