the innocents

Kim Fowley once said great music sometimes comes from the most unlikly places, The Innocents are a perfect example. Thier road began in Hobart Tasmania famous for Erroll flynn and the Tasmanian Devil on the bugs Bunny cartoon. David minchin met Greg Cracknell at high school in the mid 1970s although at first both were totaly from different peir groups they founded their union in music, Greg introduced David into the technical elements of choir structured harmonies David was encylopedia of all things 60s all things melody and was facinated with the sound of 12 string rickenbacker guitars the combination was electric. Combining the idea of closely knitted almost orchestral hamonies with a Beatlesque pop formular and although only in ther teens they had a clear vision and set about recruiting other members for thier new group aptly named Beathoven. Beathoven performed its first real performance at the local North Hobart fete they recruited local 16 year old drummer Brent {beep} Jeffrey, David had also been intrigued with local 17 year old transient Charles Touber who would often be seen wandering through the main city center with his guitar in one hand and a stick with a bag attatched to the end over his shoulder that held most of his worldly possesions. Charles was an important fixture in the vocal dept with Greg having that unique almost flawless perfection and David with a Pop rock edge Charles came from more left of field adding a Dylan Jagger loose vocal that the band needed charles was also instrmental in pushing the band later on to explore alternative acts like the sexpistols and the the Undertones. by 1977 Beathoven were like local pop stars each show was sold out they released a a double a sided single Darlin and Do You Remeber the Time which topped the local charts. some of the performances created hysterical scenes reminicant of bands like the easybeats and Billy thorpe and the aztecs 10 years earler, on many occasions the band were besieged by fans camped outside thier homes. The band moved to Melbourne in 1977 where they were quickly snapped up by EMI they released one solitary single shy girl which sold well nationaly and they appeared on national television show countdown. The band toured consistently with likes of the Ted Mulry Gang and AC/DC and fonly remember a tatooed smiling Bon Scott who used to sit side of stage and listen to them on each performance. By 1978 the music scene was changing and pub rock was the new trend the band were written off in many circles as being teen fodder which annoyed the band immensy. Moral was low by 1979 when EMi decided to drop them and realising that thier 3rd manager in a year was fingering the till of thier very limited funds. The band finaly was reinvebted by charles insistance of re launching the act with a new name that would have industry credibilty both as artists performers and writers THE INNOCENTS. the band first performance as the innocents was at the Stkilda town hall though a tougher sound they still had that big harmony vocal that set them apart.... Kim Fowley {La producer the runaways Kiss} hailed them as the next big thing and flew to Australia to start workin with them and threatned to throw an A&R Man out of a third story window if he didnt sign them.. Beep left the band bored and dissilusioned,they then recruited Dereck Fairbrass on drums and released the Touber penned classic Sooner Or Later radio were forced to play the song through default because of its sheer strength and the fact that artists like Nick Lowe were hailing it as a POP Classic the song became a national hit but faded out of the charts as quickly as it entered. Months went by and with no idea of a follow up and internal frustration as they spent months in the studio Minchin entered the studio for the last time and penned the 2 classics Absence and the brilliant 16s my luck number with Kim fowley producing, suffering with depression at lack of industry and media support Minchin turned his back on the industry and left the band. Quote I knew we were good we were selling records and had a strong fan base but we had no one to steer the ship managers came and went we were musicians not business people. David Minchin 2005" Minchin was replaced by Jarrel Wirth [The Breakers] Charles and Greg still had a vision and released two more singles the Touber penned come tonight and the Clever If you need me but when both failed to make a dent Cracknell soon departed frutsrated and broke. Although The touber minchin cracknell magic had gone and with the addition of Bob Smith from The Affections joining touber they attempted to redefine the band and penned some classic songs together that never made it past the studio and its fair to say that Smith with his youth and passion strived to push the innocents to be excepted Touber may have also given up at this point had not been for Smiths belief in Charles and his love of classiis melody amd harmony after consistent line up changes Smith and Touber fullfilled the RCA obligation and finaly disbanded the innocents in 1985It wasnt untill 1995 that Bob Smith through his new passion for surfing the pop websites on the internet stumbled across a whole fan base for the band contacted minchin cracknell and touber to tell them the internet had breathed new life into the band and had fans as far as japan talking about them in the same breath as the Rasberies and Sooner or Later had been internet voted the greatest pop song of all time. Smith cracknell Minchin and Touber have since done a world tour as the Innocents and have new fans in every corner of the globe and recently played the pop overthrow in LA the cavern in liverpool as well as hamburg to a huge response. two albums have since followed. The No hit wonders from down under 1997 and POP factory 2006 quote: the question now i suppose is not wether it means anything to us its taken 25 years and we have other lives now whats important is that it means something to others that is a sort of vindication i suppose: Touber:2004 Quote If something is worth while it wont be overlooked it will manifest and get noticed: Minchin 2004 Quote: Its like finding gold and everyone keeps telling you its fake or fools gold to the point you lock it away in a carboard and forget about it then years later every one starts telling you it was real after all, despite what its worth to them you have to question if its now worth anything to you im still trying to figure that one out. Creg Cracknell 2007