BAND INFOA pop band from Sydney who achieved some hits. Steve Kipner's dad , Nat Kipner was one of Sydney's top producers and also owned the production / record company Spin. Nat worked with The Bee Gees on many of their early records and he gave his son's band lots of free time in his studio to record and write songs.
Their album was one of the rarest and best of the sixties. Predominantly comprised of decent originals, it also had a splattering of tight cover versions of Rosalyn, Farmer John, Love's Made A Fool Of You and Little Miss Rhythm And Blues.
Colin Petersen had been a child actor and would later travel to England to join The Bee Gees along with Vince Maloney. Peterson's replacement, Geoff Bridgford went on to The Groove, Tin Tin and also worked with The Bee Gees for a while, whilst Carl Keats also wrote some songs for The Bee Gees.
ALBUM REVIEW
All 16 tracks released by the band are included on this CD reissue of their sole album, which adds both sides of their two subsequent non-LP singles. Steve and the Board weren't out of this world, but they were an energetic, slightly above-average British Invasion-inspired band, leaning closer to the Beatles and the Mersey sound than raving R&B. Their biggest Australian hit, "The Giggle Eyed Goo," is actually a bit in the novelty vein and not too representative of most of their repertoire, which was dominated by original material. "I'm to Blame" is a nice, innocuous mating of the Mersey sound and the Byrds, while "Margot" goes more into the harder-charging sounds of mid-'60s mod rock, and "I Want" will probably be favored by garage fans for its high, droning, distorted guitar riff. "I Call My Woman Hinges 'Cause She's Something to Adore" is certainly one of the more oddball song titles of the era, and is like several of their other songs, a respectable midpoint between the R&B and pop wings of the British-influenced sound. The highlight, though, is the brooding, sublimely melodic rockaballad "Lonely Winter," which, incidentally, was recorded by the Bee Gees (with better vocals and a slightly fruitier arrangement) around the same time.
There's another Bee Gees connection in a cover of an early Barry Gibb song the Bee Gees never released, "Little Miss Rhythm & Blues," though this slow interpretation is markedly inferior to the fine up-tempo version of the song issued by Trevor Gordon in the mid-'60s. Of the non-LP cuts, "So Why Pretend" is about the best in its sort of Zombies-meets-1965 British beat boom sound, though none of them are that great. Unfortunately, there's virtually nothing in the way of informative liner notes on this expanded re-release, though it has a complete discography.
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BAND INFO
Biography by Richie Unterberger
The Australian band Steve & the Board made some decent if derivative British Invasion-style records in the mid-'60s, getting some success in Australia with the singles "The Giggle Eyed Goo" and "I Call My Woman Hinges 'Cause She's Something to Adore." All the members were in their late teens when they recorded for the Spin label, and their progress was no doubt eased by having a lead singer, Steve Kipner, whose dad Nat Kipner was the head of Spin Records. The group wasn't a mere manufactured boy band, though, as in fact much of their material was original, contributed by several members (though most often guitarist Carl Keats). In their blend of British R&B and pop/rock influences, their recordings were fairly solid straight-ahead rock that criss-crossed attributes of the Beatles, the Byrds, Merseybeat, and raunchier groups like the Pretty Things. They issued just one album, though, and a couple of non-LP singles. All of their sides are available on the Ascension CD reissue of the Steve and the Board ...and the Giggle Eyed Goo album, which adds the non-LP 45 cuts.
Steve & the Board's album had included a Barry Gibb song the Bee Gees never released, "Little Miss Rhythm & Blues," and one of the Keats songs on the LP, "Lonely Winter," would be recorded by the Bee Gees. The Bee Gees connections would continue in some other post-Steve & the Board careers, and in fact might be what the band is most known for. Drummer Colin Peterson would join the Bee Gees for a while in the late '60s; his replacement in Steve & the Board, Geoff Bridgeford, would himself be in the Bee Gees in the early '70s. Steve Kipner went on to be part of Tin Tin, which had a number 20 hit in 1971 with "Toast and Marmalade for Tea," and recorded a late-'70s solo album for Elektra. He's more well-known, though, as a mainstream pop songwriter, his most successful creation being "Let's Get Physical."
Pw: mza-garage.blogspot.com
Thank You I aways wanted to hear there music With the Tin Tin and Bee Gees connection
Holy cow, thanks for this! I've been wanting to hear this band for a long time. Can't wait! Thanks so much for all your fine, fine, super-fine posts!
Nice blog! thanks !
Would it be possible to request for the cd back cover of Steve & The Board and The Victors? thank you so much.
Many thanks from DownUnder!!
I HAVE THIS LP BUT I NEED IT FOR MY IPOD AND MY ITUNES. PLEASE GIVE ME THE PASSWORD
this is great! can't believe Steve went on to write "Genie in a bottle" hah!
gracias pablo
Hi there. Is the any chance you could re-up this album, please?
It is very hard to find and the links, at the moment, are dead.
It would be fantastic if you could reload it.
Cheers,
Oz
Pleez do re-up this one, kind sir...
Hi this band is from Brisbane and not Sydney.
http://primitifsounds.wordpress.com/2011/12/25/steve-and-the-board/
PLEEZ, pleez re-up?
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