Spectrum (band)
Encyclopedia
Spectrum is an Australia
n progressive rock
band that formed in Melbourne
in 1969 and, in its original period, remained in existence until 1973. Its members also performed under the alter-ego Indelible Murtceps
. They reformed, initially as Spectrum Plays The Blues, in 1999.
, a New Zealand
-born singer, songwriter and guitarist from Christchurch
. Rudd arrived in Australia in 1966 as rhythm guitarist for the NZ group Chants R&B
. That band only lasted a short time after they arrived in Australia, but he remained in Melbourne, teaming up with singer/songwriter Ross Wilson and guitarist Ross Hannaford
.
Wilson and Hannaford's first band The Pink Finks
(which had also just broken up) worked in a similar vein to Chants, and had already had some local chart success in Melbourne. Mike was invited to be the bass player in a later lineup of their next band, The Party Machine (1967–69), which gained local notoriety when copies of their self-published songbook were seized by Melbourne police due to alleged obscene content
in the lyrics.
The Party Machine split in 1969, when Ross Wilson spent several months in London after being invited to join expatriate Australian progressive group Procession. After his return, Wilson and Hannaford formed the more experimentally-oriented Sons of the Vegetal Mother
(1969–71); this was an occasional event-based project, rather than a full-time band, and Rudd played bass in its floating lineup on numerous occasions. During 1970 Sons of the Vegetal Mother was overtaken by the rapid rise in popularity of its offshoot band Daddy Cool
(in which Rudd did not perform) but by this time Rudd had formed his own band, Spectrum.
The formation of the original lineup marked the beginning of Rudd's enduring partnership with bassist Bill Putt, formerly of Melbourne bands Gallery and The Lost Souls. They formed a lasting friendship and musical partnership, and have worked together ever since. Organist Lee Neale came from pop band Nineteen 87, and drummer Mark Kennedy had already worked with Putt in Gallery.
Rudd has commented that Kennedy's musicianship helped carry the band through its difficult first year. Initially, Spectrum drew on the work of contemporary bands like Traffic
, Soft Machine
and Pink Floyd
and played covers of music by these groups, but they soon developed their own style and Rudd began writing original material. Alongside Putt's bass playing and Neale's keyboard work, a key feature of Spectrum's sound was Rudd's guitar playing—he was one of the few rock guitar players at that time who eschewed the near-universal use of the guitar pick
, preferring to play electric guitar with a finger-picking style. Combined with contemporary improvements in amplification and recording, his playing technique and his use of a vintage Fender Stratocaster
guitar allowed Rudd to develop a highly characteristic sound.
Twelve months of solid performing on the booming Melbourne dance and discotheque circuit enabled them to develop their own sound and write and refine a substantial set of original material, which became the basis for their first LP. They were regulars at the concerts events held at the various "head" venues around Melbourne like the T.F. Much Ballroom, Garrison and Sebastian's, and they appeared with other leading progressive bands like Tully
, Tamam Shud and Sons Of The Vegetal Mother.
Rudd had conceived Spectrum as a concert band, and they generally performed with an elaborate concert set-up that included a large PA and a full multi-media light show
; at one stage the band also supplemented their act with contributions from members of the Melbourne performance troupe Tribe. They played at all the major Australian rock festivals of the period, including Wallacia, Myponga, Mulwalla, Rosebud and Sunbury. However, their national success was limited by a lack of radio airplay in other capitals, and the fact that they rarely ventured outside Victoria
, visiting other cities only intermittently.
Just prior to being signed up by EMI
, Spectrum cut a demo single which they hawked around to record companies as a 7" acetate. One side was an early, folky version of one of the newer songs in their set, "I'll Be Gone
; the flip was another original, "You Just Can't Win". According to rock historian Ian McFarlane, these acetates are now "impossibly rare" and only two or three copies are known to have survived.
