The Dingoes are an Australian
country rock
Country rock is a genre of music which fuses rock and country. It was developed by rock musicians who began to record country-flavored records in the late 1960s and early 1970s. These musicians recorded rock records using country themes, vocal s ...
band. They were initially active from 1973 to 1979, and reformed in 2009. Initially based in Melbourne, the band relocated to the United States from 1976.
The most stable line-up comprised John Bois on bass guitar, John Lee on drums,
Broderick Smith
Broderick Smith (born 17 February 1948) is an English-born Australian multi-instrumentalist, singer-songwriter and sometime actor. He was a member of 1970s bands Sundown, Carson and the Dingoes, 1980s Broderick Smith's Big Combo and he has rec ...
on vocals and harmonica, Chris Stockley on guitar, and
Kerryn Tolhurst
Kerryn William Tolhurst (born 1948) is an Australian country rock musician, songwriter and producer. He was based in the United States from late 1970s to the late 1990s, although he periodically returned to Australia. He was a founder of the Au ...
on guitar.
Mal Logan
Malcolm Ian Logan (3 June 1931 – 17 September 2022) was an Australian geographer and university administrator. He was Vice-Chancellor of Monash University from 1987 to 1996.
Logan grew up in country New South Wales, attending secondary schoo ...
(who provided keyboards on the first LP) on keyboards joined after Stockley was hospitalised when shot in the stomach by Melbourne drug-dealer,
Dennis Allen, who was attempting to
gate crash
Gate crashing, gatecrashing, or party crashing is the act of entering, attending, or participating in an event without an invitation nor ticket.
The person doing the gate crashing is known as a gate crasher or party crasher.
Motivations for g ...
a party.
The Dingoes' debut single, "
Way Out West", was released in November 1973, and peaked in the top 40 of 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 ...
singles chart.
[ 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 tab ...
in mid-1988. Subsequent singles were "Boy on the Run", "Smooth Sailing", and "Into the Night", which did not reach the top 50.
They had three top 40 albums, ''The Dingoes'' in 1974, ''Five Times the Sun'' in 1977, and ''Orphans of the Storm'' in 1979.
On 27 August 2009, The Dingoes were inducted into the
Australian Recording Industry Association
The Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) is a trade association representing the Australian recording industry which was established in the 1970s by six major record companies, EMI, Festival, CBS, RCA, WEA and Universal replacing th ...
(ARIA)
Hall of Fame
A hall, wall, or walk of fame is a list of individuals, achievements, or other entities, usually chosen by a group of electors, to mark their excellence or Wiktionary:fame, fame in their field. In some cases, these halls of fame consist of actu ...
alongside
Kev Carmody
Kevin Daniel Carmody (born 1946), better known by his stage name Kev Carmody, is an Aboriginal Australian singer-songwriter and musician, a Murri man from northern Queensland. He is best known for the song "From Little Things Big Things Grow", ...
,
Little Pattie
Patricia "Little Pattie" Thelma Thompson (née Amphlett) OAM (born 17 March 1949) is an Australian singer who started her career as a teenager in the early 1960s, recording surf pop, with her backing group The Statesmen, she subsequently went on ...
,
Mental As Anything
Mental As Anything are an Australian New wave music, new wave and pop rock musical ensemble, band that formed in Sydney in 1976. Its most popular line-up (which lasted from 1977 to 1999, and recorded all of their charting singles and albums) w ...
, and
John Paul Young
John Inglis Young, OAM (born 21 June 1950), known professionally as John Paul Young, is a Scottish-born Australian pop singer who had his 1978 worldwide hit with " Love Is in the Air". His career was boosted by regular appearances as a perfor ...
.
The Dingoes reformed in late 2009 and released a new album, ''Tracks'' in 2010 which was followed by a tour of Australia. A live album ''Live at Last'' came out after the tour, which prompted another tour – this time without Bois who could not get away from his day job.
Previous bands
Kerryn Tolhurst
Kerryn William Tolhurst (born 1948) is an Australian country rock musician, songwriter and producer. He was based in the United States from late 1970s to the late 1990s, although he periodically returned to Australia. He was a founder of the Au ...
, lead guitarist,
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 ...
-player, and singer-songwriter founded Adderley Smith Blues Band in 1964 in Melbourne,
which was one of Australia's first authentic
blues
Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...
bands.
