SOUTHERN CROSS Queen Of Rock & Roll 45 Rare BUFFALO Ex+ 1976

	A$		40
	$		26

Item : 2 Track single

Artist : Southern Cross

Songs : Queen Of Rock And Roll / Stormy Lady

Year : 1976

Issue : 1st Australian pressing – Living Sound label # LS-102803

A terrific copy of this very scarce 1976 and only single from Sydney hard-rock outfit Southern Cross lifted from their much sought after self-titled album released the same year. Two members in John Baxter (guitars) & Alan Milano (vocals) were also founding members of legendary hard-rock band Buffalo ; Baxter penned the B-side here.

The origins of Southern Cross are as follows :
Singer Alan Milano getting together with a bass player called Bob Brooks and then casting around for guitarists in mid 1975. Bruce Cumming, at the age of 17, was the first one to stick around. This was followed by a brief search for drummers. Possibly on the same night that Jeff Beacham came along for an audition in a tiny room behind shops in Sydney's eastern suburb of Bronte, John Baxter (still friends with Milano from their days in Buffalo together) rolled in for a jam as well. He had recently quit Buffalo.
The chemistry of the Milano/Baxter/Cumming/Beacham thing was instant but Brooks, a seasoned pro cover version player, was not impressed with the notion to play original stuff and flew the coop. Auditions for bass players took place in a house in inner city Woolloomooloo, that part being won by the French Australian Michel Brouet. The line up of Milano/Baxter/Cumming/Brouet/Beacham was successfully dubbed SUBMARINE X-1 by Baxter, after a movie title he had seen on late night TV. The band played a number of gigs outside of Sydney in preparation for their initial assault on the capital, but before this ever happened Baxter quit the band over musical differences and went on to rehearse and record his Boy Racer project, while the others never really sought to replace him and remained a 4-piece as Southern Cross, gigging extensively around Sydney from late 1975 to early '77 whereupon musical differences and industry indifference saw the band simply fall apart.

Before going their separate ways a new-comer to the Sydney band-management scene Gene Pierson ( who himself had charted with his phased out version of ‘Reach Out’) signed the group to his new Living Sound label which spawned this single. The label then morphed to Laser which released the Southern Cross album as well material by Geeza ; U Turn and The Press along with disco, nostalgia and novelty hits.

In the aftermath of Southern Cross Bruce Cumming and Michel Brouet were influenced by the punk rock sound. Steve Kot (vocals) and Rick Doolan (drums) came on board and thus The Press started making a name for themselves in and around Western Sydney culminating in the pretty good album ‘Fodder For The Critics’.

This single is a neat piece in the jig-saw of the 70’s Aussie Rock scene and it’s a fair assumption that you won’t see it again in a hurry.

CONDITION :
Vinyl a strong EX+. Appears only lightly played. No marks of any real note. Retains all of its original shine. No background noise, pops or skips and a great rich sound.
Labels : Clean.
Sleeve : The short-lived ‘Living Sound’ label had no definitive company sleeve and this single was issued in a plain white jacket. This one is in A1 condition.

POSTAGE COSTS :
To anywhere in Australia is AU$3.00. For extra items costs will depend upon weight and destination however I will do my best to keep the combined total at a minimum.
1st class Air-Mail to anywhere else in the world is AU$6.50

PACKING INFORMATION :
Records will be packed in a plastic bag between two strong pieces of cardboard for safe arrival.

PAYMENT METHODS :
within Australia : 1. Paypal (quickest and easiest) OR 2. Bank Deposit (this may take a day or two to confirm)
International : Paypal

Thanks for your interest in this item.