Mick Thomas Covers The Saints ‘Shipwreck’ - Noise11.com
Mick Thomas Roving Commission

Mick Thomas Roving Commission

Mick Thomas Covers The Saints ‘Shipwreck’

by Paul Cashmere on October 20, 2022

in News

Mick Thomas’ Roving Commission has covered The Saints’ ‘Shipwreck’ for the new EP ‘Back In The Day’.

Mick’s cover pays tribute to Chris Bailey of The Saints who passed away in April this year.

“Amidst all the high-profile industry people leaving us the past year Chris Bailey’s passing seemed to go almost unheralded. But for many of us he was a significant source of inspiration and someone I had looked to for guidance at various points in my career. People are always quick to celebrate the Saints role as punk rock pioneers, but I felt it was what he did after their initial arrival that made them (and him) so special. He refused to get bogged down in the pointless posturing of the commercial punk rock movement and was quick to move on to new styles and formats in his songwriting.

“He just had a way of attacking a song that was so self-assured and confident, and original. ‘Shipwreck’ is a great example of his willingness to turn his hand to a new genre while still remaining true to his method. I’d always (erroneously) thought the song was too much like a Weddings, Parties song for me to warrant covering it but it was only as I started to learn it properly that I realised just how very different in writing style it is from anything I have ever written.

“I love our recording of the tune if for nothing else, it was the very last song recorded in my back yard studio at Bent Street Northcote – where so many songs had been built through the past thirty years. Vale Corrugated Sounds and Bent Street – but more importantly, vale Chris Bailey.”

‘Back In the Day’ features something old, something new, something borrowed and some Cold Chisel blues.

Despite the retro title, Mick says it is not all about that. “Even though the whole theme of the EP seems to be about looking back, it’s really great to be doing it as a means to move forward,” Thomas said in a statement. “The whole album that we’ve done which is coming out next year is about people being focused on what came before. I was originally going to call the album Solastalgia – which is just a term I read in a book which refers to this existential recognition of being attached to a time and place that you can never really attain, like something that’s in the past – but then I found out that Missy Higgins already had an album called that!

“But it just meant that I became really interested in songs that were about looking backwards to some degree, and I had some covers that I knew would fit around the theme, so it all came together really quickly and easily.”

Tracklisting

Back In The Day (new song)
You Can’t Put Your Arms Around A Memory (Johnny Thunders cover)
Days That Used To Be (Neil Young cover)
Houses (Mick Thomas remake)
A Tired Old Hat (Mick Thomas remake)
Home and Broken Hearted (Cold Chisel cover)
Shipwreck (The Saints cover)

Mick Thomas’ Roving Commission upcoming dates:

NOV
Wed 2 Arcobar – Heatherton (VIC) + Kerryn Fields TBC
Wed 9 Ararat Live (VIC) + Kerryn Fields TBC
Fri 11 Bennets on Bellarine Winery (VIC) + Kerryn Fields
Fri 18 Pig and Whistle (VIC) + Dave Wright and the Midnight Ramblers

DEC
Thu 1 Smiths Canberra (ACT) + Full Power Happy Hour
Fri 2 Great Club Marrickville (NSW) + Full Power Happy Hour
Sat 3 Baroque Room Katoomba (NSW) + Full Power Happy Hour
Sun 4 Leftys (QLD) + Full Power Happy Hour

Sun 11 Longley International (TAS) + Teresa Dixon

Tue 13 Grace Emily (SA) + Cookie Baker
Wed 14 Grace Emily (SA) + Tom Redwood
Thu 15 Grace Emily (SA) + Mark Curtis and the Flannelettes

Fri 16 River Hotel Margaret River (WA) + Carla Geneve
Sat 17 Navy Club Freo (WA) + Carla Geneve
Sun 18 Oxford (WA) + Carla Geneve

Fri 21 Shotkickers Thornbury (VIC) + Skyscraper Stan
Sat 22 Shotkickers Thornbury (VIC) + Alana Jagt and the Monotremes
Sun 23 Shotkickers Thornbury (VIC) + Maggie Alley Band

JAN
Sun 1 Archies Creek (VIC) + Sherry Rich and the Grievous Angels

All tickets at mickthomas.com/shows

Stay updated with your free Noise11.com daily music news email alert. Subscribe to Noise11 Music News here

Be the first to see NOISE.com’s newest interviews and special features on YOUTUBE and updated regularly. See things first SUBSCRIBE here: Noise11 on YouTube SUBSCRIBE

Noise11.com

Follow Noise11 on Social Media

Noise11 on Instagram

You’ll discover music news first following Noise11 on Twitter

Comment on the news of the day, join Noise11 on Facebook

Related Posts

Edwyn Collins Facebook image
Edwyn Collins Premieres First Song Since 2019 ‘Knowledge’

Edwyn Collins, the former lead singer of 80s post-punk band Orange Juice, and who had a massive hit in 1994 with ‘A Girl Like You’ has a new song ‘Knowledge’.

3 hours ago
Def Leppard
Def Leppard Play Without Vivian Campbell As He Undergoes Cancer Treatment

Def Leppard guitarist Vivian Campbell missed the band's first concert of 2025 due to his recovery from cancer treatment.

5 hours ago
Motorhead the Noise11 interview with Mikkey Dee
Scorpions Cancel Vegas Show Due To Mikkey Dee’s Sepsis

Scorpions have postponed their Las Vegas residency so drummer Mikkey Dee can continue his recovery after being hospitalised with life-threatening sepsis.

19 hours ago
Sammy Hagar supplied HWOF
Sammy Hagar Quits Touring

Sammy Hagar has quit touring. Hagar hit the road last year for his 'The Best Of All Worlds' tour - which covered the US, Canada and Japan - and he's preparing to launch the show as a residency which will run from April 30 until May 17 at Dolby Live at Park MGM in Las Vegas - and he's now insisted he's sick of travelling and just wants to perform one-off concerts and residencies which allow him to stay in one place.

3 days ago
David Lynch photo from the Lynch estate
Film Legend David Lynch Dies At 78

Film legend David Lynch, best known for Blue Velvet, Mulholland Drive and Twin Peaks, has died at the age of 78.

4 days ago
Gary Kemp This Destination
Gary Kemp To Release Third Solo Album ‘This Destination’

Former Spandau Ballet co-founder Gary Kemp will release his third solo album ‘This Destination’ on 31 January 2025.

5 days ago
Linda Nolan
Linda Nolan of The Nolans Dies At Age 65

Linda Nolan of Irish pop group The Nolans has died at the age of 65.

5 days ago