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Spectrum (band)

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Template:Short description Template:About Template:Use dmy dates Template:Use Australian English Template:Infobox musical artist

Spectrum are an Australian progressive rock band which formed in April 1969 and broke up in April 1973. The original line-up was Mark Kennedy on drums, Lee Neale on organ (ex-Nineteen87), Bill Putt on bass guitar (ex-Lost Souls), and Mike Rudd on guitar and lead vocals (ex-Chants R&B, The Party Machine). In August 1970 Kennedy was replaced by Ray Arnott on drums. These members also performed under the alter ego, Indelible Murtceps, from 1971 to 1973. Spectrum had a number-one hit, "I'll Be Gone" (January 1971), on the Go-Set National Top 60 singles chart. After Spectrum and Indelible Murtceps disbanded, Putt and Rudd formed Ariel. In 1999 the pair formed Spectrum Plays the Blues, which later trimmed their name back to Spectrum. On 7 August 2013 Bill Putt died, after a heart attack.

HistoryEdit

1969–1971: Early yearsEdit

Spectrum were formed in April 1969 in Melbourne, as a progressive rock group, by Mark Kennedy on drums (ex-Gallery), Lee Neale on organ (ex-Nineteen87), Bill Putt on bass guitar (ex-Gallery, The Lost Souls), and Mike Rudd on guitar, harmonica and lead vocals (ex-Chants R&B, The Party Machine, Sons of the Vegetal Mother).<ref name="McFarlane"/><ref name="Nimmervoll"/><ref name="Kimball"/> Initially the group drew on the work of contemporary bands such as Traffic, Soft Machine and Pink Floyd; they played cover versions of their material.<ref name="McFarlane"/><ref name="Kimball"/> Spectrum developed their own style as Rudd began writing original material.<ref name="Kimball"/> Alongside Kennedy's drum solos, Putt's bass playing and Neale's keyboard work, a feature of Spectrum's sound was Rudd's guitar playing — he eschewed the near-universal use of guitar picks – using a finger-picking style on a vintage Fender Stratocaster to develop a characteristic sound.<ref name="Kimball"/>

During twelve months of regularly performing on the local dance and discothèque circuit, Spectrum refined their original material. They appeared at various "head" (see cannabis slang) venues around Melbourne: T.F. Much Ballroom, Garrison and Sebastian's, alongside other progressive rockers, Tully, Tamam Shud and Sons of the Vegetal Mother. Spectrum used an elaborate set-up which included a large PA and a full multi-media light show; often supplemented by a performance troupe, Tribe. Early in 1970 they cut a demo single which they hawked to record companies as a 7" acetate. One side was an early, folk version of "I'll Be Gone". The B-side was another original, "You Just Can't Win". According to rock music historian, Ian McFarlane, these acetates are now "impossibly rare" and only two or three copies are known to have survived.<ref name="Kimball"/><ref name="McFarlane 2"/>

Despite a loyal following and praise from the music press – including from Australia's pop newspaper Go-Set – the band were almost broke by mid-1970. After they signed to EMI under their progressive rock imprint, Harvest Records,<ref name="McFarlane"/> the band went into the studio in August 1970 to make their first official recordings, using producer, Howard Gable (The Masters Apprentices).<ref name="Kimball"/> Rudd described the recording sessions, "[we had] gone into the studio in order to record 'Launching Place Parts I & II', to help promote the Launching Place Festival. When we had finished recording those, Howard asked us did we have any others and I said, 'Yeah, I've got this one called "I'll Be Gone"', which we recorded as an afterthought. But then it became a hit single."<ref name="Jenkins"/> Rudd had decided to add a harmonica part to the song.<ref name="Jenkins"/> {{#invoke:Listen|main}} The festival at Launching Place occurred in December 1970.<ref name="Kimball Fest"/> "I'll Be Gone" was released in January 1971,<ref name="Go-Set Charts Jan 1971"/> which became a surprise No. 1 Australian hit on the Go-Set National Top 60 singles chart in May that year.<ref name="Go-Set Charts May 1971"/> It became one of the most enduring Australian rock songs of that era.<ref name="Kimball"/> McFarlane described it as a "shuffling, hypnotic" track, for which "suddenly the band was in big demand."<ref name="McFarlane"/>

