Sweet Nothing

Singer/songwriter/guitarist Mark Gillespie commanded a strong cult following on the Melbourne scene. His heartfelt roots-rock style mixed R&B, soul, funk and a touch of reggae. His tracks 'I'm a Kite (Won't You Be My Hurricane?)' and 'The Joke's on You' appeared on the Oz label's Various Artists album The Debutantes (1977). Gillespie also issued Make Up, a collection of prose and poetry published by Outback Press.

Gillespie's debut single 'Savanarola'/'Just Wanna Ball' came out credited to Mark Gillespie and the Victims in 1978. His band at that point comprised Mick 'The Reverend' O'Connor (keyboards), Bruno De Stanislo (bass; ex-One Nite Stand) and Peter Reed (drums; ex-Hot Dog, One Nite Stand). Gillespie issued a single on Festival/Infinity, 'Coming Back for More'/'Alligator Music' (April 1979), before coming to wider attention when he supported Maria Muldaur, Tom Waits and Rodriguez on their respective Australian tours. Gillespie's touring band comprised O'Connor, Broderick Smith (vocals, harmonica, guitar; ex-Dingoes), Stephen Cooney (guitar), Clive Harrison (bass, backing vocals; ex-Kush, Avalanche), Trevor Courtney (drums; ex-Chants R&B, Vibrants, Skylight), Stewart Watson (fiddle, mandolin, guitar) and Pat and Gay L'Nane (backing vocals).

Gillespie recorded his brilliant debut album, Only Human, with assistance from Joe Creighton (bass; ex-Billy T), Ross Hannaford (guitar, backing vocals; ex-Daddy Cool), Rex Bullen (keyboards; ex-Bakery), Mark Meyer (drums) and Lisa Bade (backing vocals). Gillespie sang as well as playing guitar, keyboards and mandolin. The album produced the singles 'Only Human'/'Long & Strong' (June 1980) and 'Small Mercies'/'Black Angels' (September). 'Deep as You'/'Stronger Together', 'Together' followed in April 1981. Gillespie travelled throughout Asia before recording his second album, Sweet Nothing. His backing band again included Hannaford, Meyer and Bade, plus Tim Partridge (bass), Andrew Thompson (sax), Gary Lyon (backing vocals) and Nikki Nicholls (backing vocals). Sweet Nothing (March 1982) took Gillespie into the national Top 40 for the first time when it peaked at #32. The album also reached #9 in Melbourne. Sweet Nothing yielded three singles, 'Nothing Special'/'Passing' (February), 'Traveller in the Night'/'Swing Tonight' (June) and 'Night & Day'/'Looking for You' (October).

Gillespie's third album, Mark Gillespie (aka Ring of Truth) (January 1984) produced the singles 'Ring of Truth'/'All for Your Love' (November 1983), 'You'/'Thanks' (also November 1983) and 'Letting Go'/'Animal' (May 1984). Backing Gillespie on the album was drummer Geoff Bridgeford (ex-Groove, Bee Gees). Little was heard from Gillespie on the music scene for some time. He returned to Asia and founded an orphanage in Bangladesh. He re-emerged in Australia during 1992 and issued the album Flame, the CD single 'Long Time' and the CD EP 'Don't Wait' on the Aurora label.

Members of his backing band around that time included old mates Joe Creighton and Ross Hannaford, plus James Black (keyboards; ex-Russell Morris Band, Mondo Rock, Revelators), Angus Burchill (drums; John Farnham Band), Alex Pertout (percussion), John Watson (drums; ex-Australian Crawl, Kevin Borich Express), Shane O'Mara (guitar; ex-Stephen Cummings Band) and Bill McDonald (bass; ex-Hot Half Hour, Deborah Conway Band).

