A new era began for the Troupadores with the appointment of Peter Andersen on vocals and guitar and Englishman Bill Blissett on keyboards.
Peter Andersen, from the Perth suburb of Midland Junction was attracted to rock’n’roll from a young age. When he first heard Elvis, Little Richard and Jerry Lee Lewis, he wanted to play and sing just like them. He joined his first band the Tornadoes in 1961 when he was 15, then formed the Midnighters. The Midnighters were ambitious enough to try their luck in England and when Peter returned to Perth he formed Sons Of Eden. In 1968 Peter was part of the great rock’n’roll outfit Proclamation. The group won the Perth final of the Battle Of The Sounds, then travelled to Melbourne for the national final. But with Doug Parkinson, who was riding high on the charts at the time with Dear Prudence, competing in the same final, they did not stand a chance.
The Troupadores struggled to find a replacement keyboard player in Perth. Englishman Bill Blissett spent a lot of time in his early years playing in various bands in London including Decca recording group Blues By Five, before immigrating to Australia in 1967. He joined Melbourne band Cam-Pact, a group that enjoyed a great deal of success, but by 1970, had a very unstable line-up. Peter Nell, who was Managing Director of Quill International at this time, recalls writing to Bill, offering him a position in the band,
“I sent off a letter offering Bill Blissett a job in the band for the princely sum of $68 a week, and that was good money back in those days. That was playing as many nights as we could fit in, but they got their uniforms, tax and transport paid.”
Bill was a great addition to the group. As well as being an excellent keyboard player, his husky voice, which he says developed from years of drinking and smoking, meant he could do all the Joe Cocker songs, that were popular at the time.
In 1971 the Troupadores were booked for another 6-month gig in Singapore. The agent who booked the band this time had booked them as a brass band and Peter Andersen was asked to learn to play the trumpet. Peter did not go too well trying to master this instrument, so he tried the saxophone instead. He was soon proficient enough to get through. Bass player Graham Flintoff decided he did not want to do another trip to Singapore and Doug Wilkinson replaced him. The line-up for this trip included, Peter Bull (drums, vocals), Peter Andersen (vocals, saxophone), Bill Blissett (keyboards, vocals), Rick Selby (lead guitar, vocals), and Doug Wilkinson (bass, vocals).
In Singapore, the Troupadores opened the very plush Shangri-La Hotel. A lot of money was spent to make this hotel the most lavish in Singapore. The décor included a 30-foot chandelier all made of glass imported from Venice. The group had a gruelling schedule as they had had on their previous visit to Singapore, working seven nights a week from 9pm to 3am. There was always another band from the Asian circuit playing at the same venue, which was an interesting experience for the band. Peter Andersen recalls,
“It was a great thing for us because there were a lot of bands from Thailand and places like that who hardly spoke any English, but they emulated all the records very well. They were great at copying and they were all great showmen. We learnt a lot when we had a chance to see them.”
Rick Selby adds,
“Some of the Pilipino bands were sensational. They were good, all cover bands, but boy could they put on a show and musically really good. We actually learnt quite a bit from them. They’re very clever. They were great on stage and their musical proficiency was fantastic.”
All the members of the group bought motorbikes and after the show they would ride around the streets in the cool of the morning to unwind. Singapore had very strict laws under the leadership of Lee Kuan Yew and men had to have their hair cut short. On one of their morning rides Peter Andersen was still wearing the wig he wore onstage under his helmet. The police pulled him over and said, “You better get your hair cut.” Peter took off the helmet and the wig came off as well. Peter Bull’s wife Lorraine accompanied her husband on this trip and their first daughter Megan was born during the time they were in Singapore.
When the group returned to Perth, they found a musician who they thought would make a good addition to their team. John ‘Hoss’ Hossen was part of Adelaide group the Vibrants when they scored Top 20 hits with Something About You Baby and My Prayer in 1967. Hossen was born in the Seycelles in 1942 and grew up in Adelaide. He was an outstanding musician and could play alto, tenor and baritone saxophone, plus flute and clarinet. The Troupadores talked ‘Hoss’ into joining them as an additional member, which now made the band a 6-piece. Peter Andersen explains what Hossen brought to the group,
“He really expanded the sound of the band. He played everything from flute to baritone, plus he could sing as well. So we had a lot more vocal backings, keyboards and two brass instruments. It gave us a lot more scope. We still remained on the pop side of it, but it just gave us a lot fatter sound having two brass in it.”
