Ian Stephen has released some 27 albums and EPs between 1979 and 2020.

Who is Ian Stephen you might  ask, well I remember seeing his first release a 4 track EP on Reverse records called Ian Stephen's Schizophrenia - I'm in two minds about the title,  in the Archie & Jugheads record shop. The cover art looked interesting, so  I plumped down the $2 payment and took it home.

After listening to the EP on both sides I realised that it wasn't punk music, it didn't even sound like new wave, perhaps it was Australian Americana Lounge rock music. I gave it a spin on my radio show on 3PBS and I still own the record.

The next  Ian Stephen release saw him team up with Melbourne's beatnik convenor Johnny Topper in satirical dada combo The Armchairs. Another 4-track EP on Ian's Reverse records titled Ski Lo Lo contained funny baffling tunes Cat in a box, Elvis Presley, Brian Henderson and Dining Room. These songs interested me  and appealed to my sense of the absurd. 

Then came a LP that came with a free balloon by The Armchairs called Party Time with 7 gently satirical songs including a 20 minute version of La Bomba that was a hit by Richie Valens in 1958 as La Bamba. 

A couple years later in 1984 Ian Stephens was playing in The Slaughtermen described on Wikipedia as a post-punk alternative southern gospel group. The other musicians in the group included future Models Bass player Mark Ferrie, Andrew Pendlebury guitarist from The Sports, ex-Birthday Party drummer Des Hefner, and Johnny Crash and Terry Doolan from the Sacred CowboysThe Slaughtermen became a fixture in the live scene releasing 4 albums between 1986 & 1995. They got back together for performances several times and released a final album Temptation in 2007.

Ian Stephens now lives in New York and continues to release music, he joins Dr Gonzo to present a selection of his more recent music on And This One's Introduced By... 

Find out more about Ian Stephen at: http://ianstephen.com