the pink finks

Description

From Milesago: "Following the split of their previous band The Pink Finks, Ross Wilson, Ross Hannaford and Mike Edwards formed a new group called The Party Machine in early 1967. A more musically adventurous outfit than its predecessor, Party Machine is also notable as the first Australian band to include Mike Rudd, who had been the rhythm guitarist in famed New Zealand beat group Chants R&B, which had split about the same time that Party Machine was forming. Mike of course went on to fame (if not fortune) at the helm of Spectrum and Ariel. The original Party Machine lineup was Wilson, Hannaford, Edwards, Gorski and Curtin. Joe Gorski left not long after the band formed and was replaced by bassist Chris Kinman, who had played with The Pink Finks during 1966. Mike Edwards left to join the Ram Jam Big Band in June '67. Chris Kinman left just after that and was replaced by Mike Rudd, who switched to bass. After his own legendary group split in late '67, Gavin Anderson, drummer with The Loved Ones became Party Machine's manager. The band has gained legendary status due to its distinguished members, but sadly its recorded legacy is very slim indeed. This is really unfortunate, given that Party Machine marked the real emergence of Ross Wilson as a songwriter -- a development which in turn had a strong influence on Mike Rudd, and encouraged him to begin writing his own material after Party Machine folded. Party Machine only released one single during its lifetime, the 'impossibly rare' "You've All Got To Go" / "Gentle Art", released on EMI's Columbia imprint in early 1969 just before the group split up in March. However, they did make studio recordings of at least two other tracks, "I Don't Believe All Your Kids Should Be Virgins" and "Woman of the World", and happily all four have been rereleased on Ross' superb career retrospective Now Listen! Speaking of "Keep Your Cool", Ross told Milesago : "I've got a very rough demo of this song, I really like it and am thinking of recording a modern version one day". Party Machine's greatest moment of notoriety came when their songbook famously fell into the clutches of the Victorian Vice Squad during the "Censorship Wars" of 1968-69. In early 1969 the band self-published The Party Machine Songbook. Copies of the roneoed books, which sold for 20c, were seized by police, who considered some of the lyrics "unwholesome" and they sought a court order to destroy them. After Party Machine: - Wilson and Hannaford's later musical exploits in Daddy Cool, Mighty Kong and beyond are well known and well documented on MILESAGO and elsewhere. - Mike Rudd went on to form Spectrum and its successor Ariel, followed by a succession of bands and projects during the late 70s and 80s. After a period away, Mike and Bill returned to performing in the mid-1990s and still regularly gigs around Melbourne and environs in the current incarnation of Spectrum, with perennial colleague Bill Putt. - Party Machine manager Gavin Anderson now lives in the US and works as a photographer and graphic designer - Peter Curtin lives in Ann Arbor, Michigan and works as an airline pilot. Keep Your Cool was not released by the band, but was recorded in 1968 for miming purposes on TV.