Educational institutions were still coming through with a few
dates, but they were almost the only work available. Jeff Rule,
in the process of spreading the word, sent a tape to George Kringas,
then managing Radio Birdman in Sydney. The response was highly
enthusiastic. Babeez were invited up to Sydney (for one gig) in
June. Sydney of course, was experiencing the punk ferment itself
on a slightly wider scale than was being felt in Melbourne.
With much anticipation, Babeez began preparing for the event,
converting an old bread van to a band wagon for transport. When
they left Melbourne, there was still only one gig, but that was
no deterrent. The show was at the Paris Theatre, then being run
on an Arts' Factory type basis by Johnny Allen, ex-Nimbin festival
organizer who had spent some time around Lenny Kaye and Patti
Smith. The Paris was regularly playing punk bands and was a prime
punk haunt there and then.
Babeez were to open the show, followed by the Survivors (from Brisbane) and local heroes Johnny Kannis & the Hitmen. Babeez actually hit Sydney a few days prior to the event to do interviews and (hopefully) talk to EMI "It seems things got off on the wrong foot"; as a reviewer in Sydney's 1978 fanzine Self Abuse put it: Babeez didn't impress me or many other people by starting with a Boogie the way Status Quo would, backs to the audience and all. They got into something more like what we'd gone to hear later, but it was too late, the damage was done". A few songs into the set, abuse and missiles were flying thick and fast, and things became hotter. Gavin tells it best: "They had some idea that throwing beer cans was better than dancing! Meatheads! Jarryl is a type of Hemophiliac and somebody threw something at him.
Julie, who was his lover at the time, was furious. She put her Bass down (Jarryl and I kept playing) walked to the side of the stage, grabbed her mike stand and threw it at this guy! It floored him, then there was this rain of beer cans. I thought some kind of macho display was in order, so I leapt off the stage and landed three rows into the audience on top of the mob of cowards. They were too shocked to attack me thankfully there were more of them! Then the bouncers came hurtling down the aisle. There was a huge punch up, then two bouncers threw me back onto the stage in time to finish the song. It was the highlight of the gig"! And as Gavin explains, "The Survivors got pretty much the same reception. It all settled down for Johnny & The Hitmen". Especially with hindsight, it may be seen that although Babeez and The Survivors were exhibiting pre-Punk influences, the response to them on this occasion was the result of a parochial view of what constitutes a punk band held by some Sydney audiences. In the Babeez ranks however, the trip was not counted as a failure as they had won some support, against the odds. On top of that, they hadn't lost any money, but showed a staggering profit of $2.00!
Back in Melbourne, the drummer they had taken to Sydney quit
and much of July/August 1977 was spent auditioning several incompatible
thumpers. Many were little more than curious, being drawn by Gavin's
adverts for a drummer to play 'Luxury Punk'. Something had to
be done especially as the band and Jeff Rule were keen on recording
and releasing an independent record.
Relief came in the person of one Greg Pirhana, somehow acquainted
with a few Babeez. A heavy schedule of rehearsal continued in
preparation to record. The selection was narrowed down to three
Quinn/Wirth compositions. On the eve of the sessions, Babeez received
a standard 'no thank you' letter from EMI (Sydney). This ignorance
from the rock establishment was of little matter to our heroes,
their independent operations well underway and bolstered by ideology
that would serve them well in future dealings with another dodgy
record company ... more of this later!
