New Wave Outpost Forum

by **tory** » Mon May 24, 2004 9:21 pm

In the late 70s early 80s I was in various punk/new wave bands of a minor nature in Sydney, Australia. Sometimes I used to work on the door of a venue for a friend of mine, Joseph, who was a promoter. Joseph came from Canberra where he and another friend, David, had previously played in a band with Steve Kilbey and Peter Koppes.

Joseph later told me what he claimed was the story behind the lyrics to the Church's first great hit "Unguarded Moment". Apparently, Joseph and David had thrown Kilbey out of their band, and the great lyricist had taken this ejection somewhat to heart, though by the time the Church was formed they were all good friends again.

David's girfriend was possessed of a sharp wit and had often used it at Kilbey's expense. So she was the girl with a rifle for a mind in the first verse. David himself had when a child survived being kicked in the chest by a horse. So he was man with a horse for heart in the second verse. Joseph was well known as an ambitious and unemotional person who played the basis with some precision but little emotion. So Joseph was the friend with cameras for eyes in the third verse.

by **unguarded moment** » Mon May 24, 2004 11:29 pm

tory, what a great story! As you can guess by my username, I am a huge (well, I'm not THAT big!) Church fan, have been since around 1982. I don't really care much for The Church after Starfish but the first four albums are some of THE best examples of g

by **tory** » Mon May 24, 2004 11:52 pm

I haven't heard 'Seance' for years. I seem to remember it was a curate's egg of an album, good in parts. I agree that the first 4 albums were the best (Skins and Heart, Blurred Crusade, Seance and Heyday?) The EPs Persia and Remote Luxury (which I boug

by **Glen** » Tue May 25, 2004 1:21 am

I have been carrying the Church torch for years...have all their albums. The latest, "Forget Yourself," is terrific and I highly recommend it. Funny thing about "Unguarded Moment," is that for some reason, the band hates the song and will not play it live

by **romanticide** » Thu Jun 03, 2004 2:00 pm

My wife and I first saw the Church in 1984 on the Remote Luxury tour. We later saw them on the Heyday, Starfish, Hologram of Baal, Box of Birds, and After Everything, Now This tours. Agree that the early stuff was the best, but every concert has been am

by **golfer** » Thu Jun 03, 2004 6:21 pm

i reckon "priest=aura" is a great album....really, really smooth and textural. try it!![;)]

by **Ollie Stench** » Fri Jun 04, 2004 3:04 am

Tory, what bands were you in? Any of the bands that ended up on the Murder Punk comps?

by **unguarded moment** » Fri Jun 04, 2004 9:08 am

I saw The Church in concert in Seattle around '85 and one of their encore songs was "The Unguarded Moment". Needless to say, the crowd went nuts. It was probably near the time that Kilbey & company decided to banish the tune forever after that. Persona

by **romanticide** » Fri Jun 04, 2004 2:23 pm

Atlanta was the final show on their 1985 (Heyday) tour, and Kilbey's voice was toast, so there were a lot of extended version guitar jams. Pretty amazing stuff.

I'm jealous you got to see "The Unguarded Moment" in concert. Did they play it straight u

by **golfer** » Fri Jun 04, 2004 5:05 pm

Yes Tory, which bands were you in. There weren't too many in Sydney during that period I did not see or "work front of house" with. Maybe we have met? Remember that period inner city was very "incestuous" with the major venues being the Trade Union Club,

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