The Captain Matchbox Whoopee Band | |
---|---|
Also known as |
|
Origin | Melbourne, Victoria, Australia |
Genres |
|
Years active |
|
Labels | |
Past members | see #Members |
Website | captainmatchbox |
The Captain Matchbox Whoopee Band, also known as Soapbox Circus or Matchbox, were an Australian jug band formed in 1969. It centred on Mic Conway ("Captain Matchbox") on lead vocals, washboard and ukulele; and his brother, Jim Conway, on harmonica, kazoo and vocals. They issued four studio albums, Smoke Dreams (June 1973), Wangaratta Wahine (late 1974), Australia (November 1975) and Slightly Troppo (1978), before they disbanded in September 1980. The Conway brothers reformed the group in 2010 as Captain Matchbox Reignited and disbanded again two years later.
In October 2010, Smoke Dreams was listed in the book, 100 Best Australian Albums .
The Captain Matchbox Whoopee Band were formed in Melbourne in 1969 as a jug band by Mic Conway on lead vocals, washboard and ukulele; his brother, Jim Conway on harmonica, kazoo and vocals; Mick Fleming on banjo, mandolin, guitar and vocals; Dave Hubbard on guitar; David Isom on guitar and vocals; Jeffrey Cheesman on guitar and vocals; Inge de Koster on violin; and John McDiarmid on tea-chest bass and flute. David Isom, Jeffrey Cheesman, Inge de Koster and John McDiarmid were later replaced by Peter Inglis on guitar and vocals; Jim Niven on piano; and Peter Scott on tea chest bass. [1] [2]
Inspired by early jazz recordings and jug band music they heard on reel-to-reel tapes and 78s as teenagers, the Conways formed the Jellybean Jug Band while secondary students at Camberwell High School. [2] After they left school, in 1969, they formed the Captain Matchbox Whoopee Band, [1] which grew from an underground art school band to a national icon, with film and television appearances and regular appearances in the charts. Australian musicologist, Ian McFarlane, opined, "one of the most unusual aggregations ever assembled in Australia, [they] played jug-band blues enlivened with sideshow entertainment and vaudeville lunacy." [1]
During 1971 they appeared as themselves in Tim Burstall's comedy feature film, Stork . [1] [3] They signed with Image Records and issued their debut single, "My Canary Has Circles Under His Eyes" (written by Jack Golden, [4] Ted Koehler and Edward Pola), which is a cover version of Irish-born English band leader, Debroy Somers' 1931 original. [1] [5] [6] Captain Matchbox's version reached No. 35 on the Go-Set National Top 40 in November 1972. [1] [7] Their follow up single, "I Can't Dance (Got Ants in My Pants)" (April 1973), did not chart. [1]
The Captain Matchbox Whoopee Band's debut album, Smoke Dreams (June 1973), reached the Go-Set Australian Albums Top 20. [1] [8] McFarlane observed that it consisted entirely of "1930s and 1940s jazz, blues and jug-band standards." [1] It was also released in the US via ESP-Disk label, [1] in the DynaQuad quadraphonic format. [2] [9] AllMusic's reviewer, arwulf arwulf, rated it at four-and-a-half stars out of five and explained, "this frowsy little group specialized in popular novelty, jazz and blues songs dating from the 1920s and '30s, whipping themselves into a frenzy over vintage delights." [10]
In November 1973 the group's line-up was the Conway brothers, Fleming and Niven with Dave Flett on electric bass, slide dobro, backing vocals and ukulele (ex-Lipp and the Double Dekker Brothers); Geoff Hales on drums and washboard; and Fred Olbrei on violin and vocals. [1] Jon Snyder joined on guitar early in the following year. [1]
The Captain Matchbox Whoopee Band released a second studio album, Wangaratta Wahine (late 1974), which was produced by Ern Rose at Armstrong Studios. [1] It had a cover illustration by Australian cartoonist, Michael Leunig. [1] It provided the singles, "Your Feets Too Big" (early 1974), "Hernando's Hideaway" (July 1974) and "Wangaratta Wahine" (1974). Basil of Tharunka caught their performance in early May 1974, he felt, "[the group] epitomised the 20s, Prohibition and flappers... [with their] cunning combination of the camp, the serious, the brilliant, the hilarious, did once again what they do better than any other band in the country: entertain their audience unrelentingly." [11]
In March 1975 the group appeared on ABC-TV's pop music show, Countdown , to perform the latter single. [1] [12] The track is an original, written by Mic Conway and Flett. [13] Tony Wright of The Sydney Morning Herald , in June 2013, lamented the modification of the Hume Highway and its bypass of the city of Wangaratta; he recalled how, "Wangaratta and its highway culture was captured forever by the marvellously whacky [group]... The title song, held together by a wailing mouth organ, was dedicated to a waitress in a late-night roadhouse restaurant ('My Wahine in Wang'). I'm pretty sure I visited the very same roadhouse, for a plastic palm tree is described within the lyrics, though who could be sure? There were roadhouses like that all up and down the Hume once." [14] In August 1975 the album peaked at No. 14 on the Kent Music Report Albums Chart. [15]