1971–1973: Albums and Indelible MurtcepsEdit

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Spectrum released their debut studio album, Spectrum Part One, in March 1971, although it did not include the hit single. Rudd had refused to add it as "It didn't fit with the innovative roaming style of the rest of the music."<ref name="Nimmervoll"/> The album reached No. 10 in April.<ref name="McFarlane"/> Kennedy had left in August of the previous year just after it was recorded, he had "lost patience" as the group "struggled for gigs (promoters found them 'too progressive')."<ref name="Nimmervoll"/> He was replaced on drums and vocals by Ray Arnott (ex-Chelsea Set, Cam-Pact, Company Caine).<ref name="McFarlane"/><ref name="Nimmervoll"/><ref name="Holmgren"/> Rudd praised Kennedy's musicianship: "Mark really carried us through the first year because people would say 'Wow, look at that drummer, they must be a good group'... He used to play things like drum solos!, but he was very good. By the same token, I was almost relieved to get away from that 'cause the emphasis swung back to the material and the band in general rather than one player."<ref name="Kimball"/> Kennedy later worked with Leo de Castro, Ayers Rock and then Marcia Hines.<ref name="McFarlane"/><ref name="Nimmervoll"/>

Spectrum's follow up singles, "Trust Me" (June 1971) and "But That's Alright" (November), did not reach the top 60.<ref name="McFarlane"/> During October that year Spectrum formed a side project, Indelible Murtceps, using the same line-up of Arnott on drums, Neale on electric piano, Putt on bass guitar and Rudd on vocals and guitar. They performed at pubs, and local dances, playing a more dance/pop-oriented repertoire and using a simpler set-up than when performing as Spectrum.<ref name="McFarlane"/>

Their second album, Milesago, was released in December 1971, as the first Australian rock music double album.<ref name="McFarlane"/> It is also the first Australian rock album to be recorded using a 16-track recorder – newly installed – at Armstrong Studios during the previous September.<ref name="Kimball"/> McFarlane stated that it "remains one of the landmark releases of the Australian progressive rock era."<ref name="McFarlane"/> It peaked at No. 9 on the Go-Set Top 20 Albums chart.<ref name="Go-Set Charts Feb 1972"/> By September 1972 Neale had left both bands; he was replaced by John Mills on keyboards.<ref name="McFarlane"/><ref name="Nimmervoll"/><ref name="Holmgren"/> Neale quit the music scene permanently after leaving Spectrum and Indelible Murtceps.<ref name="Kimball"/>

Spectrum's third studio album, Testimonial, was co-credited to Indelible Murtceps.<ref name="McFarlane"/><ref name="Nimmervoll"/> It appeared in July 1973, which reached No. 12.<ref name="Go-Set Charts Sep 1973"/> In March, before its release, Arnott announced he was going to join Mighty Kong.<ref name="McFarlane"/><ref name="Nimmervoll"/><ref name="Holmgren"/> Putt and Rudd decided to end both bands; each played their farewell gig at the Dallas Brooks Hall in Melbourne on 15 April 1973.<ref name="McFarlane"/><ref name="Nimmervoll"/> It was recorded and released in December 1973 as a double live album, Terminal Buzz.<ref name="McFarlane"/><ref name="Nimmervoll"/> Both of these releases were produced by Peter Dawkins.

Spectrum had toured other Australian rock festivals, including, Wallacia (January 1971), Myponga (February), Sunbury (January 1972, January 1973), Mulwala (April 1972), and Rosebud.<ref name="Kimball Fest"/> Their national profile was limited by a lack of radio airplay in other capitals and, other than festivals, they rarely toured outside Victoria. Ian McFarlane opined that the group were "one of the first underground bands of the early 1970s to gain mainstream acceptance. [Their] brand of progressive rock was often built around long, complex musical passages, very much in the vein of UK bands... Yet the band did embrace a commercial aesthetic at times."<ref name="McFarlane"/>

1973–1999:After disbanding and reunionsEdit

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Following the disbandment of Spectrum and Indelible Murtceps, Rudd, Putt and Mills formed Ariel in mid-1973.<ref name="McFarlane"/><ref name="Nimmervoll"/><ref name="Kimball"/> The other members were Tim Gaze on guitar and Nigel Macara on drums (both ex-Tamam Shud).<ref name="McFarlane"/><ref name="Nimmervoll"/> After Ariel disbanded in 1977, Rudd and Putt continued their musical collaborations in a series of groups: Instant Replay, Mike Rudd and the Heaters, W.H.Y., No. 9 and The Burwood Blues Band.<ref name="McFarlane"/> After Mighty Kong disbanded at the end of 1973, Ray Arnott was a member of The Dingoes (1974–76), Ray Arnott Band (1978–80), Cold Chisel 1983–84) and Jimmy Barnes Band (1984–85).<ref name="Holmgren"/>