Lead vocalist and harmonica-player
Broderick Smith
Broderick Smith (born 17 February 1948) is an English-born Australian multi-instrumentalist, singer-songwriter and sometime actor. He was a member of 1970s bands Sundown, Carson and the Dingoes, 1980s Broderick Smith's Big Combo and he has rec ...
joined in 1966, both Smith and Tolhurst were conscripted into the Army as part of
National Service
National service is the system of voluntary government service, usually military service. Conscription is mandatory national service. The term ''national service'' comes from the United Kingdom's National Service (Armed Forces) Act 1939.
The l ...
during the
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...
for two years from 1968 to 1970.
Smith was unable to continue with the band but Tolhurst was able to keep a line-up performing, including
Joe Camilleri
Joseph Vincent Camilleri, (born 21 May 1948) aka Jo Jo Zep or Joey Vincent, is a Maltese Australian singer-songwriter and musician. Camilleri has recorded as a solo artist and as a member of Jo Jo Zep & The Falcons and The Black Sorrows. Jo Jo ...
on saxophone in 1970. After National Service, Tolhurst formed Sundown, with singer-songwriter
Keith Glass
Keith Robert Glass (born 17 September 1946) is an Australian country music singer-songwriter, guitarist, musical theatre actor, record label owner, producer and journalist. In April 1967 he formed a soul music group, Cam-Pact, which released fou ...
, as a country rock group, Smith briefly joined Sundown before going on to blues boogie band,
Carson
Carson may refer to:
People
*Carson (surname), people with the surname
*Carson (given name), people with the given name
Places
;In the United States
* Carson, California, a city
* Carson Township, Fayette County, Illinois
*Carson, Iowa, a city
* ...
in 1971.
After Sundown, Tolhurst joined singer-songwriter
Greg Quill
Gregory Raymond Quill (18 April 19475 May 2013) was an Australian-born musician, singer-songwriter and journalist. He lived in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, and was an entertainment columnist at the ''Toronto Star'' newspaper from the mid-1980s unt ...
in his
country rock
Country rock is a genre of music which fuses rock and country. It was developed by rock musicians who began to record country-flavored records in the late 1960s and early 1970s. These musicians recorded rock records using country themes, vocal s ...
group
Country Radio Country radio refers to radio stations that play country music. Most country radio stations are commercial radio stations. Most country radio stations usually play only music which has been officially released to country radio by record labels. The ...
during 1972–1973.
Quill and Tolhurst co-wrote their hit singles "Gypsy Queen" and "Wintersong".
Both Carson (with Smith) and Country Radio (before Tolhurst joined) had performed at the inaugural
Sunbury Pop Festival
Sunbury Pop Festival or Sunbury Rock Festival was an annual Australian rock music festival held on a private farm between Sunbury and Diggers Rest, Victoria, which was staged on the Australia Day (26 January) long weekend from 1972 to 1975. It ...
in January 1972.
At the second festival in January 1973, Carson (with Smith) performed and recorded their set, including a track called "Dingo", which was released on their live album, ''On the Air'' in April.
Country Radio (with Tolhurst) had also performed,
and live tracks from both bands were included on the first ever
Mushroom Records
Mushroom Records was an Australian flagship record label, founded in 1972 in Melbourne. It published and distributed many successful Australian artists and expanded internationally, until it was merged with Festival Records in 1998. Festival Mu ...
album, as a triple-
LP, ''The Great Australian Rock Festival Sunbury 1973''.
After the 1973 festival, both Smith and Tolhurst left their respective bands.
Tolhurst briefly joined
Mississippi
Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Miss ...
which later became
Little River Band
Little River Band (LRB) are a rock band originally formed in Melbourne, Australia, in March 1975. The band achieved commercial success in both Australia and the United States. They have sold more than 30 million records; six studio albums rea ...
.
Smith, in March, played the role of "The Father" in the Australian production of the
rock opera
A rock opera is a collection of rock music songs with lyrics that relate to a common story. Rock operas are typically released as concept albums and are not scripted for acting, which distinguishes them from operas, although several have been ad ...
''
Tommy
Tommy may refer to:
People
* Tommy (given name)
* Tommy Atkins, or just Tommy, a slang term for a common soldier in the British Army
Arts and entertainment Film and television
* ''Tommy'' (1931 film), a Soviet drama film
* ''Tommy'' (1975 fil ...
'', which was staged in Sydney and Melbourne.
Guitarist, Chris Stockley (ex-Roadrunners, Delta Set), formed
psychedelic rock
Psychedelic rock is a rock music Music genre, genre that is inspired, influenced, or representative of psychedelia, psychedelic culture, which is centered on perception-altering hallucinogenic drugs. The music incorporated new electronic sound ...
group
Cam-Pact
Cam-Pact was an Australian soul and psychedelic pop band which formed in April 1967. Originally they performed as The Camp Act but soon changed to Cam-Pact (or CamPact). Although little known outside Melbourne at the time, the various lineups of ...
with Keith Glass in 1967, both had left by late 1969.