Once signed to EMI, the band went into the studio to make their first official recordings, under producer Howard Gable
, who had recently re-located from New Zealand
and had established himself as one Australia's leading pop producers with his work for bands such as The Masters Apprentices
.
Despite a loyal following and much praise from the music press (notably Australia's pop 'bible' Go-Set
) the band were virtually broke by mid-1970, when a measure of salvation came in the form of a contract with the new EMI progressive imprint Harvest
. Soon after they scored a surprise #1 Australian hit with their first single, "I'll Be Gone
", which has become one of the most enduring Australian rock songs of that era.
They released their debut LP Spectrum Part One in late 1970, although it did not include the hit single. Drummer Mark Kennedy left just after it was recorded, and he was replaced by Ray Arnott. Kennedy later worked with a number of important Australian acts including Ayers Rock
.
Spectrum's second album, released in early 1972, was an ambitious 2LP set called Milesago, notable as the first Australian rock double album, and is still regarded as a landmark of Australian progressive music. It is also notable for being the first Australian rock album to be recorded using the newly-installed 16-track recorder at Amstrong's Studios in Melbourne, the first studio in Australia to acquire one of these machines.
Unfortunately for Spectrum, the nature of the Melbourne music scene was undergoing a profound change at this time. This was partly due to legislative changes to the age of majority (which had been recently lowered in many Australian states from 21 to 18) and to the licensing laws governing entertainment in hotels in Victoria. These legislative changes coincided with demographic changes—the young audiences who had patronized the unlicensed dances and discos of the mid-to-late Sixties were now ageing into their late teens and early twenties, and could now be legally admitted into licensed premises.
Seeing the popularity of rock music and realising the financial potential, hoteliers enticed customers into the pubs by putting on popular bands, often free of charge. Consequently, while Spectrum worked to establish themselves as a concert group, the focus was beginning to shift away from the larger concert events and unlicensed city discothèques frequented by 'head' audiences—whose main drug of choice was cannabis
-- and towards the burgeoning pub circuit, where alcohol was cheap, plentiful and, above all, legal. While the smaller pub venues and their rowdy, combative atmosphere suited more 'aggressive' bands like Billy Thorpe & the Aztecs
, the erosion of the concert scene posed a major problem for Spectrum, whose complex music and upscale presentation demanded a suitable venue, a large audience, and a reasonable degree of concentration from them.
Consequently, as the pub circuit began to boom, the bigger engagements that Spectrum needed to survive became fewer and less regular. Spectrum adapted to the changing situation in an unusual way—mirroring Wilson's creation of Daddy Cool as "light relief" from the progressive style of the Vegetals, Spectrum created an alter ego, Indelible Murtceps, which performed at pubs, and local dances, playing a more pop-oriented repertoire and using a smaller equipment set-up than they used when performing as Spectrum.
Their next LP, Warts Up Your Nose (1972), produced by Peter Dawkins
, was released under the Indelible Murtceps
banner ('murtceps' is 'spectrum' spelled backwards) and contained songs of a more humorous and scatological nature. Shortly after it was recorded Lee Neale suffered a breakdown and left the band soon after its release; he was replaced by Canberra
musician John Mills. Neale quit the music scene permanently after Spectrum and has not been heard from since.
Spectrum's final studio LP was Testimonial (1973). Soon after its release Spectrum announced their breakup, a move prompted by the departure of drummer Ray Arnott; Rudd and Putt reportedly felt that it would be impossible to re-create the special chemistry of the group, so they decided to end the band. They played their farewell performance at the Dallas Brooks Hall in Melbourne on 15 April 1973, and the show was recorded and subsequently released in late 1973 as the live LP Terminal Buzz.
Following the demise of Spectrum, Rudd, Putt and Mills joined forces with guitarist Tim Gaze
and drummer Nigel Macara, ex-members of leading Sydney 'underground' band Tamam Shud, to form the group Ariel
.
