Mighty Kong

Last updated

Mighty Kong
Origin Melbourne, Australia
GenresRock
Years active1973
LabelsWizard
Past members Ross Hannaford
Ross Wilson
Russell Smith
Ray Arnott
Tim Partridge

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, which began with Pink Finks in 1965. Despite its all-star line-up, drawing from three of the top groups of the time, the band was short-lived and never really achieved its considerable potential, effectively relegated to being a footnote in the story of Daddy Cool. [1]

Contents

History

Earlier days

The formative stages of the new group occurred in late 1972 – early 1973, and involved several notable players of the day. After Company Caine broke up in October 1972, singer/lyricist Gulliver Smith linked with Wilson and Hannaford. They worked for several months on getting a new band together, but Smith moved on to launch his solo career at the end of 1972. [1] [2]

At the start of 1973 Hannaford and Wilson got together with guitarist Tim Gaze (Tamam Shud, Kahvas Jute) and drummer Nigel Macara (Tamam Shud), [3] but after about a month of rehearsals Gaze left and Macara followed. [1] [2] Gaze's place was taken by Company Caine guitarist Russell Smith, [4] who had been off playing in the touring version of G.Wayne Thomas' studio 'supergroup' Duck. [5] For a new drummer, Hannaford and Wilson turned to Ray Arnott, who announced in March that he was leaving his current gig with Spectrum to join the new band (which also reunited him with Russell Smith, his former bandmate from the last days of Cam-Pact and the early Company Caine). [4] [6]

Unfortunately, Arnott's departure triggered the break-up of Spectrum, as founder Mike Rudd felt that it wouldn't be possible recruit a new member and maintain Spectrum's special chemistry. [7] [8] Spectrum played their farewell concert in mid-April 1973 [7] and Arnott was then able to join the new group, [9] Gaze and Macara hitched up with the remaining members of Spectrum (Rudd and Bill Putt) to form Ariel. [8] With the final addition of bassist Tim Partridge (also ex-Company Caine) the new band was complete and was launched in May 1973 under the name Mighty Kong. [9]

After the break-up of Daddy Cool, Wilson and Hannaford were keen to get away from that band's stylistic restrictions (i.e. the 50s repertoire, and the 'zany' stage outfits), which tended to obscure the more serious side of their work. The material that they put together was a heavier, contemporary rock style, bringing in some of the progressive elements which had featured in their earlier band Sons of the Vegetal Mother, and which had resurfaced on Daddy Cool's second album, Sex Dope, Rock'n'Roll: Teenage Heaven. [1]

All I Wanna Do Is Rock

Mighty Kong's only album, All I Wanna Do Is Rock, was recorded at Melbourne's Armstrong's Studios, engineered and produced by John Fischbach on Robbie Porter's Wizard label. [10] Regrettably the group never really gelled, and Wilson stated in a 2007 interview that it lacked the chemistry that made Daddy Cool such a successful group. [11] Mighty Kong had already split up by the time the album and its accompanying single, "Callin' All Cats" / "Hard Drugs (Are Bad For You)" were released in December 1973, [9] [12] but without a band to promote them, the records made no impression on the charts.

In early 1973 Wilson and Hannaford bowed to financial pressures, the split of Daddy Cool had left them with large debts so they reformed Daddy Cool for what was meant to be a one-off performance at the 1974 Sunbury Festival. It was rapturously received, and prompted a full reformation, with more touring and recording; this incarnation of the band lasted until September 1975.

Post Mighty Kong

Ray Arnott moved on to a short stint in The Dingoes, [13] replacing original drummer John Lee for several months; then followed his own bands One Nite Stand and the Ray Arnott Band, as well as a stint in Cold Chisel in the 1980s, [14] during the period when Steve Prestwich had left the group.

Ross Hannaford played with a success of fine bands through the 1970s and 1980s, including Billy T, Heavy Division (with Russell Smith) and a stint in Goanna. In the 1990s he was at the Esplanade Hotel, St Kilda, where he had a long-running residency with his band Diana'a Kiss. [9]

Tim Partidge moved on to other bands, and became a sought-after session player. After Mighty Kong, he played with Cool Bananas and Aunty Jack & The Gong, the touring bands put together to back Aunty Jack Show members Grahame Bond and Rory O'Donoghue. From there he worked with many well known groups including the Barry Leef Band (1976), two spells with Kevin Borich Express (1976–77, 1979–80), [15] the Foreday Riders, Heavy Division (where he reunited him with Smith and Hannaford) and The Renee Geyer Band (1978). [9] Partridge now teaches at the Tasmanian Conservatorium of Music in Hobart. [16] Tim Partridge died in late 2020.