Stockley joined rock group
Axiom
An axiom, postulate, or assumption is a statement that is taken to be true, to serve as a premise or starting point for further reasoning and arguments. The word comes from the Ancient Greek word (), meaning 'that which is thought worthy or f ...
, which had top ten hits with "Arkansas Grass" and "A Little Ray Of Sunshine",
before they disbanded in 1971.
John Lee (ex-Sayla) had been drummer for
Blackfeather
Blackfeather are an Australian rock group which formed in April 1970. The band has had numerous line-ups, mostly fronted by founding lead singer, Neale Johns. An early heavy rock version recorded their debut album, ''At the Mountains of Madness ...
from February to April 1973. John Strangio was bass guitarist for St James Infirmary and Middle Earth.
Formation and early years
The Dingoes with John Lee on drums, Broderick Smith on lead vocals and harmonica, Chris Stockley on lead guitar, John Strangio on bass guitar, and Kerryn Tolhurst on guitar and
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 ...
, were formed in
Melbourne
Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...
in April 1973.
Strangio left in August and was replaced on bass guitar by John Bois, who had been a member of Melbourne '60s pop band
New Dream and was later a member (with Tolhurst) of Country Radio.
The Dingoes combined
R&B,
country
A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, while the ...
and
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 ...
with songs that used Australian themes and imagery.
The Dingoes were an early signing to the fledgling
Mushroom Records
Mushroom Records was an Australian flagship record label, founded in 1972 in Melbourne. It published and distributed many successful Australian artists and expanded internationally, until it was merged with Festival Records in 1998. Festival Mu ...
label, it issued their debut single "
Way Out West" which was jointly credited to Lee, Bois, Smith, Stockley, and Tolhurst
although Bois' book confirms that the song was written by Tolhurst alone. A week before the single was released Stockley received a serious gunshot wound during an incident at a party in Melbourne that resulted in a two-month stay in hospital, initially described as an 'accidental shooting', according to
music historian
Music history, sometimes called historical musicology, is a highly diverse subfield of the broader discipline of musicology that studies music from a historical point of view.
In theory, "music history" could refer to the study of the history o ...
,
Ian McFarlane
Ian McFarlane (born 1959) is an Australian music journalist, music historian and author, whose best known publication is the '' Encyclopedia of Australian Rock and Pop'' (1999), which was updated for a second edition in 2017.
As a journalist ...
's ''
Encyclopedia of Australian Rock and Pop
''The Encyclopedia of Australian Rock and Pop'' or ''Rock and Pop'' by Australian music journalist Ian McFarlane is a guide to Australian popular music from the 1950s to the late 1990s. The book has a similar title to the 1978 work by Noel McGra ...
'', Stockley was shot by notorious
drug dealer
A drug is any chemical substance
A chemical substance is a form of matter having constant chemical composition and characteristic properties. Some references add that chemical substance cannot be separated into its constituent elements by ...
Dennis Allen, who was trying to
gate crash
Gate crashing, gatecrashing, or party crashing is the act of entering, attending, or participating in an event without an invitation nor ticket.
The person doing the gate crashing is known as a gate crasher or party crasher.
Motivations for g ...
the party.
An eight-hour benefit concert was held for Stockley on 4 November 1973 at Leggett's Ballroom, Greville Street, Prahran. While recuperating, Stockley was replaced by keyboard player
Mal Logan
Malcolm Ian Logan (3 June 1931 – 17 September 2022) was an Australian geographer and university administrator. He was Vice-Chancellor of Monash University from 1987 to 1996.
Logan grew up in country New South Wales, attending secondary schoo ...
(ex Healing Force, Carson), who stayed on, after Stockley returned, until the end of 1974.
Released in October 1973, "
Way Out West" peaked into the top 40 on the
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 ...
Singles Chart,
and reached No. 26 in Melbourne,
it became their signature tune.
The Dingoes appeared at the third Sunbury Pop Festival in 1974, held on the Australia Day long weekend, and their performance featured on Mushroom's ''Highlights of Sunbury '74'', released later that year. The same month, they recorded their self-titled debut LP, ''The Dingoes'', which was produced by John French.
Logan contributed keyboards on several tracks, including "Goin' Down" and "Sydney Ladies". "Way Out West" was later
covered
Cover or covers may refer to:
Packaging
* Another name for a lid
* Cover (philately), generic term for envelope or package
* Album cover, the front of the packaging
* Book cover or magazine cover
** Book design
** Back cover copy, part of co ...
by
James Blundell and
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 ...
