The Bent Elbows in Brisbane
A History of One of Brisbane’s Post Punk Rock Bands
During the late 1970s and early 1980s in Brisbane, Australia, The Bent Elbows performed in and around the city, playing their version of "pub rock".
The Bent Elbows was one of the many “garage bands” of the underground rock and roll scene in Brisbane, Australia, in the late 1970’s and early 1980s.
The Bent Elbow Members
The Bent Elbows Brisbane line-up had 5 members: Tony ‘Stirker’ Baker (vocals) Matthew Baker (lead guitar), Robert Russian (bass), Martin Melville (drums) and Bruce Iliff (keyboards). Like many bands, the musicians were self-taught. Matthew Baker started with a basic guitar and sat for hours listening to Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin and Rolling Stones, trying to emulate their riffs and moves.
They were based around St.Lucia and practiced in an office above the Hawken Drive shops near the University of Queensland. The band’s first practice room was in Woolloongabba above the Melville family’s flower shop.
The Bent Elbows' Songwriting
Like Australia’s premier band Cold Chisel, the Baker brothers song-writing duo drew heavily on their local environment, experiences and history. A fight at a party one Saturday night led to the song “Chip on the Shoulder Boy” where the fight started following a remark about one bloke looking at another's girlfriend.
The Bent Elbows regularly drank at the Royal Exchange hotel in Toowong. Many sessions watching the passing crowd resulted in “Beergarden Egos”; telling the story of Mick and his harp, a broken bike that some joker fixed in exchange for a 3-week affair with a cute blonde and a bloke called Stretch who used to cut deals.
The Bent Elbows EP “St Lucia Road”
The Bent Elbows made an Extended Play (EP) record in 1981, with 4 songs on black vinyl. The title song “St Lucia Road” draws on the time the Baker brothers experienced growing up in St Lucia. It was the era of the street marches against Premier Joh Bjelke-Peterson's reign, so Stirker added a line “marching still stinks”. Scoring Sugar is an anti-drugs song featuring a melodic guitar riff supporting Stirker’s raspy vocal; backed by a piano and a strong beat from the bass and drums.
Paul Norris played harmonica and provided backing vocals on the title track; the earthy tone of the harmonica providing a “bluesy” feel to the song.
The EP was laid down at the Queensland Recording Studios off Little Roma Street in Brisbane city. Doug Hills was the sound technician and initially thought the band was doing a demonstration tape. He was surprised when Stirker had the songs pressed by EMI into an EP. The EP was only a limited edition and those remaining are an historical collector’s item.
The Bent Elbows Performances
The band played many gigs in Brisbane: hotels, parties and even hiring suburban halls. They performed at the “Battle of the Bands” at Cloudland Ballroom just months before the ballroom was razed in an overnight government operation. Their biggest gig was supporting Midnight Oil at a University of Queensland Joint Effort.
When asked to sum up The Bent Elbows, Stirker said “The EP St Lucia Road epitomized our early life. Everything we encountered in those early years growing up that close to the university, physically a part of it, and historically, but not of its culture was a unique experience.”
The Bent Elbows in Sydney
In Mid-1982, The Bent Elbows moved to Sydney. Only the Baker brothers did the move, the other members deciding to pursue other endeavours and careers. The Sydney band formed around the 2 founding members with local Sydney musicians, but the name and inherent nature of the band remained.
