The Chessmen

Personnel: (1963 onwards)
TONY BUCHANAN	sax	A	B
MICK LYNCH	drms	A
FRANK McMAHON	bs	A	B
ALBERT STACPOOLE	piano	A
LES STACPOOLE	sax, gtr	A
BARRY ROY	gtr		B
NOEL TRESSIDER	piano		B

 

ALBUM:
1(A)	THE CHESSMEN PLAY AND SING DANCE FAVOURITES	(W&G 1915)	1964

 

45s:
1	The Rebel/Outer Sanctum	(W&G S 1508)	1962
2	Nick Nack Paddy Whack/Butterflies	(W&G S 1609)	1963
3	Like, Long Hair/Rock 'n' Roll Music	(W&G S 1863)	1964
4	Wild Wild Willie/Twistified	(W&G S 1940)	1965
5	Hound Dog/Bop-A-Lena	(In IN-S 2473)	1966

NB: (2) with Johnny Chester.  

An early sixties group from Melbourne. Forming in 1960, they were originally known as Johnny Chester and The Chessmen.

Two of their cuts, Like, Long Hair and The Rebel, can also be found on W&G Instrumental Story, whilst Hound Dog got a further airing on Discotheque... Wild Weekend and you'll also find Wild Little Willie on Australian Rock Heritage.

Johnny Chester

ALBUMS: (1963 onwards)
1	WILD AND WARM	(W&G WGB 1545)	1963
2	BEST OF CHES	(W&G WGB 1746)	1964
3	TEEN SCENE	(W&G B 2395)	1965
4	JOHNNY CHESTER'S GREATEST HITS	(W&G 25/2340)	1965

NB: (2) and (3) with The Chessmen.  

EPs:
1	MY BLUES AND I	(W&G E 1661)	1963
2	WHAT A NIGHT	(W&G )	196?
3	SUMMERTIME BLUES	(In S 2515)	1965
4	HOKEY POKEY	(W&G )	1968

 

45s: (1962 onwards)
1	Shy Away/A Funny Little Feeling	(W&G 1453)	1962 -
2	Let's Dance/Forty Days	(W&G 1507)	1962 -
3	I Love Mary/Summertime Blues	(W&G 1537)	196? -
4	Butterflies/Nick Nack Paddy Whack	(W&G 1609)	1963 -
5	Come On Everybody/The Old Copper Kettle	(W&G 1688)	1963 -
6	Teeny/Do The Stomp	(W&G 1803)	1964 -
7	Bye Bye Johnny/Miss Ann	(W&G 1869)	1964 -
8	Unless You Care/You're So Square, Baby I Don't Care	(W&G 1999)	1964 -
9	Adias My Darling/Your Cheating Heart	(W&G S 2363)	1965 -
10	When Will I Be Loved/Shop Around	(In IN-S 2425)	1965 -
11	It's Too Late/Something's Got A Hold Of Me	(In IN-S 2483)	1965 -
12	California Sun; Goodnight Irene/Summertime Blues; Over You	(In IN-S 2515)	196? -
13	Steppin' Out/I Feel Good All Over	(In IN-S 2563)	196? -
14	I'm Gonna Have A Real Good Time/Heaven Help The Man	(Astor A 7101)	1968 -
15	Highway 31/	(Philips BF 456)	1969 57
16	Glory Glory (I'll Be Back To See The Storey Bridge)/	(Fable FB 052)	1971 47
17	Gwen (Congratulations)/	(Fable FB 076)	1971 19
18	Shame And Scandal (In The Family)/	(Fable FB 099)	1971 13
19	Readymix Revenge/	(Fable FB 125)	1972 37
20	Midnight Bus/	(Fable FB 140)	1972 31
21	The World's Greatest Mum/	(Fable FB 180)	1973 8
22	Let's Build A Love Together/	(Fable FB 200)	1973 43
23	She's My Kind Of Woman/	(Fable FB 211)	1974 14
24	My Special Angel/	(Fable FB 226)	1975 76
25	Sally On Sunday/	(Fable FB 239)	1975 88

NB: (2), (3), (4), (7) and (8) with The Chessmen. (5) with Bonnie Owens.  

Melbourne's premier early sixties teen idol. He started out in The Jaywoods in 1959 and used The Chessmen as his backing band between 1960-1966.