(ex-
Australian Crawl) in 1992, their version peaked at No. 2 on the
ARIA Singles Charts,
Smith supplied harmonica for this version.
Lee left in May 1974 to join
Ariel
Ariel may refer to:
Film and television
*Ariel Award, a Mexican Academy of Film award
* ''Ariel'' (film), a 1988 Finnish film by Aki Kaurismäki
* ''ARIEL Visual'' and ''ARIEL Deluxe'', 1989 and 1991 anime video series based on the novel series ...
and was replaced on drums by
Ray Arnott
Ray Arnott is an Australian rock drummer, singer-songwriter, he was a member of Spectrum (1970–1973), which had a number one hit with " I'll Be Gone" .Spencer et al, (2007Arnott, Rayentry. Retrieved 31 January 2010. NOTE: Used for Australian Sin ...
, (ex-Cam-Pact with Stockley,
Spectrum
A spectrum (plural ''spectra'' or ''spectrums'') is a condition that is not limited to a specific set of values but can vary, without gaps, across a continuum. The word was first used scientifically in optics to describe the rainbow of colors i ...
,
Mighty Kong
Mighty Kong were an Australian 'supergroup' successor to Daddy Cool, which broke up in August 1972. It was also the fifth (and technically the last) in the line of groups that featured singer-songwriter Ross Wilson and guitarist Ross Hannaford, ...
).
''The Dingoes'' was released in June 1974, along with a second single "Boy on the Run", co-written by Stockley and Smith,
which peaked at No. 24 in Melbourne
but did not break into the top 50 nationally.
The LP reached No. 24 on the Kent Music Report Albums Chart in July,
it was the Federation of Australian Broadcasters' "Album of the Year" for 1974.
A non-album single, "Smooth Sailing", written by Tolhurst,
and backed with "Dingoes Lament" (an instrumental written by Bois), was released in October.
During the year The Dingoes toured nationally with various artists including
Bad Company
Bad Company are an English rock supergroup that was formed in 1973 by singer Paul Rodgers, guitarist Mick Ralphs, drummer Simon Kirke and bassist Boz Burrell.Bad Company ''AllMusic'' Peter Grant, who managed the rock band Led Zeppelin, also ...
,
Leo Sayer
Gerard Hugh "Leo" Sayer (born 21 May 1948) is an English-Australian singer and songwriter whose singing career has spanned five decades. He has been an Australian citizen and resident since 2009.
Sayer launched his career in the United Kingdom ...
,
Bo Diddley
Ellas McDaniel (born Ellas Otha Bates; December 30, 1928 – June 2, 2008), known professionally as Bo Diddley, was an American guitarist who played a key role in the transition from the blues to rock and roll. He influenced many artists, incl ...
, and
Freddy Fender
Freddy Fender (born Baldemar Garza Huerta; June 4, 1937 – October 14, 2006) was an American Tejano, country and rock and roll musician, known for his work as a solo artist and in the groups Los Super Seven and the Texas Tornados. He was best ...
.
North America
Early in 1975, after appearing at the fourth Sunbury Pop Festival, The Dingoes received a phone call from
expatriate
An expatriate (often shortened to expat) is a person who resides outside their native country. In common usage, the term often refers to educated professionals, skilled workers, or artists taking positions outside their home country, either ...
Australian
roadie
The road crew (or roadies) are the technicians or support personnel who travel with a band on tour, usually in sleeper buses, and handle every part of the concert productions except actually performing the music with the musicians. This catc ...
Billy McCartney, who had seen them when visiting from the United States, where he had established himself as a
tour manager
A tour manager (or concert tour manager) is the person who helps to organize the administration for a schedule of appearances of a musical group (band) or artist at a sequence of venues (a concert tour). In general, road managers handle tour deta ...
for
Elvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one ...
and
Rod Stewart
Sir Roderick David Stewart (born 10 January 1945) is a British rock and pop singer and songwriter. Born and raised in London, he is of Scottish and English ancestry. With his distinctive raspy singing voice, Stewart is among the best-selling ...
.
Returning to the US, McCartney recommended the band to
Peter Rudge
Peter Rudge (born 21 October 1981) is a British former rowing cox.
Career
Rudge began rowing in 1994 at The King's School, Chester. He read Theology at Durham University, where he competed for the university boat club, and graduated in 200 ...