In 2008, the first new Spectrum recording in 35 years was released on the band's own label Volcano Records. The EP Breathing Space also features a number of musical guests including ex-Ariel guitarist Tim Gaze. Mike Rudd has promised on his website that more EPs are planned. The band had also released other albums in more recent years under the self-explanatory moniker of Spectrum Plays The Blues.
At the same time as the release of Breathing Space, Aztec Music reissued the classic Milesago album on CD for the first time, with extra tracks. The label reissued Spectrum Part One in 2007, with its bonus tracks titled 'Spectrum Part Two'.
The second EP of new recordings Breathing Space Too was released on their Volcano label in 2009.
Spectrum still plays live in either three- or four-piece mode; more information on gigs is on Mike Rudd's website.
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n progressive rock
Progressive rock
Progressive rock is a subgenre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s as part of a "mostly British attempt to elevate rock music to new levels of artistic credibility." John Covach, in Contemporary Music Review, says that many thought it would not just "succeed the pop of...
band that formed in Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
in 1969 and, in its original period, remained in existence until 1973. Its members also performed under the alter-ego Indelible Murtceps
Indelible Murtceps
Indelible Murtceps was the alter-ego of 1970s Australian progressive rock band Spectrum. The name 'murtceps' is 'spectrum' spelled backwards. The Melbourne-based group developed an extensive repertiore of original experimental progressive rock music, intended for performance in a serious concert...
. They reformed, initially as Spectrum Plays The Blues, in 1999.
History
The central figure in the band was Mike RuddMike Rudd
Mike Rudd is a New Zealand born musician and composer who has been based in Australia since the late 1960s, and who is best known as the leader of respected Australian progressive rock bands Spectrum and Ariel in the 1970s....
, a New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
-born singer, songwriter and guitarist from Christchurch
Christchurch
Christchurch is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand, and the country's second-largest urban area after Auckland. It lies one third of the way down the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula which itself, since 2006, lies within the formal limits of...
. Rudd arrived in Australia in 1966 as rhythm guitarist for the NZ group Chants R&B
Chants R&B
Chants R&B were a rhythm and blues band from Christchurch, New Zealand, and are considered one best examples of garage rhythm and blues from Australasia during the 1960s. They won the Battle Of The Bands contest at Addington Showgrounds in 1964...
. That band only lasted a short time after they arrived in Australia, but he remained in Melbourne, teaming up with singer/songwriter Ross Wilson and guitarist Ross Hannaford
Ross Hannaford
Ross Andrew Hannaford is an Australian musician. He is often referred to by his nickname "Hanna". Widely regarded as one of the country's finest rock guitarists, he is best known for his long collaboration with singer-songwriter Ross Wilson, which began as teenagers, and with whom he formed the...
.
Wilson and Hannaford's first band The Pink Finks
The Pink Finks
The Pink Finks was an Australian pop/R&B band of the mid-1960s. Based in Melbourne, Victoria, the group is most notable for being the first in the series of bands that featured Ross Wilson and Ross Hannaford, which culminated in the hugely successful Daddy Cool.-History:The Pink Finks formed in...
(which had also just broken up) worked in a similar vein to Chants, and had already had some local chart success in Melbourne. Mike was invited to be the bass player in a later lineup of their next band, The Party Machine (1967–69), which gained local notoriety when copies of their self-published songbook were seized by Melbourne police due to alleged obscene content
Obscenity
An obscenity is any statement or act which strongly offends the prevalent morality of the time, is a profanity, or is otherwise taboo, indecent, abhorrent, or disgusting, or is especially inauspicious...
in the lyrics.
The Party Machine split in 1969, when Ross Wilson spent several months in London after being invited to join expatriate Australian progressive group Procession. After his return, Wilson and Hannaford formed the more experimentally-oriented Sons of the Vegetal Mother
Sons of the Vegetal Mother
Sons of the Vegetal Mother were an Australian "esoteric special-occasion progressive band", formed in late 1969, with a floating lineup based around the nucleus of Ross Wilson and Ross Hannaford. A side-project of the band, formed in 1970 was Daddy Cool, which played 1950s doo-wop music plus some...
