Hoodoo Gurus - Tojo (1983)

[carylazar]

James Baker what a powerhouse drummer driving all those early songs.A hell of a nice guy as well.

[bloodriver3lol]

now indie rock mimics this 30 yrs later

good development music industry!

[andyjay729]

Hey Katrina, Osama never made it to New Orleans.

[waraenaipiero]

Falling in love with this band ... .

(The singer looks like Elijah Wood.)

[lyonslaforet]

Hoodoo Gurus were a great melodic Australian band and among the most underrated ones! Their finest album Stoneage Romeos (1984) deserves to be heard again!

[goldbugnz]

brilliant!!!!

[100milnic]

x2 Gretsh's, bright & loud & big hair in a good way, they were much more New York Dolls than Sex Pistols, in a seriously good way

[SupernalOne]

brilliant guitar tone in the intro, perfectly played - sweet!

[santanocci]

fuck Dave no wonder you are as bald as mate with that much product in your fuckin hair somethin had to give matey.....Gazza

[Xanplank]

Surf na veia !!!

[iRdoMinAtIoN911]

Classicccccc

[punji73]

i didnt know the gurus were around for that long

[121nicholas]

how can anyone like 80's rock?

[christian06z]

a quantos anos eu escuto essa muisa ,boas lembranças

[kittykittykali]

I think they all still have those clothes... If not the hair :D

[brismike65]

They did this last night in their set at the Hi Fi (Brisbane not Swanston Street) I had not expected them to do it but it was great

[stampy4x4]

@brismike65 Bugger. I didn't know they were touring or I would have been there.

[fknucklewit]

Like the references to Cyclone Tracey fucking up Darwin cos the Japs missed out!

Even though they bombed the fuck out it!

[VolV8]

Man I should be goin to bed but NzOz keeps rockin the links!

WooHoo!

i said nice one brother.

[Darkvisor101]

nice.

[lahonorable]

buen rock from australia

[dstter]

83? Isso deve ter sido um sucesso quando apareceu!

[peterbarwick1973]

Hoodoo Guru ROCK!!!! I saw them recently at Caloundra, QLD and because I spend 3 days a week in hospital and this was a rare occasion for me to leave Brisbane even over night, I got to meet them back stage and chatted for 30 mins. They are really nice to fans....

[saintandrews84]

awsome song, they don't make tunes like this any more, so much rubbish music these days.....i'll take the 80's anytime .....cheers HG !!!

[STOKEOZ1967]

i was in year 9 at high school in sydney, and i fuken loved this!!!! i ve still got stoneage romeos on cassette, and some early 7 inch singles, i also joined the hoodoo gurus "glee club" ,in which i was sent the bands autographs [1983 line up] !!! which i still have.I didnt get to see the band until the summer tour they did in early 1986, at Blacktown RSL club. awsome!!!

[alaricdogface]

This song was on my most awesome mix tape back then. Imagine a kid wearing a Walkman singing these lyrics out loud in Northern Wisconsin! I got some strange looks.

[dustanyonedust]

i brought home a dude that looked just like brad shepherd does here. mum and dad just looked at him like what the fuck have we got here! tame by todays standard. we thought we looked the dogs, hitting subteranian in our pointy buckle boots

[swbpower]

I remember playing the drums to this great song when i was 9 :P

[AJAXKID123]

Sweet Jesu!  What a great band!

[misshoneyjam69]

Oh...sweet memories....I used to avidly follow these guys around the Sydney pub circuit early 80's.....San Miguel, Mosman Hotel, Sydney Tavern,(lead up to The Hitmen!), & the best place was that the tin shed at the back of Sydney Uni.....I was in love with Clyde Bramley & used to try & catch his eye....oh the studded belts & cuban heeled boots....they were great days!!!.....

[noodlerexful]

Broke up to this song, to a girl named Tracey, true story!

[lyonslaforet]

The drummer looks like Michael Clarke from the Byrds!

Great, powerful song from an unfairly overlooked Australian band!

[uridium64]

wow i remember this,wicked song, lead singer looks like robert smith and wolverines love child

[AsheeBabee14]

I love this song :D

[youandyamum]

god they were loud....

[MaTiLdAisAustralian]

i love this band sooooo much... best thing to get drunk too!!!!!!

[WeLoveAlexJones]

Tojo was his toyota 4x4 heading to Darwin but Cyclone Tracy hit Darwin in 1974

and destroyed all the town, Santa never made it to Darwin"" i know i was there..

[Goldmansachsucks]

Mars needs guitars and Stoneage Romeos are icon albums

[msbrizzygirl]

by far all time favourite Hoodoo Gurus song. Still gives me goosebumps... clever storytelling about one of our most historic events. well done lads!

[bullshitdetector101]

@msbrizzygirl I won't say EXACTLY how I know this, but "CycloneTracy" is something of a metaphor- Tracy is the name of guitarist Brad Shepard's ex-girlfriend

[MrJohnnoP]

Probably the cleverest Australian song ever written

[srybishop]

Yep. good. What more can I say.

[chuckschilling]

Outstanding! Love this song.

[dayaljayawardena]

This reminds me of my 6 month interlude in Darwin. It's such a remote city and it has its own unbelievable vibe. Many thanks for the upload.

[dannygalaga]

Tojo was Prime minister of Japan in WWII. 'Tojo never made it to Darwin' refers to the Japanese Prime Minister of WWII. It's a figurative term about Japans ultimate failure to invade Australia.

