Angry Anderson ProfileIf you want to know about Angry Anderson, all you have to do is place the needle on track one, side one on Rose Tattoo’s self-titled debut album.
“I don’t need lots of people tellin’ me what to do,” Angry declares. “All I need is a rock ’n’ roll band, somewhere new to play and I’m on my way, I’m on my way.”
Yes, Gary “Angry” Anderson was a Rock ’n’ Roll Outlaw. But there was much more to his life than just that.
Born in Melbourne in 1947, The Beatles changed young Gary’s life.
“When we first heard the Beatles on the radio, I went straight down to the shop and told them there was this new English group soon to be releasing records here. I told them, ‘Whatever comes in, I want it.’
“I remember playing Beatles records … I used to open the windows to our house and push the radiogram right up because I wanted people to know that I had a Beatles record.”
Gary even had a Beatles haircut. And then, later in the ’60s, he had long hair, almost to his bum.
“I was a real flag waver. I went to the protests and marched down the street yelling things like ‘Ban the bomb’ and ‘Frogs out of the Pacific’. We were really optimistic.
“In the 1970s I really believed that by the 1990s the world would be a wonderful place. I believed in all that getting back to nature and people power. But I never called myself a hippie at the time. I didn’t realise that’s what I was.”
Melbourne radio legend Billy Pinnell befriended Gary at the start of the ’70s when he was in a band called Peace Power And Purity. They bonded over their mutual love of Jeff Beck.
“First of all, I wanted to be like all the great blues guitar players,” Angry recalled. “Then I wanted to be like Bob Dylan, then of course I wanted to be like John Lennon.”
It was at the Station Hotel in Prahran that Gary Anderson received the nickname that would stay with him for the rest of his life.
When a bloke named Mangy Mick got into a fight, Gary jumped in to help him. Mangy Mick was impressed. “Hey, what about the ant, the angry ant,” he exclaimed.
The name stuck. “And it suited me,” Gary smiled. “I was an angry little ant.”
Mangy Mick was also a big influence on Angry’s distinctive look. When Mangy was thinning on top, he opted for a then radical solution – shaving his head. Angry loved it. “It was the coolest thing, it was great.”
Soon after, Angry adopted the same look.
Angry’s first major band was Buster Brown, who formed in Melbourne in 1973 and featured drummer Phil Rudd, who would later join AC/DC.
“The beauty of Buster was it was a real tiger on the end of a rope,” Angry reflected. “It was a real happening band. The music was like high-level intensity, the way it was played.
“The characters were really phosphorous, easily ignitable people, and it made for great chemistry.”
Angry had found his calling: he was meant to be the frontman of a wild rock ’n’ roll band.
“I was into everything,” Angry admitted. “I was doing loads of dope, loads of booze, and I was finally living the lifestyle where it was not only accepted, it was encouraged. People within the industry wanted people like me to be like I was.”
After Buster Brown, Angry relocated to Sydney where he joined Rose Tattoo. The band had one rule – all the members had to be tattooed.
Many venues refused to book the band because they looked so frightening.
“We’d go for a job interview, and we’d turn up looking like a member of Rose Tattoo, so of course we’d never get the job,” Angry remembered, “which was fantastic because we didn’t want it anyway.
“But the great thing about the band was that it was just so arrogantly, so bombastically self-assured,” Angry added. “There was no stopping it.”
There was a great description of Rose Tattoo in Angry’s official biography, Scarred For Life, written by Karen Dewey.
“It was larger than life, anything goes. It was macho and ugly and loud and dangerous, and it was everything Angry was looking for. As far as he’s concerned, the members of Rose Tattoo were all bent and desperate in their own ways. They were all misfits, performing for misfit crowds.”
Angry spoke about the band’s mission statement in Rolling Stone’s Big Australian Rock Book in 1985: “It’s the dedication, the very heartfelt obligation of Rose Tattoo to appeal to everyone who has a heart and a soul, who lets life affect them on an emotional level. What about the kids who are being brought up in the suburbs today?
“Society’s turning a lot of people into desperados, and the numbers are growing. These are the people for whom Rose Tattoo speaks: the dispossessed.”
