Band Members:-
Tony Martin – (?1961)
Simon Paul – (?1961)
Frank Sebastyan – Vocals (late 1965-70)
Geoff Pretty – Drums (late 1965-early 70)
Phil Wooding – Guitar (late 1965-late 68)
Allan Sands – Bass (late 1965-late 67)
Peter Manuel – Organ (late 1965-70)
Steve Lada – Bass (late 1967-70
John Bywaters – Bass (1970)
Record Releases:-
Clap Your Hands/Forgive Me Darlin’ (W & G WG-S-2540) 02-66
Let This Be A Lesson/Take It Easy (W & G WG-S-2647) 05-66
I Can See My Love/More Than I Can Say (W & G WG-S-8009) 08-66
I Am Waiting/Down And Out (IN Records IN-S-8040) 12-66
‘Ow Yer Goin’/Over Under Sideways Down (IN Records IN-S-8102) 08-67
Madge’s Charity Badges/Chokko Brandy (RCA 101860) 06-69
The Ballad Of Andy Capp/Window (Gamba GA ????) ??-69
In-Sect A-Sides LP -Let This Be A Lesson/Take It Easy/I Can See My Love/More Than I Can Say/I Am Waiting/Down And Out/I Ain’t Got You/Hallelujah I Love Her So/Over Under Sideways Down/I Can’t Stop Loving You/Sloop John B/El Cumanchero ( W & G WG-25/5045) ??-67
This article appeared on pages 9 to 11 of the The Livin’ End #3, November 1984. Article was written & published by Dean Mittelhauser.
The In-Sect were originally formed in Adelaide around 1961 as Dave Thunder & The Macmen (although there was no one in the band called Dave Thunder.) The band’s early members included Tony Martin and Simon Paul (who later wrote their two classic punkers.) The band played the local dance scene for the few years, and by late 1965, their lineup had stablised at: Frank Sebastyan (vocals), Geoff Pretty (drums), Phil Wooding (guitar), Allan Sands (bass) and Peter Manuel (organ).
They released their first 45 in Feburary ’66, the dire “CLAP YOUR HANDS“. I say dire because it really was pretty bad nad it gave little hint of the wyld trakcs they were later to cut. It was about this time that they became the In-Sect, a pointed reference to the Beatles.
With their name change, they adopted a more raucous, punkier style. Even so, these guys weren’t punks. They hadn’t emerged from the garage, they’d emerged straight from the office. The In-Sect were a most unusual band. They regularly played Adelaide’s cabaret circuit, because that was where the money was – thus short hair. Despite this, they also regularly did a wild set at various local haunts around the city.
They did a couple of low-key tours to Victoria, and in June they released their first 45 under their new banner and style. The result? “Let This Be A Lesson“, a classy track, definitely as catchy or a memorable as any of the Yardbirds classics (a band they had a sneaking admiration for). The single was raved about by the influential Bob Francis (Good Old Bob!) and it shot into the Adelaide top ten. Even so, it recieved little or no airplay outside of South Australia.
As if to pove that “Let This Be A Lesson” was no fluke, in September came “I Can See My Love“, and, amazingly, it was even better. Wild guitar, clean precise production, no grunge, but boy was it hot! The B side was a passable cover of “More Than I Can Say“, which was later covered by that fuzzy haired creep, Leo Sayer. It followed “Let That Be A Lesson” into the top ten.
Because the band was chopping and changing from wild discos one night, to cabaret floor shows the next, they became quite adept at playing wild R’n'B and punk ranging right through to soft top forty and middle of the road muzak.
An oddity indeed, and as Frank Sebastyan, their vocalists, said “We used to play a lot of Mickey Mouse music.” Their incredibly rare LP “In-Sect-A-Sides“, illustrates this the best. At the time that it was released, the band had basically become the resident band at the famed Arkaba a well known nitespot. Because the repertoire called for at the Arkaba was 60/40 (60% rock/40% cabaret), they recorded the LP pretty much along those lines, in the hope of cashing in with their many fans from the Arkaba. That is why you’ll hear “Sloop John B” & “El Cumbanchero” (an an incredibly tacky version) mixing it with likes of “Let This Be A Lesson“, “I Can See My Love” or “Over Under Sideways Down“. See, it all begins to make a little sense, doesn’t it?
In December, “Down And Out” made the Adelaide top ten (the band were still virtually recognised in other states) as usual, it contained a fine guitar solo, a by now, familiar trademark of their recorded work. Around this time Peter Manuel allegedly played organ on the Loved One’s hit “The Loved One“.
Down And Out
Late in ’67, Allan Sands got married and quit the band. He was replaced by Steve Lada (ex – Ram Jam Big Band). 5KA disc jokey approached him on a song he had written,” ‘Ow Yer Goin’ “. A novelty song in Vincent’s typical style, the B side was the In-Sect’s version of the Yardbirds’ “Over Under Sideways Down“. It also made top ten (in fact all their singles made the top ten in Adelaide), and Vincent continuously plugged it in his weekly column for Go-Set.
Over the next couple of years, the band suffered quite a few unsettling lineup changes. Late in 1968 Phil Wooding left the band and moved to Sydney to join Jeff St John & the Cooperwine. He became heavily involved in the drug scene, and in ealry ’70s suicided. A sad demise for a great, unheralded guitarist. Just before he left, RCA released another single using John Vincent on vocals, “Madge’s Charity Badge’s“, this was another of Vincent’s terrible novelty songs, but the band’s raunchiness is undiminished, particularly on “Mage…”, where there is a truly fab guitar solo. It’s absolutely boss, and makes Vincent’s bad lyrics and even worse vocals almost bearable.
In 1969 came one final single, “The Ballad Of Andy Capp“, on the local Gamba label. Pretty, a virtual stalwart of the band, left early in 1970, joined the Going Thing, who recorded 45′s and an LP for Sweet Peach. Lada also left was replaced by John Bywaters (ex-Twilights). The band mutated into the Frank Sebastyan Entertainment Revue, which played the cabaret circuit right through the ’70′s until folding in 1979.
The In-Sect – Let This Be A Lesson
The In-Sect – I Can See My Love