I'm from Darwin too, and survived Cyclone Tracy. Funnily enough it never occurred to me this excellent song was about my home town! (I'm terrible with lyrics, i'm more a rhythm and melody guy)

[marshallcoll]

@dannygalaga Actually Tojo was the general of the Japanese army, but yeah, what you said.

[dannygalaga]

Yes, and Kennedy was a Lieutenant in the US navy, but that's not why we know him ;-)

From wikipedia:

"Tōjō continued to hold the position of Army Minister during his term as Prime Minister, from 18 October 1941 to 22 July 1944. He also served concurrently as Home Minister from 1941-1942, Foreign Minister in September 1942, Education Minister in 1943, and Commerce Minister in 1943."

[marshallcoll]

@dannygalaga cool. I stand corrected. Thanks for the info.

[marshallcoll]

Actually good point about Kennedy. He was a Lieutenant but the reason we know him is because he was doing Marilyn Monroe.

[naganokumas]

Thanks heaps for posting a favourite.

I'm from Darwin. Born, grew up there, survived Tracy (obviously), etc.

I currently live in Japan. And, as I type this, the snow has started falling for the first time this winter. It's a far cry from my usual November back in Darwin.

[jjlamore]

Frodo Baggins? More like Harry Potter with a mop on his head.

[soundsofmotion]

Dave Faulkner looks like frodo baggins in this film clip but these days he looks more like smiegle.

[wayiwalk]

So good to read the explanation, never made sense to me, I always figured I was just not hearing correctly....but what do you expect from a Yank! Saw them several times but one of the occaisions, the tour for Magnum Cum Louder they really put on a great show in NYC is whatever the venue was called that was in the old studio 54 location.

[kls4270]

very good band thank you i love it!

[gxd4b1]

I lived in Darwin for 20 years and never heard of this song lol ......... how embarrassing!!!

[josequesayso]

I remember being driven around the backstreets of Brisbane, car windows down, listening to Tojo.....

[SLADE330]

do the boys remember uncle Ken in Perth

[TheBodie12]

fond memories - down the snow under an alias (forgot), at the cross (potts point) for live ABC TV - nzoz do you have clips from that show possibly 83-84???

[nzoz1983]

Yes, I do believe I do... I'll see what I can do about uploading it.

[TheLynnsterZone]

There must be miles of videotape and hundreds of photos of Clyde in that same shirt. Heh.

[primitiv22]

I still dream of Tracy!  Any chance of seein her in South Dakota? Guru's rule!

[henryhetzerII]

Thank you all for the history behind this song. Never knew anything beyond Tojo.

What memories of mine are tied to song

[Daringa]

Poor old Darwin, what wasn't blown up by Tojo was blown down by Tracy.

[Telstar62a]

Darwin was heavily bombed by the Japanese during World War II, but Tojo never was able to invade. Some 30 years later. Cyclone Tracy hit Darwin with tremendous force on Christmas Day, devastating much of the city. Dave Faulkner said "Tojo" was an 'answer' song to a benefit record of a few years before, "Santa Never Made It Into Darwin". He also said this is the only one of his songs about which his father, a returned serviceman, had anything nice to say.

[OzPedro123]

Hideki Tojo was Prime Minister of Japan during WWII. It was also used as aslang term for the Japs - I

think that is the reference.

[primitiv22]

Bout brings back tears from the glory days,  Gurus Rule!!!

[xxsatchitanandaxx]

I haven't heard the name Hoodoo Gurus in so long that I forgot about them. Thanks for another great vid.

[starjacko]

Have any idea what you're talking about here? Some WWII history (Tojo) and a cyclone (Tracy) that never made it to Darwin, mate.

[salamand123]

The hodoos amke me proud that i once drove through Inala, you guys rock. Livin proof that we dont need money to be amazing or even just plain everyday and normal xxx

[CarterSix]

That's James Baker on drums - Perth punk rock icon. Hey James, give me a call. Let's get Black Sun back together. I think I can find Tony & Ray...

[martymefurst]

That year Santa never came

[ZipTumbleFast]

The Gurus made some great music through the year. Saw them in concert twice in Atlanta, Ga. They fricken rock. Y'all need to come back to the States.

[bartleby2007]

One of the best concerts I've been to was the Hoodoo Gurus at The Channel a smallish club in Boston in the 1980s. They fucking rocked live.

[gsherm1210]

I saw them at a show there in the 80s, unbelievable...one of the best live shows I've ever seen.

[gsherm1210]

at The Channel that is...

[Davroz71]

poor old tojo.....

[djimi66]

Fantastic song, Gurus at their best (ahh, Year 11 at school).

I only just recently discovereed that Dave Faulkner's father survived the sinking of the Canberra during WW2 - kinda makes sense now that he wrote a few songs regarding war in the pacific. Thanks Ryan - Jimbo

[nzoz1983]

no worries mate ;)

[rainsdude]

Hmmm.Puts a whole new perspective on some good tunes ,Thanx

[FrankCleocuz]

sobs, takes me back to highschool, sobs

[revttcoco]

Hold on to your coconuts its the biggest blow job you ever had.

Cheers Rev Tony & Coco Pup.

[met66]

god. they are so goodl where has "rock" gone?

[rustybruce9]

Who'd a thought a song along the lines of a conversation with a cyclone could be sooooo good. Thanks Nzoz for all the great vids

[DomDewnwell]

BTW, excellent quality sound & image!!!!

[nzoz1983]

Thank you!

[DomDewnwell]

Can't beat that guitar...Good stuff

Anyone have Mondo Rock- The Queen & Me??

[starjacko]

One of my all-time fave Gurus songs! Never have seen the video though!

[jmz1980]

Very good.