The La De Das - Rock And Roll Sandwich (1973) 320kbps {FP}

Tthe band were being hailed as Australia's leading live act and Kevin Borich was widely regarded as our pre-eminent guitar hero. With the new lineup firing on all cylinders, and Chugg back on board as manager, Kevin was impatient to record a new album, but EMI were less than enthusiastic. To pressure them, Borich instructed Michael Chugg to get the band out of their contract. The ploy worked, and EMI reluctantly agreed to a new record in September. But the first sessions at EMI's studios were deemed unsatisfactory by the band and all but two tracks were scrapped. (The two tracks, "She Tell Me What To Do" and "No Law Against Having Fun" later surfaced on the compilation album Legend.)

According to Glenn A. Baker, the main stumbling block was that Kevin couldn't get a guitar sound that was anywhere near his live sound, so Rod Coe again solved the problem by installing a portable 8-track recording rig and JBL monitors in the Green Elephant and recording them there. Kevin swapped his familiar Gibson for a Fender Stratocaster and, as Glenn Baker charmingly puts it " ... the whole album went down like a sinker off a pier, in just two days." Back at EMI, they overdubbed Kevin's piano parts, added some tasty backing vocals by Renee Geyer and Bobby Marchini and horns by Don Reid.

The result was the brilliant Rock'n'Roll Sandwich, which Baker rightly lauds as "one of Australia's finest rock albums, a fiery, cohesive work dominated by the superbly talented Kevin Borich and carried off by the reliable gutsiness of Peel and Barber." Touring around the new LP, released in November 1973, the La De Das enjoyed their most successful period to date, including supports for Elton John and Suzi Quatro on their Australian tours.

Kevin Borich is one of Australia’s leading guitar virtuoso. He arrived with the La De Das from New Zealand and they proved themselves to be one of the tightest hardworking rock & roll bands in the world. They took the Australian charts by storm with tracks like Borich's “Gonna See My Baby Tonight” and Chuck Berry's " Too Pooped To Pop" which had the smarts of great pop records underpinned by a crack band. [quote by Glenn A. Baker]
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Borich recalls their early days on his website:
Trevor Wilson (bass), Brett Neilsen (drums) and yours truly were "The Mergers" jammin at Rutherford High School. Phil Key joins, Trev's mum calls us the La De Da's, we hate the poofy name but go with it cause it's weird enough. We play around Auckland and Bruce Howard (keyboards) joins, we have hit singles and hit albums and loving fans. After coming to OZ the band was akin to the 10 Little Indians (I ended up the last Indian).
Roll Call - Bryan Harris (drums), Keith Barber (drums) - stuck with me up to "Rock n Roll Sandwich", Reno Tehei (guitar), Ronnie "Rockwell" Peel (bass), Peter Hardinge (aka Roberts) (bass).


In March 1975, EMI gathered up the band's recent singles and four unissued tracks for the compilation album 'Legend', in a superb gatefold sleeve with an intricate leather work pattern, as something of a contractual obligation (tracks were recorded from 1971-1974).
As 1975 progressed, the problems were growing. Radio was ignoring them, the touring was taking its toll, Keith Barber was becoming increasingly erratic and difficult. After ten hard years, Kevin realised that nothing tangible had really been achieved and the only thing laying ahead was more of the same. In May 1975, Kevin officially announced that the La De Das would disband. After the demise of the La De Das, Kevin formed the Kevin Borich Express. Phil Key died of a heart attack in 1984. Trevor Wilson still plays in Australia.
Bruce Howard relocated to London, where he still works as a songwriter. Brett Neilson lives in Auckland where he is still active on the pub circuit [extract from Borich's website]