32
STILL CRUISIN’
Come on let’s cruise you got
nothin’ to lose
Still cruisin’ after all of
these years
The Beach Boys
The Delltones and Digger Revell kicked off 1979 with two weeks at Airlie Beach and the tour continued with a revisit to Forster, Kempsey, Tamworth and Taree. After 20 years Jon Hayton, Michael Lawler and I were still together, playing the same good old rock’n’roll we played when we started with Digby Richards in 1959. The only difference was we now had our own sound, lights and roadies and we stayed in comfortable motels. With the Delltones out the front we probably all played and sang a lot better than we did in 1959, and even though this was club-land in the seventies, it was good to see that we still dragged the crowds in and there were still the occasional groupies and fans. We were a lot older and more conservative and so were the audiences, but a new generation was also digging it all as much as we did. When we all started, we thought that rock’n’roll would last maybe 12 months at the most, and it was amazing to find that after all these years the enthusiasm still hadn’t waned. There was even an old fashioned bun awaiting the troupe in Tamworth after the show.
Sep burst into the motel room
puffing and panting. “You’ve gotta help me out guys,” he pleaded. He was perspiring
and his face was flushed bright red. “I just gave that girl in my room the best
shot I could and she wasn’t impressed at all.” In between puffs and pants he
explained that when he had finished what he thought was a magnificent marathon
performance, she just patted him on the head and said “Never mind Sep… have a
little rest and then we’ll really get
into it!”
Sep’s ego was shattered. We
all nodded sympathetically. “So what happened then, Seppie?” said Jon. “Well, I
told her I would have to call for reinforcements and she thought that was a
great idea,” said Sep, still wiping the perspiration from his brow. “I suppose
I’d better go and bring her in.”
Sep’s girl apologised to the
group for the three day stubble on her shaved pussy, but after close inspection
we all agreed that it still looked rather nice, even if a bit prickly. Sep
collapsed on a seat in the corner, a broken man. He’d lost interest.
It was a sign of the times when we actually had to coax Digger out of bed to join in the sexual frivolities. As usual, Digger had been drinking all day and night with the hierarchy of the club, and although he was looking a little green around the gills, he still managed to rise to the occasion when we literally threw him on to the bun. She was delighted, yet Digger wasn’t too sure whether he’d done anything at all.
The Digger Revell Revue starring the Delltones received the same enthusiastic response when we came to play the Sydney clubs and Digger did a mammoth job booking the show in every town and club imaginable. Pee Wee had to finally admit that he had been dead wrong when he said, “Nobody wants to see the Delltones any more.”
The Bandstand shows were also packing them in at a few more clubs and later, when we took the show on tour; we added a few more Bandstand stars. Besides Lucky Starr, Little Pattie and Bryan Davies we had Warren Williams, Laurel Lea and sometimes Greg Anderson.
DIGBY RICHARDS & the R’JAYS also found time to rear their ugly heads later on in the year. This time, we added a bit of glamour to Dig’s show with a few chick singers called the Carousels. Dig Richards and the R’Jays (Jon, Michael and Leon) still going in 1979? We never would have imagined it.
All musicians love a bit of variety and we were no exception. Winifred Atwell, Chuck Berry, the Delltones, Digby Richards, Sandy Scott, or Lucky Starr – it didn’t matter. When the American Coasters came to Sydney, along with Jimmy Taylor on piano we were the first to jump in and play for them. After all, this is what we had learned to do best after 20 years of playing together – and besides, the Coasters were amongst our rock’n’roll heroes when we first started to play.
It doesn’t all have to be rock’n’roll as long as it’s good. One of the most satisfying projects for me during 1980 was a stint with keyboard player, Dave Fennell’s, jazz group called POWER POINT with Graham Cox (guitar), Vic Schrier (sax & flute) and Gary Cowling (bass). You couldn’t get much further from the rock’n’roll than that, but it was a good challenge for all and great fun to play. Unfortunately, there was no money in the jazz gigs we played, but whoever said that musicians were in it for the money? One of our best paying gigs was at the Musicians Union Club where we received the princely sum of $40 each. Most experienced musicians will agree that there are good players and bad players, and it doesn’t matter what you play as long as you play it well. We were often criticised for playing with Winifred Atwell, but I can assure you that there were times when one of Winnie’s shows was more exciting than playing a Rolling Stones concert. Sometimes, just to watch the look of rapture on someone’s face in the audience was enough to make your night.
