Australian entertainers, bands and musicians that performed for American and Australian military forces during the war in Vietnam in the 1960's and 1970's

This webpage has been written by Peter Rappolt (photo) who is the guitar player in Viva the band, Sydney, Australia, Peter and his wife Marie have had an incredible journey with their music, most of the history written in this page is the result of the writer witnessing some of the events first hand

Australian 60's (sixties) recording and television artists, entertainers, famous Australian musicians and bands. The Bee Gees, Johnny Farnham, The Delltones, Johnny Ashcroft, Johnny O'Keefe, Rob E G. These entertainers were accompanied by The Echomen with Peter Rappolt in the sixties

View a video of the war in Vietnam 1969 and 1970 at this link : youtube

If you are interested in how bands entertained the troops in Vietnam, check out this footage of scenes of Vietnam, entertainers, and USO entertainers in South Vietnam in 1969 and 1970. The band performed over 400 concerts (as depicted by the movie) to American and allied forces throughout every military base in South Vietnam, they also filmed a tragic plane crash, the video has an original soundtrack of one of the band concerts in Vietnam, a great documentary video

This page is very informative and outlines a number of events that shaped Australian teenage culture in the 50's, 60's and 70's. There is some rich and diverse history of some Australian bands in the Vietnam war and throughout Asia, there are also stories of the contribution by some of the members of a current Sydney band, Viva the band formerly "The Echomen" in the formative years of popular music and surf music in Australia

QUICK LINKS

This page has a lot of information, these quick links can be time saving and take you to the items that may be of interest to you

• The journey and accomplishments for the author and Viva the band Link
• Wilma Reading, Dulcie Reading (Georgia Lee), Heather Mae Reading Link
• The evolution of pop culture in Australia in the 50 and 60's Link
• Music at the Trocadero in the 40 and 50's Link
• The fabulous 60's, The Echomen, one of Australia's 1st. "surf" bands Link
• The Echomen story on youtube Link
• Bands at the Charles Hotel, Chatswood in the 60's Link
• THE WAR IN VIETNAM the 60's and 70's Link
• Sydney bands tour from Bangkok to Japan Link
• Formation of Viva the duo and Viva the band Link
• For information about other bands, venues etc. go to the index page link

A Band For All Occasions was formed by Peter and Marie Rappolt after the disbanding of The Echomen in 1968. At that time Peter Formed a new band The Sounds of Lawrence (S.O.L.) The band performed throughout Asia and Australia until 1980. Peter and Marie ceased playing music from 1980 until 1996 at which time they formed Viva the duo and Viva the band, these bands are currently very active in Sydney and regularly tour throughout NSW, Queensland and internationally

Where the journey began

Peter Rappolt was born in Cairns, North Queensland and grew up on the goldfields at Gilberton on the Gilbert river at the "gulf country" in the outback of North Queensland (photo) Peter Rappolt (left) Charles Rappolt M.P. (right)

Peter moved to Cairns in 1957 where he took on an apprenticeship as a watch maker with Tom Mc Donalds Jewellers. Peter lived in a house outside of Cairns surrounded by sugar cane plantations. During the cane cutting seasons, Peter was treated to the music that the local Italian cane cutters used to sing whilst they were working, the cane cutters regularly held house parties where accordion players and banjo players turned up to perform all sorts of currently popular music as well as traditional European tunes

Wilma Reading, Dulcie Reading (Georgia Lee), Heather mae Reading

About the same time Peter met the Pitt and Reading families in Cairns, Heather Pitt and Dulcy Pitt (known as Georgia Lee), Wally Pitt, Heather Reading and Wilma Reading. Their wonderful vocal performances in Cairns were a revelation to Peter

Heather Pitt became a very popular Jazz Vocalist on Sydney

Dulcy Pitt (Georgia Lee) became a member of the Geraldo Dance Band in London in 1954, She also performed with Nat King Cole in the 1950's

Latest News! Dulcy Pitt died in her sleep at the age of 89 in Cairns on Friday the 24th April 2010

Peter also met her brother Wally Pitt when he was playing guitar in the Trocadero Dance Orchestra in Cairns

The Pitts, Heather, Dulcie and her brother Wally, entertained American Forces at the Grand Hotel in Cairns in the 1940's

Wilma Reading got her first big break singing with a Brisbane-based 17-piece swing band and with the ABC Orchestra. Wilma appeared on Bandstand in Sydney and recorded with Festival Records, she became very popular in Europe, she played Julie in the musical Showboat and made over 30 BBC TV appearances, including her own Wilma Reading BBC TV Specials

After a first engagement at the Goodwood Hotel in Singapore, Wilma then toured for Hilton Hotels International. She was discovered at the Tokyo Hilton by the American ABC Agency who contracted Wilma to appear at Riviera Hotel, Las Vegas. A string of other live U.S. appearances followed including a season at the legendary Copacabana Nightclub, New York. Wilma appeared on renowned Johnny Carson Show and for an entire season on the Morecambe and Wise Show

Wilma worked with the Duke Ellington Orchestra, starring with Jim Brown in the U.S. film Pacific Inferno, a UNICEF television special with Danny Kaye, thirty-three one woman concerts in Russia, appearing on over seventy-five international television shows, a BBC concert with Charles Aznavour at the London Festival Hall, recording the soundtrack title song for the Julie Andrews-Omar Sharif film "The Tamarind Seed"

Wilma performed at the reunification concert in Berlin with the West Berlin Symphony (RIAS) on her left and the East Berlin Symphony on her right. Wilma Married Ray Lehr ( now deceased) her agent in South Vietnam, at the present time Wilma is living in Cairns and is still performing in that region

