Hearing the news that DAVE THOMAS had died really threw me into a strange space. Processing that information I found at times surreal and thought about it across my days at work, travels to and fro’ and time at home.. One of the things that I always come back to when I hear that someone I knew & liked has passed is that average thought that you will never get the chance to ever speak to them face to face again. That one is a true shit, makes you feel helpless and rams home the finality of death and how there is no rewind, no back stepping, no time to say or do something that the person will be aware of… that is a tough reality to face & of course is felt 100 fold by Dave’s family and closest friends at this time.
Dave stood next to me on a table filming at my very first (inner city) Punk Show (The Helter Skelter Club in St.Kilda in 1984) as his then band THE BODIES were on the bill with CIVIL DISSIDENT (Who took myself and Pal Vinnie there and drove us home from Mooroolbark after a bunch of letter writing back and forth between me and band to their Mt.Evelyn HQ) and VICIOUS CIRCLE I would later see him again 4 years later in the early incarnation of BORED!, and we became friends through both going to as many shows as possible out and about and from me also working at Au-Go-Go Records. The first BORED! (Self Titled) 12” blew my mind as a 21year old with an appetite for music from all directions and sounds which were raw, blistering and with a heavy kick so a band like BORED! were just what the doctor ordered and to immerse yourself in a 150-300 capacity venue with friends and mind melting sonics was just hair neck raising shit that one LIVED FOR! so we were all in our element and soaking it all in deep, with the effects still felt to this day.
Someone online mentioned the other day something similar where they were talking about the POWDER MONKEYS, and this was the same for me and a lot of my friends around me at that time, that times when the band would do things like a Thursday residency at the Prince of Wales in St Kilda, you would always see at least 100 of the same people there week in week out as we all knew it was special and we all wanted that musical fix to get us through the next week. We’d take turns to buy Pots and Jugs of Beer and walk it up to the stage and leave with a band member with a wink and a cheers and little things like this would always be appreciated. So as I’ve written in past years and published on this site, TIM HEMENSLEY and co would also have that super strong influence on my life just as DAVE T has and that has remained across numerous decades, regardless if the people themselves maintained contact or not. I would have to say that across the course of the last decade of heightened online access and social media booms that my face to face contact with people I know, love and like a whole bunch has diminished which kinda sucks and is just not the same. Being younger, out all the time, having money in your pocket and lacking a swag of responsibilities was a much easier way of seeing people, interacting and keeping killer contact. You get older, life shit becomes more real, you may move away from your previous stomping grounds ( I did ), have kids ( I didn’t ) and have to deal with all sorts of other crap ( as we all do), so the age of insta-contact has been ok to a degree but not the same as greeting & meeting that person who you have known for a longtime and being able to hang with them up close and both talk life and share a drink and a real experience with.
Dave’s musical history was rich and filled with decades of activity, whether that be across a wide reaching array of bands (BODIES / SLAUGHTER HOUSE/ INTERNATIONAL RESCUE/WHITE NOISE/SISTER ANNE/BORED!/SABOTAGE/MELBOURNE DOLLS/THE DIRTY LOVERS /TIGER BY THE TAIL / MAGIC DIRT / etc.) and through all kinds of Studio action from Producing to Mixing and general spirit support through to Record Label operation (DESTROYER ) and guidance for tens and tens of bands and musicians both in Australia and across the world who he gave time to with a smile and a genuine warmth. Anyone getting into the Geelong /Melbourne Garage Rock’n’Roll scene at an early age will most likely have a story about how Dave helped them out in some way shape or form and it’s these things that show DEPTH OF CHARACTER, and a desire to be a good listener and to then offer advice or to give forward opinion so the dot point of influence cannot be under estimated or under appreciated as the impact of Dave’s life really does and has spread global as the music he helped create (especially with BORED!) has affected thousands of people across the globe (the hotbed of Aussie R’n’R support in Europe being a primo example, like the incredible releases of BORED! from Spain’s BANG! label is truly on another level) and that takes in not only those he met face to face over the years through touring, label people, fanzine makers, publicists, bar / venue owners, support bands, families of friends etc.. but also a shitload of people who he NEVER MET but who also point back to the individual and the person’s music as a pivotal pool of influence in their life which may of helped to set their course of what was to come for them (band / fanzine / promoter etc..) so there will be people just like me in their 4th and 5th decade of life who will be affected personally by the news of Dave’s passing as to THEM , he and his fellow band members MADE A DIFFERENCE TO THEIR LIFE and more often than not as we find with time, these instilled influences can carry ALL THROUGH one’s life and set it on a great trajectory of experience and companionship where the base point can be easily traced back to an individual or a band in a time that is looked back on both fondly & life altering and that is of course COOL AS FUCK :-) With BORED! the band also had a killer discography on 7” as well, with releases all around the world and with great sleeves, and hot A & B Sides (1989-1993) From late last year I have been slowly ( but surely) working on a BORED! 7” (and more) so this will surface later in 2020 on FMR.
So what we got from BORED! and any time Dave Thomas graced a stage was FUZZ , FEEDBACK, SWEAT, LOUD HAMMERING SLEAZO ROCK ACTION, GREAT ORIGINALS, GREAT COVER VERSIONS, STICKY CARPET, SPILT BEERS, SHUDDERING WALLS & RINGING EARS & GREAT DELIVERY OF SONG. The love of wild Australian 60’s Garage, 70’s Boogie & Hard Rock, the early blueprint of Australian Punk (THE MISSING LINKS / COLOURED BALLS / AC/DC / THE CHOSEN FEW/ THE SAINTS..) and the vast influence of music from around the world (THE VELVET UNDERGROUND/ THE WIPERS / THE DEAD BOYS / PERE UBU / BLACK FLAG / & on it goes ) Band members were deep deep fans, soaking up sounds, discovering new or old music, discussing bands and songs they loved & working some of that influence into their rehearsals and live gigs.
Watching someone play their guts out in ripped jeans and in bare feet and giving their all is an amazing thing indeed. My own memories of insane BORED! shows and watching Dave flail around in the DIRTY LOVERS have burned into my psyche and helped build a blueprint for the path that I chose (and which chose me) & I am proud to be a part of their Discography with my own fandom & love of their music ( a Compilation CD on the Afterburn label from 2006) and I know that a bunch of my pals from the late 80’s and early 90’s who may be reading this will be going FUCK YEAH… You are saying shit straight from the corners of my mind ! As each person does, I will be having my own dedications to DAVE THOMAS across the course of this trippy as fuck year and I really hope that, with the organisation of a bunch of friends that there can be a DAVE T DAY on the same day every year (Hello St Kilda Bowls Club) where friends. fans and general lovers of music can get together, hang, talk, key numbers into contact lists, and share a drink in tribute for Dave and all the shithot music, songs, vocals and guitar playing he has left us and remember that smile and that voice and recall all the good times then, appreciating the influence left with us from a wonderful man and the good times NOW as we discuss being around, sharing our lives and appreciating what we have in one of the best countries in the rockin’ world. And in doing so, anytime YOU wanna recall the magic of the individual, dig up a record, cassette, CD or file from your own collection and CRANK IT till you get your fix and then play it all over again ! Death is a shit, stop sweating on the small crap and appreciate every day with yourself, your family and your friends. Be good to people, empathy and care is free to dish out at will, it costs you fuck all to implement in your day to day… Imagine if YOU could influence people in a brill way such as Dave T did in his life.
Scotti 19/4/2020