Johnny Vanguard

Vanguard named new judge on ‘So you think you can sing Country Music?’

By Carly Stokes
Originally published on Hot Buzz blog September 2017
Johnny Vanguard, the former lead guitarist of the powerful rock band Underlife, has been named as the new judge and mentor of the hit show ‘So you think you can sing Country Music?’.

The multiple ARIA award winner was named as a judge only days before the new series is due to air.  The rock and country music legend hopes to offer a different angle to the pristine image that is currently associated with the traditional talent quest. “The show needs something raw and unrefined,” Vanguard said.“I want to be able to use my knowledge and experience as a multi-talented legend to give the show a much needed edge,” he explained. 

Vanguard revealed his plans to inject ‘So you think you can sing Country songs’ with new and varied elements. “I see so many young people on that show wasting their talents, conforming to the image of the typical naïve, sanitised singer. I want to show them that there is more to music,” he said.

“We are very excited to have Johnny on board, he provides the show with a new lease of life,” said Carl Young, executive producer of the show. “He has a wealth of musical knowledge and experience which we are eager to have him share with us,” he commented.

Vanguard shot to fame in the 1980’s as the lead guitarist of the band Underlife. Its break up in 1992 saw his fame continue to flourish after his reincarnation as an award-winning solo artist with his debut album Concrete Haystacks.

Vanguard is currently touring the world promoting his new album, Highways and Hazards.

Johnny Vanguard

Citizen Urban/Country Cousin Tour

Francis Greenway

Originally appeared in Rolling Stain Magazine, 2011

When the Rolling Stain office learnt that Johnny Vanguard's ‘Citizen Urban/Country Cousin’ tour was coming to town certain reporters suggested we indulge in a little wager. First one to miss a deadline for next issue gets, not only completely gutted by our editor, but also the dubious honour of attending the Vanguard concert. Now, don’t get us wrong, Rolling Stain loves Underlife just as much as the next high end music magazine. We all grew up with Vanguard and Lee’s harmonising in our radios, car stereos and television screens, idolising every overindulgent lick or too loud drum beat. It’s simple, we at the Rolling Stain offices concluded, everybody loves Underlife. It’s just as simple, we also realised, looking at the reluctance in all these reporters faces, that doesn’t mean everyone loves Johnny Vanguard.

Johnny Vanguard is a nice enough guy. Nice enough to listen to in the comfort of your own home through a staticy stereo system, nice enough to watch perform out of a TV screen but not so nice 3 feet away sitting for an interview. As we sat in the office trading Vanguard horror stories (turning up 3 hours late, drunk, condescending, walking out early) this reporter remembered that she had a 3 page feature to write on the Foo Fighters due in 25 minutes. That’s how I find myself in the V.I.P section of Vanguard's October 23^rd concert at Liverpool’s ‘Cube.’

After sitting through the deplorable support act, in the form of The Dead Man’s Chests, as they thrash around with their false sense of entitlement and ‘alternative’ tunes I’m almost thankful when the mortal enemy of the music journalist, Johnny Vanguard, takes the stage to perform a showcase of his newly released ‘Sunsets and Scrapheaps' album

I judge him on his late entrance. I judge him on his sloppy appearance (wearing no shirt at the age of 40 does not make you a ‘righteous dude’.) I judge him on his tacky staged set. Then Johnny Vanguard starts playing…

And I stop judging him.

I stop doing anything but listening as he warbles and strums his way through one of the most raw, messy, incomplete and…absolutely brilliant sets I’ve ever had the privilege to witness in my years at Rolling Stain. Vanguard is a little unsteady on his feet, his hair not as long as his 70’s self would have liked. His voice is the kind of scratchy from age and wear that he’s been trying to imitate on Underlife records for years. He is older and wiser and maybe even a little more vulnerable than any of us at the magazine has ever seen him…but he is captivating.

I watch, and I listen and I don’t think about anything else but the music from the first note to the last Vanguard plays.

Before he walks off stage he winks at a bevy of adoring fans in the front row and declares himself ‘the new Keith Urban’ and I’m reminded somewhat jarringly why I dreaded coming here in the first place.

It’s walking home that night, Vanguards riffs and lyrics rolling around in my head, that I decide once and for all that Johnny Vanguard may not be the world most delightful human being, but he may very well be one of the most talented.

The Citizen Urban/Country Cousin Tour is frequenting various venues around Australia, check the website (www.citizenurbantour.com.au) for details

Francis Greenway

The Vanguard Vuitar 

Originally published on 'The William Gluskie' Blog October 2017

Introducing the all new Limited Edition almost identical replica of the legendary singer/actors favourite guitar or as he calls it 'THE VANGUARD VUITAR'. 

Johnny has been smashing out his outstanding music on this very guitar for many years now, so why not support and show your love for him, by purchasing this wonderful JV keychain.

However these won’t be available for long! They will only be available at selected Johnny Vanguard concerts.

By Kathryn Dimitriadis.
Originally published in The Sydney Morning Harold, March 2010.