During the early 70s, veteran Australian entertainer Johnny O’Keefe made several trips to Perth to perform in nightclubs and he liked being backed by the Troupadores. O’Keefe wanted them to be his permanent backing band, but when they told him how much they were earning, he gave up on that idea. O’Keefe rang his manager, Ivan Dayman, who was based in Brisbane, and told him that he should come and check out this great showband in Perth. Dayman had established an extensive circuit of dance venues throughout the eastern states and the Troupadores, with their great vocal harmonies and entertaining floorshow, were just the type of band he was looking for. Dayman travelled over to Perth and knew immediately that they were an ideal band for his circuit. He spoke to the group after their show and was straight to point, he told the group “I need you over in Surfers Paradise.”
The Troupadores originally signed with Dayman for six months, but things went so well they ended up staying for seven years. When they signed up with Dayman a lot of people told them it was a bad decision, because they had heard stories that he used strong-arm tactics. When I spoke to the late Peter Bull in 2003 he recalled the first time he met with Dayman, in his offices in Adelaide.
“The first time I met him on a one to one basis was at his offices in Adelaide. He was talking to someone on the phone and he was banging his fists on the table saying, ‘I’ll break both your bloody arms, father.’ And I thought. Oh shit.”
Later on Peter found out that the reason Dayman was so angry at the time was because one of the roadies who worked for him, had gone to Darwin to do a show and had sold all the lights and the stage equipment, then disappeared. Peter went on to form a close friendship with Dayman and made the comment,
“There are a lot of people around that haven’t got a kind word for Ivan, but all the Troupadores and a lot of other people I know, loved him dearly and he helped us in whatever way he could.”
After signing with Dayman, the Troupadores’ first gig was a residency at the Old Lion Hotel in Adelaide. Dayman bought Beryl Carnell, the manager of the Playroom on Queensland’s Gold Coast to watch them perform. Carnell took one look at the group and said, “I want them, and I want them now!” The group were booked to perform in Melbourne next, but this booking was cancelled and they headed straight up to Queensland.
The band played their first gig on the Gold Coast at the Surfers Paradise Beer Garden. During the Christmas holiday season, Surfers Paradise was always packed with tourists all looking to spend an enjoyable holiday break, surfing, drinking and having fun. The Beer Garden was the most popular drinking spot in town, attracting crowds in excess of 1000 people daily. The Troupadores went on to perform many times at this venue. Rick Selby recalls what it was like playing there,
“The Beer Garden was pretty crazy. We would start work at midday and it was packed with people, all in a concrete beer garden with glass jugs. People dancing away in their bathers, having the best time.”
The other venue the Troupadores played many memorable shows was the Playroom, a bit further south in Tallebudgera. Beryl Carnell had an arrangement with the owners of holiday units in Coolangatta, just across the border in NSW. She would organise bus transport for the holidaymakers who would get a dinner & show deal for a reasonable price.
When the Troupadores took to the stage at The Playroom the place would come alive. The band played six nights a week wearing different coloured uniforms each night. Sunday night was rock’n’roll night and the band would don bodgie wigs and winkle pickers and play 50’s rock’n’roll all night. The crowd loved it. Rick Selby remembers what it was like at The Playroom,
“It was over the top, no breathing space, just people, people, people. It was jam-packed every night with young adults from 18 to 30 years old, spending and drinking and having the best time.”
During the time the group were on the Gold Coast, Peter Bull’s second daughter Georgia was born. Although based on the Gold Coast, the group would be on the road for four months of the year and after a few years all the travelling started to take its toll. Lorraine Bull recalls the time she went to the airport to meet Peter with her two young children, after the group had been away for a couple of months.
“In those days you’d get off the plane and walk across the tarmac and we went to meet them coming across. Megan hid behind my legs because she didn’t know who Peter was and he said, ‘That’s the end of it.’ He was going to leave the band and Ivan said, ‘I don’t want you to leave, what about we get you a caravan.’ So he bought a caravan and we moved around with the band in a caravan.”
