Ain't Got No Feelin'

Peter Rechter, vocalists to this incredible combo and it’s next incarnation the Tol-Puddle Martyrs gives some insight through an interview for the ‘zine.

How did you get into music. In other words what influenced you?

My first introduction to music was through Jean Conolan my piano teacher, I started learning at the age of eight. At High School, a close friend Manuel Pappos played guitar and we used to go around to his house as it was close to the school and play records as well as getting on the piano and guitar to try and work them out. Manuel's barber was Kevin Clancy, lead guitar for The Astrons at the time. Kevin was looking to start a new band, I love Pop music, so I went along for the audition and got the job as lead singer.

What sort of records did you collect?

Just the songs that were popular at the time...Phil Spector's material, Elvis, early
Beatles anything that came out of England was pretty cool at the time.

I suppose the Astrons were an instrumental group before the Beatles arrived here in '64?

The Astrons were a local band in Bendigo who mainly played instrumentals.

Had you ever sang lead before? I'm sure you would've practiced it once or twice?

Before them I just sang along to the songs I liked on the radio.

What was the scene like in those days, before the Silhouettes did you play in other bands, if so could you tell what they were?

The Silhouettes were my first band, we rehearsed for about a year, every Sunday
afternoon in the Golden Square Brass Band's rehearsal room, trying to build up a repertoire of songs to go out and play, our first job was at the Eaglehawk RSL. I used to ride my bike to rehearsals..lol!!!

I only hope the residents didn't mind loud music when you rehearsing or was it that in an industrial area perhaps?

Our rehearsals were always well away from houses, the Golden Square Brass Band
rehearsal room was inside the football ground and later on we rehearsed at Clancy's Barber Shop, which was below street level and right in the heart of Bendigo opposite the Fountain in Charing Cross.

Who was in the band?

At first we had two male lead singers and two girls on backing vocals, but that didn't last long (I can't remember their names). Eventually we settled on Kevin Clancy/lead guitar, Manuel Pappos/ rhythm guitar, Kieran Keogh/ bass guitar, Tony Truscott/ drums and myself (Peter Rechter) on vocals and later on when I'd saved
enough money, vocals and organ.

I suppose when you did have the twin lead vocalists you did doo-wop numbers or at
least practiced them?

The two lead singers only lasted for one gig and we tried to play as much current material as possible, doo-wop numbers were never part of our repertoire.

I'm sure living in country Victoria made it harder in those days, was there plenty of work?

We had, after we started our Friday Night Dance at the Golden Square Fire Brigade Hall, a strong following and after a few months, hundreds would come along to our dance. They even had to put on extra trams to get the people out to Golden Square. That was when the local booking agent and those running the Saturday Night Dances started to take notice and the work just poured in. We had so much work at the time, that we really never gave it much thought as to if it would be easier if we were living in Melbourne. Peter and the Silhouettes were always the band asked to play on the shows to support the Big Stars on the Sunshine Tours when they came to Bendigo. So we were working every Friday & Saturday night and sometimes of a
Sunday, Wednesday and Thursday.

How did you become involved with the Silhouettes?

Through my friend Manuel Pappos.

Are you still friends to this day?

Unfortunately Manuel passed away twenty years ago, but we remained in contact and were friends right up until his death.

What sort of music did the band play at this time?

We played lots of instrumentals, The Shadows,The Ventures and other bands like that, as well as Elvis, Buddy Holly, Ricky Nelson when we first started, but when the British Sounds hit the air waves, there was none of that material in our
repertoire, it was all Rolling Stones, Pretty Things, Yardbirds, Manfred Mann, Beatles, Kinks, Sam the Sham, The Lovin' Spoonful, etc.............. Yes! We did play some American music..lol!!!!!

Fantastic mostly R'n'B. Did you ever play stuff like The Birds (Ronnie Wood), The
Fairies or Downliners Sect, I remember from past interviews that people would purchase records from magazine ads via money order usually from the UK, did you ever do this?

We played as much material by The Rolling Stones that we could get our hands on, that was the type of material that suited the band. We also played songs by The Pretty Things, Sam the Sham, The Lovin' Spoonful etc......... I used to get Melody Maker from England, but always bought my records locally.
Did you get to see any acts live at the time?

My first show was The Rolling Stones in 1965 at The Palais, St.Kilda. Roy Orbison and The Newbeats were on that show and I got to meet the two brothers from The Newbeats and shook Roy Orbison's hand as he got out of his car at the rear of The Palais. I remember it was a Saturday afternoon show and it cost me 30 shillings to get in. I was a big fan of the Stones and couldn't believe my luck to get close to the stage..there was hardly anyone there, perhaps half the theatre was full.

