The Twilights

The Twilights were an Australian rock band, which formed in Adelaide in 1964 by Peter Brideoake on rhythm guitar, John Bywaters on bass guitar, Clem "Paddy" McCartney and Glenn Shorrock both on lead vocals. They were joined by Terry Britten on lead guitar and Laurie Pryor on drums within a year. Heavily influenced by the British Invasion, they became a significant Australian band during the mid-1960s. They were noted for their musicianship, on-stage humour and adoption of overseas sounds and trends. Their most popular single is a cover version of "Needle in a Haystack" (originally by the Velvelettes), which topped the Go-Set singles chart in 1966. Also in that year, they won the Hoadley's Battle of the Sounds competition and were awarded a trip to London. The group's attempts to establish themselves in England were unsuccessful. Upon return to Australia they had a No. 3 hit with "What's Wrong with the Way I Live?" (1967), written by the Hollies members. Their other top 5 hits were "Young Girl" and "Cathy Come Home" (both 1967). The Twilights' later sound was influenced by the psychedelic movement. In 1968 they filmed a pilot for a Monkees-style sitcom for Seven Network, however sponsorship was withdrawn and it was not broadcast. Following a decline in their chart success and the departure of long-term manager Gary Spry, the Twilights disbanded early in 1969. Shorrock formed Axiom in 1969 and fronted Little River Band from 1975. Britten became an internationally successful songwriter, working for Cliff Richard and Tina Turner. The Twilights were formed as a beat pop group in Elizabeth, then an outer-suburb of Adelaide, South Australia in mid-1964. Elizabeth's population, at that time, largely consisted of British immigrants and their descendants. Founding members were Frank Barnard on drums, Peter Brideoake on rhythm guitar, John Bywaters on bass guitar and Kevin Peek on lead guitar (all ex-the Hurricanes) as well as Clem "Paddy" McCartney on co-lead vocals and Glenn Shorrock on co-lead vocals (both ex-the Checkmates). According to James Cockington, their motivation was to become pop stars and so avoid being factory workers like their parents. The beat pop six-piece were influenced by the Beatles (who had toured Australia in mid-year), the Hollies, the Who and the Small Faces, and they were informed of music trends by relatives and contacts back in Britain. The Hurricanes had started as a Shadows-style instrumental act but, after the Beatles became popular, many Australian bands recruited lead singers. The Checkmates had been an a capella trio and two of their vocalists merged with four of the Hurricanes to form the fully electric-and-vocal group, the Twilights. Peek soon left and was replaced on lead guitar by Terry Britten. Late in 1964, they were signed by Melbourne-based manager Gary Spry. The group issued their debut single, "I'll Be Where You Are" / "I Don't Know Where the Wind Will Blow Me", on EMI's Columbia Records in June 1965. The former track was written by Britten and Shorrock, while the latter was penned by Brideoake and Shorrock. It appeared in the top 100 of the Kent Music Report (non-contemporaneous back-calculated chart). The Twilights gained a reputation for dynamic live shows. Cockington observed that Adelaide later created more musically adept bands – James Taylor Move and early Zoot – but Spry provided "overly-enthusiastic" management and touted his group as the "next big thing." Early in 1965, Barnard left after Spry enforced a "no girlfriends on tour" policy – Barnard was married. He was replaced on drums by Laurie Pryor (ex-John E. Broome & the Handels). Spry convinced the group to relocate to Melbourne in late 1965, where they took up a three-month residency at his discotheque, Pinocchio's. Their reputation spread, with Ed Nimmervoll noting that their "ability to be human jukeboxes for the music of the day made them the sensations of Melbourne." The Twilights competed in the Hoadley's Battle of the Sounds from April 1966, winning the South Australian state final at Thebarton Town Hall over the Masters Apprentices. At Festival Hall, Melbourne in July the Twilights won the national final. They were awarded bonus points for sound, originality, presentation and audience reaction. A competition rule, which set maximum group membership at five, meant that McCartney sat out their winning performance – he returned for their encore. The competition's first prize was a trip to the United Kingdom – they embarked for London on 26 September 1966 via passenger liner Castel Felice. The Twilights highest national chart success came with their cover version of the Velvelettes' "Needle in a Haystack" (August 1966). The group were still in London as it peaked at No. 1 on Go-Set's National Top 40 in October and displaced the Beatles' "Yellow Submarine". Their next single, "You Got Soul" (December), reached No. 24 nationally. In absentia, they released a self-titled album in December 1966, produced by David Mackay, via EMI/Columbia. It included originals, works written by Barry Gibb or by Hans Poulsen, as well as mod-rock cover renditions of concert favourites. While in London they adopted the latest Mod hairstyles, Carnaby Street clothes and grew moustaches, emulating trends set by the Beatles. They had high hopes of success, but were dismayed by the quality of British groups. Shorrock observed: "Our biggest shock was the high standard of so many groups who are not even known. It was hard for us to get jobs with good money." They played a week's residency at Liverpool's Cavern club with a positive response. Due to their EMI contract, the group recorded three tracks at Abbey Road Studios, with producer-engineer Norman Smith. Smith had worked with the Beatles, who were recording "Penny Lane" and allowed the Twilights to observe some sessions. Nevertheless, the Australian group's attempts to break through in the UK were unsuccessful. Upon return to Australia in February 1967, the Twilights issued their rendition of the Hollies' "What's Wrong with the Way I Live?", which peaked at No. 3. It was written for the Twilights by the Hollies' members Allan Clarke, Tony Hicks and Graham Nash and had been recorded at Abbey Road. It exhibited a sophisticated sound with its banjo motif and tight block harmonies. Its B-side, "9.50", composed by Britten is a psychedelic rocker and was covered by Divinyls in the early 1980s. A third track recorded at Abbey Road provided their next single "Young Girl" (May), which was a melancholy and evocative tune written by Pryor, and features Britten's use of a variable volume pedal. It peaked at No. 4. Britten embraced Eastern philosophy and introduced exotic instruments including a sitar on its B-side "Time and Motion Study Man", a social observation. Contemporary music reporter Garry Raffaele reflected on the mediocrity of Australian bands, "[who] had the temerity to introduce instruments like the sitar into their work... better if they had learned to play their guitars first." However, "a few groups like the Twilights realised what was happening and tried to make it happen here." Their next single "Cathy Come Home" / "The Way They Play" (November 1967), also used the sitar. The A-side is inspired by the 1966 BBC-TV play of the same name. A promotional music clip was made. The single reached No. 4, but it was the last top 10 from the group. "Cathy Come Home" is the first of Britten's songs inspired by movies or TV shows, which he continued in his later career. The group performed Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (June 1967) and the Small Faces' Ogdens' Nut Gone Flake (May 1968) "with exacting perfection," weeks before their respective official releases in Australia. The group were invited by Seven Network to develop a weekly TV sitcom based on The Monkees TV series and the Beatles' A Hard Day's Night film. The project was sponsored by Ford Motor Company. Go-Set reporters documented the making of the pilot, Once Upon