Pub rock (Australia)

Sunday Observance Acts were repealed, pub opening hours were extended, discriminatory regulations — such as the long-standing ban on women entering or drinking in public bars — were removed, and in the 1970s the age of legal majority was lowered from 21 to 18.

Concurrently, the members of the so-called "Baby Boomer" generation — who were the main audience for pop and rock music — were reaching their late teens and early twenties, and were thus able to enter such licensed premises.

In the early 1970s, Sydney-based groups such as Billy Thorpe & The Aztecs, Blackfeather and Buffalo pioneered the Australian pub rock sound.

They developed a heavy sound and in July 1970, Warren 'Pig' Morgan (piano, backing vocals) had joined and the band recorded The Hoax Is Over, which was released in January 1971.

Many city and suburban pubs gained renown for their support of live music, and many prominent Australian bands — including AC/DC,[8] Cold Chisel,[9] The Angels[10] and The Dingoes[11] — developed their style at these venues in the early days of their careers.

[8] He found that Cold Chisel "fused a combination of rockabilly, hard rock and rough-house soul'n'blues that was defiantly Australian in outlook".

This would allow bands such as AC/DC, Cold Chisel, INXS, Midnight Oil, Rose Tattoo and others to build their reputation and take their live skills into large venues in the US and Europe with ease.

Several Australian pub rock bands, including Cosmic Psychos and feedtime, directly influenced the emergent grunge scene in the United States in the late 1980s and early 1990s.