Goodbye Doc.

It’s a very sad day today for me.  Doc Neeson, the lead singer of The Angels, has died. He was 67 and died of a brain tumour. The Angels were, and still are, my all-time favourite band.  I first went and saw them at Latrobe University in 1979 (see video above, I was there). I was in the first year of university at the time, staying at Menzies College. The Colleges at Latrobe are located on campus and are only a few hundred metres from Union Hall, which became a big live music venue while I was at uni.

A few months into my first year at uni, a concert was put on, featuring The Sports and a band I had never heard of, The Angels. I didn’t plan on going, but me and a mate scored pass outs from a couple who were more interested in each other than live music. I can’t remember much about The Sports set, but then The Angels came on. They were loud and aggressive, with an amazingly energetic front man, Doc Neeson. By the end of the night I was in a state of euphoria from jumping around to them. 

I rushed out and bought their second album, Face To Face. It contains some of their classic songs  like Take A Long Line, I Aint the One and After the Rain. I then bought their third album No Exit which contained further classics like Shadow Boxer,  Can’t Shake it, and my all-time favourite song of theirs: Ivory Stairs.

Lyrics of Ivory Stairs:

Rumour has it that you got a well laid plan
To make yourself a singularly self-made man
Imported shirts from Yves St. Laurent
You got everything that you want
Catch you running to your candy colored Chevrolet
Consumer consumed, the loser has to pay
The higher you climb, the deeper you go
Talking about a change, nothing changed so slow

Climbing up the ivory stairs
Never gonna get anywhere
Slipping on the first step, can't get a good grip
Climbing up the ivory stairs

Any kid on the street with his ear to the ground
Knows credit card conspiracy and flesh by the pound
Harlequin dancin' 'tween the sun and the moon
They got you dancing to a gallows tune

Climbing up the ivory stairs
Never gonna get anywhere
Slipping on the first step, can't get a good grip
Climbing up the ivory stairs

Climbing up the ivory stairs
Never gonna get anywhere
Slipping on the first step, can't get a good grip
Climbing up the ivory stairs

(Solo)

Oh no, you found the door
Too late you found that you never got the key
Oh no, in the confusion
Don't turn your weary eyes on me

Harlequin dancin' 'tween the sun and the moon
Got you dancing to a gallows tune
Tell me what happened to your well laid plan
To make yourself a singularly self-made man
Catch you running to your candy colored Chevrolet
Consumer consumed, the loser has to pay
The higher you climb, the deeper you go
Talking about a change, nothing changed so slow

Climbing up the ivory stairs
Never gonna get anywhere
Slipping on the first step, can't get a good grip
Climbing up the ivory stairs

Climbing up the ivory stairs
Never gonna get anywhere
Slipping on the first step, can't get a good grip
Climbing up the ivory stairs
Ivory Stairs

(Watch your step)
(Watch your step)
(Watch your step)
Climbing up the ivory stairs

(Watch your step)
(Watch your step)
(Watch your step)
Climbing up the ivory stairs

It’s a song that contains my all-time favourite lyric: consumer consumed, the loser has to pay.  I loved the Angel’s introspective lyrics. They were singing about me and the world I lived in. 

I saw Neeson launch himself from the speaker stacks many times.  One of their most memorable performances was with Midnight Oil at the Melbourne Showgrounds. I even paid to see AC/DC at the Sidney Myer Music Bowl, because the Angels were their support act. The crowd was so ecstatic after The Angels set that AC/DC waited 45 minutes for us to calm down before they started ringing their bell.

The Angels huge amount of live performances lead to them making the greatest live album ever, Live Line.

So it is a sad day for me and all the fans of Australia’s greatest ever rock band. I feel like the rain has started to fall. 

Somebody save me, the water's rising
sweet Jesus take the blame
who knows whose star is falling
after the rain, after the rain. 

You will be missed Doc.