Another vehicle the band had was the old Sunshine bus, the 20-seat Toyota Coaster that was used in the 60s to transport all of Dayman’s young recording stars. The name ‘Sunshine Records’ was painted on both sides with the names of the pop stars including Normie Rowe, Tony Worsley and Peter Doyle. The names had long since been painted over and when the Troupadores needed transport for their tours, the bus was given to them. But there was a bit of a problem securing the bus as Peter Andersen recalls,
“We were in Adelaide but the bus happened to be sitting derelict in Darwin. We had two Canadian roadies with us at the time so we sent one of these poor Canadian roadies up to Darwin to drive the bus down to Melbourne, where we’d be meeting him. Unbeknown to him, it had lost its petrol cap and someone had stuck a rag where the petrol goes in. The rag of course over a couple of years sitting there idle, had fallen apart and he had all sorts of problems. He’d get about 100 km down the road and he’d have to stop and clean the carbie out and change the filter. So it was a horror experience for a Canadian boy to come out to Australia and have to drive this machine that kept breaking down.”
1973 turned out to be a busy year for the Troupadores. Earlier in the year they did a promotional tour for the Gold Coast City Council called, ‘Gold Coast On Parade’ travelling to Canberra, Sydney and Melbourne, then completed a season at the South Side Six Hotel in Moorabbin. In March they travelled to Hobart and were the first entertainers to perform at the first legal Casino in Australia at the Wrest Point. The four Kinsmen and Normie Rowe also played at this show.
Despite the heavy schedule of touring and live appearances, the Troupadores managed to find time to enter the recording studio. They recorded a cover of a song originally by British group Blue Mink, By The Devil (I Was Tempted). Keyboard player Kenny Walther sang the lead vocal on this catchy pop tune. Walther had only been with the group a short time at the time of the recording, but it was considered that his voice best suited that particular song.
Singer/keyboard player Kenny Walther had been flown over from Perth to join the group when Bill Blissett decided to leave. Bill would return to the line-up at a later time. When he got the call up to join the Troupadores, Kenny was part of popular Perth group, Sweet Velvet, featuring vocalist Jenny Wren. Pop singer Bev Harrell also joined the group as an additional vocalist in 1972. Unfortunately, Kenny was only with the Troupadores for three months. He was a non-drinker and anyone who knew the Troupadores, will tell you that they enjoyed a drink or two after their shows. Kenny found it hard to fit in with this lifestyle. He returned to Perth and went on to have an outstanding career as a jingle writer and was Musical Director for the Perth telethon for 30 years.
The single By The Devil/ The Collector was released on the M7 label in April 1973. The record charted in all states except NSW (Vic 37, Qld 17, SA 33, WA 19, Tas 16) and topped the charts in some regional areas. But the original Blue Mink version dominated the airplay and overshadowed the Troupadores version. The B-side, The Collector, was an original by Rick Selby and Peter Bull sang the lead. A second single, Sing A Song/Roberta was released in 1974. Roberta was a cover of a great song originally recorded by New Orleans singer Frankie Ford, but the single was not successful. UK producer Roger Savage produced both singles at Armstrong Studios, Melbourne.
To find a replacement keyboard player the band started looking around some of the clubs and pubs on the Gold Coast. At the Coolangatta Hotel, a band called Caboose were playing and their keyboard player, Bruce Coleman impressed them. Caboose, were a New Zealand band who had originally been called the Hi-Revving Tongues. The Hi-Revving Tongues were a highly successful group in New Zealand and had released several charting singles and two LPs. Finding success in Australia proved difficult and Caboose were at a bit of a loose end at this time. When offered a place in the Troupadores, Bruce gladly accepted.
Bruce Coleman enjoyed being part of the Troupadores and recalls that when they were performing, “the vibe that they got with the audience was massive.” Bruce would sing Van Morrison’s Jackie Wilson Said and would get out the front and do a Mick Jagger thing on the Stones’, Start Me Up. He recalls,
“You get a bit lost with the keyboards not in front of you, but when you get out front and you know you’ve got the Peter Andersens’ and the Hoss’ beside you blasting on the sax or guitar, you know you’re in good company and you know you’re not going to fall over. It was just good fun.”
After finishing an extended season at the Homestead Hotel in Brisbane in October, the group drove to Darwin for a two-week residency at the Berrima Hotel. The group travelled to Darwin at the same time in 1974 and were lucky enough to leave just before Cyclone Tracy hit.