Legendary producer Mark Opitz worked with the band when he started at Alberts, mixing Bad Boy For Love and recording a killer cover of The Kinks’ You Really Got Me – before Van Halen did the song.
“I remember Mark later told me how intimidated he was when we first came into the studio,” Angry laughed when he recounted the recording session to me. “Not many blokes looked like us back in those days, and he thought, ‘What am I doing? If I do anything wrong, they’re going to kill me.’
“I’ve got no doubt he thought his life was in danger.”
Sadly, the Tatts version of You Really Got Me was never released and the master tapes were lost. “We cut a monster version of the song, it was fucking amazing,” Angry told me.
“Not many people know about it, but it’s one of the great tragedies of Australian rock.”
Karen Dewey reflected on the glory days of Rose Tattoo: “It was like they were living in the world’s longest rock and roll party. Many nights just degenerated into orgies of sex, drugs and alcohol.”
AC/DC didn’t respect many other bands, but they dug the Tatts.
“Bon [Scott] loved Rose Tattoo, and Bon and Angus [Young] were very supportive. They said, ‘You guys have gotta get a deal and get out of here [Australia].’
“And we couldn’t get signed. I mean, we couldn’t get arrested – well, we got arrested all too frequently, which was part of the problem, but we couldn’t get a record deal. The boys brought George [Young] and Harry [Vanda] down … thankfully they gave us a deal.”
Rose Tattoo made their first four albums with Vanda & Young, including their self-titled debut, which ended up in the book The 100 Best Australian Albums.
“AC/DC presented a cartoonish version of the hard rockin’, hard livin’ lifestyle,” the authors stated, “but Rose Tattoo were the real thing.”
Angry also had a softer side.
“I’ve always loved Sherbet,” he admitted, “but the reason I so publicly put shit on them was because Angry Anderson, the frontman for Rose Tattoo, would not be expected to love Sherbet, where in truth, I loved pop music.”
Angry’s biggest hit was the ballad Suddenly, which was used as the soundtrack to one of the highest-rating moments in Australian TV history – the wedding of Scott (Jason Donovan) and Charlene (Kylie Minogue) in Neighbours, which was watched by 20 million viewers in the UK.
Kylie called the song “lyrically beautiful”.
Becoming a father inspired the song. “It was about that all-consuming love that we have for our children,” Angry explained.
Suddenly hit number three on the UK charts, and reached number two in Australia, three in Ireland, 11 in New Zealand, and 31 in Belgium.
Angry performed Suddenly on Top Of The Pops in the UK.
Angry had another big solo hit with Bound For Glory, which hit number 11 in 1990, and was used by Australia’s Paralympic movement. Angry also sang the song at the 1991 AFL Grand Final.
In the AFL Record for this weekend’s Grand Final, Angry’s appearance is included in The 10 Greatest & Most Infamous AFL Grand Final Music Moments.
“Angry Anderson belting out Bound For Glory while riding around Waverley Park in a blue Batmobile remains perhaps the strangest image in Grand Final entertainment history,” writes Shaun Gough.
“Why a Batmobile? More than three decades later, nobody really needs an answer. It has transcended the performance and become Australian sporting folklore.”
Aussie guitar great Lobby Loyde believed, “There was nothing like Rose Tattoo anywhere else in the world. I mean, really, there was nothing out there with that edge. If these guys were anywhere else in the world, they’d be fucking enormous! It was just one of those tragedies that they were in the wrong country.”
Vanda & Young always believed the Tatts were destined for international success. Whenever the band suffered any setbacks in Australia, “George and Harry used to say, ‘Don’t worry about it! Your future is not here.’”
Rose Tattoo appeared on the cover of UK magazine Sounds for the first time on July 18, 1981. At the same time, the metal chart in Melody Maker had Bad Boy For Love at number six, and Rock ’n’ Roll Outlaw at number eight.
Sounds gave the first two Rose Tattoo albums five-star reviews. “There’s been only six albums this year so far worth five stars and Rose Tattoo have made two of them,” Garry Bushell wrote in their September 12, 1981 issue.
Rose Tattoo were voted Best New Band for 1981 in UK magazine Kerrang!
The Tatts were again featured on the cover of Sounds on December 11, 1982, with Bushell declaring, “Musically, they’re Rod Stewart and the Faces for the ’80s.”