WINIFRED ATWELL officially retired on September 19, 1980. It was the end of an era and, after a bout of ill health, she died on February 28, 1983. Winnie was unique - A true superstar and an elegant lady, the likes of which we’ll never see again.
After a year Pee Wee finally figured out that he could save money by using Digger’s band to back the Delltones instead of the infamous trio of Jon, Michael and Leon. Digger’s band had been studying us for the last 12 months and they were ready to take over in 1980 when we were having trouble making ourselves available for more tours.
I’d had enough touring for one year, and in 1980 I was already busy playing another cushy Dick Woodley gig at Paddington RSL with Mike Harvey (piano), Wayne Rountree (bass), Peter Cross (trumpet), Lee Hutchings (sax) and Margaret Hooper on vocals. It was an excellent band, and it ended up being the gig that I did when I didn’t have another gig. Fortunately for me Dick always used the best players to back his wife, Margaret Hooper. Another great line-up was the amazing Tony Ansell on piano and keyboard bass with Paul Baker on guitar.
Meanwhile, Mr. Muckle played his last show with the Delltones on December 8, 1979 at Canungra and he drove off into the sunset to play with Brian Myers in Surfers Paradise. Michael’s taste for the tropics and Dunk Island led him to spend the next few years building a boat and working on some of the other islands off the Queensland coast. Like everyone else that moved up north, we just put a pineapple next to his name in the phone book.
Arthritis continued to make its deadly march on Jon Hayton’s body and by 1980; the bones in his ankles, hands and wrists were totally fused. Jon still managed a few pleasant tours as MD for Frank Ifield. One of Jon’s shows with Frank Ifield clashed with a Digby show, so Jon explained to Dig that he would have to leave early because he didn’t want to upset Frank by being late. Dig was a little pissed off. “Well, I’m sorry you’ve got to leave so bloody early,” said Dig. “The show’s not even finished yet.” Jon then uttered the immortal line as he was leaving. “You’re sorry! HOW DO YOU FRANK IFIELD?”
When Jon could no longer play the guitar to his own satisfaction, Lucky Starr offered him a permanent job, playing bass. “Those bloody bass players have been faking it for years,” said Jon sporting his new Fender fretless bass. “This is much easier than playing the guitar, especially when I’ve had to play all those painful bar chords, and still follow up with solos and licks at a hundred miles an hour.” Even though he’d found a few ways around it, Jon’s fingers just wouldn’t do it any more on electric guitar. Jon stayed on bass with Lucky till the end. Lucky was probably right when he said that we had all led charmed lives to even make it this far. If we did it all over again we’d probably do it all exactly the same.
Just when everyone seemed to be settling into the eighties, we were devastated by the news that Digby had been diagnosed with cancer and given one more year to live. With his typical sense of irony and humour, Dig accepted the grave prospect of his inevitable demise better than any of his closest friends. In between bouts of chemotherapy, Dig still found time to jam on guitar with his neighbour, ex-Strangers’ guitarist, Terry Walker, during our regular visits to his house at Northbridge. Not being a guitarist, all I could do was bang on a cardboard box and sing a few harmonies. The Jam sessions with Terry, Jon and Michael continued at Dig’s house right up to the end. “Don’t worry, Jon, I can still run faster than you can,” said Dig as Jon limped to open the front door for yet another visitor. “If it’s Lucky Starr, tell him we don’t need another guitar player,” said Jon when Digby beat him to the front door.
