Antipodean Beat

Band Members:-

Rick Dalton – bass (1966)
Doug Ford – lead guitar (April 1966-68)
Andy James (Andy Anderson) – vocals, percussion, guitar (Apr 1966-Jan 67)
Ian Robinson – drums 1966-67
Jamie Byrne – bass (late 1966-Mar 67)
John Phillips – bass (1967)
Doug Lavery – drums (1967)
Mick Elliot – drums (1967)
Peter Newing – vocals (1967)
Denny Burgess – bass, vocals (1966)
Ian Ferguson – bass (1967)

The original RJSS lineup in 1966

Courtesy of the Milesago website which I submitted to about six or seven years ago.

History

Almost as soon as Sydney’s fabled Missing Links were finished, around August 1966, guitarist Doug Ford and singer Andy James decided to try their luck in Melbourne, where they formed the Running Jumping Standing Still. The original lineup, which evidently lasted only a couple of months, was completed by bassist Rick Dalton (ex-Pink Finks) and drummer Ian Robinson.

Initially described as ‘the New Missing Links,’ Running Jumping Standing Still was indeed an extension of what Doug and Andy had been doing in their previous band, with Andy proclaiming that “We are all sincere in our addiction to feedback”.

RJSS went through several lineups in its short History, although the exact order of events is still uncertain. But RJSS was never destined to be a long-lasting band — the famously fractious relationship between Doug and Andy, which dated back to their Missing Links days, made it almost certain that the group would split eventually — although the actual cause of Andy’s departure was quite unexpected.

As the photo (above) of the second RJSS lineup indicates, Rick Dalton had left by October ’66. He was replaced by Jamie Byrne (ex-Black Pearls); they also added Dennis (Denny) Burgess (ex The Throb) (presumably on rhythm guitar) at this time. This second lineup lasted until around the time of Andy’s enforced departure sometime in 1967.

A ‘live’ version of ‘Diddy Wah Diddy’ included on the LP Diggin’ Through The Bins by the Missing Links was recorded and performed on ATV-0′s The Go!! Show, perusmably for their October 24 appearance. The song was introduced by host, Johnny Young, who quaintly described them as “a most unusual group”.

Another rare glimpse of RJSS from this time can be found in Peter L. Lamb’s 30-minute film documentary Approximately Panther, made in late 1966. It features a few brief shots of RJSS doing their thing at the Thumpin’ Tum disco, although sadly there is no original sound; the soundtrack is a studio-recorded instrumental, played by the 18th Century Quartet.

Andy’s departure from the group was sudden and dramatic. In late 1966 — probably December — Andy suffered an agonising brain haemorrhage during an RJSS performance at the Thumpin’ Tum disco. Doug Ford recalls: “Nothing would stop that guy, he was like a locomotive burning down the tracks. But this night something stopped him.”

Andy: “We were playing the Thumpin’ Tum and we were pushing it. I was getting these headaches and was singing River Deep, Mountain High and ended up getting a haemorrhage and collapsing on stage with this blinding headache. I was in hospital for a month and that was the end of that.”

Andy was treated in hospital, and received many letters and cards from fans while he was recuperating; he later published a small ad in Go-Set to thank all his well-wishers. He was advised by his doctor to slow down and give up rock and roll, but Andy would have none of this and soon formed a new band called the Andy James Asylum.

With Andy gone, RJSS recruited a new frontman, Peter Newing of The Pleazers. Newing sang on the two RJSS singles released on the Sunshine label. The first was “Diddy Wah Diddy” / “My Girl” in March 1967 but this version was markedly inferior to the recording made for The Go!! Show. A follow up and sadly final single “She’s Good To Me” / “Little Girl” was released in August. By this time Byrne and Robinson had both left; they were replaced by John Philips and Doug Lavery, respectively. Sources also list Ian Ferguson (bass) and Mick Elliott (drums) as RJSS members during 1967, but no other details of their tenure are known at present. One rare video recording from this period has recently surfaced on the YouTube website, featuring Billy Thorpe performing on an unnamed TV show (possibly on the ABC) backed by several members of RJSS.

Speaking of the final days of the band, Doug commented: “We tried to keep up the same wild stage act, but it was completely insipid compared to when Andy was there.” At the start of 1968 Doug (who wasn’t making much money) was approached by Jim Keays and offered a job with the Masters Apprentices; he agreed to join as soon as his commitments with RJSS were ended, and he officially joined the Masters in February 1968, thus bringing RJSS to an end.

A contemporary newpaper clipping featuring a rare shot of the second lineup of the group, published in “Listener In” on 22 October 1966. (L-R) Jamie Byrne, Doug Ford, Andy James, Ian Robinson & Denny Burgess(?)

