Under the direction
of Sven Libaek, The Atlantics worked up two tunes as their debut
disc for the label - an original Moon Man
(written by Peter Hood) and Dark Eyes, a traditional tune given a new arrangement.
Moon Man was nearly three minutes of frenzy that teamed a Shadows-Spotnicks
feel with some interesting drumming and guitar work.
"There was a riff we had that had a spacey-type sound to it and so we called it Moon Man. There was no big story to it."
Originally it was decided that the group would all yell "M-o-o-o-o-n Man" at the
beginning of the tune, but this was eventually discarded.
"Dark Eyes was one of the songs we played live. It
was one we got the most requests for, particularly from other musicians."
Fellow Sydneysider Dave Bridge (another of Peter Hood's "heroes" had
introduced the song into "local" contemporary music, but The Atlantics' waxing was not a direct copy although it was
based on Bridge's interpretation.
"Dave Bridge was an influence because he was one
of the few guys in the world who tried to be pure technical at the
time. He was so technical that you had to be a real virtuoso-type
to be able to play like him".
In February 1963 Moon Man was unleashed and although it
created quite a deal of interest, it failed to gain a strong foothold on the majority of
the local charts at the time. However it did managed to peak at the No.28 spot on the 2GB
"Tune Table" chart in March, a precursor to the group winning the 2GB and
Macquarie Broadcasting Network Tune Table Award as the Top Australian Instrumental
Group of 1963-64.
Although not a hit in the true sense of the word, the apparent acceptance of the Moon Man single was encouraging enough to convince CBS that more
material was needed. At this point the group was uncertain as to what course of action
they should take, but a rainy day in April soon changed that.
"We were going to go to the (Sydney) Royal Easter Show, but it rained and instead
Jim and I ended up writing a song. That song was eventually titled Bombora."
The tune was written at Jim's home as the two friends picked out the tune together.
"I played the first piece and that's how we got it started. Then we realised we
needed another piece and I introduced something I had written at least twelve months
previously - which became the middle part. I never had been able to put it anywhere
because it was a middle of a song; not a beginning or an end. So we put it all together
and soon came to the conclusion that it was such a dynamic sounding piece of music that it
needed an equally dynamic sounding title."
The title of Bombora
was soon settled upon (a mutual decision by the group, Joan King
and CBS). It suited the sound of the recording - B-I-G and powerful
- just like a bombora - an Australian aboriginal term for
large waves breaking over submerged rock shelves. It also fitted
into what appeared to be a new musical phenomenon that had taken
America by storm - surfing music. March 1963 had seen the antipodean
release of The Chantays' Pipeline and so this new sound was beginning to make
inroads downunder.
"We just sensed there was something new happening in music. We couldn't quite
categorise it and then all of a sudden we realised! We knew the Americans had just jumped
onto this new musical form and we were the first Australian band to pick up on it. It was
a powerful form of music and it suited our musical outlook. I wouldn't say we cashed-in
because I don't remember any conversations where the idea of cashing-in was bought up. It
just seemed a natural thing for us to do. Why associate ourselves with surf? Well heck, I
used to hang off Maroubra Beach rocks and play chicken with the waves. We all liked the
beach so it was a natural progression. It was simply a reflection of our lifestyles."
An interesting statement by Peter Hood because this was exactly how surfing music
evolved in California. It had not been a case of someone consciously contriving sounds to
take advantage of the "surfing experience"; rather it was simply a matter of the
local musicians developing their own regional style of music with the emergence of the new
local surf culture. It was part of their lifestyle and they were simply reflecting it in
their music and this music eventually became categorised as 'SURF' music.
Recorded at the same session that produced Bombora was Greensleeves, another traditional tune and an old favourite of
Peter Hood.
"I'd always loved it and so we decided to record it. It also has a nice
melody."
Bombora b/w Greensleeves was
issued in July 1963 and in the space of a few weeks was on its way to the top of virtually
every Australian record chart. Not only was it a huge success downunder, but CBS also
shipped it overseas where it received quite a deal of airplay. Countries such as America
(where it was nominated "Record Of The Week" by CASHBOX magazine), England,
Japan, Italy, Holland and New Zealand all saw releases of the tune. In addition, a number
of foreign bands also recorded versions of the soon-to-be classic.
"Guys have travelled throughout Europe and have told me they found Bombora on juke boxes. There's no language barrier with
instrumentals. (In fact there was even an Italian VOCAL version of the tune). When groups
cover your material (as they did with 'Bombora') that's a real great feeling. It is a sign
that you are truly successful. Every artist gets such a feeling when he realises other
artists are doing his material".