, who was then tour manager for
The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones are an English rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for six decades, they are one of the most popular and enduring bands of the rock era. In the early 1960s, the Rolling Stones pioneered the gritty, rhythmically d ...
and
Lynyrd Skynyrd
Lynyrd Skynyrd ( ) is an American rock music, rock band formed in Jacksonville, Florida. The group originally formed as My Backyard in 1964 and comprised Ronnie Van Zant (lead vocalist), Gary Rossington (guitar), Allen Collins (guitar), Larry Ju ...
, and, after ten months negotiations, Rudge agreed to manage The Dingoes in the US.
The following months frustrated the band—with an expected summons from Rudge at any time, they were unable to commit to long-term tours or to recording—they lost valuable ground in Australia when they could have consolidated on the success of the LP and singles.
Meanwhile, they provided two tracks, "Marijuana Hell" and the
Percy Sledge
Percy Tyrone Sledge (November 25, 1940 – April 14, 2015) was an American R&B, soul and gospel singer. He is best known for the song " When a Man Loves a Woman", a No. 1 hit on both the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and R&B singles charts in 196 ...
cover "When a Man Loves a Woman" to the Various Artists live album ''Live at the Station'' which was released on Lamington Records in 1976.
An American tour was finally arranged for mid-1976, by the time they arrived Rudge's attention was focused on Lynyrd Skynyrd.
Just prior to leaving, Arnott quit the group by "mutual agreement" and Lee returned to the fold, meeting up with the band in North America. Arnott pursued a solo career and was later with
Renée Geyer
Renée Rebecca Geyer (born 11 September 1953) is an Australian singer who has long been regarded as one of the finest exponents of jazz, soul and R&B idioms. She had commercial success as a solo artist in Australia, with "It's a Man's Man's Worl ...
Band,
Cold Chisel
Cold Chisel are an Australian pub rock band, which formed in Adelaide in 1973 by mainstay members Ian Moss on guitar and vocals, Steve Prestwich on drums and Don Walker on piano and keyboards. They were soon joined by Jimmy Barnes (at the ...
, and
Jimmy Barnes
James Dixon "Jimmy" Barnes (née Swan; born 28 April 1956) is a Scottish-born Australian rock singer. His career, both as a solo performer and as the lead vocalist with the rock band Cold Chisel, has made him one of the most popular and best- ...
.
The Dingoes signed a two-album deal with US-based,
A&M records
A&M Records was an American record label founded as an independent company by Herb Alpert and Jerry Moss in 1962. Due to the success of the discography A&M released, the label garnered interest and was acquired by PolyGram in 1989 and began distr ...
, on recommendations from McCartney and Rudge, and undertook three months of rehearsals in Canada, then headed for the US, where they set up base in
Mill Valley
Mill Valley is a city in Marin County, California, United States, located about north of San Francisco via the Golden Gate Bridge and from Napa Valley. The population was 14,231 at the 2020 census.
Mill Valley is located on the western and ...
, Northern California, at the start of 1977.
They recorded tracks for their A&M album, ''Five Times the Sun'', in San Francisco during January and February, produced by
Elliot Mazer
Elliot Mazer (September 5, 1941February 7, 2021) was an American audio engineer and record producer. He was best known for his work with Linda Ronstadt, Neil Young, Bob Dylan, The Band, and Janis Joplin. In addition, he worked on film and telev ...
(
Janis Joplin
Janis Lyn Joplin (January 19, 1943 – October 4, 1970) was an American singer and musician. One of the most successful and widely known Rock music, rock stars of her era, she was noted for her powerful mezzo-soprano vocals and "electric" stage ...
,
Neil Young
Neil Percival Young (born November 12, 1945) is a Canadian-American singer and songwriter. After embarking on a music career in Winnipeg in the 1960s, Young moved to Los Angeles, joining Buffalo Springfield with Stephen Stills, Richie Furay ...
) at
His Masters Wheels recording studio, with session contributions from keyboardists
Nicky Hopkins
Nicholas Christian "Nicky" Hopkins (24 February 1944 – 6 September 1994) was an English pianist and organist. Hopkins performed on many popular and enduring British and American rock music recordings from the 1960s to the 1990s, most notably ...
and
Garth Hudson
Eric "Garth" Hudson (born August 2, 1937) is a Canadian multi-instrumentalist best known as the keyboardist and occasional saxophonist for rock group the Band, for which he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994. He was a ...
; it featured
liner notes
Liner notes (also sleeve notes or album notes) are the writings found on the sleeves of LP record albums and in booklets that come inserted into the compact disc jewel case or the equivalent packaging for cassettes.
