''Hee Haw'' is the second release and first EP by the Australian

post-punk Post-punk (originally called new musick) is a broad genre of music that emerged in late 1977 in the wake of punk rock. Post-punk musicians departed from punk's fundamental elements and raw simplicity, instead adopting a broader, more experiment ...

band the Boys Next Door (later renamed the Birthday Party). The ''Hee Haw'' EP was released in 1979 by the independent label,

Missing Link Records Missing Link Records was an Australian-based independent record label established in 1977. The Missing Link label was created by Keith Glass (singer-guitarist ex- Cam-Pact) and David Pepperell (journalist and vocalist, ex-The Union) who were th ...

Background

By 1978-9, the Boys Next Door were making efforts to distinguish themselves from

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

punk Punk or punks may refer to: Genres, subculture, and related aspects * Punk rock, a music genre originating in the 1970s associated with various subgenres * Punk subculture, a subculture associated with punk rock, or aspects of the subculture s ...

and

bands. The core members –

Nick Cave Nicholas Edward Cave (born 22 September 1957) is an Australian musician, writer, and actor who fronts the rock band Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds. Known for his baritone voice, Cave's music is characterised by emotional intensity, a wide variety ...

Mick Harvey Michael John Harvey (born 29 August 1958) is an Australian musician, singer-songwriter, composer, arranger and record producer. A multi-instrumentalist, he is best known for his long-term collaborations with Nick Cave, with whom he formed The ...

Phill Calvert Phillip Calvert (born 11 January 1958) is an Australian rock drummer and producer best known for his playing in the post-punk band The Birthday Party with Nick Cave. History At the private boys' school Caulfield Grammar in the early 1970s, Ca ...

and

Tracy Pew Tracy Franklin Pew (19 December 1957 – 7 November 1986) was an Australian musician, and bassist for The Birthday Party. He was later a member of The Saints, and worked with Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds. As a member of the Birthday Party, Pe ...

– had been joined by

Rowland S. Howard Rowland Stuart Howard (24 October 1959 – 30 December 2009) was an Australian rock musician, guitarist and songwriter, best known for his work with the post-punk group The Birthday Party (band), The Birthday Party and his subsequent solo career ...

on guitar in 1978. The Boys Next Door released an album (''

Door, Door ''Door, Door'' is the debut album by Australian rock band The Boys Next Door. The album was recorded before the band left Australia for London in 1980, at which point they changed their name to The Birthday Party and created the body of work ...

'') on the

Mushroom A mushroom or toadstool is the fleshy, spore-bearing Sporocarp (fungi), fruiting body of a fungus, typically produced above ground on soil or another food source. ''Toadstool'' generally refers to a poisonous mushroom. The standard for the n ...

label in 1979 (recorded in separate sessions in mid-1978 and early 1979). After the release of ''Door Door'', the Boys Next Door transferred to the independent label,

, and took on label owner

Keith Glass Keith Robert Glass (born 17 September 1946) is an Australian country music singer-songwriter, guitarist, musical theatre actor, record label owner, producer and journalist. In April 1967 he formed a soul music group, Cam-Pact, which released fou ...

as their manager.‘Boys Next Door / Birthday Party’ (article)
'Howlspace' web-site. Cave said, "We played 'Hee Haw''to

Michael Gudinski Michael Solomon Gudinski AM (22 August 1952 – 2 March 2021) was an Australian record executive and promoter who was a leading figure in the Australian music industry. Born and raised in Melbourne, Gudinski formed the highly successful Austr ...

Mushroom Records Mushroom Records was an Australian flagship record label, founded in 1972 in Melbourne. It published and distributed many successful Australian artists and expanded internationally, until it was merged with Festival Records in 1998. Festival ...

and he wasn't really interested." The tracks for the ''Hee Haw'' EP were recorded during July and August 1979 at Richmond Recorders in Melbourne, engineered by

Tony Cohen Anthony Lawrence Cohen (4 June 19572 August 2017) was an Australian music record producer and sound engineer. He worked with Nick Cave's groups the Birthday Party, and then the Bad Seeds from 1979 to 2001. In mid-1986 he followed Cave to Lond ...

. The five-track EP was released in December 1979. The artwork on the cover and insert sheet was done by Marcus Bergner.

Music

The ''Hee Haw'' EP represents a musical departure from the relatively conventional punk/pop songs on ''Door Door''. The EP introduces a more abrasive, rhythmic and exploratory sound that was further developed when the band re-located to the UK (and changed their name to the Birthday Party). Two of the songs on the EP, "The Red Clock" and "The Hair Shirt", the former sung by Rowland S. Howard and the latter by Nick Cave, were included on the Boys Next Door's second album entitled ''The Birthday Party'' in 1980. The songs on the EP and ''The Birthday Party'' LP appeared on the 1989 Birthday Party compilation album, also titled ''Hee Haw''.

Track listing

#"A Catholic Skin" (

) #"The Red Clock" (

) #"Faint Heart" (Nick Cave) #"Death by Drowning" (Rowland S. Howard) #"The Hair Shirt" (Nick Cave)

Re-release

The EP was reissued in Australia in December 1983 by Missing Link (ING008), credited to the Birthday Party.Strong, Martin C. (2003) ''The Great Indie Discography'', Canongate, , p. 25 It was also reissued by the same label in 1987 credited to Boys Next Door.

Hee Haw (1989)

The tracks from the original ''Hee Haw'' EP were re-released on CD by

4AD 4AD is a British record label owned by Beggars Group. It was founded in London under the name Axis Records by Ivo Watts-Russell and Peter Kent in 1980 as an imprint of Beggars Banquet Records. The name was changed to 4AD after the release of th ...

on 7 August 1989 as part of a compilation of early recordings under the name of the Birthday Party; this album was also called ''Hee Haw''.Raggett, Ned " ''Hee Haw'' Review,

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

, retrieved 13 June 2010 It includes all the tracks from the original ''Hee Haw'' EP by the Boys Next Door and from their second album entitled '' The Birthday Party'' (before they changed the band name to the album title).

Track listing

Band members

− vocals *

− guitar, organ, bass (on 'Death by Drowning') *

− guitar, saxophone *

− bass, clarinet *

− drums

References

External links

The Birthday Party lyrics
fro
Nick Cave OnlineNick Cave discography pre-2000
{{The Birthday Party 1979 debut EPs The Birthday Party (band) albums