''Rose Tattoo'' is the debut self-titled album by Australian

hard rock Hard rock or heavy rock is a loosely defined subgenre of rock music typified by aggressive vocals and distorted electric guitars. Hard rock began in the mid-1960s with the garage, psychedelic and blues rock movements. Some of the earliest hard ...

band

Rose Tattoo Rose Tattoo are an Australian rock and roll band, now led by Angry Anderson, which formed in Sydney in 1976. Their sound is hard rock mixed with blues rock influences, with songs including "Bad Boy for Love", "Rock 'n' Roll Outlaw", "Nice ...

released in November 1978 on the

Albert Productions Albert Productions, a division of music publishing and recording company Albert Music, is one of Australia's longest established independent record labels to specialise in rock and roll music. The label was founded in 1963 by Ted Albert, whose ...

label. It was produced by the famous

Vanda & Young Vanda & Young were an Australian songwriting and producing duo composed of Harry Vanda and George Young. They performed as members of 1960s Australian rock group the Easybeats where Vanda was their lead guitarist and backing singer and Young wa ...

team who have worked with

AC/DC AC/DC (stylised as ACϟDC) are an Australian Rock music, rock band formed in Sydney in 1973 by Scottish-born brothers Malcolm Young, Malcolm and Angus Young. Their music has been variously described as hard rock, blues rock, and Heavy metal ...

, The Angels and

Stevie Wright Stephen Carlton Wright (20 December 1947 – 27 December 2015) was an Australian musician and songwriter who has been called Australia's first international pop star. During 1964–69, he was lead singer of Sydney-based rock and roll band the E ...

. The album was released as ''Rock 'n' Roll Outlaw'' (or ''Rock 'n' Roll Outlaws'') in some markets. Eight bonus tracks were added for the 1990 CD edition for

Repertoire Records Repertoire Records is a German record label from Hamburg, Germany, specialising in reissues of classic pop and rock albums originally issued in the 1960s and 1970s. The chairman is Thomas Neelsen. See also * List of record labels File:Alvino ...

Background

Rose Tattoo formed in

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

in 1976 by Pete Wells who wanted a tough slide guitar based band. They recorded their debut single, "Bad Boy for Love" with

Angry Anderson Gary Stephen "Angry" Anderson (born 5 August 1947) is an Australian rock singer, songwriter, television personality and actor. He has been the lead vocalist with the hard rock band Rose Tattoo since 1976. As a solo artist, he is best known f ...

lead vocals The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of t ...

Mick Cocks Michael Thomas Cocks (11 January 1955 – 22 December 2009) was an Australian musician, most noted for his guitar and songwriting work with Rose Tattoo. His original sound and style heavily influenced Guns N' Roses, who recorded a cover of the ...

rhythm guitar In music performances, rhythm guitar is a technique and role that performs a combination of two functions: to provide all or part of the rhythmic pulse in conjunction with other instruments from the rhythm section (e.g., drum kit, bass guitar ...

Ian Rilen Ian William Rilen (12 August 194730 October 2006) was an Australian musician. He was bass guitarist and songwriter with Rock N' Roll band Rose Tattoo, and led punk rock group X while also providing lead guitar, rhythm guitar and vocals. Rile ...

on bass guitar, Dallas "Digger" Royall on

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

and Peter Wells on

slide guitar Slide guitar is a technique for playing the guitar that is often used in blues music. It involves playing a guitar while holding a hard object (a slide) against the strings, creating the opportunity for glissando effects and deep vibratos tha ...

during mid-1977. Rilen, the song's writer departed to form punk rock group, X, prior to its release in October 1977. The single was produced by

(ex-

The Easybeats The Easybeats were an Australian rock band that formed in Sydney in late 1964. They enjoyed a level of success that in Australia rivalled The Beatles. They became the first Australian rock act to score an international hit, with the 1966 sing ...

, AC/DC's producers) and peaked at No. 19 on the Australian

Kent Music Report The Kent Music Report was a weekly record chart of Australian music singles and albums which was compiled by music enthusiast David Kent from May 1974 through to January 1999. The chart was re-branded the Australian Music Report (AMR) in July ...

Singles Chart. To cover Rilen's departure, Cocks switched to bass guitar, then Chris Turner (ex-Buffalo) was brought in. Anderson's one-time bandmate, bass guitarist Geordie Leach was recruited to replace Turner and record their self-titled debut LP, ''Rose Tattoo'', which reached the top 40 on the Australian Kent Music Report Albums Chart in November 1978. The album, produced by Vanda & Young, was released in some markets as ''Rock N' Roll Outlaw'' from their second Australian single, "Rock N' Roll Outlaw" which did not reach the top 50. Leach left the band in May 1979 to be replaced in October by guitarist Lobby Loyde ( Purple Hearts,

Wild Cherries The Wild Cherries were an Australian rock group, which started in late 1964 playing R&B/jazz and became "the most relentlessly experimental psychedelic band on the Melbourne discotheque / dance scene" according to commentator, Glenn A. Baker. ...

). The band toured the United States, recorded an unreleased album in Los Angeles, and then toured Europe (including UK), but by September Loyde had left and Leach had returned. Early in 1981, "Rock N' Roll Outlaw" started to chart in Europe, peaking at No. 2 in France, No. 5 in Germany and No. 60 in UK. The line up of Anderson, Cocks, Leach, Royall and Wells toured Europe from April. Three years after their debut the band issued the follow-up album, '' Assault & Battery'' in September, which reached the top 30 in Australia. Both ''Rock N' Roll Outlaw'' and ''Assault & Battery'' peaked at No. 1 on the UK heavy metal albums chart. Eight bonus tracks were added for the 1990 CD edition for

Track listing

All tracks written by members of

as shown. #"Rock 'n' Roll Outlaw" ( Gary Anderson,

Michael Cocks Michael Francis Lovell Cocks, Baron Cocks of Hartcliffe, PC (19 August 1929 – 26 March 2001) was a British Labour Party politician. He was the member of parliament for Bristol South from 1970 to 1987, and was the Labour Party's chief whip ...

