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Saturday 25 July 2015

Post 587 - Bulldogs Allstar Goodtime Band - Television Mama - Day In The Sun

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

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