But like so many other cities in the Western world, Perth’s institutionalised conservatism is subject of underground resistance in the form of punk rock. “It was a great time. It was an explosion of excitement, us against them,” says Boris Sujdovic, a protagonist in the Perth punk scene.
James Baker had moved to Perth from the country in the early ‘70s. Baker made the acquaintance of the son of a American businessman working in Perth; impressed by Baker’s silver boots, the young American introduced Baker to the potent sounds of the Detroit and New York City rock’n’roll scene: MC5, The Stooges, Velvet Underground and the New York Dolls.
Meanwhile, Kim Salmon was practising his skills as a guitarist playing covers at a shady nightclub when he read an article in New Musical Express proclaiming the significance of the fledgling punk scene. “I’d been wondering what my bag was, and then punk rock came along,” Salmon would later reflect. Salmon formed The Cheap Nasties, playing rock’n’roll through a Stooges/New York Dolls lens, before the band folded – only to be resurrected not long after without Salmon.
Roddy Radalj and Boris Sudjovic shared a Croatian heritage and a desire for sub-cultural deviance. Radalj got himself a saxophone and started getting onstage with Baker’s band. “The way I played was pretty out there – I didn’t sound like Bobby Keys, I sounded more like Steve Mackay from The Stooges,” Radalj says. Sudjovic’s musical skills were rudimentary at best, and, after Radalj bought himself a guitar, Sudjovic assumed bass guitar duties in a new band, The Invaders.
Radalj and Sudjovic had already met Salmon and Baker in local Perth gigs. Baker had been in a string of bands, including The Victims (with Dave Faulkner, later of The Hoodoo Gurus). Salmon joined The Invaders on vocals; when the drumming spot became vacant, Baker was the obvious choice, but on one condition. “I said I’d only join if Kim played guitar,” Baker says. “He was the best rock’n’roll guitarist in Perth, and he wasn’t playing guitar!”
And so The Scientists were born. The Scientists played punk rock with a Heartbreakers edge – the Richard Hell/Johnny Thunders version, not Tom Petty – and plenty of punk rock attitude. The band’s first single, Frantic Romantic, became a classic of its time, and has remained in Salmon’s solo set for the next 30 years. Baker’s lyrics celebrated the simplistic adolescent pleasures of the original rock’n’roll era; Salmon’s riffs mirrored the anger and frustration of his generation.
By 1979 Radalj and Sudjovic had left, and The Scientists limped through a couple of east coast tours, including an appearance on Countdown. Shortly after completing the band’s only album, The Scientists called it a day. In 1981, Salmon reconfigured and recalibrated The Scientists in Sydney, providing the foundation for the grunge scene of the early ‘90s.
Now, 35 years after The Scientists first took the stage in Perth, Salmon, Baker, Radalj and Sudjovic reunited for a gig in Perth in late 2013. The success of that show led to a eastern states tour.
“That lineup of The Scientists was the most rocking of all the bands that I’ve been in, and that includes the dark and primitive Scientists and the Beasts of Bourbon,” Salmon says. “Of all the bands I’ve been, I didn’t think that this band would get back together – I didn’t think I’d be part of any Scientists reunion,” Baker says. “But even The Victims are getting back together – so weird things do happen.”
BY PATRICK EMERY