Early in October 1973, the group were chosen as one of the acts to appear on the first television program to be broadcast from the Sydney Opera House, which was a real feather in the cap for them. Other performers included on this telecast were Lana Cantrell, Rolf Harris, Barry Crocker, Normie Rowe and Kerrie Biddell.
The hectic pace did not slow down for the group. After completing a season at the Playroom, they travelled to Adelaide where they performed at the Old Lion Hotel for a few weeks. Their next booking was a return visit to Perth. It was a triumphant return to their hometown, but what happened next was amazing. After finishing the Sunday session at the Charles Hotel in North Perth at 8.30, their next gig was on the other side of the country at the Playroom on Queensland’s Gold Coast. They had less than three days to get there. Bruce Coleman recalls this incredible story,
“We played at the Charles on Sunday, packed our gear up, said goodbye to everyone and hit the road …. There was a big convoy going down the Nullarbor. The Toyota bus with all the gear in it, including the Hammond, all the amplifiers and the PA. Then there was Peter Andersen in the mini van and Hoss was driving the bus. Peter Bull had a station wagon and his family.”
The road across the Nullarbor was mostly unsealed at this time and red dust would get into any holes or cracks in the vehicles. Bruce continues,
“Hoss was lying in the back of the bus and we got to the end of the Nullarbor and we stopped for a cup of coffee or a burger. He woke up and all you could see was the whites of his eyes of his eyes, his whole body was covered in red dust.”
The band drove non-stop and by around 1.30pm on Wednesday, they arrived at Tullabugerra, a distance of around 4,300 kms. They unpacked their gear, had a shower and a cup of tea, changed into their stage clothes and were on stage at 7 o’clock.
In 1975 the Troupadors recorded their first album. Recorded at the ATA Studios in Sydney with producer Peter Stephenson, the album contains a collection of the best songs from the group’s live repertoire and showcases their versatility as vocalists and musicians. After the album was recorded there was a hold up with the pressing of the record because ATA would not release the tapes until the sessions were paid for.
Beryl Carnell, The Playroom manager paid for the printing of the cover that depicted the band on stage at the Playroom, which was also the title of the album, giving the Gold Coast venue some good publicity. Issued on the Wheel label, the LP was sold at their live shows. The personnel listed on the record sleeve are, Peter Bull (drums), Doug Wilkinson (bass, glockenspiel), John Hossen (saxophone, flute), Peter Andersen (saxophone, guitar), Rick Selby (guitar), Bill Blissett (keyboards) and Will Dower (percussion).
As a recording group, the Troupadores never achieved great success. But in financial terms they were much better off than any of the chart topping groups in Australia at the time. This story from Bill Blissett confirms this.
“We were up in Cairns and we supported Sherbet up there. We were in the bar after we finished playing and we were talking to them. We said, ‘How are you guys going?’ And they said, ‘We’d just like to make some money.’ ‘What do you mean make some money, you’ve had number one hits and all that.’ And Daryl Braithwaite and bass player Harvey James said, ‘All the money’s going into make us famous and paying for the records and all that and we live on about $50 a week.’ And I said, ‘You’re joking, to survive like that.’ And they said, ‘We don’t enjoy life like you guys.’ I just thought it was unreal that they were so famous and not making any money.”
All of the bands who worked on the Dayman circuit have stories about some of the impossible demands Dayman made on them, regarding travelling between venues. Rick Selby recalls,
“We had a joke that Ivan had a map of Australia that he threw a dart at and would say, ‘That’s where you’re going boys.’ We’d get organised to go and then he’d say, ‘By the way, you’ve got to be back in Brisbane two days later.’ It was a bit rigorous, but we had a lot of fun. We drank a lot, but we didn’t do drugs. We thought, ‘There’s too many problems with drugs,’ But we drank a lot of booze.”
