The Blue Beats were formed in Sydney in 1964 and managed by 2GB disc jockey John Melouney (who managed other bands at the time including his nephew's Vince Melouney's band The Vibratones). Led by guitarist Mick Gibbons their brand of R&B was hugely popular wherever they played. They were one of the few bands that were sponsored by an amplifier company that being Moodys. Signed by Festival they released their first single ''She's Coming Home'' in 1965, a cracking garage rocker written by the bands lead singer Wayne Poll. This single is worth a fair bit of money these days. The song ..read more

  Kenny Arnott was born in Horsham, Victoria on June 19th, 1937. On his tenth birthday his Dad gave him his first guitar, and being left-handed he was self-taught. He wrote his first song at 13, titled ''Christian Cowboy''. Kenny was a promising young footballer in his hometown of Horsham, recruited by Horsham’s Seconds. However, he had ended up in hospital due to an accident on the field. He was equally involved in music, which he eventually took up as a career. Kenny’s first public performance was with his father in a prominent local Mouth Organ Band. This built the foundation of his m ..read more

The Teen Queens were formed in Sydney in 1991 by three model-singer-actresses: Roxanne Clarke, Kellie Crawford (née Hoggart) and Liza Witt. A pilot episode was developed by the creators of E Street, a teen TV soap opera, for a self-titled half-hour TV program about a girl group set in 1960s. According to The Canberra Times correspondent the show "follows three girls from the country who head to the city to make it big in the music world. Naturally all doesn't go according to plan." By the time that the pilot was turned down, the trio had made the group a reality as a dance-po ..read more

The Cutters were formed in Melbourne by Peter Bowman on guitars and vocals (ex-Talk That Walk), Phil Buckle on vocals and guitar, and Geoff Cain on bass guitar. They were joined by Virgil Donati on drums (ex-Cloud Nine, Taste, Peter Cupples Band, the Cosy Connection) and changed their name to The State in 1987. By 1988 the group were signed to Glenn Wheatley's label, Wheatley Bros Records, and released their debut single, "Responsible", in June. It was followed by "Real Love" in October. At the ARIA Music Awards of 1989 they were nominated for Best New Talent for "Real Love ..read more

The Madmen were formed in Townsville in 1988 with the lineup of Tim Steward (vocals, guitar), Bruce Gardner (guitar, vocals), Tony Blades (drums) and Jeff Johnson (bass). In 1989, Cam Hurst replaced Johnson on bass guitar and Gardner departed. The Madmen toured Queensland numerous times, before relocating to Brisbane in 1989. The band released the following on vinyl: ''Almost Past Caring / That's O.K. With Me'' on grey vinyl (1988), the EP 'Thunderegg' (1989), ''Tower / End Of This Day″ (1989) and ''Cool Kinda Kid / Walking Through the Village'' (1990).  Recorded in Brisbane and Townsvil ..read more

  Henry Vihnyl (ex-Pelaco Bros) formed Millionaires in 1976 with longtime friend Nick Smith. The band was supposed to be the next big thing, but they were unfairly compared to Skyhooks and drew some criticism. They signed to Mushroom and released ''It's A Deal''. The band performed it on Countdown. The single flopped and they were unceremonially dumped by the label. They managed to record another single ''Please Don't Mention The Junta'' from a press of around 500 records but they didn't last much longer. After they disbanded Tim Brosnan would go on and join Paul Kelly & T ..read more

This Australian duo, built around a creative core of Tom Kristensen (guitar) and Madeleine King (vocals), formed in 1995 after both partners had experienced varying degrees of success in other bands. As Kristensen told the press, ''We were sitting in our lounge playing songs together when a friend suggested we should get out and do them in public.'' Writing principally in a melodic country blues vein, the group signed to MDS Records. In addition to Kristensen and King, the group featured other members Barry Turnbull (John Kennedy's Love Gone Wrong, Widdershins), David Orwell (Golden Rou ..read more

Smokestack Lightning was a blues band formed in Adelaide in the early 70s. The band was very popular in the local pub scene; most notably at The Eagle Hotel where they had a weekly residency. Their debut album was released in 1975 on the EMS label and coincided with their Muddy Waters support show at the Adelaide Festival Theatre. Smokestack Lightning supported many overseas blues bands including John Mayall, Freddy King, BB King and Hound Dog Taylor to name but a few. The band went through many lineup changes in their five-year tenure. They disbanded in 1978.  Members Greg Baker (ha ..read more

Barry Greenwood was born in Melbourne. In the late 1950s he became an apprentice motor mechanic and was singing at the Diamond Creek Hotel. He met up with Ben E. Joyner (a guitarist in one of Melbourne's first rock n roll bands The Planets) in a milk bar in Bell St Heidelberg late one Friday night where he used to sing with his guitar and friends next to the coloured lights of the big carnival juke box (for lighting & atmosphere) after the dances and theatres had finished. He used to sing there for customers and bikies and have his friends there for support. Joyner gave him some guitar ..read more

Lawrence Frank Allen was born in Melbourne on 09 March 1942 to Jack and Edna Allen. Having been a student of The Melbourne Banjo Club as a child and a self-taught guitar player - Laurie formed his first band in the mid 1950’s. On vocals and guitar, Allen called themselves The Three Jays with Jimmy Braggs on piano accordion and Johnny MacGaw on drums. He followed with stints in the Lories (c. 1958) and then the Roulettes (1958–59), a long-running Melbourne revue band. From 1959 to 1961, he was lead guitarist for Malcolm Arthur and the Knights, and in 1962 he was lead singer and organist of a ..read more