The Angels

The Angels are the bridge between the originators of Australian 'pub' rock (Billy Thorpe, AC/DC) and the style's flowering in the hands of Midnight Oil, INXS, Cold Chisel and Hunters And Collectors. The Angels introduced an element of theatre.

The band had its beginnings in 1970 with the formation of the acoustic Moonshine Jug and String Band to play in and around the Flinders University campus in Adelaide. Brothers John and Rick Brewster and friends were joined by drama student Bernard Neeson, an Irish immigrant from the tough Adelaide suburb of Elizabeth. A distant relative of Ned Kelly's on Ned's mother's side, Bernard had a fascination for Western folk lore and liked to perform under the name 'Doc Talbot'. As a teenager 'Doc' had promoted dances and at one point came up with a new name for Adelaide group Down The Line. He suggested Zoot. Doc had also spent time as an army conscript, teaching soldiers stationed in New Guinea. The Brewster brothers came from a musical family. Their grandfather was a renowned concert pianist and composer who died on stage playing a piano concerto while his son was conducting the orchestra.

The Moonshine Jug and String Band released a single and EP on their manager John Woodruff's independent Sphere label, making top 5 in Adelaide with the EP, 'Keep You On The Move'.

In 1974 the Moonshine Jug and String Band decided to give away their washboards, kazoos and banjos for electric instruments, stripped down to a four-piece and put their energies towards playing 50s style rock instead. They marked the change in style by renaming themselves The Keystone Angels. Doors started opening. They worked as Chuck Berry's backing band during a national tour, and received a standing ovation for their performance at the 1975 Sunbury festival. The Keystone Angels' one and only single 'Keep On Dancing' was released that same year, again on Sphere. John Brewster sang, while Doc played guitar.

In February 1976 the band relocated to Sydney. They were now applying to their own songs all the lessons they'd learned playing classic rock. Touring with AC/DC brought the group to producers Vanda and Young and secured them a record contract with AC/DC's record label Albert. The group released its first single, 'Am I Ever Gonna See Your face Again' in May 1976, dropping the Keystone at the start of their name to become the Angels now. In August Graham 'Buzz Throckman' Bidstup replaced the band's existing drummer and Chris Bailey joined on bass, allowing Doc to concentrate on his vocal duties. That's the line-up which recorded the group's self-titled first album almost a year later.

The breakthrough came with the second album 'Face To Face' which the band produced with sound engineer Mark Opitz, his own big breakthrough as a producer. While the album didn't crack the top 15 nationally, it stayed on the charts more than 70 weeks, and sold four platinum awards' worth of copies. Not so much "hits", the album contained songs which became stage favourites then and remained Angels staples forever - 'Take A Long Line', 'After The Rain', 'Comin' Down', 'Marseilles'. The album delivered a tough blend of punk and metal. The band brought it home on stage behind their theatrical lead singer, jumping and gesturing maniacally, highlighting the drama in the lyrics. In every way they were one of the most exciting bands in the country, and exhaustive touring brought the band a generation of loyal fans. One venue banned them after they detected the floor literally moving up and down in rhythm with the band and its audience. The Angels celebrated New Years Eve 1979 in front of 10,000 people on the steps of the Sydney Opera House. Chris Bailey and Doc Neeson were both hit by flying bottles and needed stitches.

The third album showed the effort that went behind it, the Angels for the first time demoing songs in the studio before actually recording them. The title 'No Exit' came first, and the songs were accumulated to match the album title's attitude. In the meantime manager John Woodruff had formed a cooperative booking agency with other top Sydney managers to give their acts control of their own careers. The Dirty Cool stable, The Angels, Cold Chisel and Icehouse embarked on a national tour together.

In 1980 the Angels set their sights on the rest of the world. While Alberts released a Greatest Hits albums the Angels signed a five year deal with CBS/Epic world wide and released 'Dark Room', more hard driving, energetic rock with apocalyptic lyrics - 'No Secrets', 'Face The Day'. To avoid confusion with a similarly named group, for the rest of the world they changed their name to Angel City. They hit the world stages with almost the impact of AC/DC. Those years on Australian stages left American audiences studded. Legend has it they were kicked off a Kinks tour for being "too good", and that they were a major influence on the next generation of American rock bands, in particular Guns n'Roses and Motley Crue.

The next era of the Angels' career began to unfold in 1981, when New Zealander Brett Eccles took over the drum stool, and the 'Night Attack' album pushed the band further into heavy metal territory. Los Angeles musician Jim Hilburn took over on bass in April 1982. 'Watch The Red' completed the band's CBS commitments, and the next album 'Two Minute Warning', released by Mushroom in Australia and MCA internationally, was recorded in Los Angeles. Strong sales continued, but each album would now see a slightly altered line-up, which would both breath new life into the band on record and stage, but also slowly eat into that original following.

1986's 'Howling' album gave the Angels' their second top ten hit, and first in seven years, with their cover of the Animals' 'We Gotta Get Out Of This Place'. While touring the album Doc Neeson shattered his kneecap on stage and continued the tour performing from a dentist's chair. After 'Livewire', a double live album, the band signed yet another international contract (with Chrysalis) and travelled to Memphis to record with ZZ Top producer Terry Manning. After twelve releases in Australia 'Beyond Salvation' became The Angels' first Number one album. Internationally it was the last throw of the dice. For whatever reason, despite their reputation, the Angels had never established a sustainable international following. 1991 saw drummer Brett Eccles also take on the band's management.

In 1995, after three more releases, the Angels announced they were splitting up. John Brewster and Jim Hilburn had returned in the meantime, bringing together the band's longest surviving and most popular members. The Farewell Tour went so well the band decided to stay together, stayed on the road, and in 1998, without a record contract released the independently distributed 'Skin And Bone'. In November 2001 Doc Neeson was forced to perminantly withdraw from the band's line-up, because of ill health due to a car accident two years earlier. Doc's car had been rear-ended by a truck leaving him suffering chronic back and neck pain as well as blurred vision.

Buzz Bidstrup, bassist Chris Bailey and the Brewster brothers, John and Rick decided to continue without Doc, as the Angels Band. But this was ultimately complicated by Doc's return with his own band, Doc Neeson's Angels.

Doc Neeson then re-emerged in 2005, with a new band, Red Phoenix with one-time Angels' bassist Jim Hilbun and guitarist David Lowy. In November 2005 they released a debut album, produced by former Angels producer Terry Manning. But later that month the band was forced to cancel all shows, again due to Doc's state of health. The Angels Band released a live album of classic Angels recorded at the Basement in Sydney in December 2006.

In August 2007 Doc and Red Phoenix members Hilbun and Lowy became Doc Neeson's Angels for a series of shows including the Countdown Spectacular 2 tour, and for the release of an acoustic album of Angels classics. Doc sought an injunction in the NSW Supreme Court to prevent the Brewster brothers billing themselves as the Angels band, but in April 2008 Neeson and the classic Angels line-up - John and Rick Brewster, Chris Bailey and Buzz Bidstrup - announced their reunion for tour dates to coincide with the 30th anniversary of 'Face To Face'.