(1969–71); this was an occasional event-based project, rather than a full-time band, and Rudd played bass in its floating lineup on numerous occasions. During 1970 Sons of the Vegetal Mother was overtaken by the rapid rise in popularity of its offshoot band Daddy Cool
Daddy Cool
Daddy Cool may mean:* Daddy Cool , a 1970s Australian rock band, reformed since 2005* Daddy Cool, a book by Donald Goines* "Daddy Cool" Daddy Cool may mean:* Daddy Cool (band), a 1970s Australian rock band, reformed since 2005* Daddy Cool, a book by Donald Goines* "Daddy Cool" Daddy Cool may mean:*...
(in which Rudd did not perform) but by this time Rudd had formed his own band, Spectrum.
The formation of the original lineup marked the beginning of Rudd's enduring partnership with bassist Bill Putt, formerly of Melbourne bands Gallery and The Lost Souls. They formed a lasting friendship and musical partnership, and have worked together ever since. Organist Lee Neale came from pop band Nineteen 87, and drummer Mark Kennedy had already worked with Putt in Gallery.
Rudd has commented that Kennedy's musicianship helped carry the band through its difficult first year. Initially, Spectrum drew on the work of contemporary bands like Traffic
Traffic (band)
Traffic were an English rock band whose members came from the West Midlands. The group formed in April 1967 by Steve Winwood, Jim Capaldi, Chris Wood and Dave Mason...
, Soft Machine
Soft Machine
Soft Machine were an English rock band from Canterbury, named after the book The Soft Machine by William S. Burroughs. They were one of the central bands in the Canterbury scene, and helped pioneer the progressive rock genre...
and Pink Floyd
Pink Floyd
Pink Floyd were an English rock band that achieved worldwide success with their progressive and psychedelic rock music. Their work is marked by the use of philosophical lyrics, sonic experimentation, innovative album art, and elaborate live shows. Pink Floyd are one of the most commercially...
and played covers of music by these groups, but they soon developed their own style and Rudd began writing original material. Alongside Putt's bass playing and Neale's keyboard work, a key feature of Spectrum's sound was Rudd's guitar playing—he was one of the few rock guitar players at that time who eschewed the near-universal use of the guitar pick
Guitar pick
A guitar pick is a plectrum used for guitars. A pick is generally made of one uniform material; examples include plastic, nylon, rubber, felt, tortoiseshell, wood, metal, glass, and stone...
, preferring to play electric guitar with a finger-picking style. Combined with contemporary improvements in amplification and recording, his playing technique and his use of a vintage Fender Stratocaster
Fender Stratocaster
The Fender Stratocaster, often referred to as "Strat", is a model of electric guitar designed by Leo Fender, George Fullerton, and Freddie Tavares in 1954, and manufactured continuously by the Fender Musical Instruments Corporation to the present. It is a double-cutaway guitar, with an extended top...
guitar allowed Rudd to develop a highly characteristic sound.
Twelve months of solid performing on the booming Melbourne dance and discotheque circuit enabled them to develop their own sound and write and refine a substantial set of original material, which became the basis for their first LP. They were regulars at the concerts events held at the various "head" venues around Melbourne like the T.F. Much Ballroom, Garrison and Sebastian's, and they appeared with other leading progressive bands like Tully
Tully (band)
Tully was an Australian progressive rock group of the late 1960s and early 1970s which had a close association with the Sydney-based film/lightshow collective Ubu.-Formation:...
, Tamam Shud and Sons Of The Vegetal Mother.
Rudd had conceived Spectrum as a concert band, and they generally performed with an elaborate concert set-up that included a large PA and a full multi-media light show
Light show
Light show may refer to:*Aaron Landes* Laser lighting display * Liquid light shows* Christmas lights* Meteor shower* Wizards in Winter Christmas light show...