He later had his own T.V. show and became a regular DJ on 3UZ. In the late sixties he veered towards country and western music fronting Jigsaw (1968-75) and then joining the Blue Denim (Country) Band (1976-78).

Several of his recordings also figured on the Image Music Demos series, which were samplers produced by the Image record group. #1 included I'd Forgotten, She's Another Man's Woman (and a different version of this song also appears on Vol. 3) and She's My Kind Of Woman (which can also be found on Rock 'n' Roll Gold). Vol. 2 of the same series features All I Want For Xmas, Anything At All, Feelings Like I Never Felt Before, Roll Trucker Roll, Simple Kind Of Fella and World's Greatest Mum (which is also on Rock 'n' Roll Gold). His other songs compiled are California Sun on Australia's Best, Highway 31 on From The Beginning and Rock 'n' Roll Gold; Let's Build A Love Together and Midnight Bus on 20 Great Australian Hits, Vol. 3, Steppin' Out on Discotheque... Wild Weekend and Our Generation, Summertime Blues on Australia's Best and Teeny on Australian Rock Heritage.

Chetarca

Personnel:
BRUCE BRYAN	synth	A
GEOFF GALLENT	drms	A
PAUL LEVER	vcls, hrmnca	A
IAN MILLER	gtr	A
JOHN REES	bs, violin	A
ANDREW VANCE	keyb'ds, vcls	A

 

ALBUM:
1(A)	CHETARCA	(WEA/Atlantic 600020)	1975 R1

 

45:
1	Another Day/Fisherman's Nightmare	(Atlantic 100038)	1975 75

 

Operating out of Melbourne in the mid-seventies, this band were a sort of Aussie equivalent to Emerson, Lake and Palmer. They only released one 45, Another Day, but it spent three weeks in the Top 100 peaking at No. 75 in September 1975. No other Australian progressive album sounded like this one (which many now consider to be underrated). Musically, it is notable for no guitars - a dual keyboard assault of Andrew Vance (piano, organ) and Bruce Bryan (synthesiser) and Paul Lever's wailing harp and bluesy vocals. Side two is taken up with just one long track Oceanic Suite.

The Chiffons

Personnel:
PAULINE BRADY	vcls	A
MAUREEN ELKNER	vcls	A
JUDY CONDON	vcls	A

 

45:
1	Secret Love/	(Astor )	1970

 

A teenage female trio who formed in Melbourne in 1968. They were managed by Daryl Sambell and toured Vietnam with The Gallery.

The Chocolate

45:
1	I'm An Animal/It's Been A Long Time Coming	(Festival FK 2933)	1969

 

This was a later version of the Sydney-based heavy psychedelic band The Creatures. The 'A' side was the Eric Burdon song and can be found on Datura Dreamtime (CD).

Chook

Personnel incl:
KIM CONSTABLE	drms	A
ALEX O'HARA	gtr	A	B
IAN RYAN	bs	A	B
MICK SAMPSON	vcls	A	B
JEFF LOWE	drms		B

 

45:
1	Cold Feet/Tables Turn	(Havoc H.1005)	1971

 

A heavy rock combo from Melbourne. The songs are not that strong, but the music is dark and heavy - an Aussie Steppenwolf. You can also check out Cold Feet on Australian Rock 71/72.

The Chosen Few

Personnel:
BRIAN FECHNER	drms	A
DEAN SCHUBERT		A
ROD SCHUBERT	bs	A
MIKE SIEGELE	vcls, keyb'ds	A
BOB VAN AMSTEL	gtr	A

 

45s:
1	Is This A Dream/Let Me Down Easy	(Go!! GO-5044)	1966
2	Maybe The Rain Will Fall/Deeper In	(RCA )	1969

 

Originally from Nuriootpa, a small rural town, where they were known as The Outcasts, they migrated to Adelaide for a while. They specialised in playing rather obscure cover versions, usually in a pop/soul mould.

They later toured Melbourne and changed name to The Fence.

Two of their songs, I'll Go Crazy and Just A Little Bit can also be found on Live At Big Daddy's, which was issued by Raven to mark South Australia's Jubilee, although the album was originally scheduled for release in 1967 but plans were shelved when a couple of the groups broke up.

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