THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD
1,675) The Strangers — “Take the Time”
Australia was no stranger to the Strangers. Here they give us gorgeous and romantic harmony pop with “absolutely brilliant harmonies and musicianship!” (karabata297, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H982r-UPraY) written and sung by John Farrar.
The definitive Milesago: Australasian Music & Popular Culture 1964-1975 tells us that:
The Strangers were one of the best and most important Australian pop bands of the 1960s, and their contributions should be better recognised, because they played a vital role in shaping the sound of Australian Sixties pop. They enjoyed considerable success as a recording act, in their own right, gained national recognition through their many concert and TV appearances, and they were universally regarded one of the most versatile and musically accomplished bands in the country. . . . [T]hey quickly became Australia’s most in-demand backing group for recordings, the concert stage and TV. . . . [I]t’s not unreasonable to describe them as Australia’s version of L.A.’s famous “Wrecking Crew”. Original members Peter Robinson, Laurie Arthur and Fred Weiland all knew each other from Glenroy High School, although they had lost touch . . . and moved into different bands. Peter met Garth Thompson in 1961 and they talked about the idea of forming a group based around material by popular overseas artists like The Ventures, The Shadows, Rick Nelson, Elvis Presley Carl Perkins, Ray Charles and Hank Ballard. Thanks to a chance meeting with his old friend Laurie Arthur on a train from Glenroy to the city, Peter realised that Laurie and Fred had similar ideas and tastes, so they decided to join forces. . . . . The Strangers began their performing career at the Glenroy Police Boys’ Youth Club, promoting their own dances and also booking and backing many of the current popular solo acts . . . . They were soon drawing regular crowds of 800-1200 people every Saturday night . . . . They quickly rose to become one of the top bands on the booming Melbourne dance circuit . . . . In late 1962, after cutting a series of demos, they signed a contract with local label W&G Records, having already proven their worth as a studio band . . . . [T]hey were profoundly influenced by the new wave of British guitar acts like The Shadows and The Tornados, and their set-list in earlier days was dominated by Cliff Richards/Shadows covers . . . . Their first single, “Cry of the Wild Geese” was a notable success, reaching #12 in Melbourne. This was followed by three more instrumental Singles during 1963, one of which reached the lower end of the Melbourne Top 40. Their first vocal single, a cover of the perennial “Poppa Oom Mow Mow” came out in early 1964. The group’s first big break came in January 1964 when they were booked as the support act on [a] tour with Roy Orbison, The Beach Boys, The Surfaris and Paul & Paula. Laurie Arthur left the group around this time . . . and . . . was replaced by a ferociously talented 18-year-old guitarist-singer called John Farrar. . . . [H]is arrival enabled to the band to cover material such as The Beach Boys covers, which few other local groups could convincingly tackle. Indeed, the Strangers became extremely adept at creating note-perfect renditions of the latest hits by The Beatles, The Beach Boys and many other overseas acts. By late 1964 . . . . aside from their own recordings, they were more and more in demand as session musicians . . . . The group were voted top instrumental/vocal group of 1964. . . . Their biggest break was in August 1964, when The Strangers were selected as the ‘house’ band for the new ‘Australian pop Tv show, The Go!! Show, broadcast nationally on the new 0-10 Network. The Strangers backed the numerous solo singers who performed on the program, as well as featuring on their own. . . . Between 1964 and 1967 The Strangers recorded eight Singles, one EP and one LP under their own name for W&G . . . . [and] they recorded scores if not hundreds of other tracks as a backing group for other artists, as well the many numbers they taped as backing tracks for The Go!! Show . [But] they did not break out to major national success as recording artists . . . . After their W&G contract expired they briefly signed to the Go!! label in 1967 and their only Go!! single, “Western Union” . . . returned them to the Melbourne charts, reaching #30. Around this time vocalist Terry Walker . . . replaced Fred Weiland . . . . [When] The Go!! Show had been cancelled and the Go!! label had folded . . . [they] moved on to the Philips label, for whom they recorded three Singles. The first, “Happy Without You”, was quite successful — it reached #39 nationally in May 1968, but went as high as #8 in Melbourne and #11 in Brisbane. . . . In 1970 they signed to Ron Tudor’s new Fable label. . . . The Strangers’ biggest commercial success came with their 1970 single “Melanie Makes Me Smile”, which peaked at #10 and spent eighteen weeks in the national chart.
Here they are on Uptight, broadcast on October 19, 1968. Uptight was “an Australian music television series aired on ATV-0 in Melbourne in 1967 until 1969 every Saturday mornings at 8am to 12pm . . . hosted by Ross D. Wylie.” (nzoz1968, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YltLghbcwls):
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