After Running Jumping Standing Still …

- Jamie Byrne went on to play for other groups such as The Groove and its shortlived successor, Eureka Stockade.

- Doug Lavery went to Doug Parkinson in Focus, The Valentines and Axiom.

- Andy James formed two shortlived bands in Melbourne, Andy James Asylum, followed by Mother Superior, before moving back to Sydney where he joined . In 1970 he joined the cast of the Australian production of Hair for a short time. This was followed by an 18-month stint with Sydney club band Southern Comfort with Bobbi Marchini. His experience in Hair led him out of music and into acting full-time. He has since became a prominent and popular stage and TV actor, starring in such shows as ‘The Sullivans’, ‘The Bob Morrison Show’, ‘Phoenix’ and ‘Fire’. Since the ’70s Andy has worked under his original surname, Anderson. Andy recently released his first solo album, the witty titled If I’d Known I’d Live This Long (I’d Have Taken Better Care Of Myself) and also has his own website at www.andyanderson.com.au

Doug Ford and Ian Ferguson have recently renewed their friendship after more than thirty years. This led to the decision to perform together as an acoustic duo under the name Ford & Ferg. Doug Ford recently contacted Andy Anderson by phone and they spoke for the first time in over 30 years.

Many thanks to Peter Markmann for whom most of the research material for this article that could not have been done. More research was obtained from the website bordelinebooks.com and the Who’s Who of Australian Rock.

Discography

1966 (A)
“Diddy Wah Diddy” (live) (Corduroy Records CORD100) vinyl only
studio track, pre-recorded for an appearance on The Go!!Show in October 1966
Released ca. 2002 on the LP Diggin’ Thru The Bins – The Missing Links

March 1967 (B,C)
“Diddy Wah Diddy” / “My Girl” (Sunshine QK-1717)

August 1967 (D,E)
“She’s Good To Me” / “Little Girl” (Sunshine QK-1819)

References / Links

Peter Markmann & Ben Whitten
liner notes to Diggin’ Thru The Bins – The Missing Links (Corduroy Records)

Andrew Schmidt
Andy James – The Missing Link
Ugly Things website
http://www.ugly-things.com/missing.html

Chris Spencer, Zbig Nowara & Paul McHenry
Who’s Who of Australian Rock (Five Mile Press, 2002)

Vernon Joyson
Dreams, Fantasies & Nightmares: Australia (Borderline Books, 1999)

Corduroy Records
http://www.corduroy.com.au/mailorder.htm

Andy Anderson website
http://www.andyanderson.com.au

Band Members:-

Dave Flett (?1965-66)
Peter Starkie (?1965-66)
Joe Camilleri (?1965-66)

Record Releases:-

None to my knowledge, the band however played most of the stuff from the radio, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, and obscure bands of the time such as Captain Beefheart & Thane Russal & Three.

The Moods c.1966

Band Members:-

Mick Hamilton – Rhythm Guitar (?late 1964-Oct 66)
John Livi – Lead Guitar (?late 1964-Dec 66)
Peter Noss – Bass Guitar (?late 1964-66)
Kevin Fraser – Vocals (?late 1964-66)
Carl Savona – Drums (?late 1964-66)
Ian Ferguson – Bass Guitar (?1965-66, didn’t play on the records)

Record Releases:-

Cos’Of You/Say Hello To Me (HMV EA-4747) 24-02-66
Rum Drunk/I Love You So (HMV EA-4768) ??-06-66
Come On Home (unreleased)

This interview was first written and published by Dean Mittelhauser with John Livi in his fan magazine The Livin’ End #2, September 1984 and is copyright © 1984 Dean Mittelhauser. (John Livi – JL, Livin’ End Magazine – LE)

LE: The Moods were formed in 1965?

JL: Either late ’64 or early ’65. I remember I’d only just turned 14.

LE: What was the lineup?

JL: Carl Savona (drums), Kevin Fraser (vocals), Myself (ld guitar), Mick Hamilton (r guitar) and Peter Noss (bass). Actually Peter left and was replaced by Ian Ferguson, though Peter did play play on both 45′s.

LE: You were all very young.

JL: I was 14, Carl was 16 and the others were 17 & 18. I didn’t really mix with them all that much apart from when we played.

LE: They were all old enough to go out and get pissed and rage!

JL: That’s right and I wan’t!

LE: Did that cause any problems?

JL: Not really. They used to pretty much look after me. My older brother Bernie hung around and he was their age.

LE: How did the band actually start up. They were in a group…obviously they weren’t going anywhere. Were they called the Moods then?