In 1970 Wilma's younger sister, Heather Mae Reading was the featured vocalist for Peter's band The Sounds of Lawrence (now Viva the band) when they performed in South Vietnam and Thailand. Heather returned to Australia in 1971 and worked on the club circuit in NSW until about 1996. Heather is now living at Plumpton in NSW

A youtube video of Heather Mae Reading performing in South Vietnam can be viewed at youtube

The earlier events with the Pitts and the Reading families, inspired Peter to take up music as a hobby. After completing his watch making apprenticeship in 1962, Peter formed the Echomen with two of his friends in Cairns, Rod Rumble (vocal and guitar) and Ken Lennon (drums). The band moved to Sydney in the same year

Peter's brother, Charles was living in Sydney and he was enticed to take up Bass and join the Echomen. Peter got a job as an assistant jewelry buyer at Prouds in Sydney until 1963 at which time the Echomen secured a residency at the Charles Hotel Chatswood

The fabulous 60's and the Echomen, Australia's 1st "surf" band

The Echomen were one of the pioneers of surf music in Australia. producing a hit record called "Ski Run" in the summer of 1963. Peter and Charles Rappolt and a temporary member, an aborigine named Johnny Forrester, were all involved in the writing and recording of the tune. Peter Rappolt also wrote a number of other hit tunes over the next two years of their recording contract with HMV records at EMI 301 studio

Johnny Forrester has never been acknowledged by others as the 1st Aborigine in Australia that was involved in the composition and performance of Surf music in Australia, I am very grateful for his contribution to success of the Echomen

Listen to a sample of Echomen Surf recordings at this link Echomen tunes

Listen to a sample of the style of music that Peter Rappolt is currently playing at gigs in Sydney Gypsy Minor Swing

The Echomen story on youtube Youtube

The popularity of their recordings resulted in many television performances in Sydney in the 60's, including appearances on Johnny O'Keefe's TV Shows. The Echomen were befriended by Johnny who used to frequent their venues. Johnny also helped them out when they recorded some music at Festival studios for his show. Johnny was one of the backing singers for the Four Seasons cover song "Stay" that the Echomen performed on his show. Ski Run was also aired with a clip on Brian Henderson's Television show "Bandstand"

The Echomen also appeared at local surf clubs including Collaroy and Manly. They also performed at Surf City, Kings Cross with Billy Thorpe and the Aztecs, The Atlantics, The Denvermen, The Statesmen, Doug Parkinson and his band Focus. At one of the radio 2UW concerts at Lane Cove National Park there was an audience in excess of 70,000 people who witnessed The Echomen performances (photo).

Peter successfully shed the mantle of 60's music in the mid 90's and is currently devoting his time to Jazz and International music with his wife Marie

The Museum of Surfing and The Echomen instrumental surf recordings

An organization at Burleagh Heads is constructing a museum portraying the history of surf culture in Australia. Peter Rappolt's, The Echomen (early Viva band) were one of the pioneers of surf instrumental music compositions and recordings in Australia along with the Atlantics. The Echomen recordings will be featured on a continuing basis at the museum

The evolution of teenagers pop culture in Australia in the 50's and 60's

Prior to the mid 50's, teenagers were an invisible force in Australia, they were rarely seen in public places or entertainment venues without the company of their parents. Teenagers were excluded from music, entertainment and all forms of marketing. Parents went to dance halls and sometimes they took their teenage children with them

At dances there were no teenage couples, generally, boys gathered around at one location of the dance hall and the teenage daughters sat with their parents, they often danced with their fathers, boys usually asked permission from the girls parents to dance with their daughters

Music at the Trocadero in the 40 and 50's

At the advent of WW2 dance halls were very popular, particularly as a medium for American soldiers to meet Australian women, some adults went to dances almost every night of the week . In NSW alone, there were about 2,000 dance venues on most nights of the week, many were frequented by up to 1,000 patrons at places such as the Albert Palais and the Trocadero, consequently swing, Jive, Latin and old time dance music was very popular

Sydney festival organizers conducted an event in 2011 to try and replicate the Trocadero and the music that was played there. Unfortunately their attempt at this was abysmal. The Trocadero was primarily a dance venue featuring appropriate music for modern and oldtime ballroom dancing. Waltz, Foxtrot, Quickstep, Tango, Barn dance, Gypsy tap etc. The music that the current festival is featuring is (hip) Jazz music, most likely the music of The Cotton Club era, not ballroom dancing music from the Trocadero. It is galling to witness thousands of people being duped into thinking that (hip) Jazz this was the primary music style played at the Trocadero in its time

In the 50's Jazz music began to lose its popularity with the emergence of rock and roll music, just prior to that, adults and teenagers were listening to the same music from movie productions and a popular form of toned down jazz and swing with added "respectable" classical musicians and orchestras backing artists such as: Frank Sinatra, Bing Crosby, Doris Day, Ella Fitzgerald etc. A good example of the cleaning up or toning down of Jazz music was shown in the evolution of Nat King Coles career. Nat originally began his career with an excellent jazz trio, by the late 50's Nat was presented as a single popular act, presenting tunes such as "Mona Lisa" with a stringed orchestra backing him in a style quite removed from his earlier successes as a jazz musician. Similarly, Wes Montgomery was a Jazz guitarist who was also treated in the same manner. Doris day was a marketers dream particularly with songs like "How Much Is That Doggie In The Window" appealing to the white masses

The teenage revolution commenced in the mid 50's with the release of Bill Hayley and the Comets recording of Rock around the Clock