EMI issued a compilation album, Red Orange Yellow Green Blue Indigo Violet, early in 1984 and during March that year Spectrum undertook a reunion tour with the line-up of Arnott, Putt, and Rudd joined by Tony Fossey on keyboards (ex-Mike Rudd and the Heaters).<ref name="McFarlane"/> Subsequent reformations occurred: in 1989 with Fossey, Putt and Rudd joined by Martyn Sullivan on guitar and bass guitar; and David Hicks on drums. In the following year Hicks was replaced by Trevor Courtney on drums. The 1991 line-up of Courtney, Putt, Rudd, Sullivan, with Cres Crisp on keyboards performed as Spectrum Plays the Blues.<ref name="McFarlane"/> During the early 1990s Putt and Rudd worked as an acoustic duo with various guest musicians.<ref name="McFarlane"/> From 1995 they continued "to perform under a variety of names, to suit different situations and line-ups, but predominantly still call themselves Spectrum."<ref name="Nimmervoll"/>

1999–current: Spectrum Plays the Blues & Breathing SpaceEdit

By 1999 Putt and Rudd had formed another band together, Spectrum Plays the Blues, which included Spectrum material in their set list.<ref name="Boulton"/> They issued two albums, Spill (March 1999) and No Thinking (June 2004);<ref name="Nimmervoll"/><ref name="Boulton"/> before they trimmed the name back to Spectrum. In May 2008 the first new recording under that name, Breathing Space, was released as a six-track EP on the band's own label, Volcano Records.<ref name="Nimmervoll"/> The EP features guest musicians, including Gaze.

In 2004, TISM sampled "Launching Place, Part II" in their song "As Seen on Reality", which appeared on their album The White Albun that year.

Aztec Music reissued Milesago on CD for the first time, with extra tracks. The label then reissued Spectrum Part One in 2007, with its bonus tracks titled Spectrum Part Two. A second EP, Breathing Space Too, was released on Volcano in 2009, and a third EP, Breathing Space As Well, followed in 2011. Spectrum played in either three- or four-piece mode. Spectrum's bass guitarist Bill Putt died of a heart attack on 7 August 2013.<ref name="Boulton"/><ref name="Maskell"/><ref name="Bailey"/> Rudd continued Spectrum with Dirk Dubois very briefly then Broc O'Connor on bass guitar, Daryl Roberts on keyboards and Peter 'Robbo' Robertson on drums and percussion.<ref name="StopPress121"/> Spectrum's keyboardist Lee Neale died on 31 March 2019.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

PersonnelEdit

Current

Former

  • Bill Putt – bass (4/1969–4/1973, 1999–2013; died 2013)
  • Lee Neale – keyboards, backing vocals (4/1969–9/1972; died 2019)
  • Mark Kennedy – drums (4/1969–8/1970)
  • Ray Arnott – drums, backing vocals (8/1970–4/1973)
  • John Mills – keyboards (9/1972–4/1973)

TimelineEdit

<timeline> ImageSize = width:1000 height:auto barincrement:20 PlotArea = left:100 bottom:90 top:0 right:30 Alignbars = justify DateFormat = dd/mm/yyyy Period = from:01/01/1969 till:01/01/2023 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal format:yyyy ScaleMajor = increment:2 start:1969 ScaleMinor = increment:2 start:1970 Legend = position:bottom orientation:vertical columns:4

Colors = 

 id:vocals     value:red          legend:Vocals
 id:guitar     value:green        legend:Guitar
 id:keyboards  value:purple       legend:Keyboards
 id:bass       value:blue         legend:Bass
 id:drums      value:orange       legend:Drums
 id:spectrum   value:pink      legend:Spectrum
 id:album      value:black        legend:Studio_albums
 id:associated value:gray(0.75)   legend:Associated_acts

LineData = 

 at:01/08/1970  color:album      layer:back 
 at:30/11/1971  color:album      layer:back 
 at:30/06/1972  color:associated layer:back 
 at:01/03/1973  color:album      layer:back 
 at:30/09/1973  color:associated layer:back 
 at:30/03/1974  color:associated layer:back 
 at:30/09/1974  color:associated layer:back 
 at:30/06/1976  color:associated layer:back 
 at:21/08/1977  color:associated layer:back 
 at:30/06/1982  color:associated layer:back 
 at:30/06/1983  color:associated layer:back 
 at:30/06/1995  color:associated layer:back 
 at:07/03/1999  color:album      layer:back 
 at:30/06/2004  color:album      layer:back 
 at:04/07/2008  color:album      layer:back 
 at:06/12/2009  color:album      layer:back 
 at:17/07/2011  color:album      layer:back

BarData = 

 bar:Rudd       text:"Mike Rudd"
 bar:Neale      text:"Lee Neale"
 bar:Mills      text:"John Mills"
 bar:Roberts    text:"Daryl Roberts"
 bar:Putt       text:"Bill Putt"
 bar:Broc       text:"Broc O'Connor"
 bar:Kennedy    text:"Mark Kennedy"
 bar:Arnott     text:"Ray Arnott"
 bar:Robertson  text:"Peter Robertson"

