THE DINGOES

The Dingoes with John Lee on drums, Broderick Smith on lead vocals and harmonica (ex-Adderley Smith Blues Band, Carson), Chris Stockley on lead guitar (ex-Axiom), John Strangio on bass guitar and Kerryn Tolhurst on guitar and mandolin (ex-Country Radio), were formed in Melbourne in April 1973. Strangio left soon after and was replaced on bass guitar by John Bois, who had been a member of Melbourne '60s pop band New Dream and was later a member with Tolhurst of Country Radio.

The Dingoes combined R&B, country and rock 'n' roll with songs that used Australian themes and imagery. The Dingoes were an early signing to the fledgling Mushroom Records label. The label issued their debut single "Way Out West" which was jointly credited to Lee, Bois, Smith, Stockley and Tolhurst although Bois' book confirms that the song was written by Tolhurst alone. A week before the single was released Stockley received a serious gunshot wound during an incident at a party in Melbourne that resulted in a two-month stay in hospital, initially described as an 'accidental shooting', according to music historian, Ian McFarlane's Encyclopedia of Australian Rock and Pop. Stockley was shot by notorious drug dealer Dennis Allen, who was trying to gate crash a party.

An eight-hour benefit concert was held for Stockley on 4 November 1973 at Leggett's Ballroom, Greville Street, Prahran. While recuperating, Stockley was replaced by keyboard player Mal Logan (ex-Healing Force, Carson), who stayed on after Stockley returned, until the end of 1974. Released in October 1973, "Way Out West" peaked into the top 40 on the Kent Music Report Singles Chart and reached #26 in Melbourne, it became their signature tune. The Dingoes appeared at the third Sunbury Pop Festival in 1974 held on the Australia Day long weekend, and their performance featured on Mushroom's 'Highlights of Sunbury '74', released later that year.

The same month they recorded their self-titled debut LP, 'The Dingoes', which was produced by John French.  Logan contributed keyboards on several tracks, including "Goin' Down" and "Sydney Ladies". John Lee left in May 1974 to join Ariel and was replaced on drums by Ray Arnott, (ex-Cam-Pact, Spectrum, Mighty Kong). Their debut album, 'The Dingoes' was released in June 1974, along with a second single "Boy on the Run", co-written by Stockley and Smith, which peaked at #24 in Melbourne but did not break into the top 50 nationally.

The LP reached #24 on the Kent Music Report Albums Chart in July and it was The Federation of Australian Broadcasters' "Album of the Year" for 1974. A non-album single, "Smooth Sailing", written by Tolhurst, and backed with "Dingoes Lament" (an instrumental written by Bois), was released in October. During the year The Dingoes toured nationally with various artists including Bad Company, Leo Sayer, Bo Diddley and Freddy Fender. Early in 1975 after appearing at the fourth Sunbury Pop Festival, The Dingoes received a phone call from expatriate Australian roadie Billy McCartney who had seen them when visiting from the United States, where he had established himself as a tour manager for Elvis Presley and Rod Stewart.

Returning to the US, McCartney recommended the band to Peter Rudge, who was then tour manager for The Rolling Stones and Lynyrd Skynyrd, and after ten months negotiations, Rudge agreed to manage The Dingoes in the US. The following months frustrated the band—with an expected summons from Rudge at any time, they were unable to commit to long-term tours or to recording—they lost valuable ground in Australia when they could have consolidated on the success of the LP and singles. Meanwhile, they provided two tracks, "Marijuana Hell" and the Percy Sledge cover "When a Man Loves a Woman" to the various artists live album 'Live at the Station' which was released on Lamington Records in 1976.

An American tour was finally arranged for mid-1976 but by the time they arrived Rudge's attention was focused on Lynyrd Skynyrd. Just prior to leaving, Arnott quit the group by "mutual agreement" and Lee returned to the fold, meeting up with the band in North America. Arnott pursued a solo career and was later with the Renée Geyer Band, Cold Chisel and Jimmy Barnes. The Dingoes signed a two-album deal with US-based, A&M records, on recommendations from McCartney and Rudge and undertook three months of rehearsals in Canada, then headed for the US, where they set up base in Mill Valley, Northern California, at the start of 1977.