Four-time ARIA Award winner Johnny Vanguard has entered into a heated debate with Tropfest officials after they found that Vanguard – who will be a judge at the 2010 Tropfest short film competition – has composed and played a music score for his nieces film entry.

 

Vanguard, 43, who was lead guitarist and vocalist for the Adelaide based band Underlife, has offended directors and judges by telling them to ‘Sod off’, in relation to the music composition he wrote for his 17 year old niece’s Tropfest film. ‘My music won’t put Frances’s flick in front of those other entrants’, Vanguard said in a statement yesterday.

Tropfest founder and Creative Director, John Polson said yesterday Vanguard's 'niece’s film might have to be pulled from the competition unless she dispossess of the composed music’,  ‘It will give Frances Smithton an unfair advantage as most entrants have a limited budget.

Mr Polson said; 'This is an amateur film competition and with her decision to use a professional soundtrack by her Uncle; a judge, will clearly make her film a cut above the rest and, not to mention, it will be favoured by Mr. Vanguard.’

Vanguard was clearly unimpressed and angered by the founders’ comments, as he made clear heading out of his Sydney mansion this morning. ‘That’s not right’ Vanguard said as strolled to his red 1973 Datsun, ‘If they wanna get rid of Frances’s film then they are ... well they're idiots and they can sod off.' ... Unfair advantage: what a stupid excuse. Just because I’m her Uncle and I wrote the music they wanna chuck her movie out! I’ll be fair on judging it, I swear but it’ll be hard to find a better film. Creativeness obviously runs in our family and they just can’t hack that concept.’

 

Vanguard hasn’t had the best of luck with business associates in recent years. In 2007 he threw a brick through the windscreen of Mark Holden’s vintage Holden Monaro after a much publicised argument. Vanguard also left his former band Underlife in 1992 after having reported disputes with band member Spencer (Davis) Lees.

  

The singer/songwriter, who  is about to release his current solo album “Sunsets and Scrapheaps”, may be asked to step off the judging panel due to his actions. As past judge, Nicole Kidman explained this morning, ‘Johnny is a well-renowned musician and is very respected by the Australian artistic community, but has assisted where he is not allowed to and has therefore gone against certain rules.’

The fate of Frances’s short film, titled ‘Spring Time for Hilder’, and the fate of Vanguard’s position on the judging panel will be decided in the next few weeks with meeting to be held between Polson and officials of Sony Tropfest. ‘We will need to assess this situation further’Polson said today. Tropfest entries close soon.

Vanguard Vandalizes Holden's Holden

Ashley Yue (Originally appeared in The Undaily Tele, 2007)

Photo: Vanguard, in happier times, pictured with Jo Beth Jo and the Holden he allegedly vandalized (source: McAdam photography)

ABOUT THIS INTERVIEW:

Journalist Sally Steele spoke with Johnny Vanguard for an interview that was published in Rolling Stain Magazine's June 5th 1999 issue. Johnny speaks of his recent separation and reconciliation with Jo Beth Jo, the recent Underlife legal settlement, and also speaks positively on the possibility of an Underlife reunion. Other topics include his own recent solo albums, and working with (now) Australian Idol judge Mark Holden.

Q: "What's your life like right now?"

JOHNNY: "Well, life... It's '99 now, isn't it? Well, I've just settled the Underlife settlement. It must've happened in the last month. Took seven years. (pause) That's a big change. Maybe that's why I'm sleeping funny. As a friend says, I went out for coffee and some papers and I didn't come back. (chuckles) Or vice versa. It's always written that way, y'know. All of us. You know, the guy walked. It's never that simple."

Q: "What did happen with you and Jo Beth? Who broke it up and how did you end up with Denise?"

JOHNNY: "Well, it's not a matter of who broke it up. It broke up. And why did I end up with Denise? (pompous voice) 'We ended up together again because it was diplomatically viable...' Come on. We got together because we love each other."

Q: What happened on the set of that Santos film, Johnny?

JOHNNY: Many things happened. It was a very strange time, but also a wonderous time. Look it was one of those strange times in a person's life when they get attracted to another person for some unkown reasons. Denise and I got together and the rest is really history. What more can one say?

Q: Ok. Now to the other part of your life. "What was the final Underlife settlement?"

JOHNNY: "In a nutshell, what was arranged was that everybody gets their own individual monies. Even up till this year, till the settlement was signed, all the monies were going into one pot. All individual records, mine, Spencer’s - all into one big pot. It had to go through this big machinery and then come out to us, eventually. So now, even the old Underlife royalties, everything goes into separate accounts instead of one big pot all the time. That's that. The rest of it was ground rules. Everybody said Underlife signed this paper, that means they're no longer tied in any way."

Q: "Is there still a good feeling among the guys?"

JOHNNY: "Yeah, yeah, sort of I talked to Spencer yesterday. There's nothin' going down between us. It's all in people's heads."

Q: "You went to one of Underlife’s concerts, what are your thoughts on their tour?"

