Neo-Magics played at an art school party on Saturday 2nd November 1985 at a share house in Dryandra Street, O’Connor (an inner-city suburb of Canberra). They played a whole bunch of Velvet Underground covers and possibly “Hang On Sloopy” or “Louie Louie” or maybe neither. Forty odd years later, I get permission from one of the other band members (Lindsay, the original Plunderers drummer) to keep the flame alive. A dozen songs are chosen to get the Neo-Magic stamp.

My favourite album of cover songs is Pin Ups by David Bowie, which is like a concept album because Bowie does Ziggy-style versions of songs that were around when he started playing in Swinging London in the mid-60s. I wanted to do an album of covers that tried to keep a similar 60s/Velvets vibe throughout but my song choice is all over the shop – old faves and some more ‘recent’. I also really loved Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds Kicking Against the Pricks album of covers, but when I went to the shelf to have a listen, I realised I must have sold it a few years ago! Silly me.

1. Keep You with Mine (Love Positions)
2. Ghost Ships (The Saints)
3. Leaving on a Jet Plane (John Denver)
4. Acid Tongue (Jenny Lewis)
5. Come Back Again (Daddy Cool)
6. (I’m) Stranded (The Saints)
7. I Love You (Steve Miller Band)
8. Le Freak (Chic)
9. Shake It Off (Taylor Swift)
10. Pump Up the Jam (Techtronic)
11. Groove is in the Heart (Deee-lite)
12. Red Sleeping Beauty (McCarthy)

Despite “Keep You with Mine” being on an album I put out with Robyn St Clare from the Hummingbirds in 1989, this recording of her song is the first and only time I have ever played this song (Robyn recorded the Love Positions original version by herself).

The version of “Leaving in A Jet Plane”, which features my wife Tandarra with her debut lead vocals, was inspired by a 1990 b-side by Californian band Downy Mildew, where they blended “Leaving On A Jet Plane” with Velvet Underground’s “Sunday Morning” into one gorgeous song. Listen to Downy Mildew’s song here on YouTube!

The Plunderers always wanted to add The Manhattans 1976 smash hit “Kiss and Say Goodbye” to our live set but we could never work out how to tackle (or remember the words!) to the spoken intro to the song. How about just not doing it?

Apart from the well-known songs (Daddy Cool, Saints, Taylor Swift, Deee-Lite) there are also covers of some of my favourite songs by Jenny Lewis, Steve Miller Band and McCarthy (featuring Tim Gane, who went on to form Stereolab). All the drum tracks (and most of the bass and some guitars and all of “Come Back Again”) were recorded in 2018 and I finished all the songs in the first half of 2025.