Alongside MacFarlane’s
passion for art has always been his love of music. This
grew from early teen-age years, hearing Beatles, Stones
and Kinks. This love was realised in live performances
and recordings from the age of 18, when he joined his
first band in Adelaide as the singer, in 1972.
Moving to Sydney, he joined Burlesque
Review in 1975, appearing on an early episode of Countdown.
New York City was to be home later
that year and once settled in another band was formed
in 1976, Endgame, among whose members was Jesse Chamberlain
on drums. (Jesse later went on to play with The Necessaries.)
In 1979, MacFarlane was working
for Herb Abramson at A.1 Recording Studio, in the Beacon
Hotel. Herb was co-founder of Atlantic Records. Here
he was able to record his own material and managed to
get a recording deal with a small New York company called
Just Friends. An album was released in France called
‘ Harder Than Wax’ in 1980. A single, Super-Karma,
was released in Canada, in 1981. There were also two
independent releases, PlayThis Song/ Perpetrator(Private
Ear Records) and U.N.Rap Song. Live performances followed
in Manhattan at legendary venues C.B.G.B.S, Max’s
Kansas City, Hurrah and The Mudd Club. A move back to
Australia brought a close to the Stew Lane chapter for
MacFarlane.
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