Is it a bird, is it a plane? No its a DROPBEARS

Rip It Up, Issue 61, 1 August 1982, Page 4

Is it a bird, is it a plane? No its a DROPBEARS

Ann Louise Martin

The Dropbears, from Sydney, dropped by for a fortnight, late July, on a brief tour initiated by Blind Date's Mike Caen. For Johnny Batchelor (ex Johnny and the Hookers) it was the first time he'd been back in three years, and the visit meant a chance to catch up on family and friends and an opportunity to show off the new band. Johnny set up with French born drummer Simon Rudlin and bassist Chris Toms a year ago. It was in fact Chris' idea that the band be called Dropbears. These creatures were known for falling out of trees and wiping out patrol soldiers. When the Dropbears started off in Sydney they ran into trouble with Cure comparisons. Johnny: "I can see why, because the music was slower than what other bands were doing, a bit sparser. But it's toughened up a lot lately and got us out of that groove. Being a three-piece people instantly categorizes you. They go "ohh,

Cure", or "ohh, the Jam", and it's only because we're a three-piece. That gets really annoying." It took the band a while to get work. "That's why we did the single ('Fun Loving'/'Anything I Can Do')," continues Johnny. "It was recorded on a 16 track in Sydney with borrowed money. We put out 600 copies, and were able to pay back all that we'd borrowed from sales. It also got us a lot of work." The Dropbears have recorded three songs at Leo Studios with Todd Hunter producing. It's part of a deal Todd has where he gets free studio time in return for a percentage on anything successful. This . allows bands to record independently and removes the need to find a record company to fork out money beforehand. The new record is assured a New Zealand distribution this time.