Hoodoo Gurus announce 45th anniversary tour to play singles radio ‘hated’

Only a Hoodoo Gurus superfan could list all 42 singles the beloved Aussie rock band has released.

Fans will get an “all killer, no filler” setlist when the band celebrates its 45th anniversary with the Rewind tour later this year, bringing back singles that haven’t been played live since they were first released.

Many fans could easily name 10 Gurus classics to land on the charts – What’s My Scene, 1000 Miles Away, Come Anytime, Tojo, Like Wow – Wipeout, My Girl, Bittersweet, Miss Freelove ‘69, I Want You Back and Poison Pen.

But as the band’s frontman Dave Faulkner points out, not every single becomes a hit.

He remembers radio programmers refusing to add the 1989 single Axegrinder to their playlists, hating the harder rock song which followed the singalong smash Come Anytime.

“Radio hated Axegrinder because it was noisy and obnoxious and it was before Nirvana and Nirvana made it okay to play loud guitars,” Faulkner said.

“Radio (bosses) were appalled, and they dropped us like a ton of bricks but it became a fan favourite live.”

The tour, which will feature fellow indie pop faves Ratcat and The Stems, will also clear up some of the myths behind the Gurus legacy.

Like the fact the 1983 hit My Girl is not a love song for a dog. Confusion about the song’s inspiration – it’s just another silly teen love song – was sparked by the iconic video starring a former greyhound champion.

“My Girl is not about a dog. The My Girl video is about a dog but the song is a tribute to those classic teen romance songs of the 60s, that re usually tragic,” he said.

“This one is tragic too because they end up not being together at the end of the song.”

Playing all 42 singles in the one setlist would require a two and a half hour show. So Faulkner plans to rotate the contenders over the tour and resurrect many of the songs radio rejected but he – and many fans – love.

“Big Deal is one of those I would say radio had a right to reject. It was just so overbearing and it was designed to confront people and singles are supposed to make people want to sing along,” he said.

“A song like Big Deal obviously has got a narrow audience, people that are a bit more extreme in their tastes.”

The band’s biggest hit What’s My Scene has a permanent spot in the Gurus playlist and not just in Australia.

The Hoodoo Gurus remain huge in South America and particularly Brazil courtesy of backpacking surfers in Bali who took pirate cassette tapes of the band’s hits back home.

“That was thanks to surfers in Bali in the 80s who took those bootleg cassette tapes back home with them,” he said.

“We never got any money for those tapes but we did finally get some benefit from them because it meant we could tour there.”

The Rewind tour opens at the Hindley Street Music Hall on November 28 and then heads to Perth’s Ice Cream Factory on December 1, Sydney’s Tumbalong Park on December 5, Melbourne’s Royal Botanic Gardens on December 6 and Brisbane’s Fortitude Music Hall on December 11.

Tickets are on sale from June 23 with pre-sale and all ticketing details via hoodoogurus.net/