; at one stage the band also supplemented their act with contributions from members of the Melbourne performance troupe Tribe. They played at all the major Australian rock festivals of the period, including Wallacia, Myponga, Mulwalla, Rosebud and Sunbury. However, their national success was limited by a lack of radio airplay in other capitals, and the fact that they rarely ventured outside Victoria
Victoria (Australia)
Victoria is the second most populous state in Australia. Geographically the smallest mainland state, Victoria is bordered by New South Wales, South Australia, and Tasmania on Boundary Islet to the north, west and south respectively....
, visiting other cities only intermittently.
Just prior to being signed up by EMI
EMI
The EMI Group, also known as EMI Music or simply EMI, is a multinational music company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the fourth-largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry and one of the "big four" record companies. EMI Group also has a major...
, Spectrum cut a demo single which they hawked around to record companies as a 7" acetate. One side was an early, folky version of one of the newer songs in their set, "I'll Be Gone
I'll Be Gone
"I'll Be Gone" or "Some Day I'll Have Money" is a song by Australian progressive rock group Spectrum released as their debut single by EMI on Harvest Records in January 1971. It peaked at #1 on the national singles chart, while it reached Top 5 in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane. The song was...
; the flip was another original, "You Just Can't Win". According to rock historian Ian McFarlane, these acetates are now "impossibly rare" and only two or three copies are known to have survived.
Once signed to EMI, the band went into the studio to make their first official recordings, under producer Howard Gable
Howard Gable
Howard Gable is a New Zealand-born record producer who is best known for his work as an A&R manager and house producer for EMI's Columbia pop label in Australia in the late 1960s and early 1970...
, who had recently re-located from New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
and had established himself as one Australia's leading pop producers with his work for bands such as The Masters Apprentices
The Masters Apprentices
The Masters Apprentices were an Australian rock band fronted by mainstay Jim Keays on lead vocals, which formed in 1965 in Adelaide, South Australia, relocated to Melbourne in February 1967 and attempted to break into the United Kingdom market from 1970, before disbanding in 1972...
.
Despite a loyal following and much praise from the music press (notably Australia's pop 'bible' Go-Set
Go-Set
Go-Set was the first Australian pop music newspaper, published weekly from 2 February 1966 to 24 August 1974, and was founded in Melbourne by Phillip Frazer, Peter Raphael and Tony Schauble...
) the band were virtually broke by mid-1970, when a measure of salvation came in the form of a contract with the new EMI progressive imprint Harvest
Harvest
Harvest is the process of gathering mature crops from the fields. Reaping is the cutting of grain or pulse for harvest, typically using a scythe, sickle, or reaper...
. Soon after they scored a surprise #1 Australian hit with their first single, "I'll Be Gone
I'll Be Gone
"I'll Be Gone" or "Some Day I'll Have Money" is a song by Australian progressive rock group Spectrum released as their debut single by EMI on Harvest Records in January 1971. It peaked at #1 on the national singles chart, while it reached Top 5 in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane. The song was...
", which has become one of the most enduring Australian rock songs of that era.
They released their debut LP Spectrum Part One in late 1970, although it did not include the hit single. Drummer Mark Kennedy left just after it was recorded, and he was replaced by Ray Arnott. Kennedy later worked with a number of important Australian acts including Ayers Rock
Ayers Rock (band)
Ayers Rock was a jazz fusion/progressive rock band from Melbourne, Australia. The group formed in 1973, and included many well-travelled rock performers; drummer Mark Kennedy had previously played in Spectrum, and played on sessions for King Harvest and Friends...
.
Spectrum's second album, released in early 1972, was an ambitious 2LP set called Milesago, notable as the first Australian rock double album, and is still regarded as a landmark of Australian progressive music. It is also notable for being the first Australian rock album to be recorded using the newly-installed 16-track recorder at Amstrong's Studios in Melbourne, the first studio in Australia to acquire one of these machines.
