Brisbane Park Named In Honour Of The Saints' Guitarist
What a huge recognition
Image: twitter
By Alex Darling
A park in Southwest Brisbane has been named in honour of one of the city’s most important musicians, following a popular grassroots campaign.
As of Saturday, Ed Kuepper Park can be found in Oxley.
Brisbane City Council agreed to name the reserve after The Saints’ guitarist last July, after a petition by local resident Maurice Murphy attracted more than 800 signatures.
“Thanks Moz and everyone that supported this and help bring it to fruition,” wrote Kuepper on twitter. “I’m both humbly flattered and honoured, thank you one and all. Now about that three story statue…”
The Saints – whose other core members are Chris Bailey (vocals) and Ivor Hay (drums) - and are credited as being the first Australian Punk band.
They beat British contemporaries The Sex Pistols and The Clash in pioneering the movement with the release of their single (and subsequent album of the same name) “I’m Stranded” in 1976.
Follow-up albums Eternally Yours and Prehistoric Sounds are also considered classics, while their fearless criticism of then-Queensland Premier Joh Bjelke-Petersen cemented their status as local rock legends.
Kuepper wrote most of the group’s material in his Oxley garage, while his furious, rapid-fire guitar chords are one of the defining features of the Saints’ sound alongside Bailey’s contemptuous vocal snarl.
Head to the corner of Oxley Road and Lawson Street to check out the most Punk-Rock Park in Queensland!