Delaney Venn - Neon Heart LP (1980)

Delaney Venn was an Australian duo comprised of Michael Delaney and Chris Venn but the band was rounded out by Paul Wheeler (ex Billy Thorpe & The Aztecs, Band Of Talabene, MacKenzie Theory) bass, Chris Raggett (ex Matt Finish) guitar and Tony Doyle on drums.

They were relatively successful but their entire catalog is represented in this one release. They did have three singles but all a and b sides are on this album.  There are 10 new wave/rock songs on the album and about half of them have a ska/reggae influence. The album and the singles are hard to find and they are usually pretty pricey if you do find them. You may not love these tunes on first listen but you have to appreciate that they were from 1979-1980 in Australia. The British ska scene hadn't really hit hard yet at that time. These guys were pioneers.

After the success of this record the duo was invited to pose for a womens' magazine called Cleo. I'm not going to post the picture here but you can see it on their Facebook if you are so inclined.

Delaney was a writer who was working for different magazines before he was killed in a car accident in 1982.


1 Lucky Number
2 White Reggae
3 Fix it Up
4 Shake of the Hoodoo
5 Cub Dub
6 Young Lion
7 No Expectations
8 Prisoner
9 Tumblin' Down
10 Breaking Your Own Heart



DOWNLOAD