Unfortunately for Spectrum, the nature of the Melbourne music scene was undergoing a profound change at this time. This was partly due to legislative changes to the age of majority (which had been recently lowered in many Australian states from 21 to 18) and to the licensing laws governing entertainment in hotels in Victoria. These legislative changes coincided with demographic changes—the young audiences who had patronized the unlicensed dances and discos of the mid-to-late Sixties were now ageing into their late teens and early twenties, and could now be legally admitted into licensed premises.
Seeing the popularity of rock music and realising the financial potential, hoteliers enticed customers into the pubs by putting on popular bands, often free of charge. Consequently, while Spectrum worked to establish themselves as a concert group, the focus was beginning to shift away from the larger concert events and unlicensed city discothèques frequented by 'head' audiences—whose main drug of choice was cannabis
Cannabis
Cannabis is a genus of flowering plants that includes three putative species, Cannabis sativa, Cannabis indica, and Cannabis ruderalis. These three taxa are indigenous to Central Asia, and South Asia. Cannabis has long been used for fibre , for seed and seed oils, for medicinal purposes, and as a...
-- and towards the burgeoning pub circuit, where alcohol was cheap, plentiful and, above all, legal. While the smaller pub venues and their rowdy, combative atmosphere suited more 'aggressive' bands like Billy Thorpe & the Aztecs
Billy Thorpe & the Aztecs
Billy Thorpe and the Aztecs were an Australian pop and rock group dating from the mid-sixties. The group enjoyed huge success in the mid-1960s, but split in 1967. They re-emerged in the early seventies to become one of the most popular Australian hard-rock bands of the period...
, the erosion of the concert scene posed a major problem for Spectrum, whose complex music and upscale presentation demanded a suitable venue, a large audience, and a reasonable degree of concentration from them.
Consequently, as the pub circuit began to boom, the bigger engagements that Spectrum needed to survive became fewer and less regular. Spectrum adapted to the changing situation in an unusual way—mirroring Wilson's creation of Daddy Cool as "light relief" from the progressive style of the Vegetals, Spectrum created an alter ego, Indelible Murtceps, which performed at pubs, and local dances, playing a more pop-oriented repertoire and using a smaller equipment set-up than they used when performing as Spectrum.
Their next LP, Warts Up Your Nose (1972), produced by Peter Dawkins
Peter Dawkins (musician)
Peter Dawkins is a New Zealand-born record producer and musician, best known for his hit 1970s productions for Australian-based pop artists, including Dragon, Australian Crawl and Air Supply. He has won multiple production awards, including the Countdown Producer of the Year...
, was released under the Indelible Murtceps
Indelible Murtceps
Indelible Murtceps was the alter-ego of 1970s Australian progressive rock band Spectrum. The name 'murtceps' is 'spectrum' spelled backwards. The Melbourne-based group developed an extensive repertiore of original experimental progressive rock music, intended for performance in a serious concert...
banner ('murtceps' is 'spectrum' spelled backwards) and contained songs of a more humorous and scatological nature. Shortly after it was recorded Lee Neale suffered a breakdown and left the band soon after its release; he was replaced by Canberra
Canberra
Canberra is the capital city of Australia. With a population of over 345,000, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The city is located at the northern end of the Australian Capital Territory , south-west of Sydney, and north-east of Melbourne...
musician John Mills. Neale quit the music scene permanently after Spectrum and has not been heard from since.
Spectrum's final studio LP was Testimonial (1973). Soon after its release Spectrum announced their breakup, a move prompted by the departure of drummer Ray Arnott; Rudd and Putt reportedly felt that it would be impossible to re-create the special chemistry of the group, so they decided to end the band. They played their farewell performance at the Dallas Brooks Hall in Melbourne on 15 April 1973, and the show was recorded and subsequently released in late 1973 as the live LP Terminal Buzz.
