Posts Tagged Ross Burge
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May 29, 2017 by Simon Sweetman
The Ghost of Electricity: War Stories by Jon McLeary # 164 Me and the Don
The first time I saw Don McGlashan, well it might have been in the Plague or the Whizz Kids. I saw the Plague several times in the late 70s as they played some of the same gigs as Negative Theatre – Nambassa, Christchurch students’ art fest and I saw them in Hamilton and Wellington too. […]Archive
October 9, 2016 by Simon Sweetman
The Ghost of Electricity: War Stories by Jon McLeary # 131 Electricity On Stage In The Rain
I woke up this morning and Facebook reminded me that a year ago I was very nearly killed by a runaway car – I was lucky to survive. Just like the time I nearly fell to my death at McLaren Falls when I was eighteen or almost drowned at Ocean Beach at the turn of […]Archive
May 22, 2016 by Simon Sweetman
The Ghost of Electricity: War Stories by Jon McLeary # 112 Jayrem Records
It was Jim Moss and his Wellington answer to the South Island’s Flying Nun and Auckland’s Ripper or Propeller Records and yet it was totally different. Those other labels had their own style or ethos whereas Jayrem would release any type of music in any given genre – from the Upper Hutt Posse to the […]Archive
April 17, 2016 by Simon Sweetman
The Ghost of Electricity: War Stories by Jon McLeary # 107 Mr Inch/JPSE
When the second wave of Flying Nun bands (Straitjacket Fits, Snapper, JPS Experience…) hit in the latter half of the eighties, I would often do solo support when they passed through Wellington. It made sense; I was on the label with the Spines and could offer up a strong set on my own with no […]Archive
January 25, 2015 by Simon Sweetman
The Ghost of Electricity: War Stories by Jon McLeary # 43 A Snakelike Life – Part One
At the beginning of the nineties most of the various Spines had left town – Ross, Wendy, Caroline, Tim and Rob. I had just got my telecaster back and was writing lots of new songs in Holloway Road on it – I really needed a rhythm section. Neill Duncan – the last remaining Spine in […]Archive
November 23, 2014 by Simon Sweetman
The Ghost of Electricity: War Stories by Jon McLeary # 35 Pulsing With Punch: Part One -The South Island
The Spines had just released Punch/Your Body Stays on Ripper Records. I had a connection with the guys from The Body Electric – I had been in Bricks Theatre with Gary and both Alan and Andy had become good friends. I used to go to their early rehearsals and writing sessions. They released Pulsing and […]Archive
October 5, 2014 by Simon Sweetman
The Ghost of Electricity: War Stories by Jon McLeary # 28 The Miscreant
I first met Brent McLachlan when the Spines were playing in Christchurch and he was doing our sound – we hit it off immediately. When The Gordons broke up and he moved to Wellington he became our regular live sound guy and was great – he recorded everything on cassette and got a terrific drum […]Archive
September 7, 2014 by Simon Sweetman
The Ghost of Electricity: War Stories by Jon McLeary # 24 The Drummers
I’ve always had great drummers in the Spines – they like my songs and the fact that I’m crap on drums and can’t tell them what to play. Barton Price was to be the first but before we got to do a gig he was headhunted by the Crocodiles then the Models. He was a […]Archive
June 15, 2014 by Simon Sweetman
The Ghost of Electricity: War Stories by Jon McLeary #12 The Moon
At the end of 1984 the Spines was humming again. Ross Burge and Wendy Calder were both back in the band and it was time to record our first album. Neill Duncan suggested Capture Studios in Gisborne, run by his old mate Maurice Priestly. We took the train. Jayrem Records gave us a budget for […]Archive
May 12, 2014 by Simon Sweetman
The Ghost of Electricity: War Stories by Jon McLeary # 7 Your Body Stays
I wrote this song. .. 1982. All this stuff was going down – a close friend of mine was in an abusive relationship – I was in a relationship with a strange girl that turned to pus when this other boyfriend of hers emerged out of nowhere. So I had a wild one night stand […]Archive
May 8, 2014 by Simon Sweetman