Russell Smith went on to Metropolis, followed by the re-formation of Company Caine in 1975, then Billy T, Heavy Division and Goanna (1983). These days he resides in Perth and is a member of Jeffrey St John & The Embers. [9] [17]

Ross Wilson endured a hiatus in his recording career due to a dispute with the Wizard label that resulted from Daddy Cool's abortive attempt to record a new album in 1974. Late that year 1974 he launched his highly successful career as a producer. overseeing three LPs for Skyhooks, including their debut Living in the 70s, which broke the previous sales record for an Australian album, set by Daddy Cool. In 1976 he was briefly reunited with Hannaford for the soundtrack to the Chris Lofven film Oz. In 1978 he formed Mondo Rock which became one of the most successful Australian bands of the 1980s. Wilson and Hannaford reformed Daddy Cool in 2007 to play support for Australian tour by Mike Love's Beach Boys and Christopher Cross. [18]

Aztec Music announced that it would re-issue Mighty Kong's album, All I Wanna Do Is Rock, on a CD format in 2008. [19]

Discography

Studio albums

List of albums, with Australian chart positions
TitleAlbum detailsPeak chart
positions
AUS
[20]
All I Wanna Do Is Rock
  • Released: December 1973
  • Format: LP
  • Label: Wizard Records (Z5 204)
56

Singles

YearTitle
1973"Calling All Cats" / "Hard Drugs (Are Bad for You)"

Members

Related Research Articles

Spectrum are an Australian progressive rock band which formed in April 1969 and broke up in April 1973. The original line-up was Mark Kennedy on drums, Lee Neale on organ (ex-Nineteen87), Bill Putt on bass guitar, and Mike Rudd on guitar and lead vocals. In August 1970 Kennedy was replaced by Ray Arnott on drums. These members also performed under the alter ego, Indelible Murtceps, from 1971 to 1973. Spectrum had a number-one hit, "I'll Be Gone", on the Go-Set National Top 60 singles chart. After Spectrum and Indelible Murtceps disbanded, Putt and Rudd formed Ariel. In 1999 the pair formed Spectrum Plays the Blues, which later trimmed their name back to Spectrum. On 7 August 2013 Bill Putt died, after a heart attack.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mike Rudd</span> Musical artist

Michael David Rudd is a New Zealand-born musician and composer who has been based in Australia since the mid 1960s, and who was the leader of Australian progressive rock bands Spectrum and Ariel in the 1970s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ross Wilson (musician)</span> Musical artist

Ross Andrew Wilson is an Australian singer-songwriter, musician and producer. He is the co-founder and frontman of the long-standing rock groups Daddy Cool and Mondo Rock, as well as a number of other former bands, in addition to performing solo. He has produced records for bands such as Skyhooks and Jo Jo Zep & the Falcons, as well as for those of his own bands. He appeared as a judge on celebrity singing TV series It Takes Two from 2005. Wilson was individually inducted into the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) Hall of Fame in 1989 and again as a member of Daddy Cool in 2006. Ross currently resides in the Melbourne suburb of Port Melbourne.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">T. F. Much Ballroom</span>

The T. F. Much Ballroom or Too Fucking Much Ballroom was a music and cultural institution in Melbourne from 1970 to 1974. The venue was promoted by Bani McSpedden and John Pinder, initially to raise money for a Carlton youth club. Its successors were Much More Ballroom and Stoned Again.

Morning of the Earth is a 1971 classic surf film by Alby Falzon and David Elfick.

Tamam Shud is an Australian psychedelic, progressive and surf rock band, which formed in Newcastle in 1964. The initial line-up were known as The Four Strangers with Eric Connell on bass guitar, Dannie Davidson on drums, Gary Johns on rhythm guitar and Alex "Zac" Zytnik on lead guitar. At the end of that year Johns was replaced by Lindsay Bjerre on guitar and vocals as they trimmed their name to the Strangers. By late 1965 they had become the Sunsets. They took the name Tamam Shud in late 1967 after replacing Connell with Peter Barron on bass guitar. The group released two albums, Evolution (1969) – after which Tim Gaze replaced Zytnik on lead guitar – and Goolutionites and the Real People (1970) before disbanding in 1972. After a lengthy hiatus they reformed in 1993 to release a third album, Permanent Culture in 1994, but disbanded again in 1995. Beginning in 2008 the group worked together periodically on new material: it took eight years to complete their fourth album, Eight Years of Moonlight.

