Atlantics

The Atlantics are Australia's premier instrumental band.

Between rock'n'roll's first outburst in the latter fifties and the group quake of the mid-sixties, the most important, and generally under-appreciated era of rock and roll was the trend towards instrumental music. The Beatles were as much influenced by Bill Justis and the Shadows, as they were Chuck Berry and Motown. The Atlantics were Australia's most significant contribution to that style and era of rock music.

The group's core met during the summer of 1960/61 on a bus returning from the beach to Randwick in Sydney where the band members were living. One thing that separated the group initially from other bands that might have been inspired to form at the same time was their predominantly unusual upbringings (Tanganyika, Egypt). In the beginning the band underwent a number of personnel changes but by early 1961 had settled on the line-up which would see them thought their entire career. Their influences were all that instrumental rock of the day, from the pioneering Johnny and The Hurricanes through to "new" boys, the Ventures and the Shadows.

The choice of name was prophetic rather than as it might seem in retrospect, connected to their music. Thinking about names they saw a sign advertising Atlantic Petrol. Throughout 1961 the Atlantics built a loyal following. They pawned everything they had to buy their first amplifier. It cost an astounding £235. On the way they also picked up a succession of vocalists, settling on Cliff Richard lookalike and soundalike Kenny Shane. When Kenny left for a solo career in 1963, the Altantics stuck to the thing they did best, the instrumentals.

All the way they had an incredibly strong ally in agent Joan King who encouraged the group to turn professional and recorded demos which were hawked around to all the major record labels. The reaction was generally the same. They were considered "too different". Finally Joan's perseverance paid off and Sven Libaek, A&R manager at CBS Records granted the group an audition. They auditioned live in his office and he was not only impressed by their sound, but the fact they wrote their own songs. Under the direction of Sven as producer, The Atlantics worked up two tunes as their debut single - the original 'Moon Man' and 'Dark Eyes', a traditional tune given a new arrangement which the group played live and always had requests for from other musicians. The single did enough to encourage CBS to continue. It was decided they didn't yet have "the" song needed.

That song arrived in April 1963. Peter Hood and Jim Skiathisis were on the way to Sydney's Royal Easter Show but when it just rained and rained they ended up at Jim's house writing a new song. A mutual decision by the group, Joan King and CBS called the new song 'Bombora' an Australian aboriginal term for large waves breaking over submerged rock shelves. The new surf music craze had now emerged. American instrumental group The Chantays had jumped on the bandwagon with 'Pipeline'. The Atlantics decided to follow suit. It seemed natural. Acknowledging surfing was simply a reflection of their Sydney beach lifestyle. The Atlantics were the first Australians to join in on the new craze. Even their name fit. The Delltones and Little Patti would follow. Recorded at the same session as 'Bombora' for the new single was 'Greensleeves' another traditional tune.

'Bombora' was an instant success, top five nationally, and released in America England, Japan, Italy, Holland and New Zealand. The Atlantics name again proved a lucky accident. A lot of people just assumed the band came from America. Catapulted to stardom the band balanced the flood of demand for live appearances with recording their first self-titled album. Around the same time as releasing the album, the group came out with a vocal single featuring their old singer Kenny Shane. He was also recording with Sven Libaek and the group decided to give him a hand with instrumental backings, a couple of original songs, and their name with his on the 'Surfin' Queen' single. The Kenny Shane and the Atlantics vocal single sank without a trace. Not so the Atlantics' instrumental follow-up. 'The Crusher', nearly the name given to 'Bombora'. 'The Crusher' denoted a huge collapsing wave usually unfit for surfing. The B-side Chet Atkins-style 'Hootenanny Stomp' was written by Theo Penglis as an attempt to try and diversify the group's style even further.

The second album 'Now It's Stompin' Time', just two months before the first, but in time for Christmas, was designed to take advantage of the "Stompin'" dance craze which had come with surf music. Six of the twelve songs had "Stompin'" in the title, but made the Atlantics the first Australian rock group to release an album of totally original material. A third album, 'The Explosive Sound' appeared in April, preceded by a single 'War Of The Worlds'.

With May's 'Rumble And Run' the Atlantics returned to the sound of their first two instrumental singles, but the failure of the previous single and the arrival of the Beatles meant they were out of tune with the times. The surfing image was now a problem rather than an asset, and the Atlantics tried to change perceptions of them by releasing a single reviving two Chet Atkins instrumentals. At the end of 1964 a tour of the Far East, where they were still major stars, gave the group a momentary break from the struggle to survive. When another strong single 'Giant' failed to make an impression the Atlantics were forced to record instrumental cover versions of known hits ('Goldfinger' and 'Peter Gunn') which they tried hard to do their own way. Something had to give, and the Atlantics asked CBS to release them from their contract, even thought it had not yet expired.

In the shadows of the Australian rock of '66 and '67 the Atlantics released three singles on Sunshine highly regarded by aficionados of Sixties punk rock before forming their own Ramrod label and finally calling it quits at the end of the Sixties. Their last recording was backing Johnny Rebb on his 'Ding Dong' single. During their career they also backed recordings by Russ Kruger, Kelly Green and Colin Cooper.

Remarkably, in 1999 the original Atlantics reformed for a new album and a low-key national tour. ‘Flight Of The Surf Guitar’ contained 17 tracks, comprising 14 all new originals, together with brand new recorded versions of three of their most popular songs – ‘The Crusher’, ‘Rumble and Run’ and of course, ‘Bombora’. In 2002 the Atlantics joined the ‘A Long Way To The Top’ tour.