The loudest band to emerge from Wollongong - Steve Abrahall

Steve Abrahall - Vocals, guitar
Warren Auld - Bass
Ken Holmes - Drums
Dave Hooper - Guitar
Paul Winfield - Drums


See Also:
The Mutated Noddies

DISCOGRAPHY

HISTORY:
It was June 1983 when Steve & Warren met from an advertisement in the local newspaper. Their mission was simple: to unleash loud, brash rock on an unsuspecting Wollongong/Illawarra audience. The fact that it wasn't Detroit in 1968, or Sydney in 1977 didn't enter the equation. This was, as far as our intrepid would-be pied pipers were concerned, immaterial. Wollongong and it's environs offered little in the way of original sounds in those days, with art-rock/avante-garde outfits such as Visitor, Sunday Painters, N-Lets, NikNokNar and others, sparsely scattered over the post-punk years, with rare performances, often under the umbrella of the Acme Musician's Co-op, a short-lived collection of new wave fans and bands in the Gong's inner city. Gigs were nigh on impossible to attain, unless the locally accepted 50/50 formula (i.e. top forty hits and memories, with tapes of familiar hits during the breaks) was strictly adhered to. Perhaps now, the enormity of their task becomes apparent...... After much auditioning, the lads began rehearsing 3 nights a week with 17 year old guitarist, Lawrence Graham, and gradually worked out how to play selections from Radio Birdman, the Saints, the Doors, MC5 and the Stooges, gravitating toward the lesser-known tracks from these artists, i.e. no singles! Being winter, the sight of Steve doubling Lawrence home at about midnight, complete with Strat, on an old Honda must have seemed a tad surreal. But stick to their guns, they did, and it was after such a jam that they decided that Raw Power was to be their band's name. By Spring, Lawrence had left and Dave Hooper (Animal Farm) had joined for a while, but couldn't convince our heroes to abandon their dogged commitment to cover only songs by the aforementioned artists and play songs "that people know". On the contrary, they presented Dave with set-lists for four sets, taking in almost all of the "I'm Stranded" album, "Back In The USA", "High Time", "Raw Power" "Radios Appear" and a few selections from the Doors' first two albums. Dave left, taking Gary Norwell (ex-TV Jones) with him to reform a bluesier version of Animal Farm. Perhaps the notion of a band with a distinct flavour captured his imagination. Their vocalist, Ewan, is still a prominent local blues figure. After enlisting the services of drummer Paul Winfield, the trio staged their public debut at the Figtree Hall, and Raw Power were officially operating. The band's first hotel engagement was the North Wollongong Hotel, with Noddy's bass feeding back and Logic rolling around the floor, to the shock of the otherwise sheltered clientele, obviously more familiar with the ubiquitous cover bands usually on offer. More gigs followed, and more drummers, with Ken Holmes from Nowra eventually remaining as a permanent member. By this time, their musical repertoire had been widened to include covers by the 13th Floor Elevators and the Velvet Underground, as well as obscure gems such as Q65's "I Got Nightmares", the Blues Company's "She's Gone", and the Ugly Ducklings' "Just In Case You're Wondering". That summer of 1983/84 saw a total of 13 performances, each wilder than the last, resulting in the band being ejected and barred from such venues as the Wollongong Hotel, Woonona-Bulli RSL (where the committee wanted to fight them!) and most notably the Grand Hotel (now "Hal's Tavern"), where the band's amplifiers were so loud that their performance interfered with 2Double O, which was located on the top floor of the building. On that occasion, the band continued playing at a party, with the entire audience from the pub present. A recording of both halves of the evening exists. The band's "Staff Car" was a phenomenon in itself with a giant band symbol (the alchemical symbol for Essence) adorning it's bonnet and another on each door and tailgate. Nitrous Oxide was consumed on a daily basis, the band setting up a credit account with CIG, enabling them to consume it by the cylinder with assorted friends and fans. Already the folklore was emerging about this wild, out-of-place trio, so at odds with the pink and aqua mood of this otherwise electronic, post-new romantic pop era. Small details like the mirrored seventies sunnies, flared jeans and brown motorcycle boots spoke volumes about their quirky individuality. Soon, there was virtually nowhere left to play. Gigs in Sydney were out of the question. So many bands had already existed in Sydney, in Birdman's wake, and transport was an obvious hurdle. The region's electric train service was still a good two years distant. The band played one final gig at the Figtree Hall, before Steve left for Papua New Guinea, where he would remain until the end of 1985. 1986 saw a name change to Mutated Noddys, as other Raw Powers were in evidence, both in USA and our very own Adelaide.

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