Origin
Liner notes are desce ...
by author
Emmett Grogan
Emmett Grogan (born Eugene Leo Grogan, November 28, 1942 – April 6, 1978) was a founder of the Diggers (theater), Diggers, a radical community-action group of Improvisational theatre, Improvisational actors in the Haight-Ashbury district o ...
.
''Five Times the Sun'', which peaked at No. 25 on the Australian albums chart in August,
included re-recorded versions of tracks from their first album.
"Way Out West" and "Smooth Sailing", released in September, as a double A-single in Australia, did not peak into the top 50.
Soon after, band members were granted their prized
green cards, allowing them to base themselves in US, in their two-year stay they toured 40 states by road.
A serious blow to the band's future came on 20 October when several members of proposed tour mates, Lynyrd Skynyrd, were killed in a
plane crash
An aviation accident is defined by the Convention on International Civil Aviation Annex 13 as an occurrence associated with the operation of an aircraft, which takes place from the time any person boards the aircraft with the ''intention of fl ...
, a tragedy which destroyed the morale of The Dingoes' management team.
Stockley left the band and returned to Australia in early 1978, initially he joined Greg Quill's new band Southern Cross, and later founded Stockley, See & Mason.
He was replaced in The Dingoes by American session guitarist Andrew Jeffers-Hardin, the group had moved east and settled near
Woodstock
Woodstock Music and Art Fair, commonly referred to as Woodstock, was a music festival held during August 15–18, 1969, on Max Yasgur's dairy farm in Bethel, New York, United States, southwest of the town of Woodstock, New York, Woodstock. ...
, in upstate New York.
In mid-1978, they recorded a third album, ''Orphans of the Storm'', at New York's famed
The Hit Factory
The Hit Factory is a recording studio in New York City owned and operated by Troy Germano.
History
On March 6, 1975, Edward Germano, a singer, record producer, and one of the principal owners of the Record Plant Studios New York, purchased the ...
, and continued to tour around the US until late 1978, but their efforts to enter the US record charts were unrealised.
''Orphans of the Storm'' was released in February 1979, along with a final single, "Into the Night", but by this time Smith had returned to Australia and The Dingoes had split.
They are touring with Joe Cocker in Australia for the 2011 "Day on the Green" concerts.
After The Dingoes
Smith came back to Australia in late 1978 and fronted his own bands including Broderick Smith's Big Combo.
He branched out into TV acting with appearances in the Australian series ''Janus'', ''Law of the Land'', ''
Snowy River: The McGregor Saga'', ''
Blue Heelers
''Blue Heelers'' is an Australian police drama series that was produced by Southern Star Group and ran for 12 years on the Seven Network, from 1994 to 2006. Although based around the policing of the town, the series generally depicted the ever ...
'', and ''
State Coroner''.
He worked in an acoustic duo with musical partner Mick Ahearne and played harmonica with
Backsliders
Backsliding, also known as falling away or described as "committing apostasy", is a term used within Evangelical Christianity to describe a process by which an individual who has converted to Christianity reverts to pre-conversion habits and/or l ...
, alternating with Ian Collard (Collard, Greens and Gravy) as a replacement for founding member Jim Conway.
and has continued to record and release solo albums. In 2013, Smith collaborated with the psychedelic band
King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard
King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard are an Australian rock band formed in 2010 in Melbourne, Victoria. The band's current lineup consists of Stu Mackenzie, Ambrose Kenny-Smith, Cook Craig, Joey Walker, Lucas Harwood and Michael Cavanagh. They are ...
, which his son Ambrose is a member of, on their album ''
Eyes Like the Sky
''Eyes Like the Sky'' is the second studio album by Australian psychedelic rock band King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard. It was released on 22 February 2013 on the label Flightless.
Described as a "cult western audio book", the album is narrat ...
''. The record is structured around a story that was written and narrated by Smith.
Bois, Lee, and Tolhurst, all remained in the US. Bois returned to study, gained a master's degree and became a high school biology teacher, living and working in Maryland, USA, and later moving to Florida, USA. As an amateur expert on dinosaurs he contributed to the BBC TV series ''
Walking with Dinosaurs
''Walking with Dinosaurs'' is a 1999 six-part nature documentary television miniseries created by Tim Haines and produced by the BBC Science Unit the Discovery Channel and BBC Worldwide, in association with TV Asahi, ProSieben and France 3. Envi ...
''. During his teaching years, he also wrote a creative memoir of his time in The Dingoes, entitled ''The Dingoes' Lament'' (named after his track on their debut album), which remained unpublished until 2012.
He later had an article published in the Historical Biology: An International Journal of Paleobiology in 2017.