Another UK reviewer said: “They’re even less delightful than AC/DC, Rolf Harris, the Chopper Squad, and Ian Chappell all rolled into one, and are led by a bald-headed midget called Angry Anderson.”
The Rock ’n’ Roll Outlaw single charted in Germany and France. It also peaked at number 60 in the UK in July 1981. And the band’s second album, Assault And Battery, was a Top 40 hit in the UK, peaking at 40 in September 1981.
In the early ’80s, Rose Tattoo did shows in the US with Aerosmith and ZZ Top. “It’s probably bittersweet now to reflect that we stood in ’82, ’83 right on the brink of becoming like Guns N’ Roses,” Angry told Murray Engleheart for Blood, Sweat & Beers, his seminal book on Aussie pub rock.
“We were either too late or too early or something. It didn’t happen, but it was all there. So ever present, you could taste it.”
The band’s Rock ’n’ Roll Outlaw album (the retitled version of their debut) charted in the US in 1980, spending three weeks in the Billboard 200, peaking at number 197.
Despite their lack of commercial success, the Tatts did influence Guns N’ Roses, who even covered the band’s Nice Boys on their first release, the 1986 EP Live ?!*@ Like A Suicide, and on their 1988 album, G N’R Lies.
“When people ask me what bands I was influenced by, I’ll go Rose Tattoo and The Angels and AC/DC,” Slash says, “and they’re like, ‘Who’s Rose Tattoo?’ I’m like, ‘You never heard of them?’ We did a killer version of Nice Boys.”
“Axl [Rose] and I had done stuff together before we’d heard Rose Tattoo, but I think when we heard them it just gave us that much more steam, that much more power,” Guns N’ Roses co-founder Izzy Stradlin told Murray Engleheart.
Axl saw Rose Tattoo on their first American tour in 1982. “He just thought they were the greatest thing ever,” Izzy revealed.
Izzy bought the band’s third album, Scarred For Life. “We got a hold of a copy and, man, we went to all the record stores and we bought like a lot of copies! They weren’t a pretty-looking bunch of guys, but they sounded so fucking good. We were hooked as soon as we heard it.”
In December 1988, Guns N’ Roses toured Australia for the first time. Their opening act, Kings Of The Sun, accused them of ripping off Rose Tattoo.
At their Sydney show, Axl Rose told the crowd: “We ain’t no fucking Rose Tattoo rip-off. They’re just one of my favourite fucking bands, that’s all. We put a Rose Tattoo song on our record because we wanted people in America to listen to some bitchin’ Australian band.”
Angry re-formed Rose Tattoo when Guns N’ Roses insisted they play with them on their 1993 Australian tour. And Angry jumped up with the band when they toured Australia in 2017.
The late James Freud recalled seeing the Tatts play at the Marquee Club in London. “Angry was all fired up and ended the set by head-butting a Marshall amp, knocking himself out cold. The roadies brought him around and he finished the last song with blood streaming down his face ... very rock ’n’ roll.”
Alberts legend Fifa Riccobono tells a funny story about travelling 38 hours to see Rose Tattoo play at a festival in Nantes in France. As soon as the first note was struck, a beer can hit Angry in the head. He threw it back into the crowd, a riot ensued, and Angry stormed off the stage and refused to return. Fifa travelled 38 hours for one note.
Rose Tattoo were inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame in 2006.
The entry for the band in The Encyclopedia of Australian Rock and Pop, by Ian McFarlane, starts: “In the pantheon of Australian hard rock, Rose Tattoo stands as one of the most revered bands of all time.”
Angry’s political beliefs helped inspire Rose Tattoo’s fourth album, 1984’s Southern Stars, which was inspired by the Eureka Stockade, the 1854 miners uprising in Ballarat.
“My loyalty has always been to those wonderful words of the diggers’ oath,” Angry explained.
“We swear by the Southern Cross, to stand truly by each other, and fight to defend our rights and liberties.”
At the 2013 federal election, Angry ran for the National Party for the seat of Throsby (now known as Whitlam), under his real name of Gary Anderson. He received 10 per cent of the vote.
