Steve Abrahall - Vocals, guitar
Peter Komida - Bass, vocals
Warren Auld - Bass
Brett Bradley - Drums, vocals
Andrew Driscoll - Drums
Lee Thompson - Bass
Gary Uren - Bass
Dave Hooper - Guitar
Kirk Makse - Bass

See Also:
Raw Power
Chaotic Delusion
The Melt
The Stayns
Animal Farm

DISCOGRAPHY
4 track 12" EP 1990

Website: http://members.ozemail.com.au/~slogic/mutnod/index1.html
Email: slogic@ozemail.com.au or noddyparp@hotmail.com or warren.auld@sietronics.com.au

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. Local drummers Trevor Fortran and Chris Tirris were enlisted for the odd gig, along with Tony Aidules and Andrew Driscoll. Andrews band, The Barbs also did a couple of gigs with the Nods, that year. By mid 1986, the band became a four piece with the inclusion of Peter Komidar (Mudrac), founding member of the Staynes, a local psychedelic outfit, which spawned the Unherd. The band soon returned to being a trio, with Sydney drummer Mark "Mortdale" Davidson. The band played it's first Sydney dates in early 1987, along with support spots to the likes of Flotsam Jetsam, Hummingbirds, Gary Hughes' Charm School, The Cavemen (featuring Peter Paterson of Rattlesnake Shake, Thrillkillers Mother Jones, Melting Skyscrapers). Still some controversy followed the band with the police being called at one Palace Hotel show in Darlinghurst and also a barring from the Lismore Hotel in Sydney. By late 1987, Nik Nikolaidis (Throwdowns, Strawmen) filled the drum-stool and the band went into Soundbarrier studios for their first taste of multi-track recording with Dave Boyne (ex-Missing Links) at the controls. All four songs were played on 2JJJ during the following months.The band also played it's first Wollongong show for 18 months at the Ironworkers Club, supported by The Melt, to a capacity crowd. Still without an official release, the support spots continued; Southern Fried Kidneys, Olympic Sideburns, Bambalams, November Criminals, Yard Animals, Waxworks, Stifled Scream, Died Pretty, Johnnys, Ed Kuepper & the Yard Goes on Forever, Naked Lunch, New Christs, with the band now able to headline at such venues as St.George Rock Room, Royal Hotel Sutherland and Palace Hotel, thus opening the door for other Wollongong acts, such as the Staynes, Proton Energy Pills and the Rainbow Monsters. February 1989 saw the cassette release of "A Night of Zen, Art & Pop" which included "The Ride to Desperation". Brett Bradley, (Murder One, Minnesota Strip) replaced Nik, and a couple of months later founding member Noddy left to pursue mediæval composition, on a home-made lute! Noddy's immediate replacement was Lee Thompson, who was replaced shortly after by Gary "Fred Flintstone" Uren. In August, the band recorded 2 tracks at Electric Avenue with Rob Younger producing and Phil Punch at the helm. The year ended with the band regularly gigging at the North Gong, supporting the Lime Spiders and the Hummingbirds, whilst also building a following in Sydney at the Evil Star. Survival records signed the band in early 1990 on the strength of the Electric Avenue tracks and also 2 songs recorded at the Australian Film Television & Radio School, which were engineered by Tom Lubin who had worked on Jonathon Richman's albums, as well as some of Jimi Hendrix's sessions in the 60's. Those songs, "Nobody" & "Plastic Prophets" were rerecorded at Electric Avenue, the result being the self-titled EP, released 26/5/90. The year would prove to be the band's biggest yet, with gig after gig and steady sales of the EP, both at home and in Germany."Nobody" got to #6 on the OTS Jukebox Charts, and stayed there for 5 weeks. North Gong gigs, in particular, were becoming bigger each time, whether headlines or the wild night that was the Exploding White Mice support. To finish the year on a high, Rob Younger joined the band for a one-off gig at the Coledale Surf Club, an event that drew some 400+ fans to the sleepy beach suburb. The band, known as the Surfboarders From Hell included Bafres guitarist Matt Ellery and spawned 4 originals amidst covers of Lou Reed/VU, Jim Carrol, Chuck Berry, Them and to top it off, "You're Gonna Miss Me", the same 13th Floor Elevators track covered by Radio Birdman on the overseas version of their "Radios Appear" album. January 1991 saw the band, now a cohesive unit, record 12 tracks with Rob, for an album release. Brett left to live in Nimbin and was replaced by Andrew Driscoll. Shortly after, it was learned that former drummer Nik had passed away in his sleep, as a result of heart failure. Andrew left after a Died Pretty support and was replaced by Ian Pilgrim (Chaotic Delusion).Gigs and recording continued, with Gary leaving in November, to be replaced by Kirk Makse (Chaotic Delusion, The Melt). Early in 1992, the band became a four piece again, with Michael "Mex" Jerrard joining on guitar. The debut performance of the new line-up was at the Evil Star, but included visual enhancement in the form of Steve accidentally slashing a finger which coated his well-worn Gibson with fresh blood. Some excellent supports followed, such as Celibate Rifles at Feathers and Spiderbait/Nunbait/Tumbleweed at the Lansdowne. As good as these performances were, Kirk and Ian decided to leave. Undeterred, gigs were booked and Brett and Gary brought back in to complete the foursome. The album was finally completed, but remains unreleased, as mixes were not "aggressive" enough, and will be remixed at some stage.Unable to enlist committed members, Gary and Brett stood in again in 1993 for a series of gigs, as Steve performed on crutches, due to a cracked Tibia Plateau. Late in the year, with Steve relocating to Sydney, a rhythm section was enlisted in the form of Mark "Sharkey" Garrett (D-Control, Queen Anne's Revenge, Crankcase) on Bass and Alan Strom on drums. First gig was support to Screaming Jets at Waves, at the time that the Jets had "Helping Hand" rapidly climbing the charts. After a few more gigs, internal disputes/onstage brawls/backstage altercations took their toll, the band splitting with Steve again being the only member. It was decided to put the band on hold. In early 1995, Steve was approached by Edwin Garland (Waxworks) to form a totally new-sounding band with a totally fresh approach. Together with Michael Daly (Youth Of Christ - NZ, Leadleg, This Cage) and Murray Brown (Waxworks, Clumpft) they became Dwarfthrower with Steve on bass. An EP and self-titled album later, Steve left mid-1997 and once again began writing and recording with Warren for what would become a rebirth of the original Mutated Noddys, dating back to the Raw Power era and those blurred Nitrous Oxide memories of a Wollongong so long ago and so far away. In 1998 and 1999, over 30 tracks have been recorded, with drumming being provided by Brett, Michael Daly and even Rob on electric drums. Negotiations are currently underway to get these out and into CD players everywhere. From a nostalgia viewpoint, dozens of live tapes exist, as well as numerous videos of many of the line-ups described in this text.



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