After The Dingoes, Lee joined a later lineup of cult Washington group
Root Boy Slim & the Sex Change Band, and eventually settled in Washington DC, where he worked with local group Johnny Bombay & the Reactions, before moving to
Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the List of muni ...
. During his time in the USA Lee worked with a wide variety of artists (including
Steve Marriott
Stephen Peter Marriott (30 January 1947 – 20 April 1991) was an English guitarist, singer and songwriter. He co-founded and played in the rock bands Small Faces and Humble Pie, in a career spanning over two decades. Marriott was inducted pos ...
) until his return to Australia in the late 1990s. Unfortunately, by this time, years of alcohol abuse had taken a heavy toll on his health and John died from liver failure in July 1999.
A posthumously-released CD compilation, ''Back 2 3 4'', included The Dingoes' "So Long For So Little", a track recorded at Atlantic Studios in New York in the late 1970s, which had previously been included on The Dingoes ''Way Out West'' compilation (1992).
Tolhurst lived and worked in New York for many years, and continued his career as a songwriter, performer, and producer, both in Australia and in the US.
A slightly reworked version of his song "All Fired Up" became a major hit for
Pat Benatar
Patricia Mae Giraldo (''née'' Andrzejewski, formerly Benatar; born January 10, 1953), known professionally as Pat Benatar, is an American rock singer and songwriter. In the United States, she has had two multi-platinum albums, five platinum alb ...
in 1988, making the Top 20 in the US and Canada, and reaching No. 2 in Australia,
where it was No. 16 on the
End of Year Singles Chart.
In 1995, Tolhurst collaborated with
Paul Kelly on his ''
Deeper Water'' album, in NYC. He was co-producer and performer in the "Spirit Returns" album and concert, which featured the reformed
Goanna
A goanna is any one of several species of lizards of the genus '' Varanus'' found in Australia and Southeast Asia.
Around 70 species of ''Varanus'' are known, 25 of which are found in Australia. This varied group of carnivorous reptiles ranges ...
,
Ross Hannaford
Ross Andrew Hannaford (1 December 1950 – 8 March 2016) was an Australian musician, active in numerous local bands. He was often referred to by his nickname "Hanna". Widely regarded as one of the country's finest rock guitarists, he was best kn ...
(ex-
Daddy Cool), and
Liam O'Maonlai (
Hothouse Flowers
Hothouse Flowers are an Irish rock band that combine traditional Irish music with influences from soul, gospel, and rock. Formed in 1985 in Dublin, they started as street performers. Their first album, ''People'' (1988), was the most successf ...
) at the Melbourne Festival in 1998. He produced numerous albums in NY including 'Little Pieces ' and 'The Way I See It' for R& B legend Jimmy Norman. In 2006 he moved to Tucson, Arizona, and set up a studio where he recorded Shane Howard's 'Goanna Dreaming' and The Dingoes reunion album 'Tracks'. After touring with The Dingoes and producing their live album, 'Live at Last', Tolhurst returned to live in Australia in 2010 and continues to work as a producer and live performer.
Reformation
On 27 August 2009, The Dingoes were inducted into the
Australian Recording Industry Association
The Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) is a trade association representing the Australian recording industry which was established in the 1970s by six major record companies, EMI, Festival, CBS, RCA, WEA and Universal replacing th ...
(ARIA)
Hall of Fame
A hall, wall, or walk of fame is a list of individuals, achievements, or other entities, usually chosen by a group of electors, to mark their excellence or Wiktionary:fame, fame in their field. In some cases, these halls of fame consist of actu ...
alongside
Kev Carmody
Kevin Daniel Carmody (born 1946), better known by his stage name Kev Carmody, is an Aboriginal Australian singer-songwriter and musician, a Murri man from northern Queensland. He is best known for the song "From Little Things Big Things Grow", ...
,
Little Pattie
Patricia "Little Pattie" Thelma Thompson (née Amphlett) OAM (born 17 March 1949) is an Australian singer who started her career as a teenager in the early 1960s, recording surf pop, with her backing group The Statesmen, she subsequently went on ...
,
Mental As Anything
Mental As Anything are an Australian New wave music, new wave and pop rock musical ensemble, band that formed in Sydney in 1976. Its most popular line-up (which lasted from 1977 to 1999, and recorded all of their charting singles and albums) w ...
, and
John Paul Young
John Inglis Young, OAM (born 21 June 1950), known professionally as John Paul Young, is a Scottish-born Australian pop singer who had his 1978 worldwide hit with " Love Is in the Air". His career was boosted by regular appearances as a perfor ...
.
