The Leftovers (Australian band)
Encyclopedia
Brisbane punk rock
Brisbane punk rock
The Brisbane punk rock scene between 1975 and 1984 is generally regarded as producing “some of the most anarchistic bands of the Australian punk rock era”...

 band The Leftovers, formed in 1976, had acquired local cult punk hero status in Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

 over the years due to their acknowledged reputation in the past for excessive anti social practices, constant harassment by the Queensland Police Force and self destructive deeds. Their musical style fitted the generic conventions of punk but they also paid live homage to earlier proto–punk influences such as Lou Reed
Lou Reed
Lewis Allan "Lou" Reed is an American rock musician, songwriter, and photographer. He is best known as guitarist, vocalist, and principal songwriter of The Velvet Underground, and for his successful solo career, which has spanned several decades...

 and Patti Smith
Patti Smith
Patricia Lee "Patti" Smith is an American singer-songwriter, poet and visual artist, who became a highly influential component of the New York City punk rock movement with her 1975 debut album Horses....

.

History

Originally from Sandgate, Queensland
Sandgate, Queensland
Sandgate is a coastal suburb in Brisbane, Australia, located 16 km north of the Brisbane CBD. The town became a popular escape for the people of Brisbane in the early 20th century.-Geography:Sandgate is situated on the coastline, along Bramble Bay...

, the band mostly played self promoted hall shows, such as at the Hamilton Hall and the Sandgate Town Hall. From Brisbane punk’s infancy in 1975 to its eventual demise around 1984, these hall venues were seen to be an important and essential part of the developing character of the Brisbane punk rock
Brisbane punk rock
The Brisbane punk rock scene between 1975 and 1984 is generally regarded as producing “some of the most anarchistic bands of the Australian punk rock era”...

 scene, especially as regular band venues gave only limited or no stage access to punk bands to play their music on.

Like The Saints, they encountered at these hall venues, the disproportionate attention of the law. “Many Leftover gigs were never finished – police would often pull the plug before they had a chance to get through a full set.” The Leftovers had been quoted as saying. However, unlike The Saints, the group never achieved critical success for the duration of their career; only managing to release one E.P. in 1979. The A-side was called Cigarettes and Alcohol and now is considered an Australian punk “classic.”

The band started out with members Warren Lamond on vocals, Jim Shoebridge on guitar, Glenn Smith on bass and Graeme ‘Hutch’ Hutchinson on drums but also had a plethora of other musicians filling in vacant roles. They included also at various times Michael Hiron on drums, Mark Troy on saxophone, Johnny Burnaway, guitar and Ed Wreckage, first drums and then guitar. Some of these members went on to join up with The Riptides
Riptides
The Riptides were a band from Brisbane Australia and worked largely as a vehicle for the song-writing talents of Mark "Cal" Callaghan. Over a career spanning 6 years from 1979 to 1983 the band also featured a number of notable musicians.-History:...

 at various times.

The Leftovers went to tour Sydney but before their first live show there, they were thrown out by the hotel Manager, their guitarist Jim Shoebridge was viciously assaulted and had to be hospitalized, receiving numerous stitches to his eye and mouth, their drum kit was no longer usable and singer Warren Lamond overdosed on drugs. After this they became disillusioned with Sydney and vowed to never return. “We decided we were never gonna play in Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...

 again no matter what. They could all go and get fucked. Brisbane was fun and they were all a pack of cockhead yobbos. They were the same as all the fucken yobbos as far as we were concerned. There wasn't one bit of artistic culture down there. Didn't matter who they were for years, we just thought, Nup!” said Ed Wreckage on his opinion of Sydney.

The band’s misfortune continued in a downward spiral which led them to disband in 1979. After the split, according to Ian McFarlane, a string of tragedies to the band ex-members with suicide attempts, prison for drug offences and premature deaths.

In 1983, they managed to reform for one last live show.

In the early 2000s a retrospective CD of Leftovers was released called The Fucken Leftovers Hate You. The material included recorded songs including Patti Smith’s Hermine and a collection of live recordings.

Personnel

  • Warren Lamond - vocals,

  • Jim Shoebridge – guitar

  • Glenn Smith - bass

  • ‘Hutch’ - drums

  • Ed Wreckage, drums, guitar

  • Michael Hiron – drums

  • Mark Troy – saxophone

  • Johnny Burnaway - guitar

  • Malcontent - bass

  • David 'Dodo' Donald - drums

Discography

  • Cigarettes and Alcohol / I only panic when there’s nothing to do /No Complaints - 7 inch 1979

Punji Stick PRS-26248
  • Cigarettes and Alcohol / I only panic when there’s nothing to do /No Complaints - 7 inch 2003, Dropkick Records.

  • The Fucken Leftovers Hate You – CD, 2003, Dropkick Records.

Tracks on the compilation

  • No Complaints - LP, At the Solicitor’s Request - Rubber Records, 1985
  • Cigarettes and Alcohol - CD, Behind the Banana Curtain
    Behind the Banana Curtain
    Behind the Banana Curtain is a compilation album released by 4ZZZ. It is a 2 disc set that documents 25 years of 4ZZZ broadcasting and their contribution to the Australian city of Brisbane's music scene-Track listing:Disc One...

    – 4zzz, 2001
  • Cigarettes and Alcohol - CD, Tales from the AUSTRALIAN UNDERGROUND - Shock, 2003
  • Cigarettes and Alcohol, No Complaints, I Only Panic When There ís Nothing to Do - CD, Murder Punk volume 2 - Murder Punk
  • I Only Panic When There ís Nothing to Do - 2CD, Inner City Sound Australian Punk & Post-Punk" (1977–1989,) - Laughing Outlaw, 2005
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