JOHNNY: "It wasn't the greatest thing in history. The band went through some kind of mill. It was probably their turn to get smacked. When we were all together there was periods when Underlife was in, Underlife was out, no matter what we were doing. Now it's always Underlife were great or they weren't great, whatever opinion people hold. There's a sort of illusion about it. But the actual fact was Underlife were in for three years, but they were also out for three years. The public, including the media, are sometimes a bit sheeplike and if the ball starts rolling, well, it's just that somebody's in, somebody's out. Underlife is out for the moment. And I think it didn't matter what they did on tour."

Q: "Spencer Lees told Rolling Stain that if you wanted Johnny Vanguard, go listen to Underlife. It seemed a bit of a putdown."

JOHNNY: "I didn't see what Spencer said, so I really don't have any comment. (pause) Speedway Sweetheart is a great album. Underlife is almost as conceptual a group as mine. We were a conceptual group, meaning whoever was playing was the band. And Underlife keeps changing all the time. It's conceptual. I mean, they're backup men for Spencer. It doesn't matter who's playing. You can call them Underlife, but it's Spencer Lees music. And it's good stuff. It's good Spencer music and I don't really see the connection."

Q: "Spencer said at his press conference that he could not play with you again. How do you feel?"

JOHNNY: "I could play with all of them. Spence is entitled to say that, and he'll probably change his mind by Friday. You know, we're all human. We can all change our minds. So I don't take any of my statements or any of their statements as the last word on whether we will. And if we do, the newspapers will learn about it after the fact. If we're gonna play, we're just gonna play."

Q: "City Experiences has an undertone of regret to it. Did you sit down consciously to make an album like that?"

JOHNNY: "No, well... Let's say this last year has been an extraordinary year for me personally. And I'm almost amazed that I could get anything out. But I enjoyed doing City Experiences and it wasn't hard when I had the whole thing to go into the studio and do it. I'm surprised it wasn't just all bluuuugggghhhh. (pause) I had the most peculiar year. And... I'm just glad that something came out. It's describing the year, in a way, but it's not as sort of schizophrenic as the year really was. I think I got such a shock during that year that the impact hasn't come through. It isn't all on City Experiences though. There's a hint of it there. It has to do with age and God knows what else. But only the surface has been touched on City Experiences, you know?"

Q: "What was it about the year? Do you want to try talking about it?"

JOHNNY: "Well, you can't put your finger on it. It started, somehow, at the end of 96, goin' to do this Concrete Haystacks album (with Mark Holden). It had quite a lot to do with Jo Beth and I, whether I knew it or not, and then, suddenly, I was out on my own. Next thing I'd be waking up, drunk, in strange places or reading about myself in the paper, doin' extraordinary things, half of which I'd done and half of which I hadn't done. 

Q: "Tell me about the Concrete Haystacks album."

JOHNNY: "It started in 96 with Mark and fell apart. I ended up as part of mad, drunk scenes in Los Angeles and I finally finished it off on me own. And there was still problems with it up to the minute it came out. I can't begin to say, it's just barmy, there's a jinx on that album. And I've just started writing a new one. Got maybe half of it written..."

Q: "What about the stories that Holden's working habits are a little odd? For example, that he either showed off or let off fireworks in the studio?"

JOHNNY: "I don't like to tell tales out of school, y'know. But I do know there was an awful loud noise in the toilet of the Record Plant West."

Q: "What actually did happen those nights at the Troubadour when you heckled Russell Crowe?'"

JOHNNY: "Ah, y'want the juice... It was my first night on Brandy Alexanders and my last (laughs). And I was with Jimmy Barnes, who was no help at all (laughs)."

Q: "What's your relationship with Jimmy? Some critics say that he's been heavily influenced, maybe even badly screwed up by you."

JOHNNY: "Oh, that's stupid."

Q: "...and that you've also been influenced by him."

JOHNNY: "That's stupid, too. I haven't been influenced by Jimmy, only that I had a lot of hangovers whenever I was with him (laughs). I love him. He's a great guy and I count him as one of me friends. He hasn't influenced me musically. And there's an illusion going around about my production of Jimmy's album. That he was trying to imitate me on his album."

Q: "You mean that he'd gone into his primal period..."

JOHNNY: "That's it. They're so sheeplike - put this in - and childlike about trying to put a tag on what's going on. The press use these expressions like 'primal' for anything that's a scream.

Q: "Walter Neff has described you as a superb producer but maybe in too much of a hurry."

JOHNNY: "That's true [laughs]."

Q: "But supposedly, when making the Underlife records, you were painstaking and slow."

JOHNNY: "No, I was never painstaking and slow. "

Q: "So  can we say that these last few years, in some ways, was a year of deciding whether you wanted to be an artist or a pop star?"

JOHNNY: "Yeah. What is it I'm doing. What am I doing? Meanwhile, I was still putting out the work. But in the back of my head it was that: What do you want to be? What are you lookin' for? And that's about it. I'm a freakin' artist, man, not a freakin’ racehorse."

OUTBACK BOY STANDING SOLO