The Hard-Ons have been playing together for what seems like forever. In 1982 three guys from Sydney's west decided to get together and make some noise. The rest, as they say, is history. Blackie caught the Sex Pistols doing "Pretty Vacant" on weekend TV and knew then what he wanted to do. He convinced his good friend Keish that they should start a band, and together with Brendon Creighton played their end of school party, resulting in a visit from the local police to shut them down. Tours of Oz by The Clash and The Ramones heightened the Blackie's and Keish's ambitions. It was later that Ray, from the same school at Punchbowl, approached Blackie and Keish and they got talking about the Sex Pistols and The Damned. Ray had a Gibson Grabber bass, just like his hero Gene Simmons - the missing link. After brief stages as the "Dead Rats" and "The Plebs", the trio decided on the Hard-Ons, a name sure to offend in true punk fashion. About a month later the Hard-ons performed their first gig - albeit in front of a bunch of friends and relatives.
t was 1985 when the Hard-Ons took the first major step on the road to cult status. Vi-Nil Records released the Surfin' On My Face EP (later to be reissued through Waterfront), containing four of the seven tracks the band had recorded. The single from the EP, featuring the first of many cover designs by Ray, reached Number 2 on the Australian independent charts. The remaining three songs were released on Aberrant's "Why March When You Can Riot?" punk compilation and later on the "Smell My Finger" mini-LP.
Fuelled by the success of their first release the band began a full-frontal assault on local venues, offending some people along the way but also generating a lot of support and recognition from other bands and audiences. "We really hit a raw nerve with a lot of people." remembers Ray. "But at the same time we really got on the right side of the masses. We were hugely popular. You just didn't see three guys who had all different skin colour from the westerns suburbs playing some kind of melodic punk rock. And the way we played was really destructive. We used to smash guitars and throw amps around and smash drums like The Who, that kind of energy. I think people really appreciated that kind of destructive presentation by three teenage guys who really weren't old enough to be in a pub."
HARD ONS
Love Is
A Battlefield
CD
$7
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HARD ONS
Dickcheese
CD
$7
21 song CD
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HARD ONS
Yummy
CD
$12
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HARD ONS/
CELIBATE RIFFLES Split
CD
$10.99
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HARD ONS
Love Is
A Battlefield
Dickcheese
ON 1 CD
CD
$25.99
JAPANESE
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LP'S
HARD ONS
Dickcheese
LP
$4.99
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HARD ONS
Yummy
LP
$7.99
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HARD ONS
UK PRESS
12 INCH
$9.99
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7 INCHES
HARD ONS
Dull/Srilanka
7 INCH
$5
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HARD ONS
Where Did
She Come From/
Get Out Of
My House
7 INCH
$5
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CASSETTES
HARD ONS
Love Is
A Battlefield
CASSETTE
0.99¢
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HARD ONS
Dickcheese
CASSETTE
0.99¢
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HARD ONS
Yummy
CASSETTE
0.99¢
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TSHIRTS
HARD ONS
Pinball Granny
TSHIRT
$15
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HARD ONS
Pinball Granny
HOODED SWEAT
$25
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HARD ONS
Pinball Granny
LONG SLEEVE
$18
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