Sebastian Hardie were Australia's first

symphonic rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog; sometimes conflated with art rock) is a broad genre of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom and United States through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early 1970s. Initi ...

band. They formed in Sydney in 1967 as Sebastian Hardie Blues Band but dropped the 'Blues Band' reference when they became pop-oriented. By 1973 they developed a more

progressive rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog; sometimes conflated with art rock) is a broad genre of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom and United States through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early 1970s. Init ...

style, and later performed as Windchase, but disbanded in 1977. An early member of Sebastian Hardie was

Jon English Jonathan James English (26 March 1949 – 9 March 2016) was an English-born Australian singer, songwriter, musician and actor. He emigrated from England to Australia with his parents in 1961. He was an early vocalist and rhythm guitarist for S ...

(vocals, rhythm guitar), who starred as

Judas Iscariot Judas Iscariot (; grc-x-biblical, Ἰούδας Ἰσκαριώτης; syc, ܝܗܘܕܐ ܣܟܪܝܘܛܐ; died AD) was a disciple and one of the original Twelve Apostles of Jesus Christ. According to all four canonical gospels, Judas betraye ...

in the Australian version of the stage musical ''

Jesus Christ Superstar ''Jesus Christ Superstar'' is a sung-through rock opera with music by Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyrics by Tim Rice. Loosely based on the Gospels' accounts of the Passion, the work interprets the psychology of Jesus and other characters, with ...

'' in 1972, he subsequently had a solo career as a singer, actor and playwright. A later member,

Mario Millo is a character created by Japanese video game designer Shigeru Miyamoto. He is the title character of the ''Mario'' franchise and the mascot of Japanese video game company Nintendo. Mario has appeared in over 200 video games since his cre ...

(lead guitar,

mandolin A mandolin ( it, mandolino ; literally "small mandola") is a stringed musical instrument in the lute family and is generally plucked with a pick. It most commonly has four courses of doubled strings tuned in unison, thus giving a total of 8 ...

, vocals) became a multi-award winner for his television and movie music. Sebastian Hardie's other early members included Graham Ford (lead guitar)
Anatole Kononewsky
(keyboards), Peter Plavsic (bass guitar) and his brother Alex Plavsic (drums). After English, Kononewsky and Ford had left, the Plavsic brothers were joined by Millo and Toivo Pilt (keyboards). With their addition, Sebastian Hardie developed extended progressive rock tracks to become a symphonic rock group before they released their definitive album '' Four Moments'' in 1975, which peaked at No. 12 on the National albums chart. They followed with a second album ''Windchase'' in 1976, but it had less chart success. Millo and Pilt formed the band, Windchase, to release ''Symphinity'' in 1977, it was a heavier

jazz-fusion Jazz fusion (also known as fusion and progressive jazz) is a music genre that developed in the late 1960s when musicians combined jazz harmony and improvisation with rock music, funk, and rhythm and blues. Electric guitars, amplifiers, and ke ...

album but didn't have chart success and they disbanded.

History

1967–1973: Early years

Guitarist Graham Ford (ex-The Interns) made up the name 'Sebastian Hardie' when he founded Sebastian Hardie Blues Band in 1967 in Sydney.Spencer et al., (2007
INTERNS, THE
entry. Retrieved 8 March 2010. Variable line-ups included John Bellamy (bass guitar), Dennis Laughlin (vocals, later in Sherbet), Richard Lillico (ex-The Interns, drums), Syd Richmond (drums), Dave Waddington (vocals) and Neil Williamson (organ).McFarlan
'Sebastian Hardie'
entry. Retrieved 8 March 2010. They played R&B and

soul In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being". Etymology The Modern English noun ''soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The earliest attes ...

covers but disbanded in early 1968. When Ford reformed the band later in the year, he recruited students from Sydney's Cabramatta High School,

on vocals and rhythm guitar
Anatole Kononewsky
on keyboard, Peter Plavsic (ex-The Interns) on bass guitar, and his brother Alex Plavsic on drums. They dropped the 'Blues Band' part to play more pop-oriented music and were the backing band for legendary Australian rocker

Johnny O'Keefe John Michael O'Keefe (19 January 1935 – 6 October 1978) was an Australian rock and roll singer whose career began in the 1950s. Some of his hits include " Wild One" (1958), " Shout!" and "She's My Baby". In his twenty-year career, O'Keefe rel ...

during 1969. Covering songs from

Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for six decades, they are one of the most popular and enduring bands of the album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the Rolling Stones pioneered the g ...

The Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...

Otis Redding Otis Ray Redding Jr. (September 9, 1941 – December 10, 1967) was an American singer and songwriter. He is considered one of the greatest singers in the history of American popular music and a seminal artist in soul music and rhythm and blues. ...

and

Wilson Pickett Wilson Pickett (March 18, 1941 – January 19, 2006) was an American singer and songwriter. A major figure in the development of soul music, Pickett recorded over 50 songs which made the US R&B charts, many of which crossed over to the ''Bill ...

they built a reputation in the Sydney

pub A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and was ...

scene. Late in 1971, English left Sebastian Hardie when he won the role of

in the Australian stage production of ''

'' from May 1972. He was eventually replaced by Steve Dunne on vocals and keyboards. British singer

Larry Page Lawrence Edward Page (born March 26, 1973) is an American business magnate, computer scientist and internet entrepreneur. He is best known for co-founding Google with Sergey Brin. Page was the chief executive officer of Google from 1997 unt ...

produced Sebastian Hardie's first single "All Right Now" in September 1973 on

RCA Records RCA Records is an American record label currently owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside RCA's former long-time rival Columbia Records; also A ...

.Spencer et al., (2007
SEBASTIAN HARDIE
entry. Retrieved 8 March 2010.

1973–1977: ''Four Moments'' and ''Windchase''

Ford left Sebastian Hardie by October 1973 to be replaced by

on lead guitar. They recorded a second single "Day After Day" released in April 1974. By this time Tovio Pilt had replaced Dunne on keyboards and Millo took over on vocals. Besides covers they were playing original

material. They were Australia's first symphonic rock band and performed a 20-minute version of

Mike Oldfield Mike may refer to: Animals * Mike (cat), cat and guardian of the British Museum * Mike the Headless Chicken, chicken that lived for 18 months after his head had been cut off * Mike (chimpanzee), a chimpanzee featured in several books and documen ...

's ''

Tubular Bells Tubular bells (also known as chimes) are musical instruments in the percussion family. Their sound resembles that of church bells, carillon, or a bell tower; the original tubular bells were made to duplicate the sound of church bells within a ...

'' as part of their set; Millo was now writing more orchestrated and inventive original material. After signing to

Polydor Records Polydor Records Ltd. is a German-British record label that operates as part of Universal Music Group. It has a close relationship with Universal's Interscope Geffen A&M Records label, which distributes Polydor's releases in the United States. ...

they supported tours by international acts

Lou Reed Lewis Allan Reed (March 2, 1942October 27, 2013) was an American musician, songwriter, and poet. He was the guitarist, singer, and principal songwriter for the rock band the Velvet Underground and had a solo career that spanned five decades. ...

and

Osibisa Osibisa are a Ghanaian-British Afro-Rock band founded in London in the late 1960s by four expatriate West African and three London based Caribbean musicians. Osibisa were the most successful and longest lived of the African-heritage bands in ...

during 1974. Their first LP, '' Four Moments'', which peaked at No. 12 on the Australian

Kent Music Report The Kent Music Report was a weekly record chart of Australian music singles and albums which was compiled by music enthusiast David Kent from May 1974 through to January 1999. The chart was re-branded the Australian Music Report (AMR) in July ...

