On April 17, 2026, Grown Up Wrong! Records will follow up its recent Lipstick Killers' Tour De Force: Live in Adelaide 1979 LP with more exciting Australian rock'n'roll from the vaults: a reissue of a classic Australian 45 by THE EASTERN DARK.
To commemorate the 40th Anniversary of the passing of James Darroch, singer/songwriter/guitarist for Sydney's incredible The Eastern Dark, Grown Up Wrong! is thrilled to announce a long-awaited reissue of the band's classic 1985 single "Julie Is A Junkie/Johnny and Dee Dee".
Heavily influenced by the Ramones - the band opened their first live show with 'Blitzkrieg Bop' and from then on opened with a new Ramones song every time they played, working through the band's complete catalogue in chronological order - and all manner of hyper-melodic and high energy pop and rock, The Eastern Dark were a classic trio. Powered by former Celibate Rifles bassplayer James Darroch's blazing guitar and anchored by former Lime Spiders backing vocalist Bill Gibson's hard driving and melodic bass playing (and supreme backing vocals) and Geoff Milne's untouchable beat keeping, they set Sydney's Radio Birdman-influenced scene alight in 1984 and quickly built an international following on the back of their classic single. Sadly, just hours after completing what would become their next release - the mini-LP Long Live the New Flesh - on 4 March 1986, the band's life, and that of 25-year old James Darroch, was brutally ended in a road accident whilst the band was on its way to Melbourne.
On the back of the tragedy, the band's timeless music lived on and its global impact was reflected in the influence it bore on numerous bands, from Boston's the Lemonheads (Evan Dando was such a fan he had Bill Gibson join the Lemonheads in the ‘90s!) to Tokyo's Teengenerate, and obviously a succession of Australian bands from the Hard-Ons through to God, the Meanies, Mach Pelican and beyond.
After years of searching, surviving members Bill Gibson and Geoff Milne recently found the single's original multi-track tapes, and for the new release, the original recordings (which were produced by Radio Birdman's Rob Younger) have been both remixed and remastered (by Aussie power pop wizard Michael Carpenter) for maximum impact under their supervision. This new edition is the first time the tracks have been available on vinyl since the original single went out of print some four decades ago.