JL: I don’t think they had a name for the band when I came on the scene.

LE: Why did they ask you to join?

LJ: Bernie knew Kevin & Carl, and I was in another band called the Ravens. I’d been playing in various bands since I was 12 years old, but around then I was going in a different direction to the other members of the band. So they asked me to try out. At that stage we’d only practise once a week -it wasn’t serious.

LE: I noticed in the photos taken of the band you had the shortest hair. Was that because you were still at school

JL: Yes, all the others had left school.

LE: They were pretty tough on long hair in those days weren’t they? I remember reading about three guys in Melbourne that got kicked out of school for having long hair!

JL: I had a similar experience. Weh I’d just turned 15, the principal of the school gave me the option of either leaving the band or leaving school. Without telling my parents, I chose the latter option. It was very strict, a Christian Brothers school. My parents had to put me in a business college.

LE: How did your parents react to the fact you were in a band?

JL:: Pretty well actually. I was under my brother’s wing. They never questioned what I was up to.

LE: It was unusual for a band with a recording contract to have a 14 year old lead guitarist.

JL: It wasn’t a gimmick. I was fairly competent on the guitar, I’d been playing since I was ten. It was the when the Beatles first came to my notice that I felt like a change of direction. I remember sitting in the back seat of my father’s Holden, I was 13, and “I WANT TO HOLD YOUR HAND” was playing on the car radio…songs like that, they really grabbed me. They were such a change from what we were doing. At that stage we were playing songs like…

LE: I can probably tell you. The Shadows.

JL: Yeah.

LE: It seems like every band changed over from doing Shadows covers’ to Beatles covers’ almost overnight.

JL: I can remember…The Flies!…with Ronnie Burns singing, in Punt Rd where Kevin Dennis’ car yard used to be. They’d cleared the yard of all the cars one Saturday morning and the Flies were playing there. Nothing but Beatles songs. They would of have been one of the first bands on the scene to play Beatles stuff. But I’m digressing.

LE: Peter Raphael from Go Set managed you. How did that come about?

JL: I don’t know. He was already on the scene when I joined.

LE: You first single came out early in ’66. It got a great review in Go Set. That must’ve pleased all of you, it was Australian Pick of the Week.

JL: Oh yeah, nut the reality of it was that the review came from Go Set and Raphael pushed it. I don’t try and kid myself that it was an objective review.

LE: What exactly did Raphael have to do with Go Set?

JL: I don’t know precisely, he was just on the staff somehow. I heard he was involved with Max Merritt & the Meteors a few years ago. Anyway, regarding the review, we were full of dreams, but we’d rather have seen the single on the charts.

LE: Did it make any of them?

JL: I think “COS OF YOU” made #39 in one chart but I don’t think it went any further.

LE: How did you get the contract with HMV?

JL: That would’ve been Raphael. He just came up to us, told us he’d gotten us a recording contract, and that we had to find some songs to put down.

LE: Were you doing many covers then?

JL: We were doing all covers then! It just wasn’t the done thing to do any of your own songs Raphael told us we nedded four tracks and we had about a dozen that I’d written, although we hadn’t performed any of them. We did do them live after we’d recorded them but not before.

LE: What about TV shows?

JL: Oh, we did Kommotion and the Go Show, and some Saturday morning show in Sydney.

LE: Saturday Date?

JL: I think so. We only did about four or five TV shows.

LE: You also supported the Stones around that time. How was that?

JL: Great! We got a real buzz out of that. The Searchers were also on the bill.

LE: Did you get to meet the Stones?

JL: No, we bumped into them in the passageway backstage, but they pretty much kept to themselves. That was the highlight over everything we did, the Stones tour.

LE: Did you support any other overseas acts?

JL: No, the Stones were the only ones.

LE: That must’ve taken a lot of pushing from Raphael to get that tour for you.

JL: Ummm…(long pause)

LE: Do you want me to turn off the tape?

JL: (Another pause)…no, it’s ok. From what I heard, Go Set had something to do with issuing of the tickets for the show. So there’s Go Set involvement again, and Raphael being with Go Set, plugged us to support the Stones.

LE: But with the type of music you were playing, you would’ve been a good support for them.

JL: Oh yeah, we used to do all the “heavy” stuff then. “THE LAST TIME”,”IT’S ALL OVER NOW”…god, you’re really taxing my memory!

LE: “SATISFACTION”?

JL: I remember when fuzz boxes first came out, they were

the

invention.

LE: And of course you went out and got one.

JL: I went straight out and got one alright! But nowadays they’re old hat.