The following year when the Stones returned they had Satisfaction and The Last Time in their repertoire and you had to book to get seats..it was packed!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I also saw The Yardbirds, Tom Jones and the Squires(who were supporting The Rolling Stones,Herman's Hermits, The Searchers, The Small Faces, The Who, Manfred Mann, etc. I couldn't get a ticket to see The Beatles, but our drummer managed to get his hands on one....Lucky Loin!!!!!!! We went to as many shows as possible.

What sort of gear were you using? i.e. instruments/amps.

The guitars were mainly Fender, Rickenbacker, Epiphone, Burns etc and at first our amps were all made by Alan Williams, a local electrician. My first organ was a Farfisa and later with The Tol-Puddle Martyrs I played a Hammond through a
Leslie Speaker Box. I can't remember what brand of drums Tony played, but when Len
(Loin) Gaskell joined, he played and still has, a Ludwig Kit. The guitarists often changed their amps, always trying to get a better sound. They used Fender, Overeem, Strauss and others I can't remember.

Was the band playing covers, if so which ones?

That's really all we played when we first started out, no one wanted to hear anything else! Like I said before, lots of Rolling Stones and whatever else that was current and suited the band.

What sort places did you play at?

We played mainly dances all over Central, Northern Victoria and Southern N.S.W.

Did you ever get run out of town asked never to return?

No, that never happened.

Worst gig? Could you elaborate on it?

Well there were lots of violent gigs, where brawls would break out and one night we had to get a police escort out of Castlemaine after a large gathering of guys from Maryborough took a dislike to us.

Best gig?

There were lots of fantastic gigs, so it's difficult to decide, but I guess when we won the Australian Regional Final for Hoadley's Battle of the Sounds at Festival Hall, was right up there. At the time some of the top bands from Melbourne and Sydney were entering the Regional Heats, thinking that it would be much easier to get into the Grand Final, but it was The Tol-Puddle Martyrs who got through. After that we worked on a regular basis in Melbourne at all the major venues and our name was up there with the main acts of the day.

Congratulations on winning the Regional. What was it like going to the big smoke for the first time?

It was huge, I guess we thought we were in with a chance of getting a stronger following outside of Bendigo and surrounding towns.

How did the recording of “Claudette Jones" and "Natural Man" come about? Were these actually always going to be released as singles or was the plan always for the
compilation album?

John Kiely, who later became our manager and Colin James, the local booking agent decided to put together a compilation of local bands from Bendigo and other parts of Central and Regional Victoria. Each band was asked to contribute two songs and our contribution was "Claudette Jones" and "The Natural Man". There was never any mention of them being released as a single at the time. Maybe if "Claudette Jones" had come out on 45, it might have been picked up by Melbourne Radio, as it's still very popular today and lots of bands around the world have covered this song.

How did the sales for the album go? Was there ever a plan for other records to be
released or recorded?

I think it sold pretty well, but I couldn't tell you how many copies they pressed. What I do remember was going into a shop in Cohuna, I think it was Cohuna and getting something to eat and drink before the gig, then being surrounded and asked to sign the cover of the album. The Scene album brings huge money today, as it's
one of Australia's rarest albums. I know that "Time Will Come" has been sold over eBay a couple of times selling for over $500 and $400.

"Love Your Life" / "Nellie Bligh" recently sold on eBay for $186.

Was there ever a plan for other records to be released or recorded?

In 1969 the Tol-Puddle Martyrs recorded a single at Armstrong's Studio in South
Melbourne, but it was never released. Unfortunately the tapes were lost.

Were these songs part of your playlist before recording them?

No, Kevin and I just wrote them in his barber shop one night a couple of weeks before we went in to record them at W & G in Melbourne. Johnny Chester produced the entire album. The recording session was all over in about 30 minutes and then we waited for ages for it to come out. But when it was eventually released, there was a TV Show dedicated to it, that was beamed around Regional Victoria and that really lifted the profile of Peter & the Silhouettes.

Any other recordings? If so will they see the light of day?

