Issue #01 (March, 1987)

Compiled over the latter half of 1986 and early part of 1987, issue one was a true stab in the dark. Clueless, I hardly knew what double spacing meant + my typing was all over the shop. The final copy was photocopied in the bowels of the Department of Housing and stapled on the side; all thanks to my mates Pete and Marty who worked for the public service.

Either way our homely toilet rag had finally lifted - a fanzine written by fans. Looking back all these years now all I can say is ‘it is what it is’.

The bands that feature in issue 1 are a direct shot from the hip of my local mates the Southern Fried Kidneys and A Happy Family. You have to start somewhere after all and they were not only friends but bands that I dug. An extra slice was Basia Moncrief’s interview with John Phillips from Melbourne’s Not Drowning Waving which was a real bonus. NDW at the time were exploring recording as well as documenting sounds from Ponum Island in New Guinea.

Aside from band features, the issue also includes some live reviews and reports from Melbourne and even Perth. Reviews are always arbitrary and in fanzines entirely subjective. We probably pissed off some with our aloof commentary. But so be it. A good chunk of editorial time and ideas was spent on a friend's St Kilda couch in the summer of 1987. This was the very same place that the moniker Blunt arose thanks to Defenestration (who featured in issue 2). It makes sense - after all whatever we did/wrote was direct.

Norm Nutcase’s review of The Scientists provides entertaining reading with lines like ‘an orgy of horsepower and crunching steel’ to ‘the band did seem a little disjointed, maybe even slightly tame’ - definitely not something you’d read in an advertorial street rag.

By the time the issue came out I was back in my minuscule room in Ultimo after a searing summer in St Kilda, which also included peach picking in Cobram and apple picking in Batlow. It started when the Southern Fried Kidneys got on the Tav Falco and the Panther Burns tour. About a dozen of us took the overnight train from Central to Spencer St, Melbourne. When we got to St Kilda we knew we were home. The Prince of Wales stood out like dog balls - skinheads and punks + drag queens in the public bar and us dags from the silver city.

It was a summer I’ll never forget and one that culminated in Blunt 1.

Enjoy ☺️

The Southern Fried Kidneys flame was blown out by the late 80s. Paul Kidney went on to Kiss My Poodle's Donkey and later Monroe's Fur. Now he's down in Melbourne with a lot of other rock and roll refugees and not surprisingly is the lead dynamo for the very good Paul Kidney Experience. They have been busy touring nationally and recently toured Japan with a plan to do so again very soon.  Both Erika and Geoff had Ugly Things from Beyond for a while before relocating to separate towns in rural Victoria. Geoff was also of course in The Minogues along with Peter and Mark who both sadly passed away in the the late 90s early 2000s. We at Blunt salute all of you - a Southern Fried Kidney show reeked of fun - truly unique thing with its own special brand. Watch this video

A Happy Family did release that single on Au-Go-Go  and I recall going along to their packed Hopetoun launch. Honcho Stewart Nestel went overseas for some time before returning and forming a duo with his wife, Monika Branagan, that was called Moniker - they released a few CDs and these days Stewart is playing live on social media platforms as well as recording and releasing music on https://stewartnestel.com/aboutus.htm  Alistair has a band called The Blindfolds these days  Chris Lewis resides somewhere in SE Asia.

Melbourne's Not Drowning Waving rode out both the 80s and 90s impressing many. In 2002 they helped launch the BLUNT book (BLUNT: The Biased History of Australian Rock - published by Prowling Tiger Press) at the Corner Hotel, Richmond which also featured guests of David Bridie's other band 'My Friend the Chocolate Cake'. David continues to play solo gigs nationally whilst other members have been involved in their own recordings as well as fighting the good fight for the environment against greedy businesses.