Albums Chart, was released in August 1975. Note: Used for Australian Singles and Albums charting from 1970 until

ARIA In music, an aria (Italian: ; plural: ''arie'' , or ''arias'' in common usage, diminutive form arietta , plural ariette, or in English simply air) is a self-contained piece for one voice, with or without instrumental or orchestral accompanime ...

created their own

charts A chart (sometimes known as a graph) is a graphical representation for data visualization, in which "the data is represented by symbols, such as bars in a bar chart, lines in a line chart, or slices in a pie chart". A chart can represent tabul ...

in mid-1988. Produced by former member Jon English, it achieved Gold status – selling 35,000 copies, while the related single "Rosanna", an instrumental track, peaked at No. 55 on the Kent Music Report Singles Chart. ''Four Moments'' showed the influence of progressive rock groups from Europe, including

Genesis Genesis may refer to: Bible * Book of Genesis, the first book of the biblical scriptures of both Judaism and Christianity, describing the creation of the Earth and of mankind * Genesis creation narrative, the first several chapters of the Book of ...

, Yes,

King Crimson King Crimson are a progressive rock band formed in 1968 in London, England. The band draws inspiration from a wide variety of music, incorporating elements of classical, jazz, folk, heavy metal, gamelan, industrial, electronic, experime ...

and

Focus Focus, or its plural form foci may refer to: Arts * Focus or Focus Festival, former name of the Adelaide Fringe arts festival in South Australia Film *''Focus'', a 1962 TV film starring James Whitmore * ''Focus'' (2001 film), a 2001 film based ...

. It contained only three tracks with the title track taking up one side; Sebastian Hardie displayed "seamless, dramatic arrangements and impeccable musicianship". Toivo Pilt live Japan

''Windchase'', their second album, was released in February 1976, then they supported the national tour by

Santana Santana may refer to: Transportation * Volkswagen Santana, an automobile * Santana Cycles, manufacturer of tandem bicycles * Santana Motors, a former Spanish automobile manufacturer Boats * Santana 20, an American sailboat design by W. D. Sch ...

and released a single "Life, Love and Music", but neither album nor single had any Top 50 chart success. In June, management and internal disagreements led to the Plavsic brothers leaving and an ensuing court decision awarded the band name to Peter Plavsic; consequently Millo and Pilt combined under the name Windchase. They added Doug Nethercote (bass guitar) and Doug Bligh (drums) for the new rhythm section. The Plavsic brothers became backing musicians for The Studs, a

Rock n Roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock 'n' roll, or rock 'n roll) is a genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It originated from African-American music such as jazz, rhythm an ...

revival group.Spencer et al., (2007
STUDS, THE
entry. Retrieved 8 March 2010. Windchase played Sebastian Hardie's material which had been written by Millo and by 1977 started recording ''Symphinity'', which was more

oriented. During album sessions, Nethercote left to be replaced by

Duncan McGuire Duncan Hazlett McGuire (ca. 194310 July 1989), was an Australian musician, songwriter, recording engineer and producer. McGuire was a founding member of the jazz fusion band, Ayers Rock from 1973 until he left in 1976. As a bass guitarist he ...

(bass guitar, ex-

Doug Parkinson Douglas John Parkinson (30 October 1946 – 15 March 2021) was an Australian pop and rock singer. He led the bands Strings and Things/A Sound (1965), the Questions (1966–1968), Doug Parkinson in Focus (1968–1970, 1971), Fanny Adams (1970� ...

in Focus,

Ayers Rock Uluru (; pjt, Uluṟu ), also known as Ayers Rock ( ) and officially gazetted as UluruAyers Rock, is a large sandstone formation in the centre of Australia. It is in the southern part of the Northern Territory, southwest of Alice Springs. ...

). When the album was released in June, McGuire and Bligh were replaced by Nethercote's return and new member Ralph Cooper (drums). Singles from the album were "Glad to Be Alive" in May and "Flight Call" in October, but neither album nor singles had any chart success. Windchase toured through to October 1977 but the emerging

punk Punk or punks may refer to: Genres, subculture, and related aspects * Punk rock, a music genre originating in the 1970s associated with various subgenres * Punk subculture, a subculture associated with punk rock, or aspects of the subculture s ...

and new wave music forms resulted in poor concert audiences and Windchase disbanded.