I didn’t agree with Angry’s politics, but he was always a joy to interview. He was generous, open and honest. And he wasn’t shy about sharing his opinions.
As Wilbur Wilde said, “Angry was one of those truly larger-than-life characters, a genuine Australian rock ’n’ roll original. Tough as nails on the outside, but underneath it all was a bloke with an enormous heart, a wicked sense of humour and an incredible passion for his music, his mates and the people he loved.”
And Marcia Hines called him, “One of the most kind and thoughtful guys in rock and roll”.
Mark Opitz reunited with Angry and Rose Tattoo to make the 2007 album Blood Brothers. The producer is particularly proud of the song Once In A Lifetime. He told me that Angry cried when he heard the final mix.
Angry also had an acting career, appearing in the third Mad Max movie, Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome, playing Ironbar Bassey, alongside Mel Gibson and Tina Turner.
And on the stage, Angry played Lenin in Rasputin in 1987, and King Herod in Jesus Christ Superstar in 1992.
In the ’80s and ’90s, Anderson worked as a youth commentator on Ray Martin’s top-rating Midday Show on Channel Nine.
The TV star contributed the foreword to Scarred For Life.
“The simple truth is Angry Anderson is a great communicator,” Ray Martin wrote.
“This is a man who feels deeply for others and wears his emotions in public. This is a wild rock and roller … no wonder they snared him for the Mad Max movie. He had attitude, long before it was trendy.
“Now, Angry is a good mate of mine. He’s warm and loyal and persistent. And decent. His energy and commitment to charity work and battlers, especially where kids are at stake, is extraordinary.”
Angry had long associations with the Prince of Wales Children’s Hospital, Camperdown Children’s Hospital, Ronald McDonald House and Bear Cottage. He was also involved in Odyssey House’s drug rehabilitation program and Oasis, the Salvation Army centre for street kids.
In 1993, Angry was made a Member of the Order of Australia “in recognition of service to the community, particularly as a youth advocate”.
His legend will live on. When footballer Angus Anderson debuted for Collingwood this year, the commentators immediately dubbed him “Angry”.
Many years ago, Pete Wells mused in Rolling Stone: “A band like Duran Duran – how long a lifespan will they have? But with us, well, Angry at 50 years old is going to look awful, but he’s going to be better than he is today.”
Pete was right. Angry remained a formidable force until his death.
And like Slim Dusty, Angry died with his boots on. He was touring Europe, celebrating Rose Tattoo’s 50th anniversary, when he suffered a cardiac arrest.
The Southern Stars album finished with a song called The Radio Said Rock ’n’ Roll Is Dead. But Angry kept the flag flying.
A highlight of my writing career was getting to write the liner notes for Rose Tattoo’s live album that captured the band playing at the old Boggo Road Gaol in 1993.
“Rock ’n’ roll is your music,” Angry told the crowd. “Rock ’n’ roll is king.”
Angry looked up and smiled when he saw the captive audience. “I said for years we’d end up in here and here we are.”
Resplendent in his white boiler suit, Angry delivered some wise words: “You gotta be real, you gotta be true to yourselves … believe in yourselves and you can do no fucking wrong.”
I tried to capture the experience of seeing Rose Tattoo live. “The best live albums make you feel like you are there. The seething mass of bodies, the sweat, the noise, the energy. You’re in the belly of the beast … They say you had to be there. But put this record on, turn it up, and you are there.
“And you wouldn’t want to be anywhere else.”
Angry’s biography concluded:
“Angry’s motto in life is simple. He’s a believer in giving everyone a fair go, and in trying to see the real people hiding behind the masks.
“As he says, ‘It’s like something I used to tell the crowd when I was on stage. I’d be philosophising the way I always have, and I’d say: well, folks, all you’ve got to remember is that there’s a little bit of evil in the so-called best of them, and there’s a little bit of good in the worst.’”
As Ray Martin said, “He’s been molested, protested and probably arrested. But I doubt he’s been bested many times. Angry is a most extraordinary bloke. I hope this life story helps us know him even better.”
Yep, all he needed was a rock ’n’ roll band and somewhere new to play. And Angry Anderson is on his way.
This piece of content has been assisted by the Australian Government through Music Australia and Creative Australia, its arts funding and advisory body