During 1975 Fleming and Hales left and were replaced by Chris Worrall (ex-The Pelaco Brothers) on guitar and Manny Paterakis on drums. [1] The group were signed to Mushroom Records and released their third album, Australia, in that year. [1] McFarlane found, "it was an entertaining mix of originals and covers." [1] Tony Catterall of The Canberra Times noticed that one way the group, "maintains total absorption is by pretending to be a band of brilliant musicians justifiably despatched to a lunatic asylum and which plays at the next-door sleazy nightclub, which the other inmates also attend... It's hard to pick favourites but the title track is a gem: full of pomp and cracked trumpets blaring after its military beat, and both an ocker's anthem and the first impressions the archetypal, Crass Texas Millionaire has of Australia." [16]
In December they supported Skyhooks on that group's In the Heat of the Night Tour, after which Catterall surmised the Captain Matchbox Whoopee Band, "is unlikely to reach the sales position of the Hooks, [but] it too is a proven winner." [17]
In 1976 the group continued through line-up changes first with Olbrei, Paterakis and Worrall replaced by Jack Sara, Graeme Isaac and Gordon McLean, respectively. [1] Soon after Niven left to form a rock band, the Sports. [1]
The group were renamed the Soapbox Circus, and were incorporated into the Australian Performing Group (APG). [1] Flett left, while Rick Ludbrook on guitar and saxophone and Peter Muhleisen on bass guitar joined the line-up to record a live album, The Great Stumble Forward (1976). [1] They performed in a musical theatre play, Smackin' the Dacks, at the Pram Factory Front Theatre, Carlton from 17 November to 24 December 1977. [1] [18] The musicians were the Conway brothers, Ludbrook, McLean and Muhleisen joined by Tony Burkys and Colin Stevens. [18]
By 1978 the band were renamed Matchbox with the Conway brothers, Ludbrook, McLean, Muhleisen, Burkys on guitar (ex-Original Battersea Heroes) and Stephen Cooney on guitar (ex-Phil Manning Band), who was soon replaced by Louis McManus (ex-Bushwackers). [1] The musical theatre component, Soapbox Circus, were incorporated into Circus Oz. [19] Matchbox issued a studio album, Slightly Troppo (1978), which delivered two singles. [1] The Canberra Times' Luis Feliu felt, "There seems to be more emphasis on polish compared with previous material; more of that Matchbox spirit and wit, send-ups as usual (less hard-core political though – the cause seems to be lost)." [20] He claimed, "[they are] by far the best good-time jug band in Australia, which leads me to point out that it's a truly resilient band, having covered so many campuses and rock venues throughout Australia." [20]
Matchbox appeared in Burstall's feature film, Dimboola (1979), [1] performing the track, "The Sheik of Araby. By mid-year the line-up of the Conways, McManus and Muhleisen had been joined by Chris Coyne on saxophone and flute, Eric McCusker on guitar and Robert Ross on drums (ex-Manning). [1] They performed "a more rock-oriented sound." [1] A truck crash while on tour in 1979 ruined the band financially and emotionally and, after paying off their debts, they disbanded in September 1980. [1] [2] Their final single, "Juggling Time", had been released early in 1980 which was recorded by Matchbox Band with the line-up of the Conways, Coyne, McCusker, McManus, Muhleisen and Ross. [2]
In 1994, The band performed at the Continental hotel in Melbourne, which was recorded and received a limited released on cassette.
The band reformed in 1996 for the Port Fairy Folk Festival, and again in 2010 under the name "Captain Matchbox Re-Ignited" for the Woodford Folk Festival, with shows at Bluesfest and Sydney and Melbourne. Members: Mic Conway, Jim Conway, Jeremy Cook, Don Hopkins, Phil Donnison, Cazzbo Johns, Jess Green and George Washingmachine. In October 2010, Smoke Dreams (1973) was listed in the book, 100 Best Australian Albums . [21]
Mic Conway continued to record and perform regularly, both as a solo artist and with his National Junk Band. Jim Conway worked on many musical projects and became a sought-after session and backing musician, however due to the onset of multiple sclerosis, his health (but not his playing) was significantly affected and in early 2014 he retired. [22]
Chris Worrall was the founding guitarist of Melbourne-based pub rockers, the Bleeding Hearts, in 1976, and joined Paul Kelly & the Dots in February 1979. [23] [24] Manny Paterakis was the founding drummer in Mike Rudd & the Heaters in 1979. [25] Eric McCusker joined Mondo Rock on guitar in April 1980. [26] From 1980 to 1983 Dave Flett was bass guitarist of folk and political rockers, Redgum. [27] Louis McManus joined Adelaide-based reggae rockers, No Fixed Address, on guitar in 1984. [28] Peter Inglis joined the original Skyhooks in 1973.