After the separation

Ford was a member of Sydney-based band, Pleasure Master in 1986 on guitar and vocals.Spencer et al., (2007
PLEASURE MASTER
entry. Retrieved 8 March 2010. Millo worked with

on the 1978 TV series '' Against the Wind'' soundtrack, and the associated single "Six Ribbons" peaked at No. 8 on the national charts; both the album and its title track were translated as "Mot Alla Vindar" and peaked at No. 1 on the Norwegian albums and singles charts respectively. Millo also released solo albums ''Epic III'' in November 1979, ''Human Games'' in March 1983 and ''Oceans of the Mind'' in 2002. He became better known through his television and movie soundtrack production winning six industry awards for work in '' The Lighthorsemen'' (1987), ''G.P.'' (1989), ''

Brides of Christ ''Brides of Christ'' is an Australian television miniseries produced by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation in 1991.Albert Moran, ''Moran's Guide to Australian TV Series'', AFTRS 1993 p 94 The series takes place behind the walls of a Sydne ...

'' (1991, two awards), ''See How They Run'' (1999) and ''

Changi Changi () is a planning area located in the geographical region of Tanah Merah in the East Region of Singapore. Sharing borders with Pasir Ris and Tampines to the west, Changi Bay to the southeast, the South China Sea to the east and the Sera ...

'' (2001). Original soundtracks released include ''Against the Wind'' (1978, with Jon English), ''World Safari II'' (1984), ''A Fortunate Life'' (1986), ''The Lighthorsemen'' (1989) and ''Brides of Christ'' (1991). In 1989, Kononewsky produced the first o
three short documentaries
the first. "What If... A new global option" with an introduction by the international singer John Denver. Kononewsky wrote a song called "See the World in You" for the launch of the documentary at the Darling Harbour Convention Centre. Sebastian Hardie briefly reformed in 1994 – with the Plavsic brothers, Millo and Pilt – to perform at a progressive rock festival, ProgFest, in Los Angeles, which was recorded and eventually released as ''Sebastian Hardie – Live in L.A.'' in 1997. They played material from ''Four Moments'', ''Windchase'', ''Symphinity'', and ''Epic III''. At the ''

Gimme Ted ''Gimme Ted'', or more fully ''Gimme Ted – The Ted Mulry Benefit Concerts'', is an Australian 2×DVD video and tribute album by Various Artists, which was released on 19 May 2003. It was recorded at two eponymous benefit concerts on 9 and 10 ...

'' benefit concert on 10 March 2001 Sebastian Hardie performed "Openings" and then backed former member, Jon English, for two of his songs. Another reunion occurred in 2003 when supporting the British art rock band, Yes on their Australian tour. Pilt played keyboards for

Ross Ryan Ross Edwin Ryan (born 13 December 1950) is an American-born Australian singer-songwriter and producer. His signature tune, " I Am Pegasus", was released in September 1973, which peaked at No. 2 on the Australian Singles. Its parent album, ' ...

during 1979–1983.Spencer et al., (2007
Pilt, Toivo
entry. Retrieved 8 March 2010. Since 2004 he recorded CDs with Sydney "progressive chill" band Tramtracks, with Robert Forbes (keyboards,

theremin The theremin (; originally known as the ætherphone/etherphone, thereminophone or termenvox/thereminvox) is an electronic musical instrument controlled without physical contact by the performer (who is known as a thereminist). It is named afte ...

), Mark Hudson on guitar (who had worked with

James Reyne James Michael Nugent Reyne OAM (born 19 May 1957) is an Australian rock musician and singer-songwriter both in solo work and, until 1986, with the band Australian Crawl. Biography Early years Reyne was born in Lagos, Nigeria. His father, Ro ...

before

Australian Crawl Australian Crawl (often called Aussie Crawl or The Crawl by fans) were an Australian rock band founded by James Reyne (lead vocals/piano/harmonica), Brad Robinson (rhythm guitar), Paul Williams (bass), Simon Binks (lead guitar) and David R ...

) and Graeme James on drums. In 2011 Sebastian Hardie released a new album, ''

Blueprint A blueprint is a reproduction of a technical drawing or engineering drawing using a contact print process on light-sensitive sheets. Introduced by Sir John Herschel in 1842, the process allowed rapid and accurate production of an unlimited number ...

