THE VIBRATONES

In 1963 Vince Melouney heard all the new music coming over from England he wanted to form his own group. His idea was to create a new sound, a music showing the new influences but at the same time being something completely new. He talked about this idea with his friend John (Bluey) Watson. It didn't take them long to build their first group, the Vibratones. After a few weeks the original drummer had taken ill, so that he could not play. He was replaced by Sunny Pratt. The new line-up recorded their debut single, a cover of The Shadows ''Man Of Mystery''. The A side, ''Expressway'' was written by Vince's uncle John Melouney, who was a disc jockey in Sydney on 2GB and was sort of managing the band for a while. 

Soon after Sunny Pratt left to join The Telstars and Mark Rigney (ex-The Statesmen) became their new drummer. They continued playing concerts and teen dances but by the end of 1963 Vince Melouney and John Watson had new ideas about their future and formed The Aztecs bringing in Col Baigent on drums, Valentine Jones on rhythm guitar and Johnny Noble on vocals. Johnny and Val left the group in late 1963 and were replaced by Billy Thorpe on vocals and Tony Barber on rhythm guitar. The band later became known as Billy Thorpe and The Aztecs and the rest is history.

Members

Vince Melouney (guitar), John Watson (bass), Brian Bakewell (guitar), Mark Rigney (drums), Sunny Pratt (drums)

SINGLES

''Expressway / Man Of Mystery'' (#66) 1963 Leedon

References

http://top100singles.blogspot.com.au/