It can be said that Rock and Roll was started when Bill Hayley began re arranging country music and experimenting with different rhythms from about 1951, up until that time Bill Hayley was strictly a country musician

Early Rock and Roll was country music with a few modifications

Rock around the clock was a tune with the rhythm of a typical country or Texas swing style of that era, however the style was modified with the beats two and four of the bar much more strongly emphasized (strong back beat)

Louis Jordan, initially a jazz musician, had also established a Rhythm and Blues style in the 40's era that was also a major influence in the emergence of Rock and Roll. Rhythm and Blues at that time was only attributed to black musicians. The advent of Rock and Roll created an opportunity for white musicians to imitate and to cash in on the black music evolution

In the latter part of the 50's a host of single popular artists such Buddy Holley, Paul Anka, Frankie Valens, Elvis Presley and the like were compelled to conform to the preferences of radio sponsors, marketing and recording company executives to produce respectable "white" interpretations of socially unacceptable black Rhythm and Blues music. These preferences by businessmen and marketers were popularized by continual air play with support by advertisers. Many "rebel" artists that did not conform to this formula did not get airplay and fell by the wayside. Pop music continued to evolve with gentler rhythms and were often produced with socially acceptable strings and orchestras.

Currently some bands are using similar types of backing tracks and learn tunes in a parrot fashion to imitate the original bands. A huge industry has evolved for entertainers to cash in on the success of original bands by creating "tribute" or "covers" bands with artificially produced backing tracks, often manufactured by skilled computer buffs. Similarly some Jazz artists such as Diana Krall and Harry Connick Jnr. have recently copied the marketing formula of the 50's, augmenting their Jazz trios with classical orchestras to popularize their "Jazz" act. Country music was also affected, the "Nashville sound" evolved partly by utilizing the addition of stringed orchestras to country music. The respectability of these types of presentation are mirrored by most audiences attending concerts dressed in tuxedos and evening dress.

The summer of 63, a definitive date of change of an era in pop music in Australia

You may notice that the Australia's top 10 (photo) reflects the end of an era and the beginning of another transformation of the pop culture in Australia. In 1963, Maria Elena, a gentle guitar instrumental was No1 on the hit parade at the time, also on the hit parade was a recording by Eartha Kitt " Just an Old Fashioned Girl" which was being purchased by teenagers. (who would have thought this was possible?) Peter Rappolt still plays Maria Elena at his shows in Sydney

The label "Surf" Instrumentals only commenced in 1963 possibly because of a number of similar styles Instrumentals arriving on the hit parade in September 1963, a couple were named as surf related creating a sort of critical mass. The Echomen recording of Ski Run reached the hit parade with a number of other "surf" tunes in the same month of 1963. Prior to this summer there were quite a few Instrumentals of a similar style released by the Shadows, the Ventures and the like, however, they were not labeled as "surf" tunes at the time

Instrumental Surf music made a huge impact upon Australian teenagers even though the major surf hits only lasted for the one summer (1963-1964). The instrumental surf culture commenced with teenagers packing Sydney's beaches with standing room only with speakers lining the beachfront blaring out Radio top 40 with popular announcers such as Ward "pally" Austin shouting "a rick a poody and a fandoogalee" to announce himself. A dance called "the stomp" emerged from the surf culture as an uniquely Australian dance. A popular recording by "Little Pattie" Amphlett was called "Stompin' at Maroubra". A venue at kings Cross called Surf City hosted performers such as the Atlantics, The Echomen, The Delltones, Billie Thorpe and the Aztecs, The Statesmen, The Denvermen and Doug Parkinson with his band Focus

The run of surf music, and instrumental music generally, was cut short in 1964 when the Beatles emerged on the scene and blasted most other genre of pop music off the hit parades, raising the level of pop music to another dimension

Instrumental bands and musicians were rarely considered to be "sexy" and boy bands such as the Beatles and the Rolling Stones seemed to be "sexy". Boy bands were the precurser to girl bands who also became popular in the late sixties. Instrumental music from groups like the Shadows, The Surfaries, The Ventures and Australian surf bands such as the Echomen, The Atlantics, The Statesmem and The Denvermen faded into oblivian. It was noted there was one exception, Midnight Oil, normally known as a vocal group, did produce a popular surf styled Instrumental called "Wedding Cake Island" at a later date

Another radio announcer, Bob Rogers rose to prominence when he became involved with the Beatles tour in Australia when teenagers took to supporting vocal bands to the detriment of instrumental Surf bands. The Echomen were fortunate to be able to develop themselves as cabaret styled entertainers with continual work at the Charles Hotel, Chatswood. Other Instrumental bands that were popular at the time included: The Denverman, The Atlantics and the Statesmen. These groups as well at the typical "sixties" bands were forgotten when the next era of Australian pop entertainment commenced with such shows as "Countdown" hosted by Mollie Meldrum, leaving Australian Instrumental surf bands as a dim memory

Salsa music was not played to Australian audiences

Salsa is the music of Cuba and was the most dynamic and significant pan-American musical phenomena of the 1970s and 1980s, audiences for Salsa music surpassed the general audiences for UK and USA rock bands. In New York and in South America, Latin Salsa bands such as the Fania All-stars were decidedly more popular than iconic groups such as the Rolling Stones etc. Salsa music did not make many inroads into Australia, primarily because there were few local musicians that were capable of understanding or replicating the complex nature of the music and secondly, Australian radio just did not promote the music, preferring to promote just rock and pop music

