One of the label's most sought-after LPs was the acclaimed album
Hush by Sydney progressive-folk band Extradition (comprising
several ex-members of Tully) which became a major collector's
item on LP and was re-issued on CD some years ago by Vicious
Sloth Collectibles. The second LP issued on Sweet Peach was Doug Ashdown's The Age of Mouse; this was Australia's first 'popular double album, released a year before Spectrum's Milesago. The backing band on the LP was Levi Smith's Clefs, who had been based in Sydney for most of the late '60s. At the same time that they were working with Doug Ashdown in Adelaide, they recorded their only LP, Empty Monkey, one of the first Australian progressive rock albums.
It was one of the first attempts by an Australian band to blend
pop, R&B, soul and jazz influences, an approach epitomised by
the album's highlight track, an ambitious 11-minute rendition of
The Beatles' "You Can't Do That". Fraternity's keyboard player
John Bissett has described the LP as " a pretty accurate
representation of the Clefs at that time -- a blend of Motown
and rock, largely inspired by Vanilla Fudge".
According to Clefs vocalist Barrie McAskill, part of the reason
the LP flopped lay was that their label Sweet Peach suddenly
switched distributors halfway through the promotional tour (McAskill
says from Polydor to Polygram, but the label indicates that the
original distributor was Phonogram), and McAskill also suggests
that Sweet Peach (i.e. Stewart) had an "agenda" to take the
group away from him. The album came out in March 1970, while the
Clefs were working in Melbourne, and shortly after its release
most of the band (Mick Jurd, John Bisset, Bruce Howe and Tony
Buettel) left to form Fraternity. The group then went into Sydney's United Sound Studios to record their debut album Livestock, which was co-produced (like most Sweet Peach releases) by Ashdown and Stewart. Two singles were lifted from the album: "Lisa" / "Roadrunner" (Jan. 1970) and a cover of Junior Walker's "Shotgun" b/w "Who Is It That Shall Come? (April 1970).
After the LP came out Adelaide entrepreneur Hamish Henry took
over management of Fraternity and the group moved to Adelaide.
Their next release, "Livestock" b/w "Why Did It Have To Be Me?",
"Cool Spot", was issued in January 1971; it was one of two
3-track, 7", 45rpm "maxi-singles" that Sweet Peach issued; this
was still a relatively unusual format in Australia at the time
although it became more widely used during the Punk/New Wave
period. Members of Fraternity and Blackfeather had become good friends during the residency at Jonathan's (where Blackfeather's John Robinson was a regular). Fraternity wanted to cover Blackfeather's "Seasons of Change" and with the blessing of Robinson and the approval of Infinity's David Sinclair, Fraternity cut their own version, which was released in March 1971.
It would probably have been a national hit, because John
Robinson had generously obtained an undertaking from Infinity
not to release Blackfeather's version as a single. But,
predictably, as soon as Fraternity's version became a hit in
Adelaide Infinity reneged on its promise and rushed out the
(arguably stronger) Blackfeather version as a single to cash in
on the interest generated by Fraternity. Largely because of Bon Scott's involvement, Fraternity's original recordings are now also becoming valuable, and copies of their Sweet Peach singles recently offered for sale on the Oz Music Online site were valued at AU$55 each.
Original copies of Doug Ashdown's The Age of Mouse LP are also
prized, and they have been changing hands on ebay for around
US$80 - Doug jokes on his website that this is more than he was
paid to record it! Another valuable item is the debut single by
Adelaide band Cannery Row, which was listed for sale at AU$33 in
Sep. 2007 on internet music store Oz Music Online.
Collectors are now seeking out vintage Aussie jazz and this is
clearly a sought-after EP - a copy recently sold on eBay for
UK£67 (AU$145). Another Sweet Peach curiosity, also brought to
our attention by Bill, is Festival '70. Although this 'various
artists' compilation LP consists entirely of Sweet Peach acts,
it evidently wasn't released by Sweet Peach and came out instead
on/through Philips' pop subsidiary Fontana. The last known Sweet Peach LP was Lee Conway's Applewood Memoirs (People); according to a description on ebay, all but one of the tracks are Ashdown-Stewart compositions. A copy of this LP was listed for sale in early 2008 for US$50.
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