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For some
curious reason, Whammo has changed address and dropped almost
any reference to Spectrum, The Indelible Murtceps and Ariel
etc.
Thanks to Martin Finnegan for pointing this nasty turn of
events out to me - I shall ring Ian McFarlane and see what
the story is. Fortunately the Milesago website
steadfastly maintains the truth, the whole truth, and nothing
but the truth - so Spectrum (and Ariel) still feature prominently
in the context of the history of Oz Rock. I'll eventually
get round to writing some idealised version of what really
happened, but you'll get an impression of what's occurred
in some sort of order by referring to the Milesago links below..
(Be patient - I can't get you directly to the page you want
- you'll have to find it on the menu). You should have a look
at the Spectrum reference on Ed Nimmervoll's Howlspace
site too.
Anyway, I think you'll enjoy the pics, some published for
the first time. And, while you're here, why don't you check
out The
Legend.. |
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The
life and times of Nicky Campbell
17.7.06 - I think the first time Bill and I saw Nicky Campbell
was at the White Elephant (the Broady Town Hall). We'd never
seen a roadie before and so were utterly astonished to see this
mucular young bloke with the boofy hairdo repeatedly bustling
through the audience with various pieces of stage equipment
balanced on his shoulders. I think he was working for Larry's
Rebels (NZ) at that stage 'cause that's when we first came across
Mal Logan as well.
Needless to say we liked the concept of somebody dedicated to
carrying around our equipment for us, so we soon invited Nicky
to join our team, and he worked for us for quite a few years
before we parted company, probably not because of musical differences,
but I don't really remember the circumstances. Anyhow it was
good to hear from him and to find out what he's been up to while
Bill and I have been so singularly preoccupied.
Well, my favourite Spectrum memories would
be the university campus tour we did with Daddy Cool (The Aquarius
Tour). The T.F.Much ballroom gigs were unique - I have actually
had a massage from an older lady who lives up here who used
to go to all the T.F.Much*
gigs and says she remembers the great gigs that they were, and
the party atmosphere that was captured by all the crazy hippies
on the night. You never knew what would happen at those gigs.
I also have fond memories of the Monsalvat gigs and the Myponga
gig in Adelaide. Also the gigs for Alex Innocenti the wog hippy
in high heeled boots with the fuzzy hair who ran the local blues
club.
read more
*And see shots of Nicky and the infamous Transit - how did we
do that? |
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| The
Spectrum and The Indelible Murtceps
stories
As readers will have guessed, Spectrum
is one our favourite Australian bands, and one of our missions
here at MILESAGO is to prosecute the cause of this outstanding
group. During their brief but illustrious career Spectrum
were in the vanguard of progressive rock in Australia, and
they left a legacy of innovative and imaginative music, too
little of which is currently available on CD.
The central figure in Spectrum was singer/songwriter/guitarist
Mike Rudd, one of the many outstanding expatriate NZ performers
who have contributed so much to the Australian music scene.
Mike arrived in Australia in 1966 as rhythm guitarist for
the NZ group Chants R&B. [For the full history of this
great band, please visit the Chants R&B page on Bruce
Sergent's excellent New Zealand Music of the 60's and 70's
website.]
Chants only lasted a short time after they arrived in Australia,
but Mike remained in Melbourne, where he soon teamed up with
young singer/songwriter Ross Wilson and guitarist Ross Hannaford.
Their first band The Pink Finks (which had also just broken
up) worked in a similar vein to Chants, and had already had
some local chart success in Melbourne. Mike was invited to
be the bass player in a later lineup of their next band, the
short-lived but legendary Party Machine (1967-69). This was
followed by the more experimentally-oriented Sons of The Vegetal
Mother (1969-71) read
more
See
Mike
& Bill's historical
interview
with Bill
Brown at
the 2010 Wagga Wagga Jazz & Blues Festival
Dave Graney's bro' Phil, and Melbourne identity Bruce
Milne, share some thoughts of their impressions of the early
careers of Spectrum and Ariel (reproduced without permission
from Dave Graney - but I'm sure he won't mind..) check
them out
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| The
Ariel and the Instant Replay
stories
The original lineup of Ariel
was a genuine 'supergroup', combining key members from two
of Australia's leading progressive bands of the period: Rudd,
Putt and Mills hailed from Melbourne's legendary Spectrum,
Gaze and Macara from Spectrum's esteemed Sydney peers Tamam
Shud. Lead guitarist Tim Gaze, regarded as one of the hottest
players on the scene, had also joined Shud at just 16 and
by the time he joined Ariel he had also been a member of Kahvas
Jute, and played on their only album, the brilliant Wide Open.
Like its predecessor, Ariel was primarily a vehicle for the
talents and vision of singer, songwriter and guitarist Mike
Rudd, and his longtime bass-player and musical partner, Bill
Putt. Like Spectrum, the band began strongly, but lineup changes,
record company problems and the changing nature of music in
the mid-70s meant that they never achieved the level of success
they deserved, and Ariel proved to be Mike Rudd's last really
high-profile outfit, although he remains one of the most respected
figures in the music scene. read
more |
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| The
Mike Rudd & the Heaters, WHY,
The Living Legends Blues Band, Nuclear
Dog, The Mike Rudd Quintet, No. 9 and
The Fez stories
In July 1979, Rudd changed the band's name to Mike Rudd and
the Heaters. The band played a mix of pub rock and pop (with
quasi-new wave overtones) and was popular on the Melbourne
scene. The band signed to Mushroom Records and issued its
debut single, `Australian Girl'/`Talking to the TV' (February
1980). In June 1980, The Heaters line-up became Rudd, Putt,
Tony Fossey (keyboards) and Robert Dillon (drums; ex-Kid Gloves).
The band's debut album, The Unrealist (January 1982), produced
three singles, `I'm an Animal'/`Head Job' (October 1981),
`Laser Love'/ `Keeping Your Distance' (January 1982) and `Love
Comes and Goes'/`Models' (April 1982). The records were not
successful and The Heaters broke up in June 1982.
See more on Nuclear
Dog and
The Fez |
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The Party
Machine and The Sons of the Vegetal
Mother stories
The enterprising Ross
Wilson
was the driving force behind the innovative Party Machine.
Wilson and Ross Hannaford first worked together in Melbourne
teenage R&B outfit The Pink Finks. At the beginning of
1967, the two Rosses formed the altogether more radical The
Party Machine. Chris Kinman replaced original bass player
Joe Gorski not long after formation.
In June, Mike Edwards left to join The Ram Jam Big Band and
Kinman also left. His place was taken by ex-Chants R&B
guitarist Mike Rudd, who switched to bass. For the material
he was writing with The Party Machine, Wilson drew on Frank
Zappa and Howlin' Wolf for inspiration. The band issued the
now impossibly rare single `You've All Gotta Go'/`Gentle Art'
on EMI/Columbia in early 1969. The Party Machine found notoriety
rather than success, in particular when the Victorian Vice
Squad deemed the band's
printed
songbook (which
contained such choice Wilson-penned songs as `I Don't Believe
All Your Kids Should Be Virgins') to be obscene and seditious.
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