The Twilights

The Twilights represent an important and spectacular turning point in Australian music, the bridge between that time when Australian music was happy to reflect international moods and tends, and the point where, more and more, Australian music was beginning to take on a distinct character of its own.

The starting point was The Checkmates, a Platters/Crew Cuts-style doowop harmony quartet, including English migrant Glenn Shorrock and Irish ‘Paddy’ McCartney, formed in the predominantly British migrant suburb of Elizabeth in Adelaide. On the other side of town, a Ventures/Shadows-style instrumental group called The Hurricanes comprised Peter Brideoake, John Bywaters, Frank Barnard and guitarist John Peek. Peek had a big fan in 19-year old Terry Britten, who followed Peek from gig to gig, happy just to carry his guitar. When Kevin Peek left to join John Broome and the Handels in London, The Hurricanes had a ready-made replacement.

In 1964, inspired by The Beatles (like hundreds of thousands of groups around the world), three of the Checkmates and The Hurricanes merged, to become a vocal/instrumental group, The Twilights. The Beatles and their generation of English ‘beat’ groups were everyone’s focus and, in Adelaide The Twilights stepped into the breach. They had two things going for them. There was that Elizabeth connection which, via the English migrants and their relatives back home, gave The Twilights access to the latest records from the Old Country before they were released here. The Twilights’ other advantage was their ability to reproduce those records almost perfectly on stage, with the Beatles their specialty.

The British-migrant-filled Adelaide quickly made The Twilights the most popular group in town. Finding themselves thousands of miles from The Action, The Twilights were the next best thing.

The group had released two singles when they were invited to travel east to Melbourne. The Twilights’ ability to be human jukeboxes for the music of the day made them the sensations of Melbourne too. Within days of their arrival fans were forming long queues outside the venues where they played. Drummer Frank Barnard was married and not keen on becoming professional, and he was replaced by Laurie Pryor, who flew all the way from London where he’d been playing with John Broome and The Handels. They managed a minor hit with ‘If She Finds Out’, but finally scored with their version of ‘Bad Boy’ a Larry Williams song the Beatles had recorded on an EP, but never released in this country.

In July 1966, with ‘Bad Boy’ just released and climbing the charts The Twilights won the first national Hoadley’s Battle Of The Sounds, where the winning groups from each state were judged by a panel for the prize of a boat trip to London. Again the Twilights had everything going for them. In that first Hoadley’s Battle they were the most high-profile group competing, and they rammed home their advantage by performing a three-and-a-half minute medley of their best known singles since only one song was allowed to be performed. The only catch was that the rules also only allowed for five member groups, meaning that singer Paddy McCartney had to watch from the sidelines as Glenn Shorrock led the group in “battle”. Paddy rejoined the group for their victory performance.

In September, as the group boarded their London bound ship, they released a version of an obscure Motown song, ‘Needle In A Haystack’, suggested by their manager and reluctantly recorded by the band. While the Twilights headed for London, ‘Needle In A Haystack’ made its way to No.1 nationally. In their absence a second single, ‘You Got Soul’ was also released.

As well as the trip to London, and $1000 expenses, the Hoadley’s win guaranteed them a couple of live performances. They played a week at Liverpool’s Cavern Club, “birthplace” of the Beatles, and the London branch of their record company put them into Abbey Road Studios, as The Beatles themselves were recording ‘Strawberry Fields’ and ‘Penny Lane’ next door. The Twilights’ producer was former Beatles engineer Norman Smith.

The Twilights were keen now, obviously, to concentrate on recording original material. Terry Britten was proving especially creative. But Norman Smith handed the group a song the Hollies had written especially for them, ‘What’s Wrong With The Way I Live’. The Hollies promised not to release it as a single themselves, but must have had second thoughts. A week after The Twilights’ version was released the Hollies put out their version and Australians’ single disappeared from trace.

The Twilights’ version was a big hit for them at home of course, just as they returned home, sporting new Beatles-like moustaches, the latest Carnaby Street clothes, and big ambitions for their career from here on in. They wanted to avoid having to get back to the five quick gigs a night treadmill, by starring in their own Monkees-like TV show, ‘Once Apon A Twilight’.

A sponsor was approached, a pilot made, and everything was going according to plan until the sponsor decided to pull out at the last minute. While the group's manager scoured the corporate world for a replacement The Twilights put the finishing touches to the ambitious album which the TV series was meant to launch. 'Once Apon A Twilight' never hit the screen, and by the time the album of the same name was released, with the most expensive packaging an Australian album had seen, the Twilights had lost their momentum, replaced in people's hearts by the new crop of artists. Not one song from the album was released as a single. Still trying to rise above the pack, the band tried to make its performances special and exclusive. As part of the new act Glenn Shorrock would walk out as an aging pot-bellied Superman.

The Twilights now started coming apart at the seems. They’d had to replace their manager just before the album’s release. In January 1968, on the verge of the band’s return to London drummer Laurie Pryor announced he was leaving due to family reasons, and the band decided to call it a day rather than try to replace him.

Glenn Shorrock would end up going to England as part of Axiom, and after a solo single with ‘2000 Weeks’ Terry Britten took up an invitation to go to London to write songs for Cliff Richard. Eventually he came up with ‘Devil Woman’, and would also have hits with songs recorded by Tina Turner and Michael Jackson.