Title | Album details | Peak chart positions |
---|---|---|
AUS [29] [8] | ||
Smoke Dreams |
| 20 |
Wangaratta Wahine |
| 14 |
Australia |
| - |
Slightly Troppo |
| - |
Title | Album details |
---|---|
The Great Stumble Forward (by the Soapbox Circus and the APG) |
|
Live at the Continental |
|
Reignited Tour - Live at Ormond Hall 2011 |
Title | Album details |
---|---|
Makin' Whoopee |
|
The Best of Captain Matchbox Whoopee Band |
|
Title | Album details |
---|---|
Matchbox Madness |
|
Year | Title | Peak chart positions | Album |
---|---|---|---|
AUS [29] [7] | |||
1972 | "My Canary Has Circles Under His Eyes" | 33 | Smoke Dreams |
1973 | "I Can't Dance (Got Ants in My Pants)" | - | |
1974 | "Your Feets Too Big" | - | Wangaratta Wahine |
"Hernando's Hideaway" | - | ||
"Wangaratta Wahine" | - | ||
1976 | "Australia" | - | Australia |
1977 | "If I Can't Have Anna in Cuba (I Think I'll Si-Esta in Spain)" (by Soapbox Circus) | - | The Great Stumble Forward |
1978 | "Sleep" (by Matchbox) | - | Slightly Troppo |
1980 | Juggling Time" /"Dirty Money" (by Matchbox band) | - | non album single |
Stephen Donald Cummings 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 has had limited commercial success. He has written two novels, Wonderboy (1996) and Stay Away from Lightning Girl (1999), and a memoir, Will It Be Funny Tomorrow, Billy (2009). In 2014 a documentary film, Don't Throw Stones, based on his memoir premiered as part of the Melbourne International Film Festival.
The Sports were an Australian 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 drums, Andrew Pendlebury on lead guitar and vocals, and Martin Armiger on guitar. Their style was similar to both 1970s British pub rock bands and British new wave. The Sports' top forty singles are "Who Listens to the Radio", "Don't Throw Stones", "Strangers on a Train" and "How Come". Their top 20 releases on the Australian Kent Music Report Albums Chart are Don't Throw Stones, Suddenly and Sondra.
The Angels are an Australian rock band that formed in 1974 in Adelaide as the Keystone Angels with Bernard "Doc" Neeson on lead vocals and bass guitar, John Brewster on rhythm guitar and backing vocals, his brother Rick Brewster on lead guitar and backing vocals, and Peter "Charlie" King on drums. In 1976, King was replaced by Graham "Buzz" Bidstrup on drums, Chris Bailey took over bass duties so Neeson could focus solely on vocals, and they changed their name to just 'the Angels'. Their studio albums that peaked in the Australian top 10 are No Exit (1979), Dark Room (1980), Night Attack (1981), Two Minute Warning (1984), Howling (1986) and Beyond Salvation (1990). Their top 20 singles are "No Secrets" (1980), "Into the Heat" (1981), "We Gotta Get out of This Place" (1987), "Am I Ever Gonna See Your Face Again", "Let the Night Roll On" and "Dogs Are Talking".
The Indelible Murtceps were an Australian progressive rock and dance-pop band, which formed, as a side project of Spectrum, in October 1971. Sometimes referred to as the shortened name, Murtceps, they were "a stripped-back version... [that] could play anywhere and often." They worked the more lucrative dance and pub rock circuit. Whereas Spectrum performed in a full concert setting, commonly at larger venues, like the T.F. Much Ballroom, and at rock festivals.
James Conway is an Australian harmonica player and with his brother, Mic Conway, was a co-founder of the 1970s humour, theatre and rock group, The Captain Matchbox Whoopee Band.
Jim Ronald White is an Australian drummer, songwriter, and producer. In 1992 he formed Dirty Three, an instrumental rock band, with fellow mainstays Warren Ellis on violin; and Mick Turner on guitar. In Dirty Three, White sometimes shares songwriting duties with Ellis and Turner.