Reflecting on these era's gives a good insight of the events that revolutionized pop culture in Australia. By the mid 60's teenagers were enjoying their freedoms, spending their own monies on "desirable" products marketed to attract them and being entertained at all sorts of dance venues including pubs and clubs without the company of their parents. Big business and marketing became hugely concentrated on the purchasing power of the youth of Australia, America and UK. For a while it seemed the success of a musician or entertainer could only be accomplished by conforming to a marketing formula created by businessmen

It seems that Australian senior audiences are currenty following "marketed" music at this current era, they flock in their thousands to witness "The king of waltz Violin" performing "Waltzing Matilda" on his multi million dollar violin. Another radio announcer, Alan Jones has befriended the player as well, which seems, (to the writer) to increase Alan's popularity

A 60's band at the Charles Hotel

Sydney bands and entertainers at the Charles Hotel at Chatswood from 1963 until 1968

(photo left)-Peter Rappolt, Griff Beale, John Spence, Lee Saunders, Charles Rappolt ----(photo right) Charles Rappolt, Doug Gallagher, Lee Saunders, Des Gibson, Peter Rappolt

The Echomen had a long association with the Charles Hotel at Chatswood which was owned by the Waterhouse family at the time. (The Waterhouse family are noted as prominent bookmakers). The band performed at the Charles for 6 nights a week and Saturday afternoons and became very popular, packing the room with fans every night which resulted in the Charles Hotel continuing to maintain the highest beer sales in the Southern Hemisphere for a single venue during the Echomen residency 1963-1968. Peter managed to learn ballroom dancing at a local dance studio during the bands residency at the Charles and attained gold medal status as a dancer. This aspect of ballroom music was also significient in the evolution of Peter's music appreciation. Rod Rumble and Ken Lennon left the Echomen in 1966 and new personnel included Ann Reilly, Griff Beale, Lee Saunders, John Spence, Doug Gallagher (session drummer), and Des Gibson. The Echomen also backed guest artists that appeared on Friday and Saturday Nights at the Hotel including: The Bee Gees, Johnny Farnham, Rob E G, The Delltones, Sandy Scott, and many other popular artists of the sixties era

The Echomen are currently the subject of surf band cults emerging in Europe. A recent six page documentary about The Echomen can be found in the British Magazine, The New Gandy Dancer (December 2003 edition). A recent publication of the Last Post (spring 2011) featured a documentary called "Whatever Happened to the Echomen". Ski Run is to be re- released with a compilation of Australian Surf hits by a popular sydney guitarist, Kim Humphries

Peter Rappolt and Ken Lennon (drums) are the only surviving members of The Echomen, Charles Rappolt (bass) went on to become a member of Parliament in Queensland and soon after died due to tragic circumstances in 1999, Peter only recently heard that Rod Rumble (vocalist and rhythm guitar) also died recently in Cairns.

The formation of The Sounds of Lawrence with Terry Kaff and Brenda Kristian

In 1968 Peter Rappolt formed a new band with Terry Kaff and Brenda Kristian called The Sounds of Lawrence (S.O.L.) Terry regularly entered talent quests at the Charles Hotel when The Echomen were there. Terry rarely won any of the contests, however Peter recognized his potential and invited Terry to be the vocalist for S.O.L. Peter provided Terry with good venues and well rehearsed backing arrangements with his band to give Terry a start in the Industry on a professional basis rather than as an amateur, Terry developed into a good band vocalist and later became a popular session vocalist. Brenda Kristian had a similar experience, she had only worked with a garage practice band until she joined S.O.L. Brenda became well known in the Philippines where she was befriended by President Marcos.

The S.O. L. first performances were at the Bronte Charles Hotel followed up by a season at Smiggins Ski Resort, Mt Kosciusko. The band returned to Sydney (minus Brenda) to perform for the Toohey's group of hotels. Terry left S.O.L. to work with Mike Perjanik. Doug Gallagher, a drummer who was in Peters previous band also began working with Mike Perjanik. There were also a number of other band member replacements with Peter Gillette (keyboards) from the New Zealand group, The Castaways and Peter Skerrett (bass) from Mike Perjanik's band joining S.O.L. and Dave (Deke) Kennedy a drummer from N.Z.

Marie Rappolt was working in the copyright section at Festival records until she joined S.O.L in late 1968 as a keyboard player, Marie became a specialist at performing covers of Booker T and the MG's instrumentals on a M3 Hammond organ and 147 Leslie combination throughout the 70's. Marie also became well known in Bangkok with publications about her in the society columns and as one of the owners and manager of the Pub, a popular entertainment Venue opposite the Australian Embassy

During 1967- 1968 Peter was a student at Don Andrews School of Music at Bondi. Don was reputed as Australia's finest guitar tutor. Don asked Peter to "dep" for him on many recording sessions for product commercials, one of the commercials that Peter played guitar for is the advertisement for Victorian Bitter beer (with John Mellion voice over) This advertisement was continually aired on television and radio for 38 years

A Sydney band in the war zones of South Vietnam

History of the war in Vietnam

To begin with, it seems the biggest problem with the Vietnam war can be explained simply:

Despite the well intentioned motives and immense generosity of the American people, the USA backed the wrong side, a brief description of the history of Vietnam reveals that fact