Company Caine, also styled as Co. Caine and Company Kane, were an Australian progressive rock band. They were formed in March 1970 by Ray Arnott on drums, Cliff Edwards on bass guitar (ex-Cam-Pact), Jeremy Noone on saxophone and keyboards, Gulliver Smith on lead vocals and Russell Smith on guitar and vocals (ex-Cam-Pact).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ross Hannaford</span> Musical artist

Ross Andrew Hannaford 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 known for his long collaboration with singer-songwriter Ross Wilson, which began as teenagers, with The Pink Finks and forming the seminal early '70s Australian rock band Daddy Cool. Hannaford died of cancer after being diagnosed a year earlier.

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". He also played drums for The Dingoes in the 1970s and Cold Chisel in 1980s.

Gary Young is an American-born Australian musician who was a founding member of Australian rock band Daddy Cool in which he played the drums and sang backing vocals. He also played drums with Jo Jo Zep & The Falcons amongst other bands. Young was twice inducted into the Aria Hall of Fame as a member of both Daddy Cool and Jo Jo Zep & The Falcons which were inducted into the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) Hall of Fame in 2006 and 2007 respectively.

Ariel were an Australian progressive rock band fronted by Mike Rudd and Bill Putt, who formed the band in 1973 after the breakup of their previous group Spectrum. The original Ariel line-up was Mike Rudd, Bill Putt (bass), Tim Gaze (guitar), John Mills (keyboards) and Nigel Macara (drums). Gaze and Macara were recruited from seminal Australian progressive rock band Tamam Shud. The band released three studio albums and two live albums between 1973 and 1977, during which there were several line-up changes, with Rudd and Putt the only permanent members. Other members of Ariel included guitarists Harvey James and Glyn Mason and keyboard player Tony Slavich.

Broderick Smith was an English-born Australian multi-instrumentalist, singer-songwriter and sometime actor. He was a member of 1970s bands Sundown, Carson and the Dingoes, the 1980s Broderick Smith's Big Combo, and he recorded and performed solo and in duos. He acted on stage in the 1973 Australian version of the rock opera, Tommy, and in minor roles in the 1990s TV series Blue Heelers, Snowy River: The McGregor Saga and State Coroner. Smith was involved with the writing of some 200 songs and ran workshops on song writing, harmonica and vocals. He was the father of Ambrose Kenny-Smith, who has provided vocals, harmonica and keyboards for the rock band King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard since their formation in 2010.

<i>Daddy Who? Daddy Cool</i> 1971 studio album by Daddy Cool

Daddy Who?... Daddy Cool is the 1971 debut album by Australian rock band Daddy Cool.

Daddy Cool is an Australian rock band formed in Melbourne, Victoria in 1970 with the original line-up of Wayne Duncan, Ross Hannaford, Ross Wilson and Gary Young. Their debut single "Eagle Rock" was released in May 1971 and stayed at number 1 on the Australian singles chart for ten weeks. Their debut July 1971 LP Daddy Who? Daddy Cool also reached number 1 and became the first Australian album to sell more than 100,000 copies. The group's name came from the 1957 song "Daddy Cool" by US rock group The Rays. Daddy Cool included their version of this song on Daddy Who? Daddy Cool.

Sons of the Vegetal Mother were an Australian "esoteric special-occasion progressive band", formed in late 1969, with a floating line-up based around the nucleus of Ross Wilson and Ross Hannaford. A side-project of the band, formed in 1970 was Daddy Cool, which played 1950s doo-wop music plus some originals. Daddy Cool were to eclipse their parent band when their debut single "Eagle Rock" reached No. 1 on the Australian National charts.

Tim Gaze is an Australian rock and blues guitarist, songwriter, singer and producer. He was a member of several Australian groups from the 1960s to 1990s including Tamam Shud, Kahvas Jute (1970), Ariel (1973–74) and Rose Tattoo (1985–87). He also had a solo music career and released the albums, Band on the Run, Rough Trade (1992), Blue Sierra (1996) and Blues Remedy (1998). In April 2008 he issued a retrospective compilation covering both his group and solo work, Reckless Love: the Tim Gaze Anthology.