, Gordon Leach,

Dallas Royall Dallas Leslie "Digger" Royall (19491991) was an Australian hard rock drummer. He was a member of Band of Talabene (1973), Buster Brown (1975) and Rose Tattoo (1976–1983). He died of an unspecified cancer in 1991 while being treated for her ...

, Peter Wells) – 3:24 #"Nice Boys" (Leach, Anderson, Royall, Wells, Cocks) – 2:55 #"The Butcher and Fast Eddy" (Leach, Anderson, Royall, Wells, Cocks) – 6:33 #"One of the Boys" (Leach, Anderson, Royall, Wells, Cocks) – 3:12 #"Remedy" (Leach, Anderson, Cocks, Royall, Wells) – 3:03 #"Bad Boy for Love" (

) – 3:08 #"T.V." (Anderson, Leach, Royall, Wells, Cocks) – 2:02 #"Stuck on You" (Leach, Royall, Anderson, Wells, Cocks) – 3:58 #"Tramp" (Anderson, Leach, Royall, Wells, Cocks) – 2:40 #"Astra Wally" (Wells, Rilen, Cocks, Anderson, Royall) – 5:58 1990 Repertoire Records re-release bonus tracks #"Never Too Loud" (Anderson, Leach) – 3:46 #"I Had you First" (Anderson, Wells) – 2:36 #"Fightin' Sons" (Anderson, Wells) – 3:09 #"Snow Queen" (

) – 4:20 #"Rock 'n' Roll Outlaw" (live) (Anderson, Cocks, Leach, Royall, Wells) – 3:33 #"Bad Boy for Love" (live) (

) – 5:39 #"Rock 'n' Roll Is King" (live) (Cocks, Anderson) – 4:26 #"Suicide City" (live) (Anderson, Cocks) – 5:20

Charts

Personnel

Rose Tattoo members *

–

* Peter Wells –

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

–

lead guitar Lead guitar (also known as solo guitar) is a musical part for a guitar in which the guitarist plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs and chords within a song structure. The lead is the featur ...

*Geordie Leach –

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

(tracks 1–5, 7–9, 11–13, 15–18) *

– bass guitar (tracks 6, 10, 14) * Dallas "Digger" Royall –

Production *

Harry Vanda Johannes Hendrikus Jacob van den Berg (born 22 March 1946), better known as his stage name Harry Vanda, is a Dutch Australian musician, songwriter and record producer. He is best known as lead guitarist of the 1960s Australian rock band the Easy ...

– producer * George Young – producer

Legacy

The song "Nice Boys" was covered by

Guns N' Roses Guns N' Roses is an American hard rock band from Los Angeles, California, formed in 1985. When they signed to Geffen Records in 1986, the band comprised vocalist Axl Rose, lead guitarist Slash, rhythm guitarist Izzy Stradlin, bassist Duff McKa ...

in 1986 on their '' Live ?!*@ Like a Suicide'' EP and it was later re-released on their 1988 EP ''

G N' R Lies ''G N' R Lies'' (also known simply as ''Lies'') is the second studio album by American hard rock band Guns N' Roses and was released on November 29, 1988, by Geffen Records. It is the band's shortest studio album, running at 33 and a half minutes ...

''. Axl Rose and Izzy Stradlin have both claimed that Rose Tattoo changed their lives and confirmed to them that their own future was in rock 'n' roll. "Nice Boys" was also covered by punk band

Nashville Pussy Nashville Pussy is an American rock band from Atlanta, Georgia. Initially called Hell's Half-Acre, the band's name comes from Ted Nugent's introduction to "Wang Dang Sweet Poontang" on the '' Double Live Gonzo'' album. Following the initial ...

on their 1998 debut EP " Eat More Pussy.' In 1987, the song "Rock & Roll Outlaw" was covered by American band

Keel The keel is the bottom-most longitudinal structural element on a vessel. On some sailboats, it may have a hydrodynamic and counterbalancing purpose, as well. As the laying down of the keel is the initial step in the construction of a ship, in Br ...

for the soundtrack of the movie ''Dudes''. It has also been covered by

on their ''High As Hell'' album,

L.A. Guns L.A. Guns is an American glam metal band from Los Angeles, formed in 1983. The lineup currently consists of Tracii Guns (lead guitar), Phil Lewis (lead vocals), Ace Von Johnson (rhythm guitar, backing vocals), Johnny Martin (bass, backing vo ...

on their ''

Rips the Covers Off ''Rips the Covers Off'', some copies of which are titled ''Rips Off the Covers'', is an album by Phil Lewis's version of L.A. Guns, their first with guitarist Stacey Blades. The studio portion of the album (songs 1-11) consists of cover son ...

'' album and founding member Pete Wells Also covered it on his debut solo record ''Everything You Like Tries To Kill You''. American singer

Helen Schneider Helen Schneider (born December 23, 1952) is an American singer and actress working mainly in Germany. Life and career Helen Leslie Schneider was born in Brooklyn, New York City, the daughter of Dvora and Abraham Schneider. Schneider studi ...

also released a version of the song, retitled "Rock & Roll Gypsy", which went all the way to #1 on the Swiss singles charts and made it to #6 in Germany in 1981. In October 2010, ''Rose Tattoo'' (1978) was listed 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 ...

''.

References

;General * Note: Archived n-linecopy has limited functionality. * ;Specific

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rose Tattoo (Album) 1978 debut albums Hard rock albums by Australian artists