The Pelaco Brothers (sometimes seen as The Pelaco Bros.) were an Australian

rockabilly Rockabilly is one of the earliest styles of rock and roll music. It dates back to the early 1950s in the United States, especially the South. As a genre it blends the sound of Western musical styles such as country with that of rhythm and blu ...

band formed in 1974, with Joe Camilleri on

saxophone The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of Single-reed instrument, single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed (mouthpi ...

and vocals,

Stephen Cummings Stephen Donald Cummings (born 13 September 1954) is an Australian rock singer and songwriter. He was the lead singer of Melbourne-based rock band the Sports from 1976 to 1981, followed by a solo career which has met with critical acclaim but ha ...

on lead vocals, Peter Lillie on

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected strin ...

and vocals, Johnny Topper on

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

, Karl Wolfe (Sharks) on drums and Chris Worrall on guitar. Later members included Ed Bates on guitar and Peter Martin on slide guitar. The group only existed for 18 months, however according to Australian musicologist, Ian McFarlane, they "virtually defined a scene that encompassed a new musical aesthetic ...

hey Hey or Hey! may refer to: Music * Hey (band), a Polish rock band Albums * ''Hey'' (Andreas Bourani album) or the title song (see below), 2014 * ''Hey!'' (Julio Iglesias album) or the title song, 1980 * ''Hey!'' (Jullie album) or the title s ...

sang about truck drivers, roadhouses and endless highways" and although American-influenced they "presented a fiercely Australian outlook". They disbanded by late 1975 leaving behind a six-track

extended play An extended play record, usually referred to as an EP, is a musical recording that contains more tracks than a single but fewer than an album or LP record.

, ''The Pelaco Bros.'', which appeared the following year. Camilleri formed a blues and

rock music Rock music is a broad genre of popular music that originated as " rock and roll" in the United States in the late 1940s and early 1950s, developing into a range of different styles in the mid-1960s and later, particularly in the United States an ...

band,

Jo Jo Zep & The Falcons Jo Jo Zep and the Falcons are an Australian blues music, blues and rock music, rock band that features the singer, songwriter and saxophonist Joe Camilleri (aka "Jo Jo Zep"). The band was active in the late 1970s and early 1980s, and had severa ...

; while Cummings and Bates formed a new wave group,

the Sports The Sports were an Australian Rock music, rock group which performed and recorded between 1976 and 1981. Mainstay members were Stephen Cummings on lead vocals and Robert Glover on bass guitar, with long-term members such as Paul Hitchins on dru ...

in 1976. On 13 September 2012 Peter Lillie died of liver disease, aged 61.

History

The Pelaco Brothers formed in 1974 in Melbourne with Joe Camilleri (ex-King Bees, Lipp and the Double Dekker Brothers, Sharks) on

and vocals,

(ex-Ewe and the Merinos) on lead vocals, Peter Lillie on

and vocals, Johnny Topper on

, Karl Wolfe on drums and Chris Worrall on guitar. The group were named for the

Pelaco Sign The Pelaco Sign is a heritage-listed neon sign located in the inner Melbourne suburb of Richmond. It was erected in 1939 as an advertisement for local shirt manufacturer Pelaco. Melbourne-based rockabilly group, The Pelaco Brothers (1974–75 ...

which advertised a local shirt manufacturer. According to Australian musicologist, Ian McFarlane, they played "

country swing Western swing music is a subgenre of American country music that originated in the late 1920s in the West and South among the region's Western string bands. It is dance music, often with an up-tempo beat, which attracted huge crowds to dance h ...

and R&B that recalled American outfits like

Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen were an American rock band founded in 1967. The group's leader and co-founder was pianist and vocalist George Frayne IV, alias Commander Cody (born July 19, 1944 in Boise, Idaho, died September 26, 2021 ...

and

Dan Hicks and his Hot Licks Daniel Ivan Hicks (December 9, 1941 – February 6, 2016) was an American singer-songwriter known for an idiosyncratic style that combined elements of cowboy folk, jazz, country, swing, bluegrass, pop, and gypsy music. He led ″Dan Hick ...

. Yet, the band's delivery presented a fiercely Australian outlook". Only existing for 18 months, they later included Ed Bates on guitar and Peter Martin on slide guitar. Their posthumous releases were ''The Notorious Pelaco Brothers Show'' a live six-track

extended play An extended play record, usually referred to as an EP, is a musical recording that contains more tracks than a single but fewer than an album or LP record.

– also seen as ''The Pelaco Bros.'' – on the Ralph imprint in 1976 and three studio tracks for the various artists release, ''The Autodrifters and The Relaxed Mechanics Meet The Fabulous Nudes and The Pelaco Bros'', in June 1978 on Missing Link Records. The Pelaco Brothers had disbanded in late 1975, Camilleri went on to form a blues and

band,

; Meanwhile, Cummings and Bates formed a new wave group,

in 1976. Lillie formed Relaxed Mechanics with Iain Colquhoun on bass guitar, John Lloyd on drums, Nick Rischbieth on guitar (ex-Sharks) and Dave Steel on vocals. Topper founded The Fabulous Nudes, a country and western group, with Pierre Jaquinot on guitar and vocals (ex-Spo-Dee-O-Dee); Jimmy Jessop on vocals and harmonica (Spo-Dee-O-Dee), Warwick Kennington on drums (Uncle Bob's Band); and Peter Morrison on guitar and harmonica. Soon after both groups disbanded, Lillie and Topper created The Autodrifters and they were soon joined by Warren Rough on guitar and former bandmate, Wolfe on drums. By May 1978 Rick Dempster on vocals and harmonica became a member of The Autodrifters. According to McFarlane, Lillie "remained a cult figure on the Melbourne music scene for many years". In 1982 the Pelaco Brothers' music was used for a suburban horror film, ''This Woman Is Not a Car''. Lillie's solo album, ''Poetry & Western'', was issued in early 1997. On 13 September 2012, Peter Lillie died of liver disease, aged 61.

Discography

Extended plays

References

;General * Note: Archived n-lineversion has limited functionality. ;Specific {{DEFAULTSORT:Pelaco Brothers, The Australian rock music groups Musical groups established in 1974 Musical groups disestablished in 1975 Victoria (Australia) musical groups