Anyone who knows me well, will know who my main musical obsession was when I was a teen.
I enjoyed listening to a lot of bands including many of the more outlandish ones in the New Romantic movement, plus I liked a good dose of Eurythmics, Pat Benatar or Bruce Springsteen rock
My uncle tried to give me musical guidance by taking me to a Black Sabbath concert for my 13th birthday and playing his extensive record collection to me, including The Runaways, Patti Smith and the obligatory Deep Purple. And he was also learning to play the guitar so I heard the rifts of Smoke on the Water so many times….
The eighties were the era of Aussie pub rock. The Divinyls, the Angels, Cold Chisel, INXS, QED, Uncanny X-Men, Dynamic Hepnotics, Koo de Tah, Hoodoo Gurus. I listened to them all. If it was on Countdown, I knew about them.
But the band that became my obsession was one that I could dive through the audience and dance at the front of the stage, a band I could reach out and touch (or photograph badly)
A band that was more accessible than just a video clip on television or an appearance on Countdown.
A band that played gigs at the local rissole (RSL) so I could con various adult family members to sneak me in to see them play.
A band that did outdoor concerts that were free for all, perfect for my meagre pocket money budget.
A band that did under 18′s concerts that I could attend without adult chaperones guarding over me.
MOVING PICTURES
Their records rarely came off my record player, much to my younger brother’s dismay. He had the room adjoining my bedroom.
At 16, I met the lead singer Alex Smith at one of the free all-day concerts at Birkenhead Point, Drummoyne.
Then 21 years later, when Alex Smith and Charlie Cole did a reunion acoustic tour including Coffs Harbour, I caught up with Alex again. Being at the reunion gig made me feel 16 again. And my meeting with him afterwards was the catalyst for a manuscript, I’m with the Band.
If I’d had my head together before the gig, I would’ve printed the first photo and asked Alex to sign it. Instead the second photo was taken without reference to the first. 21 years have passed and we still have the same pose. Eerie.
Moving Pictures are known today only for ‘What about Me?” which is a shame, because there was so much more to their music. But only three albums were made due to contractual problems in the U.S and many of the fabulous songs I heard live over the years were never recorded. So I offer you a different song and a sample of Moving Pictures live in concert. Enjoy “Wings”.
What a terrible shame about Moving Pictures’ contractual problems. So cool that you got to do a 7-Up-style photo op with Alex Smith, though! I’m pretty sure my older sister had a thing for him.
By: Vanessa Barneveld on May 24, 2009
at 1:21 pm
I loved Moving Pictures, and Alex’s voice is just superb. Never got a chance to see them in concert though, darn.
By: natalie hatch on May 24, 2009
at 2:02 pm
Nat, you definitely missed out. Moving Pics were fabulous live (very dynamic band) and Alex still has a superb voice. Not like other old Aussie rockers who are losing voice and physicality rapidly but are still trying to perform.
By: Diane Curran on May 24, 2009
at 3:42 pm
I never knew Alex or his music prior to ’97 and then didn’t know of his previous history for some time, but worked with him in a school for children with special educational needs where we both work to this day. You’d be glad to know that he puts his talent to great effect to benefit the children that we work with.
By: Robert on January 1, 2010
at 5:53 am
Alex released a single after Moving Pictures broke up. I can’t remember what it was called and I can’t find it on the net anywhere..Does anyone remember. I think it might have been 7 days or 24 hours or something…
Thanks
By: Mr Tanner on November 10, 2010
at 3:32 pm
OHHH MY GOD !!!! I heard Moving Pictures when I was on hols in Aus in 1988 and have been trying to find this track (Angels) since, just couldn’t remember what it was called or even the bands name. All I could remember was the words ”I thought that Angels all had wings, you must have left yours at the door” IT AND MOVING PICTURES ARE SOOOOO GOOD.
By: Tom on November 26, 2010
at 9:56 pm
The single released by Alex Smith was called ‘This Time Tomorrow’. Other song was ‘Photograph’. It occasionally pops up on Ebay.
By: Diane Curran on December 12, 2010
at 11:23 am
Love the pictures Di, that is so cool about meeting up with him again. It was a great time, even though it was a bit daggy. LOL
By: Nicki Flockton on December 13, 2010
at 12:03 pm
well ,well. Love the photo Diane. Pretty surreal about
the pose By the way WE (moving pictures) will be playing
in Syd and Melb at the end of July….. you heard it here first!
