In April 1979, after Frantic Romantic was recorded, Bryne and Roddy left to be replaced by Ian Sharples on bass and Ben Jupiter on guitar.
Ian turned out to be an effective songwriter and collaborated with Kim on several songs as James’ well of lyrics started to run dry. This line up recorded the Scientists EP, which was released on White Rider Records on 28 February 1980. Featuring four songs, including the hit Last Night and Pissed on Another Planet, this record is considered by Australian musicologist Ian McFarlane as ‘one of the most collectable artefacts of the Australian punk rock era.’9
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Desperate to get out of Perth, The Scientists literally begged their way into a tour of the Eastern States in December 1979. ‘Their attempts to escape became increasingly desperate, to the extent that they began advertising this fact at gigs … The end result was a “tour” around Adelaide, Sydney and Melbourne’.10
Going East meant a three-day drive across the desert which the Scientists embarked on in convoy. Kim’s first car was a Falcon station wagon, painted black and white with wood grain panels down the side. According to Megan Salmon, ‘it really had this menacing feel to it’. The car seemed to glide or float rather than drive. Kim named it The Shark, and it was in this time bomb that Kim took his first trip East.
By this time, Kim was embroiled with girlfriend Rosemary Fearon, and she accompanied the Scientists on the tour. Rosemary was a wild child. She looked like Blondie and moved fast and hard. Kim had moved in with her and became enmeshed in her hoopla, even landing in the lock up for a night after their first date. Rosemary had a sister, Linda, who was studying to be a teacher, and together they made quite an impression. With Rosemary sharing the wheel, Kim set off East in his floating car.
With the gigs booked and the talent on the road, an agreement was reached that the band would take a percentage of the door, and hopefully make enough at each stop to propel them to the next gig. A review of Scientists gig in Adelaide, 1979 sheds light on their form …
The Scientists turned in two sets of powerhouse rock ‘n’ roll, the nature of which hasn’t been seen here for a long time. They received rapturous applause throughout … the Scientists appeared to be a very confident band. The vocals were consistent and powerful, although Kim Salmon did admittedly have a few problems with some of the high notes. James baker did some interesting song introductions, and consistently came out with the relentless, powerhouse drumming. Kim has the occasional tuning problems with his guitar, but these were minor … Unlike many local bands, the Scientists see nothing wrong with the occasional bit of harmony singing, and this adds to the appeal of their material. Many of the cover versions sound better than when they were done originally. All in all, they came across very well, and were most enjoyable … Kim Salmon maintained a look of studied ‘cool throughout …11
The band blew back into Perth weary, but feeling like they’d accomplished something. But in spite of all the driving, loading gear and playing shows, they found themselves in an even worse position when they returned. Gigs in Perth were drying up, and the Scientists reputation as being ‘too unprofessional’ was not garnering them any favours with promoters. Unsurprisingly, the band jumped at the chance to get on the road, and in February 1980 they headed East again. But the second Eastern States tour was a washout.
We went on a national tour which was absolutely disastrous really, no good memories at all. Bad memories of being stuck with no money on the Gold Coast for seven days, supporting ridiculous bands like Mother Goose and Jimmy and the Boys, and Midnight Oil and all those bands we hated. Lots of driving and not good a good time at all. No good memories of the Scientists tour (James Baker).
On the road for nearly two months from Perth to Brisbane and back, the band lost several grand and lots of weight. Booked into unsuitable suburban venues supporting incompatible headliners, the Scientists often played to crowds that were hostile or microscopic, which didn’t bring the best out of the band. The Scientists just didn’t make sense to followers of Rose Tattoo, Flowers, John Paul Young, Sherbert or Skyhooks, and they were routinely booed off stage or ignored. They were living off two dollars a day, and worse, many of the venues didn’t even give them a beer rider!
There were triumphs though. They played a successful show with the Boys Next Door and headlined at St Kilda’s famous Crystal Ballroom, pulling over three hundred people to a great gig. To their surprise, the band were invited to play Last Night on Australia’s preeminent music show, Countdown. Molly Meldrum had heard a copy of the EP, liked it, and offered the band a spot. On a stage adorned with forty-four gallon drums and wooden crates, Kim looks like a mod, dressed all in black and buttoned up to his neck with white loafers on. Staring straight down the barrel of the camera, Kim is remarkably composed for a TV first timer. James valiantly plays drums at back of stage even though the set designers had decided the kick drum took up too much room and set up the kit without one! In Kim’s view, the Countdown experience was a success. ‘All the Aussie bands on there just looked crap. On our episode was Blondie and the Scientists, and I’m proud to say that the Scientists looked like we knew what we were doing. You can sort of see we had a plan and vision and sound’. The Countdown performance of Last Night can be found on the ABC music Classic Countdown compilation, listed appropriately between the Ramones and Ian Dury and the Blockheads. Now TV stars, the band returned to Perth with expectations of increased respect but ‘no one gave a shit!’ Well, at least one person, country boy and future Scientist Tony Thewlis, was impressed. ‘I moved to Perth soon after the Scientists appeared on Countdown — in order to be available once they asked me to join them …!’
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Ben Juniper became the next Scientist to exit the band in May 1980, and the Scientists continued as a trio. Having pursued his favourite band, Tony Thewlis saw another opening: ‘I tried to join the Scientists after Ben Juniper left … I met with James a few times until he gently broke it to me that they were going to continue on as a three piece. In that incarnation I think I saw every gig they played, and one day at the Governor Broome Kim’s girlfriend, Rosemary, noticed my homemade Scientists tee shirt and started talking to me. She introduced me to Kim (and to cider) …’ Tony would remain loyal to Kim, and passionately committed to cider, for decades to come.
The three-piece Scientists scaled down the songs and rearranged the sound to fit the reduced line up. With more space, the songs took on a new life, and this version of the band momentarily put Perth on the canvas. But with the closure of key venues in Perth, the gigs dried up once again. ‘The band started vegetating again. Song writing still went on happily, but they’d lost all enthusiasm for interstate touring and saw little future for themselves unless they left Perth.’12 A lifeline came in the form of some committed fans and generous friends who pulled together enough money for the Scientists to capture these songs to tape. The three piece Scientists took over a studio for a weekend, recording their first full length LP, the self-titled album, known as the ‘Pink Album’, owing to its pink cover. The ‘Pink Album’ was released in August 1981 by EMI custom records. Ex-Scientist Boris sees it as an interesting, but not accurate artefact of the bands early sound.
They did the ‘Pink Album’, but it was not really representative of what the band was like, I don’t think. It was too poppy. It sounded like the Scientists were a power pop band but I remember it live as more chaotic. Ugly pop, I used to call it … The songs were more Troggsy and primal than the ‘Pink Album’ suggests, but the engineer sort of cleaned it all up (Boris Sujdovic).
Kim, too, was unhappy with the recorded depiction of the band. ‘It was all done in a bit of a rush, and consequently, although the material was strong, the eventual recording wasn’t as good as it might have been. We didn’t know what we were doing, so the drums sounded like a bunch of cardboard boxes. The bass was wonky sounding as well. I didn’t like the sound of my voice.’ Kim described it as a ‘dud’ while James Baker didn’t even wait around to participate in the mixing. Sydney was calling and he bid Perth — and the Scientists — goodbye.
But the deficits