Sun Arise

Rolf Harris in the early 60's

One of the earliest records I remember having that wasn't specifically for children was a 45 rpm single of "Tie Me Kangaroo Down Sport" by Rolf Harris. You will likely recall the distinctive sound of the Masonite 'wobble board' that began the tune. Because I was so young at the time and the song was so distinctively Australian, I didn't pick up on what most of the song was about, other than the references to kangaroos, cockatoos and koalas. But I'm fairly sure that the story of the stockman dying didn't upset me. I certainly didn't know what a didgeridoo was, or that "Let me Abo's go loose" referred to firing Aborigine farm workers. That particular verse of the song was edited out in December of 1964 at Harris' request, as the term "Abo" had been determined to be derogatory and racist.

In its original release in 1960, the record climbed to #1 in the Australian charts and was a Top 10 hit in the UK. In 1963, Harris re-recorded the song in the UK with George Martin(!) as producer and this remake of the song reached #3 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart. It also spent three weeks atop the 1963 Easy Listening chart.

An early 60's 45 picture sleeve for "Sun Arise"

"Tie Me Kangaroo Down Sport" was included as the Side 2 play-out track on Harris' 1963 album, "Sun Arise". Unlike many of his early chart hits, the song "Sun Arise" was not a Comedy or Folk recording, but fell more within the genre of world music. "Sun Arise" was written by Harris with fellow Western Australian, Harry Butler, a naturalist who became known for his television show, "In The Wild". The lyrics of the song came from a story Butler told him about Aboriginal beliefs. "Some tribes see the sun as a goddess. Each time she wakes in the morning, her skirts of light gradually cover more and more of the land, bringing back warmth and light to the air."

After the initial success of "Tie Me Kangaroo Down Sport", Harris had mistakenly assumed that all of his future recordings would be automatically released in the United Kingdom by his label, EMI Records. EMI instead directed him to work with George Martin, then known for producing some of the better novelty records of the time, for a bit of a makeover. Martin had initially called the song "very boring", but Harris countered by arguing that the Aborigines, who he was trying to imitate, would "repeat a musical phrase over and over again until it would become mesmerizing". "Sun Arise" was then slightly re-written with additional lyrics. and recorded using 8 double basses to mimic the rumbling sound of the didgeridoo, which Harris himself could not play at the time. Here's the original version of "Sun Arise" by Rolf Harris.

The original Alice Cooper band. Every parents nightmare.

It would be of typical character for the original Alice Cooper band to end an epic album like 1971's "Love It To Death" with the rousing chant of "Sun Arise... whoa-oh-oh"; especially after the doom 'n gloom of Side 1's closer, "Black Juju", and directly following their chilling exploration of madness, "Ballad Of Dwight Frye". To me, it always sounded like they were riding off into the sunset with their collective middle fingers held high. But now, I understand it was the first indicator that no matter how dark Alice Cooper got, or was going to get, that it would always be done with a conspiratorial wink. "Sun Arise" was Alice's way of letting us in on the gag; of blowing open the doors of his shadowy theater at the end of the show to let sunlight come streaming in to drive a fatal stake into the heart of the darkness. It's a major element of Alice's performances to this day, and we probably have producer Bob Ezrin to thank for it.

Another quick note on "Love It To Death". You'll never guess where I first heard this album, and when I tell you, you won't believe it. It was in my 8th grade music class at school! That day, we had a substitute teacher; a young woman who could not have been older than 23. She was very cute, very new to teaching, and instantly had everyone's undivided attention, especially from us boys. Any change from the routine was good, but we didn't know how good it was about to get.

An original pressing of "Love It To Death" on the Straight label.

So, instead of continuing with the same old boring musical curriculum, she had apparently decided to go with what she knew. She told us about this concert she had attended in Atlantic City recently that featured Humble Pie, along with a new band she didn't know named Alice Cooper. (This is 1971 we're talking about, so that show must have been awesome!) Anyway, Ms. Teacher told us that she had expected Alice Cooper to be some willowy folk singer like Joni Mitchell, and instead got this roaring monster of a band! I remember her saying that she could not believe how long their hair was. With that, she opened a paper bag and pulled out a copy of "Love It To Death", and then... she played the entire album!! In a classroom! She did stop every so often so we could talk about the music, and it's possible that she skipped over "Black Juju", but that was one mind-blowing day in music class. Today, she would likely have been called on the carpet big time for such an insurrectionist act. but I will always be grateful. Thanks, Ms. Substitute Teacher, wherever you are. On that day, you rocked our world! It was a rare bright spot in the hell that was Junior High.

Here's Alice Cooper's killer version of "Sun Arise". I'm sure Rolf Harris was very happy with this at the time.

If you had told me in the early 70's that Alice Cooper would still be recording new albums and touring constantly almost 40 years later, I'd have said that you were as crazy as Dwight Frye. But so it is. His tour schedule would exhaust many younger bands, and Alice is likely to turn up at a local golf course in the early morning of every tour stop. Must be that golf regimen that keeps him going. Like most of the Cooper catalog that remains in print, "Love It To Death" is available as a standard CD. But if you want to head uptown, there's a very nice 24k Gold edition, mastered by Steve Hoffman, or some new 180 gram vinyl available for you audiophiles. If you have none of the early Cooper classics on your collection, head straight for this 5 disc budget priced boxed set. No book or bonus tracks, but it's yours for less than 15 bucks, and has everything prior to their landmark album, "Billion Dollar Babies".

Unfortunately, things have taken a terribly sour turn for the legacy of Rolf Harris. After decades in the public eye of Britain as a family-friendly, all around entertainer and painter, the now 83 year old Harris is currently facing multiple charges of sexual assault; some involving minors. You'd think he would have learned something from the notorious cases of Gary Glitter and Jimmy Savile. Despite the internet being full of dissertations about why and how this behavior can happen, I find it inexcusable and will never understand it. So, unless this ugly business is resolved in Harris' favor by the British courts, I can not, in good conscience, recommend the purchase of any of his recordings.