Aussie Glam-Punk Vets Supernaut Unveil Tour & Final Single Plans

10 May 2016 | 4:09 pm | Staff Writer

Celebrating 40 years since their chart-beating 'I Like It Both Ways' first hit local ears

Cult-favourite West Australian glam-punk/new-wave outfit Supernaut (aka The Nauts) are shaking off the rust and hitting the road for a three-date whirlwind celebration of the 40th anniversary of their seminal hit, I Like It Both Ways.

Nine years on from their last performance together, band members Gary Twinn, Philip Foxman, Chris Burnham and Joe Burnham will restart the Supernaut engine for a trio of gigs that kicks off at The Basement, in Sydney, on Thursday 16 June, and takes in Rozelle's Bridge Hotel on 17 June and Melbourne's Ding Dong Lounge on 18 June.

The band will also release their final single, Fading Star, that month.

After being discovered by Molly Meldrum (by way of Sir Paul McCartney) in 1975, the band recorded I Like It Both Ways and immediately won fans across the country, finding eventual radio airplay and chart success with the track following a period of controversy that saw it banned on several stations. However, in the face of growing popularity, aided by their presence on shows such as Countdown and Bandstand, the wireless decided to let some starch out of its shirt and shepherded the song to a #5 chart peak, while the album on which it was included netted the band their first and only #1. Their video for I Like It Both Ways, produced by Paul Drake and the crew at Countdown, also brought the band success in the form of a TV Week Best Video award, which was complemented with a Best New Band Of The Year award. 

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They followed I Like It Both Ways' success with Too Hot To Touch, ultimately changing their name — and sound — in 1978, releasing a second album under their new name of The Nauts, by which time the band had traded glam ideals for a new-wave bent. They released another single, Unemployed, and a second album before parting ways in the early '80s. Their last live performance was on 2007's Countdown Spectacular.

For more information about the band's upcoming gigs, see their Facebook page.