They don't come much more eccentric than Mark Gillespie. Best known for 1980 debut album Only Human, the one-time Melbourne singer-songwriter refused to play the music industry game. Instead of touring behind that record or giving interviews, he travelled through Asia. His genre-hopping songs, meanwhile, indulge in weird arrangements and dark, philosophical lyrics. Before turning to music, Gillespie had written short stories, co-founded the Aussie-centric Outback Press, and done a six-year architecture degree at Melbourne Uni. Today he lives in Bangladesh, where he works at an orphanage, writes songs in the jungle, and has penned a text-message novella called No Hope. Not your average troubadour, then.

Last year Aztec reissued Only Human as a two-disc package with comprehensive liner notes and Gillespie's offbeat commentary. Now comes the second entry in his four-album career. Although it doesn't quite have the anything-is-possible vibe of the first, Sweet Nothing (1981) keeps several of its players and again enlists producer John Sayers (Radio Birdman, John Williamson). Daddy Cool's Ross Hannaford, who was on board for Only Human, plays guitar on two songs, and there are backing singers, synths, and saxophone. Like Only Human, this is a fascinating combination of '70s singer-songwriter-isms and the now-cheesy production values of the early '80s.

But it's much more than that, too. While seeming innocuous enough, the title sums up the startling existential quandary of Gillespie's songs. Uplifting music is often paired with bleak themes as he rattles off the kind of lines you wouldn't expect to hear from a singer-songwriter even today. On the self-reflexive opener 'Nothing Special', Gillespie describes America's iconic Midnight Special train line as something that will deliver him to the promised land. Backing singers come in just after he sings, "I think I hear the gospel band", but by the time he announces, "There's nothin' special in this world", his optimism has drained away and he seems to be staring head-on into oblivion. The train becomes downright menacing, and Gillespie watches it roar past him with fear and hopelessness in his gut.

And that's all in the first track. Later, 'Swing Tonight' proves to be a burbling funk-pop number about suicide ("We're all gonna swing tonight") and 'Miss Right' darkly intones "I know you're gonna be Miss Wrong." 'Night & Day' sees society robbing one's identity ("They might give you all a number/You don't have a say"), while 'Rivers of Blood' is as unsparing in its imagery as you'd expect from that title.

Amid all that pessimism, though, the music remains jaunty, twanging, and spiked with playful bass lines and harmonies. Despite warnings about seeking meaning in love and money, 'Traveller in the Night' strongly recalls the skeletal funk and underdog yearning of the Stones classic 'Beast of Burden'. Other tracks summon Cat Stevens, Tom Petty, Bruce Springsteen, and 'Wild Night'-era Van Morrison, while 'Pile-Up' seems to lift a page from the art-school adventures of Talking Heads.

This re-mastered edition includes much briefer liner notes than Only Human and only two b-sides as bonus tracks: the barroom gospel of 'Passing' and the layered 'Looking for You'. That means it's still best to start with Only Human. It's also worth noting that three of these songs had rawer incarnations in 1978's demo batch The Black Tape, which was included with the Only Human reissue: a meditative eight-minute version of 'Nothing Special', a bluesier 'Stormy Night' with prominent female vocals, and a gospel-edged version of 'Miss Right' called 'Another Ms. Wrong'.

"While seeming innocuous enough, the title sums up the startling existential quandary of Gillespie's songs."

At the time of its release, Sweet Nothing peaked in the top 10 on the Melbourne charts and in the top 30 nationally. And aversion to self-promotion aside, Gillespie appeared on Countdown and supported the likes of Rodriguez, Tom Waits, and Jackson Browne in his day. But he didn't want to be a star, as proven by his stubborn attitude, as well as his current line of work. Knowing how things turned out for him only enhances Sweet Nothing's recurrent theme of struggling to find one's place in an unforgiving life. On the near-psychedelic 'Hand to Hand', Gillespie doesn't mince words: "But if there was some reason to live/Then there would be something to understand."

He's since found a reason to live, but he's left behind some bold artefacts from his days of peering into the void. At his best, Gillespie was an unflinching poet of lost souls, mixing doubtful messages of hope with resounding portraits of despair.

—Doug Wallen