LE: We were talking earlier about backing other artists. Did you ever back Denise Drysdale? I seem to remember seeing a demo of her somewhere that was labelled Denise Drysdale and the Moods.

JL: I honestly can’t remember. In the early days we did back quite a few female singers, but I’m not sure about about Denise. I remember we did back Pat Carroll at some stage.

LE: Did you back these artists in concert or on stage?

JL: In concert. Hardly any of the TV shows were actually done live.

LE: You just had to mime? That must’ve been a lot of fun.

JL: I always feel sorry for the drummer because he just couldn’t help but hit his cymbal every now and then.

LE: Did they have a live audience on these shows?

JL: Some of them did. Like, on Kommotion there was no audience, they had a tape of screaming girls and they’d dub that in at the beginning and end of each song. I’ve got a feeling that the Go Show had an audience but I can’t remember for sure.

LE: “RUM DRUNK” was released around June ’66. It also got good reviews. It’s a great track. Bad luck it didn’t make it.

JL: Yes, I still like that track myself.

LE: What happened after it’s release?

JL: We played for around four months, then Mick left around October. It was around that time that my parents hit on me to make a decision either for music or schooling. I’d already failed once at school, so I thought I’d leave also. That was about December ’66.

LE: Did the band continue on after you two had left?

JL: No, nothing else happened that I know of. I mean, you pull the two guitarists out of a band and that’s basically their sound gone. Not only that, it’s their knowledge. Ian (bassist) was still left, but it’s pretty hard for him to teach both the lead & rhythm to two new guitarists.

The Moods – Say Hello To Me

The Moods – Rum Drunk

The Moods – Come On Home

I’m a boy, boy and I’m blue,
I’ve got no one, no one ‘cept you
I was brought up, brought up in the slums
But now I’ve come back with nothing but rum

I’m a boy who’s down on my luck
Haven’t got one whole buck
My only hope is to get on the run
And bring with me my little bottle of rum
Rum Drunk (J.Livi), © Castle Music, 1966.

This article appeared on page 30 of the Tom Thum’ #1, December 1992. Review was written by Downliner Doug.

Don’t Ask Me What I Say / Long Tall Shorty (Mojo MO/002) ??-65

Glenn and The Outlaws are a Melbourne r’n'b band also from the Bayside area. They are known for often playing with The Rising Sons and other r’n'b groups and listening to this I can unterstand why. Don’t Ask Me What I Say has some good guitar work through it. It moves along at a good pace. These guys sure studied their blues for this and it also has an obvious beat influence which makes it a worthwhile A-side.

Don't Ask Me What I Say

Long Tall Shorty on the other hand is fanstatic with heaps of harp and plenty of energy. These guys can really play. It has an obvious Kinks influence but heaps punkier and with a good dose of blues. On the Mojo label how could it possibly be anything else.

To quote a posting from Mark Taylor in Feb 2008.

I just heard via phone a crazy 60s garage acetate track called “Found Another Girl” by King Quinn, on Trend. Trend is the Melbourne label that released 45s by The Union, Gemini Five and Town Criers among others.

Via a single phone play, this struck me as one of the cruder and better 60s garage tracks I have ever heard from Australia. With recently discovered material such as this, Arthur’s Thumb and the Chimney Sweeps, Australia’s 60s garage cauldron of cacophony seems almost botumles.

Found Another Girl (Trend) 1965

The Chimney Sweeps c.1966

Band Members:-

John Reid – Guitar (1966-68)
Barend du Preez – Bass Guitar & harmonica (1966-68)
Howard Allingham – Vocals & harmonica (1966-68)
Alan Voss – Drums (1966-68)

Record Releases:-

Devil Girl (1966)/Not Much Time/Milk Cow Blues/No, No, No, No/Till The End Of The Day/Lies, Lies (1967)/Devil Girl (1967)/Cold Fish/Grown Up Wrong/Upside Down World/Mama Keep Your Big Mouth Shut/Hey Myrtle/I Wish You You Would/Sticks And Stones/Give Your Lovin’ To Me/Japanese Garden (Unreleased reel-to-reel tapes)

Yet another interesting Melbourne band that has received little or no kudos are Bobby Kain & The Tremors.

They are also one of the many bands around Australia that never committed anything to vinyl, yet are rumoured to have at least recorded.  I personally think that this is a cryin’ shame, cos’ there were so many great little bands around that we’re never gonna get to hear.

But if I hear or read about them they will be posted on the blog.

A Dean Mittelhauser written article appearing on page 40 of The Livin’ End Magazine #6.