• The American position was, that they considered the Vietnam situation as an expansion of the cold war with Russia and Communism. Australians were allied to the American position as they enjoy having a powerful partner
• The North Vietnam position was, they simply wanted independence, they had been fighting for their independence from China for hundreds of years and they were afraid that America was going to colonize them as the French had done
• The Chinese controlled Vietnam until 1861 when an Independent Vietnam nation was formed
• Once Vietnam became independent it became vulnerable and the French took advantage of this, they seized control of Saigon and South Vietnam in 1867 and North Vietnam in 1883
• in 1940-1941 The Japanese invaded Vietnam and the country was controlled jointly by the French and Japanese
• When France was taken over by Germany a Vietnamese communist, Ho Chi Minh attempted to claim independence once again for Vietnam
• When Japan was defeated in 1945 the French regained control of Vietnam with the support of the British and Americans
• French rule was harsh, they took over the plantations, the mines and the economy of Vietnam. The Vietnamese became 2nd. class citizens, they were not allowed to trade in alcohol, rice and salt. The Vietnamese civilians were forced into labour under threat of Jail and many starved to death
• In 1946 a revolutionary element of the Vietnamese called Vietminh attacked the French in Hanoi and the Indochina war began, France bombed Haiphong Harbour and killed over 6,000 civilians in that event
• In 1954 The Vietminh defeated the French at the battle of Dien Bien Phu creating a division of Vietnam into North and South Vietnam
• North Vietnam was governed by Ho Chi Minh, a member of the French Communist party and South Vietnam was controlled by Ngo Dinh Diem
• Ho Chi Minh pleaded for many years with the USA to help the Vietnamese resolve the dispute that had escalated into a civil war
• In 1956 Ngo Dinh Diem and the Americans refused to allow free elections for the Vietnamese people although Ho Chi Minh supported free elections
• President Eisenhower was of the opinion that, if there was a free election in Vietnam, Ho Chi Minh was likely to win 80% of the votes
• USA ignored Ho Chi Minh because he was a member of the communist party and they were concerned about a Domino theory "that Vietnam would fall to the communists and thereby weaken the surrounding democratic governments"
• USA chose to support a corrupt South Vietnamese Government (dictatorship) and Ho Ch Min turned to China and Russia to support his cause for a united Vietnam
• Because of the involvement of the Chinese, the Russians and the fear of the domino theory, USA escalated the conflict in Vietnam to an all out offensive involving hundreds of thousands of American troops, over 58,000 killed American soldiers and an enormous amount of taxpayer funds and military assets
• In hindsight, the domino theory did not evolve upon the communist takeover of South Vietnam (which is a parallel to the War in Iraq that was conducted because of the weapons of mass destruction theory)
• It may surprise many people to hear that the American CIA conducted a secret war in Laos under the auspices of four American presidents whilst the Vietnam war was in progress, more bombs were dropped by American planes in Laos than were used in the Vietnam war, World War 2 in Europe and Japan. America conducted bombing raids every 8 minutes 24 hours a day for 9 years killing many thousands of civilians. To this day there are over 78 million unexploded ordinances lying around in Laos which continues to kill or maim hundreds of civilians every year
• In conclusion, it is noticable that the American politicians made some mistakes, they are not alone, Britian made a few too, particularly when they deported White Russian P.O.Ws back to Russia where many were executed by the British allies, the "Red" Russians

Entertainers and the war in Vietnam

Vietnam 1969

A Video and soundtrack of the bands tour in South Vietnam in 1969 is at Youtube

In 1969 Peter and Marie with their drummer at the time, Alan Carol, put together a cabaret show with two dancers a female singer and a MC to perform throughout South Vietnam for American and Australian troops. The first tour lasted 8 Months, The second tour lasted 6 months and was a called "Doing Our Thing"

The show was produced by Peter Rappolt and was made up of a MC- Vocalist Joe Dicker, his wife Carol Dicker as a dancer, Deirdre Brannigan, dancer, Heather May Reading Vocalist and the musicians, the Sounds of Lawrence with Peter Rappolt Guitar, Marie Rappolt, Organ and keyboard bass and Ray Rugless, Drums

Peter engaged Joe Dicker for the Vietnam show when he observed Joe's potential at many talent quests at the Charles Hotel. When Joe returned to Sydney he went on to star in number of musicals, commencing as Herod In JC superstar, Joe was also cast in many TV shows and commercials, his wife Carol is a director of a theatrical production company. Peter engaged Heather May Reading through his association with the Reading sisters in Cairns, Nth Qld.

Marie and Peter were married in November 1969 during a short interval of their tours to South Vietnam

The band performed over 400 concerts in the war zones of South Vietnam in a 14 month period during 1969 and 1970

The band traveled throughout South Vietnam from the Delta to the DMZ and the borders of Laos and Cambodia performing wherever troops were stationed. The band performed in locations in Nui Dat where Delta Company 6RAR was stationed, (It was in the area where the battle of Long Tan took place). The band also performed at well known bases at China beach near Danang

Most servicemen in South Vietnam usually served a tour of duty of 12 months in one location. The entertainers were required to be transported to hundreds of remote troop locations throughout South Vietnam mostly transported by UH-1 helicopters (photo) Note The landing area in the photo was cleared by an aerial bomb that explodes above the ground called a "daisy cutter".

