It is with great sadness that Alberts acknowledges the death of Angry Anderson. The indomitable singer-songwriter and frontman of rock band Rose Tattoo died on September 21, aged 79. He was entertaining to the end, performing with his band mates in a finale tour One More Ride as recently as August, while in late July, Rose Tattoo played at Wacken Open Air in Germany, the world’s biggest heavy metal music festival.
His band mates announced on social media on August 31 that he had suffered a cardiac arrest and was later hospitalised.
Alberts valued its long relationship with Angry and his band, after music producer Ted Albert signed the heavy rock band to Albert Productions in 1977 at a time when no other label would touch the tattoo-covered, heavy drinking, hard living group. After gigging with Buster Brown alongside future AC/DC drummer Phil Rudd, Angry was a founding member of the new, loud, in-your-face hard rock band Rose Tattoo, the vision of bass and slide guitarist Pete Well and then-fellow bandmates guitarist Mick Cocks, bass guitarist Geordie Leach and drummer Dallas ‘Digger’ Royall.
Angry Anderson with former Alberts CEO, Fifa Riccobono, in 1978.
Angry and Rose Tattoo came to the attention of Alberts through producer and former Easybeats guitarist George Young, who invited them to the King Street studios to put down some demos. The Alberts bands, particularly AC/DC were familiar to Rose Tattoo, who would go on to invite Angus Young, Phil Rudd and Bon Scott to guest with the band, Bon being the only lead singer Angry ever invited on stage to sing with the band.
“I know record companies came to see us, and they all passed. The only label that was interested in us was Alberts,” Angry told Alberts in an interview for House of Hits in 2009. “Next thing I know we’re in King Street .. it wasn’t all that big, and it smelt of cigarettes and stale beer and it just felt like you could do something there .. we knew we were going into a studio where great music was recorded. Even at that time there was a feeling of belonging to a family. And there was a pop component – JPY and Ted Mulry – and that was great, we all used to drink together because we were Alberts boys.”
Angry Anderson, Fifa Riccobono and members of Rose Tattoo. (Image courtesy of Fifa Riccobono).
Bad Boy for Love was Rose Tattoo’s first single with Alberts, released in 1977, followed by their debut self-titled album. Rose Tattoo would record three albums with Alberts, all produced by George Young and fellow-Easybeats guitarist Harry Vanda, alongside publicist-turned CEO Fifa Riccobono, who would remain Angry’s lifelong friend.
In 2006, Rose Tattoo were induced into the ARIA Hall of Fame. Bands from Guns N’ Roses to The Veronicas would later credit the band with inspiring their own sound, a sound Angry attributed to what he called ‘the Alberts sound’.
Gary ‘Angry’ Anderson was born in 1947 in Melbourne. Beyond his momentous career as a rockstar he lived many other, often surprising careers: TV youth affairs reporter on the Midday show and A Current Affair, stage and screen actor including alongside Mel Gibson and Tina Turner in Mad Max III: Beyond Thunderdome, would-be political candidate for the National party; and charity ambassador.
(Source: Rose Tattoo Facebook)
He was particularly passionate about the latter, raising funds and awareness for numerous charities including Prince of Wales Hospital, prostate cancer and the National Association for the Prevention of Abuse and Neglect of Kids (NAPCAN). He was made a Member of the Order of Australia for his role as a youth advocate in 1993.
Announcing news of his death, Angry’s bandmates released a statement that read: ‘Angry was a devoted father, and much-loved member of his friends, bandmates and the wider music and entertainment community. His loss will be deeply felt by all those who knew and loved him both here in Australia and overseas.’
(Feature image: Rose Tattoo Facebook)
