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Rose Tattoo
Rose
Tattoo came from the same strain of hard-core Australian music as AC/DC. When
AC/DC left to be ambassadors for the style internationally, Rose tattoo
arrived just in time to keep the fans satisfied at home.
 The seeds for Australian heavy
rock can be traced back to two important sources, Billy Thorpe's Seventies
Aztecs and Sydney
band Buffalo,
who came from the Black Sabbath/Uriah Heep school, and were signed to the
same label as those groups (Vertigo) in Australia. It was Buffalo bass player
Peter Wells who in 1976 decided to form
the band that became Rose Tattoo, decided on their style of boogie and
blues music, and their street look, united by their tattooed bodies. Soon
after the band was formed Ian Rilen of Band Of Light joined on bass to
allow Peter to switch to slide guitar. The lineup fell into place when the
original singer was replaced by Gary
'Angry' Anderson,
from Melbourne's
Buster Brown. Angry came from Billy Thorpe's audience, and his Buster Brown
were AC/DC contemporaries. He was made for the job of Rose Tattoo singer.
The
Tatts debuted New Years Eve in Sydney
at Chequers. Like AC/DC they struggled in the beginning, had to earn
audiences' respect before they were accepted. Bon Scott and Angus Young
were amongst their earliest fans. They would occasionally join the group on
stage, and it was Bon who recommended that the band be signed to their
label, Alberts. In mid-1977 they also shared AC/DC's producers Vanda and
Young to record their debut single, 'Bad Boy For Love'. By now a mate of
Angry's Mick Cocks had replaced the original rhythm guitarist, and Buster
Brown's Dallas
'Digger' Royal was now on drums. By the time the single was released Ian
Rilen had left to form punk legends X, and for a while the band continued
as a four-piece with Cocks moving to bass. Eventually the bass was taken
over by another former Buster Brown member, Geordie Leach.
The
release of their self-titled first album, again produced by Vanda and
Young, was followed by a period of line-up instability, with Mick Cocks and
Geordie Leach in and out of the band, to be replaced at various points by
another former Buffalo,
Mick Turner, and guitar legend Lobby Lloyde briefly playing bass.
In 1980
Rose Tattoo travelled to Los
Angeles and recorded an album which has never been
released. In April 1981, with the first album line-up back in tact, Rose
Tattoo arrived in London
for live performances. During their absence the second album, 'Assault And
Battery' was released in Australia.
Cocks left permanently soon after, and was replaced by Rob Riley for the
band's third album, 'Scarred For Life'. Riley was a perfect fit for the
Tatts, co-writing the album's four singles.
A
stressful three-month tour of America supporting Aerosmith and ZZ Top
accentuated differences within the band which saw Peter Wells, Dallas Royal
and Rob Riley all leave in early 1983. In April Angry and Geordie Leach
re-emerged with a new line-up. Everybody but those who actually saw the
line-up perform live dismissed Rose Tattoo as finished. On stage however
they were giving arguably the best shows of their career. They were playing
both for the love of it and their survival, always a potent combination.
'Southern Cross', the fourth album, however was tame and limp by
comparison.
When
Leach left too in November 1984, Angry Anderson
was Rose Tattoo's sole survivor. During 1984/1985 everyone but Angry ( Ian
Rilen, Peter Wells, Mick Cocks, Geordie Leach and Dallas Royall) toured as
the Illustrated Men. Meanwhile, a new version of Rose Tattoo played on,
until Angry also "lost the vibe" and put the band on hold while
he appeared in the film 'Bullamakanka' and took on the role of Ironbar
Bassey in the 'Mad Max' movies. He'd also become a TV personality,
accepting the midday
Ray Martin Show invitation to appear in segments about "youth"
issues.
 Angry's Rose Tattoo reputation was never
far away though. An offer from an American company to record a solo album
with American producer Kevin Beamish was too good to resist. It started out
as a solo record, but ended up as Rose Tattoo's next album, 'Beats From A
Single Drum', a polished affair that bore little resemblance to the Tatts
records of old. The ballad (!) 'Suddenly' was released in Angry's name and
was used in the wedding scene when "Charlene" (Kylie Minogue)
married "Scott" (Jason Donovan) in 'Neighbours'. The song gave
Angry a national Number One in Australia. In Europe
the entire album was released in Angry's name.
For the
first time Rose Tattoo officially broke up. Angry took a three year break
before issuing his 1990 solo album 'Blood From A Stone', and its anthemic
hit single 'Bound For Glory'.
For
their quick two-concert visit to Australia in late January 1993,
Guns N'Roses begged their heroes Rose Tattoo to reform. The Tatts had been
one of their original inspirations. The classic line-up from the first two
albums performed the Gunners gigs (apart from Dallas Royall who died in
1991 after years of struggle with heroin addiction and alcoholism) and the
band took the chance to stay together for a successful pub tour of Australia.
In July they played again together with Billy Thorpe in Brisbane at the former Boggo Road Goal.
Then the Tatts were inactive again for several years.
In 1997
Angry Anderson toured with The
Angels and Ross Wilson on the "Lounge Lizards" tour, playing
acoustic versions of their best known songs. This experience is credited
with reviving Angry's interest in music. Several phone calls were made to
other ex-Tatts...and the result was a 1998 Rose Tattoo reunion tour with
the Angels, dubbed 'All Hell Breaks Loose!!'. This time, apart from another
new drummer, it was the original 'Bad Boy For Love' line-up, with Ian Rilen
back on bass.
In early
1999 Rose Tattoo spent some time in the studio, producing some rough demos.
This time it was one of Germany's
top bands, Böhse Onkelz, who called and asked the Tatts to co-headline
several summer festivals. Ian Rilen had moved on again so Geordie Leach
stepped back in. The band warmed up with a two week run through Australia
in late June. After those highly successful German gigs, the band went
their separate ways again, and so far nothing more has happened about those
demos.
Pete
Wells was diagnosed with prostrate cancer in 2002 and temporarily replaced on stage by Billy
Thorpe guitarist Dai Pritchard for the group’s 2004 tour of Europe. Dai was
Pete Wells choice. Of all the guitarists the band was looking at he thought
that Pritchard would be the one that could both fill in as well as
contributing something, and not just be a Pete Wells clone.
Rejuvenated
by ‘Pain’ album featuring both Wells and Prichard Rose Tattoo had been planning
another album, with Pete Wells, Dai Pritchard and original member Mick
Cocks returning to the band for a three guitar attack. Angry Anderson
thought it was time to bring Rose Tattoo full circle, back to the band s
original intent, and was keen to write songs with original songwriting
partner Cocks again. Originally
planning to record what became ‘Blood Brothers’ in March Pete Wells illness and death delayed sessions with
veteran producer Mark Opitz until July. He is remembered on ‘Blood Brothers’ with the inclusion of ‘Black-Eyed Bruiser’
. His spirit is very much part of the album. Before he died Pete Wells told
Angry Anderson he wanted Rose Tattoo to continue. When Pete Wells died on
March 27, 2006, aged 58, Dai Pritchard became his permanent replacement.
By
the time ‘Blood Brothers’ was released in February 2007 Rose Tattoo had
lost another members of its alumni
to cancer, bass player Ian Riley, on October 30, 2006. Mentor and brief member Lobby Loyde died
on April 21, 2007.
Rose Tattoo had played at benefits for both musicians.
Before
Mick Cocks’ death from cancer on September 22 2009 Angry Anderson had
announced his intentions to retire the band after one more album.
Ed.Nimmervoll
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