The success of Bombora
propelled The Atlantics from
minor league status into the majors and the months following the
single's release saw the group busy with both live appearances and
in and out of the studio (with mentor Sven Libaek) putting down
tracks for their first album - BOMBORA.
Libaek: "The Atlantics had a very definite
idea of what they wanted to do. They wrote their own material so the important thing was
to get it down on tape the way they envisioned it. This was my job as well as perhaps
guiding them in terms of the sound, length, etc. One of the most interesting facets of our
relationship was that we never seemed to disagree on much. The singles that were hits, we
all thought were the right choices. The group knew what they were about at the time and
they had a distinct sound, certainly something I could not take credit for creating. That
was definitely THEIR doing, except to the point where it had to be recorded. That was MY
job."
The longplayer eventually appeared in October 1963 and was closely followed by The Atlantics' next instrumental release The
Crusher b/w Hootenanny Stomp.
However proceeding the single by little more than a month was Surfin'
Queen b/w Count Down Stomp by KENNY
SHANE AND THE ATLANTICS.
"They were recorded at EMI's studios with Sven Libaek producing. It was Joan's
idea to come up with something that could help launch Kenny. We were working together at
the time, but all he had been doing was Cliff Richard covers and that was no way to get
noticed. So Joan came up with the idea of these original songs. Naturally any success
would have helped us too because we were one unit."
Unfortunately both sides of the disc vanished without
trace.
However such was not the case with The Crusher…simply
credited to THE ATLANTICS. Although structured
similarly to Bombora (which at one time nearly became titled The Crusher), The Crusher (denoting a
huge collapsing wave usually unfit for surfing) was not (according to co-writer Hood) an
attempt to capitalise on the earlier hit.
"It was more of a case of the group liking the style we had created with Bombora. It was a thundering style…believe me…to actually
perform the material we were composing made the entire stage rock! We were just into that
thundering, rolling sound. Believe it or not The Crusher was
not written as a follow-up to Bombora. It became the
follow-up!"
On the other hand Hootenanny Stomp was written by Theo
Penglis as an attempt to try and diversify the group's style even further. As a fan of
Chet Atkins, the end product was a direct result of his taste in music.
"The Chet Atkins' material we recorded later was also more of Theo's
influence".
The Atlantics apparently enjoyed performing Hootenanny Stomp live because it was so different to their other
material.
"In fact I actually thought I liked it better than The Crusher,
but I soon realised it was just a mood I was in and it wore off!"
Unlike Bombora, The Crusher
failed to reach the coveted Number One spot around Australia, but still adorned many Top
Five charts. This success only helped increase the demand for more material and even while
The Crusher was steadily gaining chart positions around the
country, The Atlantics were again back in the studios recording material for yet another
album. The finished project was titled NOW IT'S STOMPIN' TIME
and appeared in the stores just in time for Christmas 1963; two months after their debut
longplayer. Things were done fast at CBS!
NOW
IT'S STOMPIN' TIME was designed to take advantage of
the STOMP dance craze, then running rampant throughout Australia.
Six of the twelve tunes had stomp in their title and apart from
two tunes - Teddy Bear's Picnic Stomp
and Tequila Stomp - the longplayer contained all original
material.
The liner notes for NOW IT'S STOMPIN' TIME gave a
brief description of each tune. Of particular interest was the comment attached to "Stompin' Time…and on they went, until the boys, from sheer
fatigue, slow down to the final chord".
"I suppose that
is a poetic description of what went on. We used to put a lot of
energy into our recordings. Actually the toughest part about the
recording sessions was having to lug our equipment up to the EMI
studios which were on the ninth or tenth floor of the building.
Plus we always had trouble trying to find a parking spot! By the
time we got to the actual studio we were that tired we were ready
to go back down. It was tiring and the studios weren't the best
to work in, but there was little choice. CBS used the EMI studios
because they had none of their own and there just weren't that many
other studios available.
"In all honesty, the studio acoustics were terrible. You couldn't hear anybody
very well and that's probably the real reason (rather than tiredness) why you can hear me
yelling out "go on" during Stompin' Time. I guess
to sum it up, it was a combination of tiredness cutting the stuff; it was a tiring place
to be in and thirdly, you had to yell out because they just couldn't hear you otherwise.
Even though the boys were in the same room, the sound just didn't travel well."
© David McLean 1991, Canetoad Publications
ABOUT THE BAND