The Bulldogs story starts with singer Neil Worboys, who
became interested in jug band music through his older brother, Brian, and had
formed his own jug band, Stupid Cat Requiem, during his first year at
Wellington Teachers College in 1970. Worboys had learnt to play the harmonica
while at high school and had access to the standard jug band fare available on
Vanguard Records. He was a fan of Jim Kweskin & The Jug Band, The Nitty
Gritty Dirt Band and Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band and could often be found scouring
second-hand shops for old 45s and 78s. At the end of 1971, having seen Stupid
Cat Requiem at the Maranui Surf Club, drummer Brien McCrea, another trainee
teacher, suggested to Worboys the two start their own jug band. McCrea had
briefly been in The Leaders with guitarist John Donoghue but they split up when
McCrea bought a surfboard with money the band had given him for a drum kit. When
McCrea ran into Donoghue in Cuba Street and told him of the fledgling jug band
at the teachers college, Donoghue jumped on board as tenor banjo player. He
soon brought along his bass-playing flatmate Paul Curtis, late of country rock
band Farmyard. At the beginning of 1972, Neil Worboys met Kevin Findlater when
he started at Wellington Teachers College. Findlater was a guitarist in rock
band Horse, who had spent more than six months rehearsing a repertoire that
ranged from The Kinks and The Rolling Stones to Jethro Tull and Uriah Heep.
After hearing Worboys tear through some Joe Cocker songs, Findlater invited him
to join. A Kapiti Observer article of the time noted that new addition Worboys
was “spreading his interests, and also singing with a jug band!” Besides
Worboys (vocals) and Findlater (guitar), the rest of Horse were Tony Hooper
(guitar), Peter Gapes (bass) and Danny Shaw (drums). After one rehearsal, one
photo shoot and a gig supporting Taylor at the training college, they broke up.
Findlater and yet another teachers college trainee, Richard Egan, were then
drafted in to the jug band, by now rehearsing in a prefab at the Karori campus.
The original line-up featured four trainee teachers (Worboys, McCrea, Findlater
and Egan) and two well-known Wellington musician/songwriters (Donoghue and
Curtis). They named themselves Bulldogs Allstar Goodtime Band after the bulldog
insignia on McCrea’s washboard bicycle bell – the “Allstar” was added for
theatricality and “Goodtime” for the brand of music they performed – and
started playing Wellington’s coffee bars, surf clubs, dances, pubs and parks.
Midyear they were the support band for Russell Morris at a packed St James
Theatre. The band bought an old truck for $60 and organised a North Island tour
playing university arts festivals and gigs in Napier and Wanganui as well as
playing at Neil Worboys’ wedding. They appeared alongside BLERTA and even
contacted the organisers of The Great Ngaruawahia Music Festival of January
1973 who said they couldn’t guarantee them a spot but they would try. Pitching
their tent next door to Black Sabbath, Bulldogs were so well received they
ended up going on twice. 1974 was a huge year for the band. They toured the
North Island with Tiny Tim, performed for the Queen at the Royal Variety
Charity Concert in Christchurch, toured with Kenny Rogers & The First
Edition and English one-hit wonder Daniel Boone and released the album “Bulldoggin”
which can be found on http://vinyoleum.blogspot.com.au/
Here to down load is a single not on the LP “Television
Mama” b/w “Day In The Sun” (HR 531) recorded for EMI in 1974. When it came time
to choose between moving to Australia or disbanding in late 1974, Bulldogs
Allstar Goodtime Band unanimously decided on calling it quits with a
Christmas-New Year North Island tour. The thought of starting over across the
Tasman was just too much to bear. Mp3