'', through their website. On 26 October 2022, 50 years after Anatole Kononewsky left the band, Anatole released the song,
Heart of Australia
featuring Tarryn Stokes on lead vocals. Kononewsky co-wrote the song with multi-platinum award winning songwriter / producers, Barbara Hannan and Adrian Hannan. “Blue Sky Walking” refers to the spirit of everyone involved in the production of the song, “Heart of Australia” — the writers and performers. The song is for everyone - for all Australians to celebrate and unite the country. It inspired the initiative
Heart of Australia
(26 October) founded by Anatole Kononewsky. On 31 October 2022, Kononewsky also digitally released for the first time his album.

The album is a part of th

It was created to be listened from start to finish at one time. It has been designed to create a specific electromagnetic sound signature for raising the inner state of your being and/or the vibratory atmosphere of surrondings. It is planned to use the 15 tracks of music for

that is currently being developed.

Members

Sebastian Hardie Blues Band (1967–1968) *Dennis Laughlin – vocals (1967–1968) *Dave Waddington – vocals (1967–1968) *Graham Ford – lead guitar (1967–1973) *Neil Williamson – organ (1967–1968) *John Bellamy – bass guitar (1967–1968) *Richard Lillico – drums (1967–1968) *Syd Richmond – drums (1967–1968) Sebastian Hardie (1968–1976) *

– vocals, rhythm guitar (1968–1971), producer (1975) *Graham Ford – lead guitar (1967–1973)
Anatole Kononewsky
– keyboards (1968–1972) *

– vocals, lead guitar,

(1973–1977) *Steve Dunne – vocals, keyboards (1972–1974) *Toivo Pilt – keyboards ( Hammond C3 L-111 organ,

grand piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

Mellotron The Mellotron is an electro-mechanical musical instrument developed in Birmingham, England, in 1963. It is played by pressing its keys, each of which pushes a length of magnetic tape against a capstan, which pulls it across a playback head. A ...

;

Minimoog The Minimoog is an analog synthesizer first manufactured by Moog Music between 1970 and 1981. Designed as a more affordable, portable version of the modular Moog synthesizer, it was the first synthesizer sold in retail stores. It was first popul ...

Solina String Ensemble The Solina String Ensemble, also marketed as the ARP String Ensemble, is a fully polyphonic multi-orchestral synthesizer with a 49-key keyboard, produced by Eminent BV (known for their ''Solina'' brand). It was distributed in the United States ...

synthesizers) vocals (1974–1977) *Peter Plavsic – bass guitar (1968–1976) *Doug Nethercote – bass guitar (1976–1977) *Alex Plavsic – drums, percussion (1968–1976) Windchase (1976–1977) *Mario Millo – vocals, lead guitar (1973–1977) *Toivo Pilt – keyboards ( Hammond C3 L-111 organ,

, Fender Rhodes electric piano, Hohner Clavinet D6,

;

ARP 2600 The ARP 2600 is a semi-modular analog subtractive audio synthesizer produced by ARP Instruments, Inc. History Developed by a design team headed by ARP namesake Allen R. Pearlman and engineer Dennis Colin, the ARP 2600 was introduced in 1971 a ...

& ARP Omni string synthesizers), guitar, vocals (1974–1977) *Doug Nethercote – bass guitar (1976–1977) *

– bass guitar (1977) *Doug Bligh – drums (1976–1977) *Ralph Cooper – drums (1977)

Discography

Albums

Charting singles

Awards

Australian Record Awards

, - , 1975 , Sebastian Hardie for ''Four Moments'' , Best Australian-Designed Cover ,

References

;General * Note: Archived n-linecopy has limited functionality. * ;Specific

External links

Mario Millo official website
www.MarioMillo.com
Sebastian Hardie official website
www.SebastianHardie.com.au *
Sebastian Hardie discography and album reviews, credits & releases
at

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Windchase discography and album reviews, credits & releases
at

Windchase discography, album releases & credits
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Windchase
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Windchase albums to be listened
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Windchase
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Sebastian Hardie - ''Blueprint'' (2011) album review
at Prog-Sphere.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Sebastian Hardie Musical groups established in 1967 Musical groups disestablished in 1977 New South Wales musical groups Australian progressive rock groups