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Spectrum's
relevance has diminsihed to the point that we're not even
mentioned by some sites dedicated to such things these
days, but 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, (not), but you'll get an impression of what's
occurred in some sort of order by referring to the Milesago
links below.
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 Spectrum roadie, Nick Campbell
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 Nicky
Campbell watches Spectrum film the IBG clip |
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.
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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 |
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| The
Spectrum and The Indelible Murtceps stories - Milesago |
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
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| 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 Phil 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 bw
Talking to the Television (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 bw
Head Job' (October 1981), Laser Lover
bw Keeping Your Distance (January 1982) and Love
Comes and Love Goes bw Models' (April 1982).
The records were not successful and The Heaters broke
up in June 1982.
*See
more on the other bands: Nuclear
Dog, The
Fez ,
No.
9 and
The
Cutting Edge of Society project. |
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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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