I have never stopped writing and recording and at the moment I have 4 albums with "It's About Music" in America. Two albums by The Tol-Puddle Martyrs: "Tol-Puddle Martyrs" (sixties comp) and "Psych-Out USA". The Secrets,another band that I fronted for over 3 decades,also has two albums on It's About Music: "Time
Will Come" and "The Beat Collection". Three of these albums are also with CD Baby in America.
The Tol-Puddle Martyrs are currently working on a new album of 12 new sixties songs and there are two archival albums of unreleased material from The Secrets that will be released through "It's About Music".

Sounds like great stuff, I'll have to buy a copy and have it reviewed in a future issue of this magazine. Well I hope some of your readers will check out
the music too.

THE TOL-PUDDLE MARTYRS

What happened to the band, in other words how did Tol-Puddle Martyrs come about?

Manuel and Tony decided to call it a day with the Silhouettes, so Loin came in to replace Tony on drums, as it was Loin who played on "Claudette Jones" and "The Natural Man" when we recorded. Tony had smashed up our Kombi Van and broken his leg about a week before we were to go into the studio and record, we needed a drummer, so Loin sat in and stayed. Russell Hogan from M.I.5. took Manuel's place on rhythm guitar.

I was at school at the time, studying British History and The Tolpuddle
Martyrs were one of the topics that we studied. I thought it was a great name, as bands were moving away from names like Peter & the Silhouettes, so with the change of members, came a name change. I also liked the Australian/British connection with the original Tolpuddle Martyrs. Caroline Lovelace, a singer in Canada married one of the descendants of one of the Lovelace Brothers and she made
contact with me about two years ago.

Who are the M.I.5? Any details of them you could share with us?

M.I.5 were a local Bendigo band that were also part of The Scene album.

Where does the name originate?

From my student days when I studied British History. It's a great story!

A great story, please share the story with us we'd like to read about it?

When I was at High School as I said before, I studied British History & at the same time I was playing in Peter & the Silhouettes. New bands were coming onto the scene with very different names to ours so I suggested to the other
Silhouettes that we change our name to The Tol-Puddle Martyrs, as I thought it was a cool name, plus there was the Australian link to the Martyrs, as they were transported here for their crimes..........

Below is the story of the original Tolpuddle Martyrs.........

Between 1770 and 1830, enclosures changed the English rural landscape forever. Landowners annexed vast acreage's, producing even greater wealth from the now familiar pattern of small hedged fields.

Peasants no longer had plots to grow vegetables nor open commons for grazing their single cow or sheep and pigs.

Diet was basic - tea, bread and potatoes. As a result, the people were badly nourished and small.

Low wages, appalling conditions and unemployment, bad winters and poor harvests in
1829 and 1830 fuelled a great explosion of anger, resulting in riots led by the mythical "Captain Swing" in November 1830.

Throughout England 600 rioters were imprisoned; 500 sentenced to transportation;
and 19 executed.

Formation of Unions

The six Tolpuddle Martyrs were all farm labourers, paid 9 shillings a week and lived in dreadful poverty. Their leader George Loveless, decided to set up a Union in Tolpuddle to give the labourers bargaining strength. The landowners, led by James Frampton and supported by the government, were determined to squash unions and to control increasing outbreaks of dissent.

The Man Who Framed the Martyrs Born in 1769 at Moreton House, near Tolpuddle, into a long established family of country gentlemen, he passionately believed in Church,
Constitution, King and Country - and maintenance of the status quo. James Frampton
framed the Martyrs on a trumped up charge of administering an unlawful oath, using a law applicable to the Navy not workers' rights. He feared trades unionism threatened the power base and wealth of the landed upper classes. Having witnessed the French Revolution, he was determined to suppress any sign of rebellion or
opposition whatever the cause.

Who wrote "Time Will Come" & Social Cell"?

I wrote "Time Will Come" and "Social Cell".

How did this recording of both songs come about, including the single release?

Our manager, John Kiely decided to start up his own label to get us out there and I'm very grateful for that. Again Johnny Chester produced the single at W & G studios in North Melbourne. Johnny was a great producer!

The lyrics don't come across as the usual peppy or chirpy boy meets girls sort of
prose? Why is this? Was the band trying to send a message to the people?

The Vietnam War was on every night in our living rooms and I was very anti war and didn't want to be called up and go across and fight. Also working class kids didn't have the opportunity at the time to go on to University. It was for the wealthy and those students who were clever enough to win a Commonwealth scholarship. Those of us that couldn't get to Uni, were there for the pickings! Like so many kids from working class families, after you finished school, it was into the workforce, usually to a similar job that your father had.