Paul Trenda Group
Melbourne pop group  1964 – 68
Played a repertoire of 166 songs over 155 gigs
Highlight: 2/10/1965 – highest score up to that date on Melbourne TV’s “New Faces”

Band Members:-

Paul Alsberg (original vocalist)
Bill Lonegan vocals
Rob McNaught – lead guitar
John McNaught – (Rob’s brother) – bass
Joe Burg – drums
Arwin de Goede – electric piano
Bill Kilvert – sax

We were formerly
known as

Rob & The Initials

Our first single "Never" - Words & Music by Rob McNaught

The "B" side to "Never"

                                                                                                                                                           Click  “Here“  to listen to                            Click  “Here“ to listen to

              “Never”                                           “Stop your Sobbing”                                                                                                                             

The 2 tracks above were produced for Phonovox records by                      Keith “The Doc”  Livingston who was a Radio Announcer (DJ) for 3KZ at the time. We cut both tracks in a 6 hour session one Sunday afternoon. We owe a lot of thanks to Keith for his support during those times.
Keith was also MC out at Preston Town Hall where we initially met up with him. We all remain good friends to this day.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           

Music by Rob McNaught. Words by Rob McNaught & Paul Alsberg

                                                                           “1966″ was a slow ballad that Paul enjoyed singing on stage.

We gave it the title “1966″ simply because that was the year it was written. 

Click “Here“ to have a listen. 

                                                                                                                                                             Early in 1966, Rob purchased himself a movie camera. In those days the movie cameras were silent (no audio). Rob’s fiance at the time, Pam, filmed us at a gig at The Old MacRobertson’s Chocolate Factory in Chapel St. Windsor that had been converted into a venue that put on live stage shows. We think it was called The ’20′s Club.

The video footage below was taken on the 14th December 1966. The stage play “East Lynne” was performed earlier in the evening and we came on to provide the dance music that followed. Apologies for the film quality but film technology in those days was fairly primitive. We dubbed the audio of  ”Never” and “Stop Your Sobbing” onto the video to add some effect. It’s, of course, out of synch with the video footage.  This version of “Never”, on the video clip, was the original version (which was produced at W&G Studios for Phono Vox by Tony Barber – originally from “Billy Thorpe and the Aztecs”)  and was sung by Paul Alsberg - our original singer.  The version above (below the record label) was our second try at it and was sung by Bill Lonegan who came in as singer when Paul left. Unfortunately we don’t have any pix with Bill Lonegan in them.

Click  “Paul Trenda Group video at the 20′s Club in Chapel St. Windsor – 14th Dec 1966 “  to watch the video clip. 

We occasionally, at random, took a few movies  and the following video clip was again taken by Rob’s fiancee Pam. The first section was taken at a park in Elwood and the second portion of the clip was taken at Pam’s 20th birthday party in Frankston. This time we’ve dubbed the audio of Bill Lonegan’s version of  “Never“  onto the video clip. Once again, apologies for the video quality.

Click  ”Movie clip of the boys at Elwood and playing at the 21st“  to view the video clip. 

                             
Bill Kilvert  played sax with the group and during the whole time that we played together, both Bill and Arwin (keyboards) kept a meticulous account of the gigs we played, the dates of the gigs and the bands we played with.

Bill has brought this all together in quite some detail and if  you would like to read Bill’s account of his memories with the band then click on

 “My Band Days“

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      Thanks to Bill Casey for providing info on this combo.

Many thanks to John McNaught for providing additional information.

Also thanks to Matt Crynes for assistance with the production of the video clips. 

The Apostles are a band that I’d never heard of till recently.

They were apparently a Melbourne combo and they did record a few songs, tho’ nuthin’ ever got onto vinyl.

Their drummer was Tristan Rogers, then a fledging model, was a big soapie star in the U.S. in 1986.

A Dean Mittelhauser written article appearing on page 40 of The Livin’ End Magazine #6.

Band Members:-

John Marchingo
Lindsay Shah – Guitarist (1964-65)
Billy Hill
Bruce MacIntosh
Jonny Kenny – Vocals

Record Releases:-

No recordings made.

The band member names are from the interview of The Wild Colonials’ Guitarist Lindsay Shah who also played guitar with the Shmoos and was first written and published by Dean Mittelhauser in his fan magazine The Livin’ End #4, April 1985 and is copyright © 1985 Dean Mittelhauser. Many thanks to Peter Markmann for pointing out the interview for me.

The Shmoos formed in Melbourne, Victoria in 1965. Wearing mod purple satin suits, the band attracted a strong following due to their “visible” stage presences & a strong sound. This band was a popular as you could get for a band which seems to have reocrded output!

The band played covers & some instrumentals.