Peter took a number of hours of movie film over their 14 months of their Sth. Vietnam experience

The band was fortunate to be hired by American USO and CPA organizations. The band witnessed many skirmishes and spent many nights in protected bunkers, However the American organizations operated with great efficiency, appreciation and commitment to the welfare and safety of entertainers in their war zones, despite being in the middle of a number of attacks, none of the entertainers in S.O.L were injured

Many public impressions about the civilian casualties in South Vietnam were ill conceived. A major cause of casualties for Vietnamese civilians was caused by the fact that many Viet Cong insurgents were dispersed among the populas, as an example, many waiters who worked at American military clubs and bars, and gardeners at American bases were Viet Cong. These people were entrenched in local villages where they enjoyed some support by the citizens, they organized the local inhabitants to supply rice and accommodation to Viet Cong guerillas. Some of the American hirachy is some places took the view that the villagers that supported the VC Insurgents could also be regarded as enemy combatants (refer My Lai massacre), also heavy handed and forceful attempts to locate and apprehend VC insurgents whist still trying to maintain some safety for the American troops often impacted upon the innocents, to the extent that most civilians felt they were under the boot of the Americans

The simple premise that, at least 76% of the south Vietnamese farmers would provide rice to a Viet Cong in support of their cause and the remainder, who resisted, provided rice to the Viet Cong with a gun at their head, was much more effective that an American offering a reward to them for not providing the rice

These type of events are still a cause of great concern in respect of soldiers in the current combat zones in Iraq and Afghanistan. It seems that Australia and American authorities have not heeded the lessons of South Vietnam, because of their huge generousity and misguided concern for democracy in countries that are historically tribal run, they are also still sending couragious young servicemen into combat for corrupt foreign governments. It is obvious to the writer that, as soon as American and allied forces leave Iraq and Afghanistan, the powerful entities such as local chiefs, warlords, thugs, politicians, councils, police etc. will rule the civilian populas once again. In 10 years time we will reflect and perceive, the costs of lives and billions of dollars will eventually amount to nothing.

"Everytime history repeats itself the price goes up"

The Solution is simple: Assist in advancing education and communication in these "poor" countries. When the populas get access to computers and the internet they will see lots of other people living in luxurious houses, living the high life with consumer products, travel and entertainment and sending their children to college, they will begin to ask the question "why not us?"... Asia and India is a good example of this process in action

Our thanks to the Americans

We are very grateful to the Americans authorities and the USO for the care and respect that they treated their entertainers, including our Australian band in their employ in South Vietnam, Thailand, Guam and the Philippines. The American services were always fantastic audiences and very generous. Our performance earnings in Sth. Vietnam and throughout Asia gave us financial independance early in our lives. The show was also engaged from time to time by the Australian military and the Americans happily took on the transportation, accommodation and safety of the band for the "free" shows the band performed for Australian troops at their bases at Nui Dat, Vung Tau and Bear Cat base in Bien Hoa Province South Vietnam. Despite our free shows for Australian servicemen, it appeared Australian Authorities held a grudge against Australian entertainers who were contracted to American entertainment organizations

We noted that the Australian military (generally) only used known pop stars or notable Australian entertainers for their venues, whereas the American entertainment organizations held auditions to assess the value of any entertainers available to audition, they hired many Australian entertainers that presented themselves to work for them

It is disappointing to note that Australian bands that worked for the American Military are excluded from any entitlements under the Veterans Entitlements Act (VEA). It appears the Australian Government refuses to acknowledge the value of the entertainment that was provided by Australian entertainers to help lift the morale of Australian and allied fighting forces in war zones (says a lot about the American and Australian military relationships)

Peter Rappolt's concert band was placed on the nominal roll of Australian entertainers that performed for Australian forces in South Vietnam, however the band members have been denied The Vietnam Logistic Support medal (VLSM) and were resisted at Returned Servicemen Clubs (RSL), the clubs would not hire the band or acknowledge their contributions to Australian troops in South Vietnam

The band members also witnessed the manipilation by politicians in sending brave, couragious and decent young Australians to war zones to place their lives at risk to fight for corrupt governments and other stupid reasons and I don't think any of the band members will ever get over the negative treatment they received upon their return to Australia after the Vietnam conflict

Band tour from Bangkok to Japan

1970 Sydney band entertainment in Bangkok

In 1970 S.O.L. moved to Bangkok after completing their tour of South Vietnam. Peter and Marie Rappolt purchased a nightclub called The Pub, located on the corner of Convent and Silom Road, opposite the Australian Embassy in Bangkok. Whilst they were in Bangkok Peter obtained a licence to provide entertainment to American forces throughout S.E. Asia, they used the Pub as a base to continue performances for American bases in Thailand and to showcase International performers that Peter was providing to the American entertainment system. The pub was a popular lunchtime and evening venue for Australian Embassy staff as it was located opposite the Australian Embassy in Silom Road, Bangkok and provided Australian style food as well as the Aussie entertainment. S.O.L. regularly appeared on local television (photo) as well as performing at The Pub and other venues including 5 star International hotels in S.E. Asia.

Bill Turgeon, from Brisbane, Queensland, an original drummer with Brian Cadd, (also a vocalist) joined Peter and Marie in 1970 whilst they were at the pub. Bill had just completed a series of performances in South Vietnam. Bill is currently the resident drummer in two bands in Brisbane, Homestead Country music and the Sidewinders

1972 Sydney band tours throughout Asia

Peter, Marie and Bill put together a cabaret styled concert and travelled to The Philippines, Guam and Japan for a continuing daily schedule of performances

1972 Sydney band meeting with Japanese pop star Kyu Sakamoto

SOL spent a lovely evening with Kyu Sakamoto and his beautiful wife, Yukiko Kashiwaga at the Golden Club at Osaka Japan. Kyu Sakamoto had produced a world wide hit record called "Sukiyaki" in 1963 about the same time as the Echomen had their own record releases. more information about Kyu Sakamoto can be found at Kyu Web

Video of Japan

View a video of Japan containing the soundtrack Kikuchiyo to Moshimasu at Youtube

1972 Sydney band returns from Vietnam and tours for 8 years throughout Australia

In late 1972 S.O.L. returned to Australia and performed at: Cairns, Townsville, Mackay, Brisbane, Ipswitch, Canberra, Mt Kosciusko, Perth, Bunbury, Lightning Ridge and Sydney. Most of the venues were on the same circuit of iconic 70's rock bands such as Old 55 and Jimmy Barns band, Cold Chisel. The band also worked for a year at The Sofital Wentworth hotel in Sydney. The band won "the battle of the bands" at their final venue for that period, at Pittwater in Sydney in 1979. The featured vocalist in the band at the time was Monique Morrell. Monique is currently a regular featured performer at the Basement in Sydney.