Consequently "Time Will Come" was my anti war song and "Social Cell", as I felt like I was locked into what type of career that was before me, my anti establishment song. This is how I truly felt at the time and can still remember writing both songs.

Some musicologist regard this single as probably the first double sided single of angst and protest to come out of Australia.

Any reason why it was released on both the Spiral & Pacific labels?

The Time Will Come / Social Cell single was initially released on Pacific, as that was the label The Scene album was released on.

Our manager John Kiely ran the Pacific Ballroom and consequently used the name for his label, but there was a Pacific Records label in Sydney at the time and they insisted that John use another
label, hence Spiral Records.

Did you have any success with the single release, did it give you more live work?

The single charted in Bendigo and other Regional areas, but Melbourne radio never
picked it up. I remember in Go Set there used to be a review each week of the new singles.

These reviews were only a couple of words long and not much thought put into them. I actually kept the copy and it read "Time Will Come"....Time will tell. This was when we realised that coming from a Regional area like Bendigo made it difficult to break into the Scene in a big way.

Did you make a move to Melbourne?

The band never moved to Melbourne, we just played lots of gigs there.

Was it successful?

At the time we were just another band playing the circuit, that band that made it through to the Battle Of The Sounds final..lol!!!!!!!!

Did Battle of the Sounds give you more work?

After the Battle of the Sounds success we started to work on a regular basis in Melbourne.

We would venture down once a month on average and play Friday, Saturday and Sunday
Nights. Saturday night we would often play four gigs and Sunday nights we played the Northland Drive-In Theatre at interval, then head off home to Bendigo. We also had a regular fortnightly Wednesday night in Ballarat at the "Boat House" and worked constantly every Friday & Saturday nights, plus some Thursdays and Sunday
afternoons and nights. There were dances everywhere in Central & Northern Victoria at the time and we were in high demand.

Whatever happened to the band? Why did it break up?

Well some of the guys started to get married, I wanted to go to Melbourne and study music at the Conservatorium, and so we called it a day and went our separate ways.
Yes, the story of so many bands at the time, I’m sure that the band members they all remember how much fun it was playing in the group.

We often get together, talk about the old times and have a good laugh.

What did you do after the band?

I finished my music degree, went teaching and continued to play in bands. The Secrets were formed in the mid 70's with Greg Heenan from The Elois. We continued to write, record and play the main venues in Melbourne. In 1982 we recorded with Lobby Loyde and I remained good friends with Lobby up until his death two years
ago. I teamed up with Graham McCoy in the 90's and we released The Secrets "Time Will Come" album in 2001 and after "Time Will Come" reached number 7 or 8 on Neil Young's site, we returned to The Tol-Puddle Martyrs, released the sixties comp on our own label, Secret Deals and in 2007 released "Psych-Out USA".

What are you up to now?

Right now we are ready to master 12 new songs for the next Tol-Puddle Martyrs album "A Celebrated Man". The album will be out this year.

Excellent Peter, I'm sure I will purchase a copy of this and have it reviewed for a future issue. Thanks for your time Peter, I'm sure the readers will enjoy this as much as I am!

Thank you Andrew and I hope your readers can visit our MySpace pages, CD Baby and It's About Music and take a listen to the music.

Tracks: -
1. The Collector (2:13)
2. Fast Lane (2:15)
3. Pocket Paradise (3:21)
4. Anybody Else (2:30)
5. The News (3:31)
6. Where Do We Start? (2:18)
7. Better Man (2:46)
8. Million Dollar Girl (3:02)
9. Tell Me Why (3:35)
10. Good News & Sports Reviews (3:54)
11. Ain't That A Pity (3:05)
12. A Celebrated Man (2:31)

To purchase your copy of “A Celebrate Man”, released in 2009 try this link below!
http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/tolpuddlemartyrs1
A quote from the site itself!

You have two options in which to buy, downloadthe whole album as mp3s or have a copy posted to you on CD.

You can find the group on MySpace too.

http://www.myspace.com/tolpuddlemartyrs

Discography

As Peter & the Silhouettes:

Claudette Jones; Natural Man were released on the “The Scene in Northern Victoria” LP (Pacific MA-12011- dead wax marking) June 1966

As The Tol-Puddle Martyrs:

Time Will Come/Social Cell (Pacific KJ-1937) 1967
Time Will Come / Social Cell (Spiral KJ-1937) 1967
Love Your Life/Nellie Bligh (Festival FK-2625) 1968

Sunday 8 January 2012

Sunday

The Future M.B.E's

Peter and The Silhouettes