They recorded tracks for their A&M album, 'Five Times the Sun', in San Francisco during January and February, produced by Elliot Mazer (Janis Joplin, Neil Young), with session contributions from keyboardists Nicky Hopkins and Garth Hudson; it featured liner notes by author Emmett Grogan. 'Five Times the Sun', which peaked at #25 on the Australian albums chart in August, included re-recorded versions of tracks from their first album. "Way Out West" and "Smooth Sailing", released in September, as a double A-single in Australia, did not peak into the top 50.

Soon after, band members were granted their prized green cards, allowing them to base themselves in US, in their two-year stay they toured 40 states by road. A serious blow to the band's future came on 20 October when several members of proposed tour mates, Lynyrd Skynyrd, were killed in a plane crash, a tragedy which destroyed the morale of The Dingoes' management team. Stockley left the band and returned to Australia in early 1978, initially he joined Greg Quill's new band Southern Cross, and later founded Stockley, See & Mason.

He was replaced in The Dingoes by American session guitarist Andrew Jeffers-Hardin, the group had moved east and settled near Woodstock, in upstate New York. In mid-1978, they recorded a third album, 'Orphans of the Storm', at New York's famed The Hit Factory, and continued to tour around the US until late 1978, but their efforts to enter the US record charts were unrealised. 'Orphans Of The Storm' was released in February 1979, along with a final single, "Into the Night", but by this time Smith had returned to Australia and The Dingoes had split.

In 1992, "Way Out West" was covered by James Blundell and James Reyne (ex-Australian Crawl) and their version peaked at #2 on the ARIA Singles Charts. Broderick Smith supplied harmonica for this version.

On 27 August 2009, The Dingoes were inducted into the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) Hall of Fame alongside Kev Carmody, Little Pattie, Mental As Anything, and John Paul Young. They were inducted into the Hall of Fame by Richard Clapton and performed "Way Out West" and "Boy on the Run". Melbourne drummer Ashley Davies (ex-Wild Pumpkins At Midnight) joined Bois, Smith, Stockley, and Tolhurst in the reformed group which recorded 'Tracks' in late 2009 and early 2010. The new album was released on 6 August 2010, coinciding with an Australia tour, it debuted at #14 on the ARIA Country Music Top 20 Chart. In October 2010, their debut album, 'The Dingoes' (1974) was listed in the book, 100 Best Australian Albums.

In 2012 John Bois' memoir The Dingoes' Lament was published by Melbourne Books and at the end of December 2012 the group reformed (for possibly the last time) for a short series of concerts in Victoria. The lineup again comprised the four surviving original members, with Ashley Davies on drums, and the mini tour included three sold-out shows at the Caravan Music Club in Oakleigh, Melbourne, where they were supported by Steve Hoy and Ross Hannaford. John Lee died from liver failure in 1999. Broderick Smith died in 2023.

Members

Broderick Smith (vocals, harmonica), John Du Bois (bass, vocals), Kerryn Tolhurst (guitar), Chris Stockley (guitar), John Lee (drums), John Strangio (bass), Ray Arnott (drums), Andrew Jeffers-Harding (guitar), Ashley Davies (drums)

SINGLES 
''Way Out West (#40) / Shine A Light'' 1973 Mushroom 
''Boy On The Run (#55) / The Last Place I Wanna Be'' 1974 Mushroom 
''Smooth Sailing / Dingoes Lament'' 1974 Mushroom 
''Smooth Sailing (#70)  / Way Out West'' 1977 A&M 
''Into The Night (Edited Version) / Since You've Been Gone'' 1979 A&M 

ALBUMS 
'The Dingoes' (#24) 1974 Mushroom
 'Five Times The Sun' (#25) 1977 A&M 
'Orphans Of The Storm' (#32) 1979 A&M Records 
'Tracks' 2010 Liberation Music
'Live At Last' 2011 Liberation Music

References

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Dingoes

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