The Strangers were an Australian rock band formed in 1961 and existed until 1975. The band started out playing instrumental songs in a style similar to The Shadows, with influences from Cliff Richard. The original line-up was Laurie Arthur (lead guitar), Peter Robinson (bass), Graeme "Garth" Thompson (drums) and Fred Wieland (rhythm guitar). Robinson had previously played with a local band The Thunderbirds and went on to replace Athol Guy in the Seekers in the late 1970s.
Founding and history
The Strangers were formed in Melbourne as an instrumental rock band in 1961 with the line-up of Laurie Arthur on lead guitar (ex-the Planets, the Chessmen), Peter Robinson on bass guitar (ex-the Thunderbirds), Graeme "Garth" Thompson on drums (ex-the Earls) and Fred Weiland on rhythm guitar (ex-the Lincolns).[1][2] Instead of joining the prevailing surf music trend, the Strangers modelled themselves on British and European instrumental groups, the Shadows, the Tornados and the Spotnicks.[1] Arthur, Robinson and Weiland had attended Glenroy High School before joining different groups.[2] The Strangers performed across Melbourne's major dance venues.[1][2]
Also in 1964, the band supported Roy Orbison and Paul and Paula on an Australian tour which featured The Surfaris and The Beach Boys. These support gigs influenced some early vocal recordings in "Poppa Oom Mow Mow", "Sunday Kind of Love," "If You Gotta Make a Fool of Somebody" and later "In My Room", a Beach Boys ballad.
Television band
In August 1964, The Strangers were selected as the resident backing band on the Melbourne based teenage television pop program The Go!! Show, in which they appeared each week from 1964 to 1967. Farrar married Pat Carroll. Carroll and Olivia Newton-John appeared on The Go!! Show as singers. After "The Go!! Show" ended, The Strangers became the resident group on HSV-7's Sunnyside Up program. In all, the band appeared on television at least once a week for nine years straight.
During the mid-1960s, the band changed labels from W&G Records to Go Records. After the demise of the Go!! Show and its associated record label, they moved to Philips Records, and finally to Fable Records in 1970.
Replacements and collaborations
In February 1967, Terry Walker (ex Glen Ingram & The Hi-Five) replaced Fred Wieland, who left to join The Mixtures. During 1969, The Strangers' cover of "Melanie Makes Me Smile" made No. 16 in Sydney, No. 9 in Melbourne and No. 7 in Brisbane. Later singles included "Mr. President" (Trevor 'Dozy' Davies, John 'Beaky' Dymond, Ian 'Tich' Amey) in 1970, and "Sweet Water" (Fletcher/Flett), a cover of a song by obscure British band Brass Monkey, in 1971.
The group effectively broke up in mid 1970, with Farrar moving to the UK and joining Shadows members Hank Marvin and Bruce Welch in Marvin, Welch & Farrar, and then the re-formed Shadows. Later that year Robinson and Thompson reformed The Strangers (sometimes billed as The New Strangers), with guitarists John Cosgrove (ex Fendermen) and Bill Pyman. Cosgrove left in early 1973 and was replaced by Jim Sifonious (ex Dove), before the band finally broke up in 1975.
The Strangers set an exceptional standard for live sound, using the best and "cleanest" equipment they could procure: German Dynacord microphones and public address systems, multiple guitar effects units, an exponential horn for the bass guitar, and carefully selected and matching guitars (e.g. Rickenbacker 6- and 12-string, and Maton El Toro) and amplifiers.[citation needed]
2nd edition: McFarlane, Ian (2017). "Encyclopedia entry for 'The Strangers'". The Encyclopedia of Australian Rock and Pop. Jenkins, Jeff (Foreword) (2nd ed.). Gisborne, VIC: Third Stone Press. p. 463. ISBN978-0-9953856-0-3.
^ abcdefgKimball, Duncan (2002). "The Strangers". Milesago: Australasian Music and Popular Culture 1964–1975. Ice Productions. Archived from the original on 16 March 2010. Retrieved 25 March 2023.