They were inducted into the Hall of Fame by
Richard Clapton and performed "
Way Out West" and "Boy on the Run". Melbourne drummer Ashley Davies (ex-
Wild Pumpkins at Midnight) joined Bois, Smith, Stockley, and Tolhurst in the reformed group which recorded ''Tracks'' in late 2009 and early 2010. The new album was released on 6 August 2010, coinciding with an Australia tour,
it debuted at No. 14 on the ARIA Country Music Top 20 Chart. In October 2010, their debut album, ''The Dingoes'' (1974) was listed in the book, ''
100 Best Australian Albums
1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1 ...
''.
In 2012 John Bois' memoir ''The Dingoes' Lament'' was published by Melbourne Books and at the end of December 2012 the group reformed (for possibly the last time) for a short series of concerts in Victoria. The lineup again comprised the four surviving original members, with Ashley Davies on drums, and the mini-tour included three sold-out shows at the
Caravan Music Club in Oakleigh, Melbourne, where they were supported by
Steve Hoy and
Ross Hannaford
Ross Andrew Hannaford (1 December 1950 – 8 March 2016) was an Australian musician, active in numerous local bands. He was often referred to by his nickname "Hanna". Widely regarded as one of the country's finest rock guitarists, he was best kn ...
.
Members
Current Members
*
Broderick Smith
Broderick Smith (born 17 February 1948) is an English-born Australian multi-instrumentalist, singer-songwriter and sometime actor. He was a member of 1970s bands Sundown, Carson and the Dingoes, 1980s Broderick Smith's Big Combo and he has rec ...
– lead vocals, harmonica (1973–1979, 2009–present)
* Chris Stockley – lead guitar, vocals (1973–1978, 2009–present)
* John Bois – bass guitar, lead guitar, keyboards, vocals (1973–1979, 2009–present)
* Ashley Davies – drums (2009–present)
*
Kerryn Tolhurst
Kerryn William Tolhurst (born 1948) is an Australian country rock musician, songwriter and producer. He was based in the United States from late 1970s to the late 1990s, although he periodically returned to Australia. He was a founder of the Au ...
– 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 (1973–1979, 2009–present
Former Members
* John Lee – drums, percussion, backing vocals (1973–1974, 1976–1979)
* John Strangio – bass guitar (1973)
* Mal Logan – keyboards (1973–1974)
*
Ray Arnott
Ray Arnott is an Australian rock drummer, singer-songwriter, he was a member of Spectrum (1970–1973), which had a number one hit with " I'll Be Gone" .Spencer et al, (2007Arnott, Rayentry. Retrieved 31 January 2010. NOTE: Used for Australian Sin ...
– drums, backing vocals (1974–1976)
* Andrew Jeffers-Hardin – guitar (1978–1979)
;Timeline
Discography
Studio albums
Live albums
Compilation albums
Singles
Other appearances
Notes
Awards
ARIA Music Awards
The
ARIA Music Awards
The Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards (commonly known informally as ARIA Music Awards, ARIA Awards, or simply the ARIAs) is an annual series of awards nights celebrating the Australian music industry, put on by the Austr ...
is an annual awards ceremony that recognises excellence, innovation, and achievement across all genres of
Australian music
The music of Australia has an extensive history made of music societies. Indigenous Australian music forms a significant part of the unique heritage of a 40,000- to 60,000-year history which produced the iconic didgeridoo. Contemporary fusions of ...
. They commenced in 1987. The Dingoes were inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2009.
, -
,
ARIA Music Awards of 2009
The 23rd Annual Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards (generally known as ARIA Music Awards or simply The ARIAs) took place on 26 November 2009 at the Acer Arena at the Sydney Olympic Park complex. The ceremony was telecast o ...
, The Dingoes
,
ARIA Hall of Fame
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 ...
,
References
External links
*
The Dingoes
The Dingoes are an Australian country rock band. They were initially active from 1973 to 1979, and reformed in 2009. Initially based in Melbourne, the band relocated to the United States from 1976. The most stable line-up comprised John Bois on ...
at
AllMusic
AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...
The Dingoes discographyat
MusicBrainz
MusicBrainz is a MetaBrainz project that aims to create a collaborative music database that is similar to the freedb project. MusicBrainz was founded in response to the restrictions placed on the Compact Disc Database (CDDB), a database for sof ...
*
The Dingoesat Milesago
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dingoes, The
ARIA Award winners
ARIA Hall of Fame inductees
Victoria (Australia) musical groups
Musical groups established in 1973
Musical groups disestablished in 1979
Pub rock musical groups
Mushroom Records artists
A&M Records artists