Following the demise of Spectrum, Rudd, Putt and Mills joined forces with guitarist Tim Gaze
Tim Gaze
Tim Gaze is an Australian rock and blues guitarist, songwriter, singer and producer. He was a member of several prominent Australian groups of the 1960s and 1970s including Tamam Shud, Kahvas Jute, Ariel and Rose Tattoo.-Biography:...
and drummer Nigel Macara, ex-members of leading Sydney 'underground' band Tamam Shud, to form the group Ariel
Ariel (band)
Ariel was an Australian progressive rock band based around the duo Mike Rudd and Bill Putt, who formed the band in 1973 after the breakup of their previous group Spectrum . The original Ariel line-up was Rudd , Putt , Tim Gaze , Nigel Macara and John Mills...
.
In 2008, the first new Spectrum recording in 35 years was released on the band's own label Volcano Records. The EP Breathing Space also features a number of musical guests including ex-Ariel guitarist Tim Gaze. Mike Rudd has promised on his website that more EPs are planned. The band had also released other albums in more recent years under the self-explanatory moniker of Spectrum Plays The Blues.
At the same time as the release of Breathing Space, Aztec Music reissued the classic Milesago album on CD for the first time, with extra tracks. The label reissued Spectrum Part One in 2007, with its bonus tracks titled 'Spectrum Part Two'.
The second EP of new recordings Breathing Space Too was released on their Volcano label in 2009.
Spectrum still plays live in either three- or four-piece mode; more information on gigs is on Mike Rudd's website.
Personnel
- Mike RuddMike RuddMike Rudd is a New Zealand born musician and composer who has been based in Australia since the late 1960s, and who is best known as the leader of respected Australian progressive rock bands Spectrum and Ariel in the 1970s....
- vocals, guitar, harmonica (1969-1973, 1999-) - Bill Putt - bass (1969-1973, 1999-)
- Peter 'Robbo' Robertson - drums, percussion (1999-)
- Daryl Roberts - keyboards (1999-)
- Mark Kennedy - drums (1969-1970)
- Ray ArnottRay ArnottRaymond "Ray" Walter Arnott is an Australian rock drummer, singer-songwriter, he was a member of Spectrum , which had a number one hit with "I'll Be Gone" in January 1971...
- drums (1970-1973) - Lee Neale - keyboards (1969-1972)
- John Mills - keyboards (1972-1973)
Studio
- Spectrum Part One (1970, as Spectrum)
- Milesago (1971, as Spectrum)
- Warts Up Your Nose (1973, as The Indelible Murtceps)
- Testimonial (1973, as Spectrum/Indelible Murtceps)
- Spill (1999, as Spectrum Plays The Blues)
- No Thinking (2004, as Spectrum Plays The Blues)
- Spectrum Part One (2006, Aztec Music re-issue)
- Milesago (2008, Aztec Music re-issue)
- Breathing Space (2008, as Spectrum)
- Breathing Space Too (2009, as Spectrum)
Compilations
- Red Orange Yellow Green Blue Indigo Violet (1984, covers both Spectrum/Indelible Murtceps material)
- Ghosts: Post-Terminal Reflections (1991, as Spectrum/Murtceps)
Singles
- "I'll Be GoneI'll Be Gone"I'll Be Gone" or "Some Day I'll Have Money" is a song by Australian progressive rock group Spectrum released as their debut single by EMI on Harvest Records in January 1971. It peaked at #1 on the national singles chart, while it reached Top 5 in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane. The song was...
" / "Launching Place Part II" (1971, as Spectrum) - "Trust Me" / "Going Home" (1971, as Spectrum)
- "But That's Alright" / "Play a Song That I Know" (1971, as Spectrum)
- "Esmeralda" / "We Are Indelible" (1972, as Indelible Murtceps)
- "Indelible Shuffle" / "Ray's Boogie" (1973, as Indelible Murtceps)
- "You Just Can't Win" (Spectrum) / "Make it Begin" (Sons of the Vegetal Mother) (1990)
External links
- http://www.milesago.com/artists/spectrum.htm
- http://www.mikeruddbillputt.com
- Spectrum - Mike Rudd and Bill Putt's story and music