Burning The Ground Exclusive 1985
Incredible Penguins were an Australian supergroup formed in 1985, which reached the top ten on the Australian Kent Music Report Singles Chart with their cover of “Happy Xmas (War Is Over)” in December. Contributors included Angry Anderson (Rose Tattoo), Bob Geldof, Brian Mannix (Uncanny X-Men), Scott Carne (Kids in the Kitchen), Colleen Hewett, and John Farnham. The charity project, for research on little penguins, was organized and produced by Countdown host, Ian Meldrum.
After hosting Oz for Africa—the Australian leg of Live Aid—in mid-1985, Ian Meldrum decided to create a charity project for a local issue. Meldrum was talent coordinator and compere of national pop music show, Countdown. Late in 1985, he used his industry contacts to organise a charity single for research on fairy penguins. He produced the recording of a cover of John Lennon, Yoko Ono and Plastic Ono Band’s 1971 hit, “Happy Xmas (War Is Over)”.
The Incredible Penguins were a briefly existing covers band, with members: Steve Donald (Wendy & the Rocketts) on percussion, Craig Johnston (ex-Mother Goose) on vocals, Wayne Matthews (ex-The Masters Apprentices) on bass guitar, John Moon (ex-Keays, W.H.Y.) on guitar, Pat Polo on guitar, and Marcel Rodeka (ex-Mother Goose) on drums.
In late October 1985, The Incredible Penguins entered the Flagstaff Studios in Melbourne with Meldrum and guest musicians: Angry Anderson (Rose Tattoo), Brian Canham (Pseudo Echo), Scott Carne (Kids in the Kitchen), John Farnham, Venetta Fields, Bob Geldof, Steve Gilpin (ex-Mi-Sex), Hare Krishna Chorus, Colin Hay (Men at Work), Colleen Hewett, Jim Keays (ex-The Masters Apprentices), Brian Mannix (Uncanny X-Men), Wendy Stapleton (Wendy & the Rocketts) and Chris Stockley (ex-Axiom, The Dingoes).
A three-track single, “Happy Xmas (War Is Over)” was released by Mushroom Records and peaked at #10 on the Australian Kent Music Report Singles Chart in December.
SIDE A:
Happy Xmas (War Is Over) (Extended Version) 5:52
SIDE B:
Happy Xmas (War Is Over) (Radio Mix) 3:51
Penguin (Instrumental Mix) 5:23
VINYL GRADE:
Vinyl: Near Mint
Sleeve: Near Mint
RELEASE INFORMATION:
Label: Mushroom – X13232
Format: Vinyl, 12″, 45 RPM, Single
Country: Australia
Released: 1985
Genre: Pop
Style: Vocal
CREDITS:
Engineer – Cameron Craig
Producer – an “Molly” Meldrum*
NOTES:
Recorded 21, 22, 26 & 31 October 1985
Mixed 7 October 1985
Find the 12″ at DISCOGS
VINYL RESTORATION:
-DjPaulT
burningtheground.net
THE GEAR:
Turntable: Pro-Ject Debut Carbon (DC)
Cartridge/Stylus: Ortofon 2M Black
Turntable Isolation Platform: ISO-Tone™ Turntable Isolation Platform
Platter: Pro-Ject Acryl-It platter
Stabilizer: Pro-Ject Record Puck
Phono Pre-amp: Pro-Jec Tube Box DS2
DAC: Alpha Design Labs GT40a USB DAC
Record Cleaning: VPI HW 16.5 Record Cleaning Machine
Artwork Scans: Epson Workforce WF-7610 Professional Printer/Scanner
SOFTWARE:
Recording/Editing: Adobe Audition 3.0 (Recording)
Down Sampling/Dither: iZotope RX Advanced 2
Artwork Editor: Adobe Photoshop CS5
Click Removal: Manual
FLAC/MP3 Conversion: dBpoweramp
M3U Playlist: Playlist Creator
RESTORATION NOTES:
All vinyl rips are recorded @ 32bit/float
FLAC (Level Eight)
Artwork scanned at 600dpi
Password: burningtheground
You can help show your support for this blog by making a donation using PayPal. Thank you for your help.
Que projeto legal!
Grato pelo ótimo RIP.
Merry Christmas DjPaulT! thanks for your great blog over the years ! stay safe ! I hope everyone here has a safe and merry Christmas !
So much fun! I hadn’t heard this one before. I loved all those ’80s supergroup charity songs, so thanks for posting this one!
Wow Paul! What a big surprise! Never heard this version before. Love it. Thank you so much Paul for this great discovery 🙂
Paul,
Thanks for posting. I read up on the fairy penguins, very interesting.
Kent H. 🙂
Looking forward to this rarity!! Thanks Paul!
You’re welcome, Retro Hound 🙂
FLAC24 = Duran Duran – Nite Romatics )Japan 12” EP) (1981) [DjPaulT FLAC] {24bit-96kHz}
fixed the links
Thank you and HAPPY CHRISTMAS.
Happy Christmas!
I just find it incredible of you Paul to find the most interesting things to share with us. I have never, ever heard this cover version of the song. Should be a fun listen!!! Thank you so much!!!
Jeff
You’re welcome, Jeff 🙂
Thank you Paul!
Thanks for sharing this slice of Australian music history.
I’d totally forgotten about it till now. God, how I loved Kids in the Kitchen and Pseudo Echo (still do!)
Hope you have a wonderful Christmas. Thanks so much for all the great music, and happy new year for 2022.
xx John.
Thank you, John Merry Christmas and Happy New Year 🙂