Conway Victor Savage was an Australian rock musician. He was a member of Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds, providing piano, organ & backing vocals from 1990 to 2017.
The 69'ers were an Australian rock, pop, jug and country band formed in 1969. They released two albums, The 69er's Album (1971) and Francis Butlers 69er's Live (1974). The group toured Australia and appeared at the Sunbury Pop Festival in 1973 and 1974. The ensemble went through numerous different members, including two competing line-ups, before finally disbanding in February 1976. According to rock music historian, Ian McFarlane, they played a "good-time mix of vintage rock'n'roll, jugband music and country-swing" and were able to "capture the humour and downright silliness of the form in such a boisterous, zany and garrulous fashion".
Mother McCree's Uptown Jug Champions is an American folk music album. It was recorded live by the band of the same name at the Top of the Tangent coffee house in Palo Alto, California in July, 1964, and released in 1999.
Wangaratta Wahine is an album by Australian band The Captain Matchbox Whoopee Band, released in 1974 and was their second album. It was recorded at top recording studio Armstrong Studios in Melbourne and the cover art was by famed Australian artist Michael Leunig.
Backsliders are a three piece Australian blues based band. The current line up consists of guitarist/vocalist Dom Turner and drummer/percussionist Rob Hirst joined on alternating nights by either Brod Smith, Ian Collard or Joe Glover on harmonica.
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.
David Alexander John Steel is an Australian singer-songwriter, guitarist and producer. He is a former member of folk rock group, Weddings Parties Anything (1985–88) and pop band, The Whipper Snappers (1990–91). Steel has released eleven solo studio albums, including one as leader of Dave Steel and the Roadside Prophets and two albums with folk singer, Tiffany Eckhardt. He has been nominated for three ARIA Music Awards.
Paul Adrian Christie is an Australian rock bassist and vocalist. He was a member of various groups including Kevin Borich Express (1978–79), Mondo Rock (1980–82) and the Party Boys. As a member of Mondo Rock he performed on the tracks, "State of the Heart", "Cool World", "Summer of '81", "Chemistry", "No Time", "The Queen and Me" and "In Another Love".
Gregory John Macainsh is an Australian former musician and songwriter. He provided bass guitar and backing vocals for pop rockers, Skyhooks from 1973 to 1980 and subsequently for various reformations. According to Australian musicologist, Ian McFarlane, "Macainsh's biting, provocative songs were the perfect expression of adolescent obsessions and frustrations. With those songs, the band made an enormous impact on Australian social life." Macainsh became an intellectual property lawyer.
Wendy June Saddington, also known as Gandharvika Dasi, was an Australian blues, soul and jazz singer, and was in the bands Chain, Copperwine and the Wendy Saddington Band. She wrote for teen pop newspaper Go-Set from September 1969 to September 1970 as an agony aunt in her weekly "Takes Care of Business" column, and as a feature writer. Saddington had Top 30 chart success with her 1972 solo single "Looking Through a Window", which was written and produced by Billy Thorpe and Warren Morgan of the Aztecs. After adopting Krishna Consciousness in the 1970s she took the name Gandharvika Dasi. In March 2013 she was diagnosed with oesophageal cancer and died in June, aged 63.
Dutch Tilders, born Mattheus Frederikus Wilhelmus Tilders, anglicised as Matthew Tilders, was a Netherlands-born Australian blues singer-songwriter and guitarist. He performed and released material as a solo artist and also issued a blues-rock album with Kevin Borich, The Blues Had a Baby and They Called It Rock'n'Roll. He has toured with John Mayall (1974), Brownie McGhee, and Taj Mahal. Tilders was diagnosed with oesophageal and liver cancer in May 2010 and died on 23 April 2011, aged 69. In May 2012 Australian Guitar magazine listed him in the top 40 on their Definitive Australian Guitarists of All Time.
Mic Conway is an Australian vocalist and with his brother, Jim Conway, was a co-founder of the 1970s humour, theatre and rock group, The Captain Matchbox Whoopee Band.
"Come Said the Boy" is a song by Australian rock band Mondo Rock, released in November 1983 as the lead single from the band's fourth studio album The Modern Bop (1984). The song became the band's highest-charting single, peaking at number 2 on the Kent Music Report. It was written by the group's lead guitarist, Eric McCusker, and was co-produced by John Sayers and the band.
Peter George Starkie was an Australian rock musician. He was the founding guitarist of Skyhooks in 1973 and joined Jo Jo Zep & the Falcons in 1975. His younger brother, Bob "Bongo" Starkie, replaced him on guitar in Skyhooks. Peter Starkie died on 14 September 2020, aged 72, of complications arising from a fall.