In late 1966, Dave Miller was asked by The Bowl Disco, in Castlereagh Street, Sydney to put together a house band. It was felt that the venue needed to move in the direction of the likes of The Whisky A Go Go, The Latin Quarter, and The Hawaiian Eye. Dave set about assembling a group which included Mick Gibbons (ex-Blue Beats) on guitar; Harry Brus (The Amazons) on bass; Greg Hooke on keyboards; and former New Zealand Rayders stalwart, Ray Mulholland on drums. Dave procured the prestige gig of appearing alongside Johnny Young & Kompany and Ronnie Burns in a housed concert pavilion at the Sydney Royal Easter Show, March 1967. Gibbons left the band before the show and was replaced by John Robinson. It turned out to be a highly beneficial 'launching pad' as the group was seen by many thousands of people over the Show's ten-day duration.
Miller went back to New Zealand for three weeks, so the members of The Dave Miller Set had decided, amongst themselves, to restructure the band. Ray Mulholland was the only original member to stay on board while John Robinson brought in his long-time musical ally, Bob Thompson, on bass. In May 1967, The Dave Miller Set were thrust even further into the limelight when they were chosen to feature on the Sydney leg of The Easybeats' national 'return home' tour while riding the crest of the wave created by the international success of ''Friday On My Mind''. The performances were at the old Rushcutters Bay Stadium with its revolving stage, and its unmatched history of great shows, and great artists.
In September the band went into Festival's Studio at Ultimo and laid down ''Why Why Why / Hard, Hard Year''. In the first week of December 1967, The Dave Miller Set embarked on another first and, without doubt, it was a real trail blazer for the times. After consultations with Dave Miller, the P & O Shipping Company decided to 'bite the bullet' and take a risk using The Dave Miller Set to provide pop/rock music for their younger passengers on their South Pacific cruise liners. The Dave Miller Set arrived back, in Sydney, at the end of January 1968, and ''Why Why Why'' had not set the 'world alight'. Overall, it made a mark as a 'first timer'. Producer Pat Aulton suggested to Dave that a song called ''Hope'' could be a good prospect for the next single. Dave concurred and promptly learned the song. He decided to re-visit Sam Cooke's ''Having A Party'' for the B-side, with a few song titles changed in the lyric structure, to give it an 'update'. The release of ''Hope'', in March 1968, coincided with another round of Amco Fashion Shows and, as luck would have it, Ward Austin really liked the song, and made sure it was on his playlist. ''Hope'' made the Sydney charts on all stations and peaked at place #21.
When Pat Aulton suggested The Youngbloods' ''Get Together'', as the next single A-side, John's skills had him able to devise complimentary sitar phrases and fills to give the song a new and different character. The band was going through a very creative patch, at that time, and Dave penned the B-side, ''A Bread and Butter Day''. The group, collectively, structured an arrangement most suited to the band's style. "Let's Get Together was released in October 1968 and was immediately picked up by radio. It ultimately peaked #27 on the NSW charts. Not long after returning from a tour of New Zealand, bass player Bob Thompson quit the band. He was replaced by Leith Corbett (ex-Heart n Soul).
''Mr. Guy Fawkes'' was released in July 1969, amidst a fair degree of controversy. The managing director of Spin Records hated it and berated Dave for the worst load of rubbish the company had been involved in. He made it very clear that had he followed its progress through the studio he would have pulled the plug on it. He considered that Pat Aulton had also let the company down, and had it not been 'pressed' it would never have been released to the marketplace! The single turned out to their most successful chart release.
The band lost drummer, Ray Mulholland, due to family reasons and Mike McCormack came in to replace him. As Ray departed, the annual 'people's poll of popularity', conducted by Go Set magazine was published, and, for the second year in a row, The Dave Miller Set polled in the Top 10 of the 'Australian Groups' category. Dave also made it into the popular male vocalist division for the second time as well. Around the nation the band had many followers but did not 'fit the Melbourne click'. ''Mr Guy Fawkes'' was never played on Melbourne radio but is acclaimed today.
Dave Miller (vocals), John Robinson (guitar), Harry Brus (bass), Mick Gibbons (guitar), Greg Hook (keyboards), Ray Mulholland (drums), Bob Thompson (bass), Leith Corbett (bass), Mike McCormack (drums), Steve Hogg (bass), Steve Webb (drums)
SINGLES
''Why? Why? Why? / Hard, Hard Year'' 1967 Spin''Hope (#55) / Having A Party'' 1968 Spin
''Let's Get Together / A Bread And Butter Day'' 1968 Spin
''Mr. Guy Fawkes (#28) / Someone Is Sure To'' 1969 Spin
''Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is / No Need To Cry'' 1970 Spin
EPs
'The Dave Miller Set' 1968 Spin
'Mr Guy Fawkes' 1969 Spin
References
http://www.sergent.com.au/music/davemillerset.html
http://top100singles.blogspot.com.au/
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