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Purchasable with gift card
$10AUD or more
Record/Vinyl + Digital Album
Gonzo psychedelic synth/drum madness from Down Under ca. 1974. Contains the mega-rare 7" single and four previously unreleased tracks from the same session. RIYL Bruce Haack, Residents, Cramps and all points between.
Born in the U.S. but raised in Newcastle, New South Wales, John J. Francis fronted popular r'n'b, pop and pop-psyche bands The Sorrows, The John Francis Collexion, The Ghosts Of Electricity and Magic across the mid-late 1960s. In 1970 he was approached by Dave Gibson to engineer, produce (and eventually manage) his Copperfield Sound Studios in the old Corn Exchange Building near Pyrmont Bridge in Pyrmont, Sydney. Through pure happenstance his unadorned 1972 singer-songwriter ode to alternative living 'Simple Ben' was placed in the iconic surfer film 'Morning Of The Earth' and has since become something of an Australian standard. Across 1972-1974 John also recorded four acclaimed LPs and had a Top Ten hit with 'Play Mumma, Sing Me A Song.'
Recorded in studio downtime with friend and drummer Jim Yonge (from prog-rock band Pirana and a multitude of session work), Brute Force And His Drum was Francis' somewhat bizarre 'caveman with an Arp 2600' alter ego. Grunts, shouts and bawdy hollers punctuate mad synth riffs and prehistoric percussion. Two sides ('Weird And Wonderful' and 'Strange') were released on a house label Copperfield 45 in 1974 and received sporadic airplay (even charting briefly in Canberra). That 45 now trades for hundreds of dollars amongst knowledgeable collectors of '70s Oz Psyche-Synth ephemera. Four further tracks were recorded during the same sessions ('King Of The Konga' was slated to be second, but ultimately unreleased, 45) and they make their first ever appearance here.
John J. Francis left Copperfield Sound Studios in 1974 and would resurface two years later as the midnight-to-dawn DJ on Sydney's youth-orientated 2JJFM (a position he held for over a decade) until fading from public view and pursuing his lifelong passion for painting. After a long illness, John J. Francis passed away quietly in 2022 and Australia lost one of its most unique and under-appreciated musical figures.
Includes unlimited streaming of The Weird and Wonderful World Of...
via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
...more
ships out within 5 days
edition of 75
$38AUDor more
Record/Vinyl + Digital Album
Gonzo psychedelic synth/drum madness from Down Under ca. 1974. Contains the mega-rare 7" single and four previously unreleased tracks from the same session. RIYL Bruce Haack, Residents, Cramps and all points between.
Born in the U.S. but raised in Newcastle, New South Wales, John J. Francis fronted popular r'n'b, pop and pop-psyche bands The Sorrows, The John Francis Collexion, The Ghosts Of Electricity and Magic across the mid-late 1960s. In 1970 he was approached by Dave Gibson to engineer, produce (and eventually manage) his Copperfield Sound Studios in the old Corn Exchange Building near Pyrmont Bridge in Pyrmont, Sydney. Through pure happenstance his unadorned 1972 singer-songwriter ode to alternative living 'Simple Ben' was placed in the iconic surfer film 'Morning Of The Earth' and has since become something of an Australian standard. Across 1972-1974 John also recorded four acclaimed LPs and had a Top Ten hit with 'Play Mumma, Sing Me A Song.'
Recorded in studio downtime with friend and drummer Jim Yonge (from prog-rock band Pirana and a multitude of session work), Brute Force And His Drum was Francis' somewhat bizarre 'caveman with an Arp 2600' alter ego. Grunts, shouts and bawdy hollers punctuate mad synth riffs and prehistoric percussion. Two sides ('Weird And Wonderful' and 'Strange') were released on a house label Copperfield 45 in 1974 and received sporadic airplay (even charting briefly in Canberra). That 45 now trades for hundreds of dollars amongst knowledgeable collectors of '70s Oz Psyche-Synth ephemera. Four further tracks were recorded during the same sessions ('King Of The Konga' was slated to be second, but ultimately unreleased, 45) and they make their first ever appearance here.
John J. Francis left Copperfield Sound Studios in 1974 and would resurface two years later as the midnight-to-dawn DJ on Sydney's youth-orientated 2JJFM (a position he held for over a decade) until fading from public view and pursuing his lifelong passion for painting. After a long illness, John J. Francis passed away quietly in 2022 and Australia lost one of its most unique and under-appreciated musical figures.
Includes unlimited streaming of The Weird and Wonderful World Of...
via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
...more
ships out within 5 days
edition of 75
$38AUDor more
Record/Vinyl + Digital Album
Gonzo psychedelic synth/drum madness from Down Under ca. 1974. Contains the mega-rare 7" single and four previously unreleased tracks from the same session. RIYL Bruce Haack, Residents, Cramps and all points between.