All of Digby’s friends gathered together for a show in his honour at Revesby Workers on December 22, 1982. The cast paying tribute to Dig was an enormous array of Australian stars, which included: Digger Revell, Dinah Lee, Col Joye, Jade Hurley, Judy Stone, Barry Crocker, Steve Raymond, Brian Henderson, Lucky Starr, the Delltones, Johnny Devlin, Johnny Rebb, Little Sammy, Warren Williams and Jay Justin. It was fitting that the R’Jays (Jon, Michael and Leon) played a final Dig Richards’ set with Dig’s younger brother Doug Richards on guitar and vocals.
Dig gave the best years of his life to rock’n’roll, and after a career that spanned 25 years, he died on February 18, 1983 at the age of 42. From the beginning, when Jon first discovered him in a Sydney music shop, Digby George Richards was our fearless leader and we all felt lost without him.
THE MIGHTY
GUYS
1980 may have been the end of a lot of things, but it also had some new beginnings. It was the year that I made the re-acquaintance of guitarist, MICK HAMILTON, who had moved up to Sydney from Melbourne. Mick was the only guitarist I knew who could sing and play all the rock’n’roll songs like my life-long friend, Jon Hayton.
Mick invited me to play with his trio at a little restaurant in Darling Point called the Elizabethan Inn. There wasn’t much money in it, but the food was first class and the band knew all the old rock’n’roll songs that I did, including a few classic hidden gems that I didn’t think anyone knew. Mick had his good friend and neighbour, PHIL EIZENBERG playing bass. Phil was originally a guitarist in a band called the Ferrets, who had a hit in 1977 with Don’t Fall In Love.
Mick and Phil were the perfect odd couple. Mick had a sarcastic wit and Phil enjoyed being the brunt of all his cynical jokes. Mick referred to Phil as our token Jewish comedian, and he reckoned that the fact that Phil played guitar for a couple of years in Jesus Christ Superstar just went to prove that Jews will do anything for money. As well as throwing insults at Phil on stage, Mick also took great delight in insulting people in the audience. It all made for a good time and the crowd loved it. Especially when Mick would introduce Phil, and end by saying, “…and Phil, take off that ridiculous nose!”
Phil Eizenberg was actually an excellent guitarist, but he loved playing bass with Mick. “No one can play all the right rock’n’roll licks like Mick Hamilton,” said Phil, and it was true.
The other comedian on the gig was the owner of the establishment, Tony Muir. As well as having a dry sense of humour, Tony was an excellent Pommie chef, which is probably a contradiction in terms. Every night he would offer the patrons of the Elizabethan Inn a free drink if they could request an old rock’n’roll song that we couldn’t play. It became quite a challenge and our repertoire grew to enormous proportions, so that we wouldn’t send Tony broke with his free drinks.
“You guys are mighty,” was the usual response from patrons when we played one of their obscure rock’n’roll requests. And thus the MIGHTY GUYS were born. The name was even more appropriate, considering that we had always referred to a player who knew all the rock’n’roll stuff as a ‘Mighty Guy’.
Mick Hamilton decided that we shouldn’t let this great little rock’n’roll band go to waste, so we put down a demo album for record producer and rock’n’roll aficionado, Glenn A. Baker. When he finally got around to listening to the demo, Glenn was rapt and he decided to release the album Rockin’ All Thru The Night on his Rivet Label.
We weren’t quite prepared for the great response we received. It seemed that there was a cult of loyal rockabilly devotees who took us to heart. There was a new wave of rockers out there, who actually drove ’58 Chevrolets and dressed the same way as we all did in the sixties. They were no doubt inspired by new bands like the Stray Cats, who were responsible for reviving some of the sounds of our early rock heroes like Gene Vincent and Eddie Cochran.
Pop magazine articles, Count
Down, television, film clips and rock festivals followed the release of our
album, and the MIGHTY GUYS became the latest rage in the eighties. The demand
of a new generation of rockers was still there, and we released two more
albums, Be Cool and The BRest Of The Mighty Guys.
It was quite ironic that here we were playing the same stuff in the Mighty Guys that we had played when we first started back in 1959. After 30 years we had come the full circle. We hadn’t really gone BEYOND THE ROCK – we were still in it.
2422w
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The
End