CD REVIEW: TED MULRY GANG – TMG Live

CD REVIEW: TED MULRY GANG – TMG Live
Festival/Warner
May 2017
Reviewed by Shane Pinnegar
8/10

Since their fortieth anniversary last year – some sixteen years after Ted Mulry prematurely passed away after a bout with brain cancer, aged one day shy of only 54 – TMG are enjoying something of a revival and reappraisal, with a well-received best of last year, and gigging with Ted’s brother Steve Mulry on vocals.

This reissue gives the spit and polish treatment to TMG’s only live album, the 1979 Mushroom album TMG Live. Originally an eleven track vinyl release, this Expanded version clocks in a massive twenty-one songs, and is a joy to listen to in all its frenzied stomp and sparkly chug-a-chug glam wam bam glory.

In amongst the souped-up boogie of The Small Faces’ Sha-La-La-La-Lee and The Stones’ It’s All Over Now and The Last Time; the rocked up jazz standard Darktown Strutter’s Ball and the unlikely Music Hall smuttiness of Dinah – chorused by hundreds of teenagers, betraying Mulry’s British heritage – are the irresistible pop hits the band rode to fame on in the ‘70s.

My Little Girl, Giving Up On Your Love, Too Bad, Disturbing The Peace, Naturally, I Miss You, the classic Jump In My Car, I’m Free and Crazy – all written by Mulry, guitarist Les Hall, or both – are great to hear at the height of the band’s fame, and showcase not only the excellence of the band, but also the Australian pop rock scene of the time.

Category: CD Reviews