About The Strangers
The Strangers were an Australian rock band formed in 1961 and existed until 1975. The band started out playing instrumental songs in a style similar to The Shadows, with influences from Cliff Richard. The original line-up was Laurie Arthur , Peter Robinson , Graeme "Garth" Thompson and Fred Wieland . Robinson had previously played with a local band The Thunderbirds and went on to replace Athol Guy in the Seekers in the late 1970s.
The Strangers were formed in Melbourne as an instrumental rock band in 1961 with the line-up of Laurie Arthur on lead guitar , Peter Robinson on bass guitar , Graeme "Garth" Thompson on drums and Fred Weiland on rhythm guitar . Instead of joining the prevailing surf music trend, the Strangers modelled themselves on British and European instrumental groups, the Shadows, the Tornados and the Spotnicks. Arthur, Robinson and Weiland had attended Glenroy High School before joining different groups. The Strangers performed across Melbourne's major dance venues.
At the end of 1962 they signed with W&G Records, headed by Ron Tudor after working as the studio band for the Seekers, Frankie Davidson, Johnny Chester, Merv Benton Little Gulliver and the Children, Pat Carroll and Joy Lemmon. The group's first charting single was their instrumental cover version of "Cry of the Wild Goose" backed with "Leavin' Town", which was released in January 1963 and reached number 12 on the Melbourne charts. This was followed in April by an instrumental single "Torlido" / "The Outcast", which reached the Melbourne Top 40.
Arthur left the band in early 1964 and was replaced on lead guitar by John Farrar . Farrar also provided vocals on some tracks. In 1964 they supported Colin Cook and released an LP called Colin Cook and the Strangers. Other singles included "Happy Without You" , "Melanie Makes Me Smile" , "Looking Through the Eyes of a Beautiful Girl" , "If You Gotta Make a Fool of Somebody" and a cover of Five Americans, "Western Union" .
Also in 1964, the band supported Roy Orbison and Paul and Paula on an Australian tour which featured The Surfaris and The Beach Boys. These support gigs influenced some early vocal recordings in "Poppa Oom Mow Mow", "Sunday Kind of Love," "If You Gotta Make a Fool of Somebody" and later "In My Room", a Beach Boys ballad.
In August 1964, The Strangers were selected as the resident backing band on the Melbourne based teenage television pop program The Go!! Show, in which they appeared each week from 1964 to 1967. Farrar married Pat Carroll. Carroll and Olivia Newton-John appeared on The Go!! Show as singers. After "The Go!! Show" ended, The Strangers became the resident group on HSV-7's Sunnyside Up program. In all, the band appeared on television at least once a week for nine years straight.
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