PlotData= 

width:11 textcolor:black align:left anchor:from shift:(12,-4)
 bar:Rudd        from:01/01/1969  till:01/01/1986  color:vocals width:3
 bar:Rudd        from:01/01/1969  till:01/01/1986  color:guitar
 bar:Rudd        from:01/01/1995  till:end         color:vocals width:3
 bar:Rudd        from:01/01/1995  till:end         color:guitar
 bar:Putt        from:01/01/1969  till:01/01/1986  color:bass
 bar:Putt        from:01/01/1995  till:07/08/2013  color:bass
 bar:Putt        from:01/01/1995  till:01/01/1999  color:guitar width:3
 bar:Broc        from:07/08/2013  till:end         color:bass
 bar:Neale       from:01/01/1969  till:01/01/1973  color:keyboards
 bar:Mills       from:01/01/1973  till:01/01/1974  color:keyboards
 bar:Roberts     from:01/01/2005  till:end         color:keyboards
 bar:Kennedy     from:01/01/1969  till:31/08/1970  color:drums
 bar:Arnott      from:01/10/1970  till:15/04/1973  color:drums
 bar:Robertson   from:01/01/1999  till:end         color:drums

</timeline>

DiscographyEdit

Studio albumsEdit

List of albums, with selected chart positions
Title Album details Peak chart positions
AUS
<ref name="McFarlane"/><ref name="Go-Set Charts Feb 1972"/><ref name="Go-Set Charts Sep 1973"/><ref name="Go-Set Charts May 1971"/>
Spectrum Part One
  • Released: 1 March 1971
  • Format: LP
  • Label: Harvest (SHVL 601)
 10
Milesago
  • Released: November 1971
  • Format: LP
  • Label: Harvest (SHDW 5051)
 9
Warts Up Your Nose
split (credited to Indelible Murtceps) 		12
Testimonial
(credited to Spectrum and Indelible Murtceps)
  • Released: July 1973
  • Format: LP
  • Label: Harvest (SHDW 50/51)
 —
Spill
split (credited as Spectrum Plays the Blues)
  • Released: 1999
  • Format: CD
  • Label: Volcano (VR002)
 —
No Thinking
split (credited as Spectrum Plays the Blues) 		—

Live albumsEdit

List of live albums
Title Album details
Terminal Buzz
(credited to Spectrum and Indelible Murtceps)

Compilation albumsEdit

List of compilation albums
Title Album details
Red.Orange.Yellow.Green.Blue.Indigo.Violet
(credited to Spectrum and Indelible Murtceps)
  • Released: 1984
  • Format: CD, LP, cassette
  • Label: EMI Music (EME.1100)
Ghosts: Post-Terminal Reflections'
(credited to Spectrum and Murtceps)
  • Released: 1991<ref name="NLA Ghosts"/>
  • Format: CD, LP, cassette
  • Label: Raven (RVCD-18)

Extended playsEdit

List of EPs
Title EP details
Breathing Space
  • Released: 2008
  • Format: CD, download
  • Label: Volcano (VR003)
Breathing Space Too
  • Released: 2009
  • Format: CD, download
  • Label: Volcano (VR004)
Breathing Space As Well
  • Released: 2011
  • Format: CD, download
  • Label: Volcano (VR005)

SinglesEdit

List of singles, with selected chart positions
Title Year Peak chart positions
AUS
<ref name="Go-Set Charts May 1971"/>
"I'll Be Gone" / "Launching Place Part II" 1971 1
"Trust Me" (alternate version) / "Going Home" —
"But That's Alright" / "Play a Song That I Know" —
"Esmeralda" / "We Are Indelible" (as Indelible Murtceps) 1972 —
"Indelible Shuffle" / "Ray's Boogie" (as Indelible Murtceps) 1973 —

See alsoEdit

Awards and nominationsEdit

Go-Set Pop PollEdit

The Go-Set Pop Poll was coordinated by teen-oriented pop music newspaper, Go-Set and was established in February 1966 and conducted an annual poll during 1966 to 1972 of its readers to determine the most popular personalities.<ref name="Top40TV">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Template:Awards table |- | rowspan="3"| 1971 | themselves | Best Group | 5th |- | Spectrum Part One | Best Australian Album | 5th |- | "I'll Be Gone" | Best Australian Single | 5th |- | rowspan="2"| 1972 | themselves | Best Group | 4th |- | Milesago | Best Australian Album | 4th |-

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ReferencesEdit

Template:Reflist

External linksEdit

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