Kahvas Jute were an Australian rock band formed in July 1970. Mainstay of the line-up was Dennis Wilson on guitar and vocals. Other founder members include Bob Daisley on bass guitar and Tim Gaze on lead guitar and vocals. Their debut album, Wide Open was released in January 1971. The group supported Bo Diddley on his second tour of Australia in October 1973. Australian rock music historian, Ian McFarlane, described their style as 'expansive and free flowing, strong on rhythm and melody and bristling with exceptional guitar work' . Kahvas Jute did a reunion gig in 1991 and in 1993, their album Wide Open was re-released on CD again. In 2005, they played a reunion show at The Basement in Sydney which was recorded and filmed. A DVD and album pack entitled Then Again: Live at the Basement was issued in 2006.

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. Although little known outside Melbourne at the time, the various lineups of the group featured a number of young Melbourne musicians who went on to become significant figures on the Australian music scene, including Ray Arnott, Keith Glass, Chris Löfvén, Russell Smith, Robert Lloyd, and Chris Stockley. Cam-Pact issued five singles and three extended plays on Festival Records before disbanding in March 1970.

Kevin Gullifer Hopkins-Smith, who performed as Little Gulliver and Gulliver Smith, was an Australian singer and songwriter from the early 1960s to mid-2000s. He was the front man and founding mainstay vocalist of Company Caine. In 1976 he and Ross Wilson co-wrote "A Touch of Paradise" for Wilson's group, Mondo Rock, which appeared on their third album, Nuovo Mondo. It was covered by John Farnham on his album, Whispering Jack, and was issued as its third single in February 1987, which reached the top 30 on the Kent Music Report Singles Chart.

Wayne Ian Duncan was an Australian rock musician. In 1970 he was a founding member of the doo-wop band, Daddy Cool, providing bass guitar and backing vocals. They were inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame in 2006. During his career he had also been a member of the Rondells, Sons of the Vegetal Mother, Gary Young's Hot Dog, Jane Clifton and the Go Go Boys, the Black Sorrows, and the Hornets. In late November 2016 Duncan had a stroke and died a week later, he was survived by his domestic partner, Anne, and by two children. According to Australian music journalist, Ian McFarlane, "Duncan was never a sedate bassist. One only has to listen to some of the latter-day DC material... to hear how inventive his playing could be."

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Sons of the Vegetal Mother". Milesago. Retrieved 12 May 2008.
  2. 1 2 "Daddy Cool". Lyrics Vault. Retrieved 12 May 2008.
  3. ↑ "Tamam Shud History". Tamam Shud. Retrieved 15 May 2008.
  4. 1 2 "Company Caine". Milesago. Archived from the original on 23 June 2003. Retrieved 14 May 2008.
  5. ↑ "Duck". Milesago. Retrieved 14 May 2008.
  6. ↑ "Cam-Pact". Milesago. Retrieved 14 May 2008.
  7. 1 2 "Spectrum". Milesago. Retrieved 12 May 2008.
  8. 1 2 "Spectrum". Howlspace. Retrieved 15 May 2008.
  9. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Holmgren, Magnus. "Mighty Kong". Australian Rock Database. Passagen.se (Magnus Holmgren). Archived from the original on 22 October 2013. Retrieved 22 March 2014.
  10. ↑ "Rob E G". Howlspace. Retrieved 15 May 2008.
  11. ↑ Thompson, Peter (9 July 2007). "'Talking Heads' with Ross Wilson". ABC. Archived from the original on 12 October 2008. Retrieved 15 May 2008.
  12. ↑ "All I Wanna Do Is Rock". Rate Your Music. Retrieved 14 May 2008.
  13. ↑ "The Dingoes". Milesago. Retrieved 15 May 2008.
  14. ↑ "Cold Chisel History". Archived from the original on 31 August 2001. Retrieved 15 May 2008.
  15. ↑ "Kevin Borich Express". Kevin Borich. Retrieved 15 May 2008.
  16. ↑ "Northerners in for concert treat" (PDF). University of Tasmania. 17 April 2000. Retrieved 14 May 2008.
  17. ↑ "Jeffery St John & the Embers Biographies". Paul Close. Retrieved 15 May 2008.
  18. ↑ "Daddy Cool to tour with Beach Boys". News.com.au. 11 July 2008. Archived from the original on 13 July 2007. Retrieved 7 May 2008.
  19. ↑ "Upcoming Releases". Aztec Music. Archived from the original on 4 May 2008. Retrieved 15 May 2008.
  20. ↑ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 200. ISBN   0-646-11917-6.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.