''Stoneage Romeos'' is the debut album by Australian rock group
Hoodoo Gurus
Hoodoo Gurus are an Australian rock band formed in Sydney in 1981, by the mainstay Dave Faulkner (songwriter, lead singer and guitarist) and later joined by Richard Grossman (bass), Mark Kingsmill (drums), and Brad Shepherd (guitar, vocals, ha ...
. Released in March 1984 by
Big Time Records
Big Time Records was an independent record label based in Sydney, Australia. The label was owned by Lance Reynolds and Fred Bestall, who managed Air Supply in their early days, among others. From 1979 until 1981, Big Time was distributed by Wi ...
in Australia,
the album's release saw them receive record sales to complement their already strong reputation for live performances. With radio and television support for their third single "
My Girl" (1983), complete with a film clip about a
greyhound
The English Greyhound, or simply the Greyhound, is a breed of dog, a sighthound which has been bred for coursing, greyhound racing and hunting. Since the rise in large-scale adoption of retired racing Greyhounds, the breed has seen a resurge ...
of the same name, the band's following grew. The album's other singles were "
Leilani", "
Tojo" and "
I Want You Back
"I Want You Back" is the first national single by the Jackson 5. It was released by Motown on October 6, 1969, and became the first number-one hit for the band on January 31, 1970. It was performed on the band's first television appearances, on ...
". The album peaked at number 29 on the Australian charts.
The band won "Best Debut Album" at the 1984 ''
Countdown
A countdown is a sequence of backward counting to indicate the time remaining before an event is scheduled to occur. NASA commonly employs the terms "L-minus" and "T-minus" during the preparation for and anticipation of a rocket launch, and eve ...
''
Awards
An award, sometimes called a distinction, is something given to a recipient as a token of recognition of excellence in a certain field. When the token is a medal, ribbon or other item designed for wearing, it is known as a decoration.
An award ...
.
A&M Records
A&M Records was an American record label founded as an independent company by Herb Alpert and Jerry Moss in 1962. Due to the success of the discography A&M released, the label garnered interest and was acquired by PolyGram in 1989 and began distr ...
released the album in the United States on 7 September 1984.
''Stoneage Romeos'' was re-released by Arcadia Records on 1 October 2002, with two additional tracks, "Hoodoo You Love" and "Be My Guru".
EMI
EMI Group Limited (originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records Ltd. or simply EMI) was a British transnational conglomerate founded in March 1931 in London. At the time of its break-up in 201 ...
also re-released the album on 24 October 2005 with three bonus tracks, "Leilani Pt. 2", "Be My Guru" and "Hoodoo You Love", a fold-out poster and liner notes by
Lindsay "The Doctor" McDougall of
Frenzal Rhomb
Frenzal Rhomb are an Australian punk rock band that formed in 1992 in Sydney. Three of the group's albums have entered the top 20 on the ARIA Albums Chart: ''A Man's Not a Camel'' (1999), '' Hi-Vis High Tea'' (2017) and ''Smoko at the Pe ...
.
In October 2010, the album was listed in the top 30 in the book, ''
100 Best Australian Albums
1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1 ...
''.
Release
The title ''Stoneage Romeos'' is taken from a
Three Stooges
The Three Stooges were an American vaudeville and comedy team active from 1922 until 1970, best remembered for their 190 short subject films by Columbia Pictures. Their hallmark styles were physical farce and slapstick. Six Stooges appeared ...
short film
A short film is any motion picture that is short enough in running time not to be considered a feature film. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of 40 minutes ...
. The Australian LP, designed by Yanni Stumbles, sported a cartoonish nod to the 1966 caveman flick ''
One Million Years B.C.
''One Million Years B.C.'' is a 1966 British adventure fantasy film directed by Don Chaffey. The film was produced by Hammer Film Productions and Seven Arts, and is a remake of the 1940 American fantasy film ''One Million B.C.''. The film star ...
'', all menacing dinosaurs and
Day-Glo
The Day-Glo Color Corp. (also styled as DayGlo) is a privately held American paint and pigments manufacturer based in Cleveland, Ohio. It was founded in 1946 by brothers Joseph and Robert Switzer and is currently owned by RPM International. It ...
colors,
whilst in America, consumers got a stylized sleeve featuring arty renditions of the giant reptiles. On the change of covers, the band's frontman
Dave Faulkner would later recall:
Track listing
Australian release
US release
Personnel
Credited to:
*
James Baker
James Addison Baker III (born April 28, 1930) is an American attorney, diplomat and statesman. A member of the Republican Party, he served as the 10th White House Chief of Staff and 67th United States Secretary of the Treasury under President ...
— drums
* Clyde Bramley – bass, vocals
*
Dave Faulkner — guitar, lead vocals, keyboards
*
Brad Shepherd
Bradley Mark Shepherd (born 1 February 1961) is an Australian rock musician. Shepherd is a guitarist, singer-songwriter and harmonica player; he has performed with several bands, especially Hoodoo Gurus.
Biography
Early life
Shepherd was born ...
— lead guitar, vocals, harmonica, percussion
* Michael Farmer – additional percussion
* Producer, Engineer – Alan Thorne
* Mastering – Bob, Carbone, Frank DeLuna
* Artwork (cover concept and design) — Yanni Stumbles
* Photography (pics) — Tom Takacs
* Other (the boss) — Stuart Thorne
Charts
Certifications
See also
*
Stoneage Cameos
References
{{Authority control
Hoodoo Gurus albums
1984 debut albums