Born in the U.S. but raised in Newcastle, New South Wales, John J. Francis fronted popular r'n'b, pop and pop-psyche bands The Sorrows, The John Francis Collexion, The Ghosts Of Electricity and Magic across the mid-late 1960s. In 1970 he was approached by Dave Gibson to engineer, produce (and eventually manage) his Copperfield Sound Studios in the old Corn Exchange Building near Pyrmont Bridge in Pyrmont, Sydney. Through pure happenstance his unadorned 1972 singer-songwriter ode to alternative living 'Simple Ben' was placed in the iconic surfer film 'Morning Of The Earth' and has since become something of an Australian standard. Across 1972-1974 John also recorded four acclaimed LPs and had a Top Ten hit with 'Play Mumma, Sing Me A Song.'
Recorded in studio downtime with friend and drummer Jim Yonge (from prog-rock band Pirana and a multitude of session work), Brute Force And His Drum was Francis' somewhat bizarre 'caveman with an Arp 2600' alter ego. Grunts, shouts and bawdy hollers punctuate mad synth riffs and prehistoric percussion. Two sides ('Weird And Wonderful' and 'Strange') were released on a house label Copperfield 45 in 1974 and received sporadic airplay (even charting briefly in Canberra). That 45 now trades for hundreds of dollars amongst knowledgeable collectors of '70s Oz Psyche-Synth ephemera. Four further tracks were recorded during the same sessions ('King Of The Konga' was slated to be second, but ultimately unreleased, 45) and they make their first ever appearance here.
John J. Francis left Copperfield Sound Studios in 1974 and would resurface two years later as the midnight-to-dawn DJ on Sydney's youth-orientated 2JJFM (a position he held for over a decade) until fading from public view and pursuing his lifelong passion for painting. After a long illness, John J. Francis passed away quietly in 2022 and Australia lost one of its most unique and under-appreciated musical figures.
Includes unlimited streaming of The Weird and Wonderful World Of...
via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
...more
Gonzo psychedelic synth/drum madness from Down Under ca. 1974. Contains the mega-rare 7" single and four previously unreleased tracks from the same session. RIYL Bruce Haack, Residents, Cramps and all points between.
Born in the U.S. but raised in Newcastle, New South Wales, John J. Francis fronted popular r'n'b, pop and pop-psyche bands The Sorrows, The John Francis Collexion, The Ghosts Of Electricity and Magic across the mid-late 1960s. In 1970 he was approached by Dave Gibson to engineer, produce (and eventually manage) his Copperfield Sound Studios in the old Corn Exchange Building near Pyrmont Bridge in Pyrmont, Sydney. Through pure happenstance his unadorned 1972 singer-songwriter ode to alternative living 'Simple Ben' was placed in the iconic surfer film 'Morning Of The Earth' and has since become something of an Australian standard. Across 1972-1974 John also recorded four acclaimed LPs and had a Top Ten hit with 'Play Mumma, Sing Me A Song.'
Recorded in studio downtime with friend and drummer Jim Yonge (from prog-rock band Pirana and a multitude of session work), Brute Force And His Drum was Francis' somewhat bizarre 'caveman with an Arp 2600' alter ego. Grunts, shouts and bawdy hollers punctuate mad synth riffs and prehistoric percussion. Two sides ('Weird And Wonderful' and 'Strange') were released on a house label Copperfield 45 in 1974 and received sporadic airplay (even charting briefly in Canberra). That 45 now trades for hundreds of dollars amongst knowledgeable collectors of '70s Oz Psyche-Synth ephemera. Four further tracks were recorded during the same sessions ('King Of The Konga' was slated to be second, but ultimately unreleased, 45) and they make their first ever appearance here.
John J. Francis left Copperfield Sound Studios in 1974 and would resurface two years later as the midnight-to-dawn DJ on Sydney's youth-orientated 2JJFM (a position he held for over a decade) until fading from public view and pursuing his lifelong passion for painting. After a long illness, John J. Francis passed away quietly in 2022 and Australia lost one of its most unique and under-appreciated musical figures.
credits
released April 21, 2023
All titles written by John J. Francis
Performed by John J. Francis (Arp 2600) and Jim Yonge (drums and percussion)
Recorded at Copperfield Sound Studios, Sydney 1974
Tracks A1 and A2 originally released on the Copperfield Records 45 'CS-50003' 1974
All other tracks previously unreleased
Executive Producer: David Thrussell
Remastered by Alvin Lucia at The Analogue Research Facility 2023
Licensed from the Estate of John J. Francis/Two Faced Records 2023
This compilation (P) + (C) Sorcerer Records/The Omni Recording Corporation 2023
supported by 6 fans who also own “The Weird and Wonderful World Of...”
Merci beaucoup pour votre album. tombé dessus par hasard.
j'ai aimé le nom et j'ai écouté, frais et très agréable.
un grand merci de France.
actuellement à l'hôpital, cela me fait bcp de bien de vous écouter. neptunya
Heavy alt-rock riffage with elements of industrial and tech-metal and a cinematic scope from New Jersey trio Return to Earth. Bandcamp New & Notable Feb 22, 2022
