The Dingoes

The Dingoes are often given credit for that point in Australian music history where Australian rock shook off its cultural cringe and placed all the influences which had shaped the music to date into an Australian setting. The group's music was clearly steeped in the American traditions of blues and country but the sound of Broderick Smith's voice and the songs themselves left no mistake where the music eminated from. Even the band's name said it. In the end however it was the quality of the songs and the musicianship which set the Dingoes apart, and leave them one of the truly legendary groups of Australian music.

The beginnings lie back in the mid-sixties with the Adderley Smith Blues Band, a purist blues group who prided themselves in informing audiences about where the Rolling Stones' music was actually coming from. A number of singers and musicians appeared its ranks over the band's three year existence, most notably founding guitarist Kerryn Tolhurst and eventual singer and harmonica player Broderick Smith.

Significantly, both were called up for National Service during the controversial days of Australia's involvement in the Vietnam War. It was the letter every sixties musician dreaded. It meant two years out of their lives, and for many, the end of their music careers. When Kerryn and Broderick emerged from their period in 'detention' they briefly teamed up in Sundown, a casual blues group, just while they assessed their musical options. Kerryn ended up accepting a summons to join Greg Quill's Country Radio, while Broderick found a home at the microphone in front of blues rock band Carson.

Two years on, in April 1973, Kerryn and Broderick were both at loose ends again, and decided to form a new group with guitarist Chris Stockley, formerly of Axiom. The Dingoes were one of the first signings to Michael Gudinski's new Mushroom Records. An album was crafted in the TCN studios at the rear of Channel 9's complex in Melbourne.

The self-titled album was immediately recognized as the masterpiece it was, but a series of incidents from now on would keep the Dingoes from ever achieving their full potential. A week before the first single 'Way Out West' was released ('Way Out West on YouTube) Chris Stockley was shot in the stomach outside a party, a 'simple' case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. The band was forced to honour its commitments with a temporary replacement for the next year. In the meantime the Dingoes had come to the attention of the Rolling Stones' tour manager Peter Rudge, who expressed an eagerness to look after the group internationally as soon as his Rolling Stones' commitments were over. The Dingoes waited months for Stockley's recovery and more months of Peter Rudge to declare his intentions. In the meantime it was impossible for the group to plan its future. Drummer John Lee tied of waiting and was replaced by Ray Arnott, formerly with Spectrum.

Finally, two years after the debut album was released the Dingoes departed for US, by mutual agreement bringing John Lee back. Settling in the Mill Valley near San Francisco they set about recording a second album at last, including new versions of the original album's classics, 'Way Out West', 'Boy On The Run' and 'Smooth Sailing'. Another year passed in the meantime, and as the band prepared for the support tour which was hoped to provide their breakthrough, a plane crash killed the tour and three of Lynyrd Skynyrd's members. There wasn't an American breakthrough.

Chris Stockley left the band a few months later to return to Australia and play with Greg Quill. American session players filled the void for the 'Orphans Of The Storm' sessions in New York. By the time that album was released in Australia in February 1979 the band had broken up, without ever making a dent internationally.

Broderick Smith returned to Australia, to start a career fronting bands of his own. Kerryn Tolhurst stayed in America, but kept his contact with Australia, eventually producing Black Sorrows' 'Lucky Charms' album in 1994, and becoming an honorary member of the Goanna band for their 1998 comeback.