1980 the cessation of musical activity and getting a "real" job to raise a family

S.O.L disbanded in 1980 and Peter went on to become a machine operator and civil contractor constructing roads and drainage works for Councils and developers, he also became a specialist at developing and constructing mobile home parks

in 1986 Peter developed his Gold mining lease at Sofala, he designed and constructed his own 100 tonne per hour gravity alluvial processing plant at Sofala (photo)

In 1990 Peter becoming a project manager and land developer (photo), eventually developing his own subdivisions at Bargo, Cranebrook, Prestons, Rooty Hill, Glenmore park, Frenchs Forest, Bayview, Avalon and Morrisset

The return to music

1990 Sydney musicians interest in jazz music

Peter became interested in Jazz music and began playing tenor banjo in a number of trad bands in Sydney and Newcastle. the photo depicts Jiri Kripac's band "Jiri's Hot Buns" at the Pyrmont Bridge Hotel with Peter (with beard) recently converting from bango to acoustic guitar. About the same time Peter became an enthusiast of the music of D'Jango Reinhardt and the Hot Club Of France as a precursor to their current style of music

 

 

musicians (left to right) Mal Quine, John Bates, Adrian Ford, Jiri Kripac, Peter Rappolt, Wally temple, John Thompson

1996 - the formation of the Sydney Viva bands

Peter and Marie renewed their musical association and formed VIVA the duo based upon the Hot Club Of France style of music. With the French style music in mind, Marie made a rapid transformation from playing keyboards and a bulky Hammond Organ with Leslie speakers, to playing a delightful musette accordion specially built with electronic bass.

With a host of cabaret performances behind them, Peter and Marie formed VIVA the band, teaming up with Gerri and Jose' Santos, vocalists and percussion players. Gerri and Jose have a similar back ground of musical performances for American forces in Sth. East Asia Joining the group as a regular members is Griff Beale on drums, (one of the Echomen)

 

Australia's multicultural diversity and it's music

In the middle of the last century, Jazz music was the hub of Australia's entertainment events and from the 60's, pop music dominated TV, Radio and Live music events. In the last two decade there has been an increase in the popularity of International music, primarily because a major proportion of Australias residents were born overseas. According to our local newspaper, the Manly Daily (24/1/2009) the mix of languages spoken in Australia includes, Greek, Italian, French, German and Cantonese, (Spanish and Philippine is also prevalent). Most of these cultures were devoid of Jazz music or American and English Pop music.

The trend for music in Australia appears that most venues are providing progressively younger music to progressively older audiences. This is occurring despite the fact that the majority of entertainment consumers in Australia are aged in excess of 60 years. Clubs, up market restaurants, cruise ships etc. are mostly frequented by mature adults yet many venues seem to ignore this fact and continually structure their entertainment for young audiences. Young audiences mostly gravitate towards house music or big day out type concerts that require security and crowd control. It is noted that the Sydney CBD is the most unsafe area for Family patronage of late night entertainment in Australia as there are pockets of concentrated young and drunken people that regularly are involved in violent altercations with adults

Andre Rieu is an example of family music entertainment that is targeted to large crowds of families and senior audiences and it seems that very few entertainers of his ilk are considered as suitable entertainment in many Australian club and pub venues

Country music festivals are very popular and are supported by all age groups

Sydney Viva bands perform a diverse repertoire of International music

Viva the band is highly regarded for their International performances with recent television appearances and live concerts in Taiwan, at the Tainan International Chi hsi Arts festival in 2004 and the Kenting song festival in 2005. The band are also well known at most major Jazz festivals and community events in NSW, Queensland and Victoria where they perform a diverse repertoire of International music, blended with a standard fare of jazz, swing and Latin music

There are a currently in excess of 3,000 press releases on the internet about the Viva bands, there also numerous youtube videos of Viva the bands performances these releases give a broad description of the great variety of work Viva the band is currently doing

Peter has also been a permanent member of a couple of 18 piece swing bands including the famous John Ferguson big band since 1997

Viva the Duo and Viva the band are popular Sydney bands for wedding receptions, parties, special corporate functions and community events for most of Sydney's local councils. They regularly work at the Hunter Valley, Central Coast, Newcastle, Sydney, Bowral and Wollongong areas

Below are some recent youtube videos with soundtracks by Viva the band

Video of Paris View the video of a Paris and a selection of French songs by Viva the duo at youtube

Video of Japan View a video of Japan containing the soundtrack Kikuchiyo to Moshimasu at Youtube

Video of Taiwan View a video of a glorious tune performed by a Korean band at the opening of the Tainan International Chihsi Arts Festival at youtube

This history mentions Peter Rappolt starting the careers for some notable performers at various venues:

• 1964 Ann Reilly -The Echomen, Charles Hotel - (popular vocalist, TV artist)
• 1968 Terry Kaff - Sounds of Lawrence, Charles Hotel Bronte, Smiggins Hotel, Mt Kosciusko - (session vocalist for TV and radio commercials and performances in JC Superstar)
• 1968 Brenda Kristian - Sounds of Lawrence, Smiggins Hotel, Mt Kosciusko - (session and popular vocalist)
• 1969 Alan Carrol - Sounds of Lawrence, Vietnam - (popular entertainer in Qld)
• 1970 Heather May Reading - Doin our Thing, Vietnam - (popular club performer in Sydney)
• 1970 Joe Dicker - Doin' our Thing, Vietnam - (TV actor, theatrical productions, commercials, vocalist in JC Superstar)
• 1970 Carol Dicker - Doin our Thing, Vietnam - (dancer and director of theatrical production Company)
• 1978 Monique Morell - Sounds of Lawrence - (session vocalist and vocalist at the Basement)

Viva the duo return to Europe from June 21st until August 2nd

 

Sport has hijacked Tourism, Arts Culture, live Music and Entertainment in Australia

When we toured Europe we noticed the huge tourism industry there, In particular, the cities of Rome, Paris, Florence, Venice Nice Cannes, Monte Carlo etc were thronged by tourists in their hundreds of thousands daily

Obviously there is a rich cultural history in Europe, there is also a rich diversity of live music entertainment which European Festival organizers keep well maintained. The media and street signage abound with posters of current and upcoming live music events. In Cannes, Nice and Monte Carlo there are the best American and European entertainers appearing on the boardwalks on a daily basis. In Piazza San Marco in Venice there are tourists in their thousands thronging the square to enjoy the cultural ambiance. Surrounding the square there are numerous 4-6 piece orchestras with violins, piano accordions etc. performing traditional European tunes including French, Italian and Spanish music. It is unlikely that any of these tourists were there to witness any sporting events

In Australia, cultural events seem to be completely overshadowed by sporting events. Some live music festivals are held at venues such as the Darling Harbour Jazz festival and the Manly International Jazz Festival, however, they are only conducted for a few days a year. When these events occur, the local media do not make much mention of the artists that appear at the festival and rarely is there any photogaphs of the event, however, there would be many pages and photogaphs of a local football or league match that occurred at the same time

As far as the tourist industry is concerned, It is unlikely that many Australian tourists would travel to Europe or America to witness a countrie's local sporting event so why would an International tourist travel to Australia to see a sporting event that they possibly would not understand

A recent question was asked on Qanda on the ABC "what would Australians do if they did not have sport", not one member of the panel or audience had an answer or suggested that, if Australians did not have sport, they could participate in culture and the arts. We need to utilize live music and multi-cultural music on the streets of Sydney on a daily basis similar to Nice, Cannes, Venice etc. to create a truly interesting multi-cultural tourist destination for local and International tourists

The Journey and accomplishments for the author and Viva the band

• 1952 North Queensland Junior Tennis Champion (doubles)
• 1958 runner up Australian International wrestling champion (bantamweight division)
• 1957-1962 Peter completed his apprenticeship as a watchmaker in Cairns
• 1960 began playing guitar
• 1963 Peter formed the Echomen band and moved to Sydney where he produced a hit surf tune recording "Ski Run" which reached no 9 in Australia's top forty recordings
• 1963-1968 The Echomen were the resident band at the Charles Hotel Chatswood
• 1968 The Echomen disbanded
• 1968 Peter attained Gold Medal status as a competition ballroom dancer
• 1969 Peter and Marie were married during a brief interval of their Vietnam tours
• 1969-1970 S.O.L band was formed and performed 400+ concerts to American soldiers in South Vietnam
• 1970 Peter and Marie purchased and managed a night club in Bangkok "The Pub"
• 1972 S.O L performed concerts throughout The Philippines, Guam and Japan
• 1972-1979 S.O.L performed concerts through Australia at Cairns, Townsville, Mackay, Ipswitch, Brisbane, Sydney, Canberra, Mt Kosciusko, Perth and Lightning Ridge
• 1980 S.O.L disbanded and Peter became a civil contractor building roads and subdivisions, his final job was constructing the groundworks at Australia's Wonderland
• 1987 Peter acquired a Gold Mining lease at Sofala NSW and built a 100 tonne per hour mineral processing plant and sold the mine to American Interests
• 1989 Peter became a project manager for Parkland Planning as a caravan and mobile home park design and construction specialist
• 1990 Peter started a land development company and completed developing over 150 lots of land
• 1996 Peter and Marie formed The Viva bands (duo and quintet)
• 2000 Viva the band went to Paris, France to research European music
• 2004 and 2005 Viva the band performed at festivals in Taiwan
• 2010 Viva the duo conducted a promotional tour of France, Spain, Italy, Switzerland and England
• Currently performing at venues in Sydney and throughout Australia with bookings for prestigious events such at the Sydney Opera House Forecourt for corporate events etc.

To see more of this site - click on these links

• home page for sydney wedding musicians and bands link
• home page for sydney duo for weddings and parties link
• home page for sydney quartet for hire for functions link
• venues for live music in Sydney link
• history page for a Australian 60's band link
• music samples for wedding receptions link
• gig guide where sydney bands are performing link
• wedding reception venues in Sydney link
• reviews about live music venues in Sydney links
• testimonials and reviews about wedding musicians in Sydney link
• Sydney weekend getaway review, for family entertainment, food, pets allowed link
• prices for function bands and wedding musicians in Sydney link
• bands that play French music for themed functions in Sydney Link
• wedding protocol for wedding receptions
• jazz bands in Sydney links
• covers and rock bands in Sydney links
• list of wedding services in Sydney links

Contact detils

If you would like to discuss your requirements for a band, please phone me at Sydney 0417 249 313 Please note: I am the guitar player in the band, so if we are not at home, please leave a message on our answer machine or email: rappolt@optushome.com.au

A 60's band from Sydney Australia