THE GROOP

The Groop was a rock band formed in Melbourne by Peter McKeddie, Max Ross, and Richard Wright in 1964. All three had been students at Wesley College and were originally a folk trio named The Oxford Trio (named after the Oxford Hotel, a pub located near RMIT, in Swanston Street, Melbourne), but after hearing the new developments in rock and roll music they decided to point their talents in that direction. They added guitarist Peter Bruce (who arrived from the UK not long before) when he replied to an advert written by the band. The Groop had success on the Melbourne singles chart with "Ol' Hound Dog" reaching #13, "Best in Africa" #10 and "I'm Satisfied" #21 in 1966. They were assisted by positive reviews from Ian "Molly" Meldrum writer for national pop magazine Go-Set who had earlier been their roadie. This version of The Groop also recorded two albums, 'The Groop' (1965) and 'I'm Satisfied' (1966) both on CBS Records. In Jan 1966 they supported the Herman's Hermits and Tom Jones tour of Australia.

In August 1966, McKeddie and Bruce departed the band. The remaining members invited Don Mudie (ex-Sherwood Green) to join on guitar. At McKeddie's farewell party (he was travelling to the UK) The Groop were supported by another R&B outfit The Jackson Kings. Max Ross invited Ronnie Charles to join the band as lead singer who then pushed for his old band mate Brian Cadd from The Jackson Kings to join as having a keyboard player made sense.

Searching for a more blues and rock sound the new line-up of Cadd, Charles, Mudie, Ross and Wright, released "Sorry" which reached #12 on the Melbourne charts in January 1967. Their next single, released in May 1967, "Woman You're Breaking Me" (written by Cadd and Wright) reached #4 in Melbourne, #4 in Sydney, and was their only national top ten hit. This powerhouse track was also released in the Netherlands, NZ, the UK and the USA. The band won a trip to the UK from winning the final of the 1967 Hoadley's National Battle of the Sounds.

Cadd and Mudie then wrote "When I Was Six Years Old". Publishers sent the song to England where it was recorded by Manfred Mann's lead vocalist Paul Jones. Melbourne singer Ronnie Burns (close friend of Meldrum) had a local #22 hit with "When I Was Six Years Old" in 1968. Leaving the single "Seems More Important to Me" behind in Melbourne to reach #30 in early 1968, The Groop travelled to UK on the Sitmar line cruiser Castel Felice. They gave several onboard performances during the voyage.

The Groop arrived in the UK as Paul Jones' cover of "When I Was Six Years Old" was released and they secured a deal with CBS in England, then toured there and in Germany. Band members had written most of their hits in Australia, but CBS decided they would cover an Italian ballad, "What's The Good of Goodbye", which was never released. They recorded one more single whilst in the UK ''Lovin' Tree / Night Life'' which was also released in Germany and Australia.

The Groop returned to Australia by October 1968 and Max Ross left the band. They released two more singles, but only "Such A Lovely Way" reached the national top 20 before they disbanded in May 1969. Their last recorded work was an uncredited appearance as instrumental support on Russell Morris' #1 single "The Real Thing". Cadd and Mudie were eager to explore a more rock sound and so disbanded The Groop to form Axiom. The second version of The Groop had recorded the studio album 'Woman You're Breaking Me' (1967), whilst the compilation 'Great Hits from The Groop' (1968) was released while they were in UK. Richard Wright died in 2020. Peter Bruce died in 2022.

Members

Richard Wright (drums), Peter Bruce (guitar), Peter McKeddie (vocals), Max Ross (bass), Brian Cadd (keyboards, vocals), Ronnie Charles (vocals), Don Mudie (guitar)

SINGLES

''Cry, Cry Baby (Don't Start Crying Now) / Ol' Hound Dog'' (#30) 1965 CBS
''I'm Satisfied (#53) / (These Are) Bad Times'' 1966 CBS
''The Best In Africa (#32) / Gloria'' 1966 CBS

''Empty Words (#99) / The Gun And Flower Pot Trick'' 1966 CBS
''Who Do You Love / Sorry'' (#34) 1966 CBS
''Woman You're Breaking Me (#8) / Mad Over You'' 1967 CBS
''Annabelle Lee (#40) / Seems More Important To Me'' 1967 CBS
''Lovin' Tree (#65) / Night Life'' 1968 CBS
''Such A Lovely Way (#16) / We Can Talk'' 1968 CBS
''You Gotta Live Love (#92) / Sally's Mine'' 1969 CBS

EPs

'The Groop' 1966 CBS
'Woman You're Breaking Me' 1967 CBS
'Such A Lovely Way' 1968 CBS

ALBUMS

'The Groop' 1966 CBS
'I'm Satisfied' 1966 CBS
'Woman You're Breaking Me' 1967 CBS

References

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