By: alex smith on April 30, 2011
at 12:26 am
Hi Diane….. it’s me!!
Moving Pictures playing in Syd and Melb
at the end of July….. Thanks for remembering Alex
By: alex smith on April 30, 2011
at 12:27 am
that is so cool
By: jennjmcleod on May 6, 2011
at 8:50 pm
[...] receive a blog comment from the lead singer of Moving Pictures on the We Love YA blog where she had blogged about her teenage musical obsession. Seizing the day, she invited Alex Smith to an interview on her Write on Track blog to promote the [...]
By: Cruisin’ the Blog and Members News « Romance Writers of Australia on May 8, 2011
at 8:05 am
[...] after Alex Smith popped up on my blog post about Moving Pictures, and announced a Moving Pictures tour in July, I couldn’t resist asking him for an [...]
By: 30 Years of Innocence: Interview with Alex Smith (Moving Pictures) « We love YA on May 8, 2011
at 9:09 am
What a great sneak peak into your teenagehood – and you are soooooooooooo lucky that you got to meet your hero not once but twice! YAY YOU!
Hugs
By: Serena on May 8, 2011
at 3:06 pm
Actually Serena, there was another time in between those two photos, probably 1986. I think it was a gig at Scandals Nightclub at Campbelltown. I just didn’t have a camera that time.
By: Diane Curran on May 8, 2011
at 3:17 pm
Hi there,,
Just in case Alex Smith pops up here again, I want to say how ‘sad sad sad’ we are that the Melbourne concert has been cancelled.
My girlfriends and I had our tickets and our 80s dance moves ready to go in July…I guess we will have to dust off our LPs and be happy with the memories of..
CAZNCREW
By: cazncrew1@bigpond.com on May 26, 2011
at 11:47 am
Extremely disappointing for all the Melbourne fans, Caz. And ‘unforeseen circumstances’ – it’s not quite an explanation.
By: Diane Curran on May 26, 2011
at 8:09 pm
Loved the interview Diane. Somewhere in cyberspace saw Moving Pictures were touring. I lived in South Africa when they were around, and we all sang “What About Me”. It was many years later when I returned to Australia that I realised Alex was the vocalist. We met when he was lead of a band called Bullet – that must have been around 1973 – and he wrote me lovely letters. If you read this blog Alex I say hello, and sadly ruin your rock “star status” by remembering how sweet you were to me.
By: Rob on May 30, 2011
at 9:43 pm
To Rob, I was never in Bullet , Although they did play at my highschool dance once.
I remember them, and I remember the confusion when They said ‘Alex Smith is going to sing a song now”….. I was still at highschool in 1973…. although I was already singing in a band. I am sorry but that Alex (Bullet) and this Alex Moving Pictures) are not the same person…. regards I may be old But I am not that old!
By: alex smith on June 4, 2011
at 10:23 pm
OMG. I am such a Moving Pictures fan. I was so pleased to find this site. Unfortunately living in a small town in QLD I never got to see them live, but was glued to the TV whenever they were on Countdown. Was madly in love with Alex Smith and have the CD “This TIme Tomorrow”. Alex if you keep up with this site thank you for your music. I have just ordered a Moving Pictures CD over the internet as my original Days of Innocence record was scratched whilst moving. Thanks again
By: tracey on July 2, 2011
at 1:23 am
the eighties great time of our lives. I was fortunate enough to meet alex a couple of times when he was with baby loves to cha cha. then at the eastwood hotel when the complete band was there. andy,alex, mark, ian and a guy called ken francis. that nite they played under the name third coming. phil
By: phil on December 4, 2011
at 10:56 am
When the Moving Pictures concert in Melbourne was cancelled, the first thing to do apart from have a big cry – was book a flight and tickets to Sydney. It was sooooooooooo worth it. Alex Smith sounds and looks just as good now as he did back then. I remember going to see Moving Pictures on Countdown many times (I was lucky enough to have my Dad work there). Someone from Empire Touring told me there was going to be a DVD of the show from the State Theatre????
By: Sal on January 6, 2012
at 3:32 pm