The Preston Records Revue: The Eighty-Six’s free shindig in tribute to a local hero

Graeme Thomas – the “Sam Phillips of Preston” – was the founder of Preston Records and Preston Studios, a member of many of Melbourne’s finest rockabilly and roots bands of the ’80s and ’90s, and a man who recorded early works by Chris Wilson, Vika Bull, Lisa Miller, Andy Baylor and Kerri Simpson, The Living End (then known as The Runaway Boys), later works by the likes of Gary Young and Ross Hannaford from Daddy Cool and Pete Wellsfrom Rose Tattoo, and the cream of the local vintage scene.

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A superb lineup

The Straight 8’s, Ezra Lee & His Rockin’ Piano, The Wraylettes and The Breadmakerswill perform live in tribute to Graeme with DJ’s Peter Thomas and Jamie ‘Dingo’ Suppa at a free Sunday arvo shindig at the Thornbury Bowls Club on Sunday 29 October.

Since the early ’70s – maybe since Daddy Cool – Melbourne has had a love affair with ’50s rock’n’roll. In the mid-to late ’70s, it was bands like the early Sports and The Autodrifters, and by the early ’80s there was a scene of rockabilly purists based around groups like The Rockabilly Rebels and later The Straight 8’s, who were known for their authenticity of sound, and soon enough for their authenticity of dress.

Hound Dog’s Bop Shop in West Melbourne was where these bands and their fans bought their records, and Route 66 in Prahran was where they bought their threads. And starting in 1981, Preston Records – in Preston of course – was where these bands went to make records.

The beginning of Preston Records

Preston Records was the brainchild of former Preston Tech student Graeme Thomas, who’d been playing stand-up bass in various rockabilly bands since 1976, when he was still only 16. Having astounded everybody by figuring out how to get the elusive ’50s rockabilly “slap bass” sound out of his instrument early on, Graeme began recording bands in his bedroom – he was still living at home in Preston – around the start of the decade. He bought vintage recording gear – eventually including an early ’60s Pye mixing desk from Channel 9 – and taught himself how to use it. He started the label in 1981, and the Preston Studio soon took over the living room and eventually the house. Very quickly Graeme was achieving something special and making authentic-sounding records that sounded as great as the ’50s records he loved.

Early recordings included the work of some of the most influential names on the Melbourne roots scene, including Daddy Cool drummer Gary Young, former Autodrifter Rick Dempster and guitarist Andy Baylor (working on a range of projects and all together in the Dancehall Racketeers). Andy Baylor played lead alongside the scene’s premier vocalist Victor O’Neill and Graeme himself on bass on a recording of an obscure Charlie Feathers song called “Rain” – released under the name of The Wildcats – which everybody who heard it swears is better than the original.

Preston Records hit overseas

Preston releases soon started catching the ears of fans overseas – an early Preston compilation called Aussiebilly sold 4000 copies in the UK –  and Graeme soon moved his studios into an old corner milk bar in Pascoe Vale South. By the mid-’80s the Melbourne rockabilly scene was peaking, and Graeme was working with all the new artists, like The Roadsters and The Hot Dogs.  He would soon expand to other roots and/or vintage forms and would make the first recordings for Beatles-in-Hamburg soundalikes The Shindiggers and much-loved Melbourne musicians Vika Bull (in Sophisticated Boom Boom), Kerri Simpson (in The Five Aces), Lisa Miller (in The Whole Shebang) and Andy Baylor (in The Dancehall Racketeers and The Baylor Brothers).

Continental Robert of Sydney’s Dynamic Hepnotics cut a single for Preston, and Chris Wilson’s Crown of Thorns made their record at Preston with Graeme at the desk. Popular vintage blues combo The Paramount Trio cut a couple of albums there, and Blues Hangover, featuring The Paramount Trio alongside Rose Tattoo guitarist Pete Wells and bassplayer John Stax, of original ’60s London R&B legends The Pretty Things, cut one there as well. In the early 90s perennial ’60’s-style garage R&B faves The Breadmakers put themselves in Graeme’s care for their first two albums, and alt-country pioneers Acuff’s Rose recorded some acoustic-based material with him. In ’92, a young trio The Runaway Boys, recorded at Preston in ’92, two years before they evolved into The Living End.

Graeme’s own bands

All the while Graeme was himself playing in a wide array of roots and/or retro bands, including The Dancehall Racketeers, The Straight 8s, The Hot Dogs, The Ducktails,surf instrumentalists Moment of Truth, Tex-Mex/Chicano-inspired outfit Speedy & The Locos, and Scott Carne’s Elvis-inspired outfit Priscilla’s Nightmare.

Over subsequent decades Graeme worked with a host of artists ranging from veterans like Ross Hannaford and Mark Ferrie and a succession of up and coming ’50s inspired artists including Hank’s Jalopy Demons, Benny & The Fly-By-Nighters, Pat Cappoci and acclaimed rock’n’roll piano player Ezra Lee. In 2008 local band The Sweet Lowdownswon the Bell Award for the Best Classic Jazz Album for an album recorded at Preston by Graeme.

Graeme Thomas sadly passed away on November 7 last year, at the too-young age of 61. Upon hearing of Graeme’s passing, revered American vintage/retro guitarist/rocker Deke Dickerson, who had also recorded with Graeme at Preston, posted: “When Graeme was feeling good and his equipment was working right, he was capable of amazing sonic sculptures. If he wanted to make it sound like Sun Records 1957, he could do it—you’d swear you were listening to records made in Memphis sixty years ago. I heard Western swing recordings he produced that sounded like they could have been Bob Wills outtakes. He was an amazing engineer and producer with a great ear and a unique vision that he completely realized before he passed.”

Come join some of Graeme’s old friends and fans – Melbourne rockabilly legends the Straight 8’s (of whom Graeme was a long-time member), young gun Ezra Lee & His Rockin’ Piano, The Wraylettes and The Breadmakers, as well as DJ’s Peter Thomas(Graeme’s brother) and 3PBS-FM’s Jamie ‘Dingo’ Suppa – as they pay tribute to a Melbourne original and an unsung Northern suburbs music legend.

For more details, head here.