Travelling huge distances by road was not as easy for Peter Bull as it was for the rest of the band. Towing a caravan and with two small children, he was not able to keep up with the rest of the group. The family had some frightening experiences and travelling through North Queensland, during the ‘wet’ season was not a good time to travel through this region. Lorraine Bull recalls,
“Coming back from Mackay, there was a huge flood and we were stuck on one side of a raging river. We waited until it went down a bit and we very carefully drove across, along with a whole stream of other people who had been stopped. We had some pretty scary times with the car breaking down. Pete was an amazing person and he could fix just about anything. You just had to get things fixed up as quickly as you could because you had to be onstage, whatever happened”
By the end of 1976, all of the group members were growing tired of the constant travelling and being away from home. Peter Andersen recalled,
“The touring got to everyone and Peter Bull particularly had a wife and two babies carting around the countryside with his panel van and the caravan. I was married, Rick was married and our wives who couldn’t travel had to stay on the Gold Coast. We’d only be home probably 8 months of the year, the rest of the time we were on the road, and that doesn’t make for happy families. So at the end of 1976 Peter said, ‘I’m going to have to pull out, the kids need stability’.”
Peter Bull and his family moved back to Perth and a couple of the other band members stayed on the Gold Coast for a while, but eventually drifted back to Western Australia. Peter Andersen got a job with another band and continued working for Dayman at the Surfers Paradise Beer Garden. Peter Bull lived in Bunbury for a while before taking a job in 1978 as Lounge Manager at the Old Lion Hotel in Adelaide, but he did not enjoy it and returned to Perth.
Rick Selby formed the Troups, which featured Tony Worsley as lead vocalist, then joined forces with three former members of the Troupadores, Doug Wilkinson, John Hossen and Bill Blissett, in a group called Circus. They played in the Paradise Room at the Surfers Paradise Hotel and did a few gigs at the Playroom.
On April 21st 1980, the ‘Original Troupadors’ were invited to reform for a special one off performance titled ‘The Way We Were’ at Pinocchios Nightclub Perth. The line-up for the re-union show included, Jimmy Lee, Lloyd Abeysekera, Peter Bull, Rick Selby and Peter Nell. An additional member David Skewes played keyboards and moog. The show was hailed a great success and as a result of the positive reaction to this performance, it was decided that the group would continue with the addition of former member John Hossen.
In 1982 Peter Nell left to concentrate on the booking agency he had started called Concerts West and his place was taken by Reg Carson. Reg was an extremely talented performer and could mimic any singer including Gene Pitney and do great impressions of well-known actors like James Stewart and Walter Brennan. Not long afterwards, Jimmy Lee left and Brenton Fosdike replaced him. Brenton Fosdike an outstanding singer and guitarist took over on lead guitar and Rick Selby moved to bass. Fosdike had played in a number of Perth bands from the early 60s including Mark IV and Ssarb. In the 70s he joined the highly successful Melbourne band, the Mixtures who are well known for their hit with The Pushbike Song.
Former Troupadores singer/saxophone player Peter Andersen moved to Cairns in Far North Queensland and was playing in a band called Shazam. One weekend he was heading off for a fishing trip to the Daintree with the bass player, his wife and a girlfriend, when they collided head on with a police car and he was severely injured. Peter recalls,
“I don’t remember much about it about it at the time, apparently I died in the accident. They bought me back to life. The strange thing about it, I’ve always been a huge fan of Elvis and he died on 16th August, and so did I. It was five years later, but it was the same date.”
Peter had a lengthy stay in hospital to recuperate and when he came out early in 1983, Peter Bull rang and told him they were doing a 21st birthday show. He wanted guys from different eras of the band to perform and asked him to come back to Perth to be part of it. Peter returned to Perth for the show, then the current singer, Reg Carson left, so Peter rejoined the band. The line-up of the group when Peter returned in 1983 was, Peter Andersen, Peter Bull, Lloyd Abeysekera, John Hossen and David Skewes.
A second reunion show called ‘The Way We Were 1974’ was held on July 24th 1999, at the Globe Nightclub in Perth. The event was organised by Roland Ott and Ngaio Dayman (wife of Ivan) was a surprise special guest on the night. Two different line-ups of the Troupadores performed on the show as well as reformed versions of Breakaway and Fatty Lumpkin. The Troupadores 1974 line-up included Peter Bull, Peter Andersen, Bill Blissett, John Hossen, Rick Selby and Doug Wilkinson. In a review of the show the producer of the event, Roland Ott wrote,
“They performed energetically and courageously and made it seem that no time had lapsed. At the push of a button they mowed down the audience with their sensational music, songs and on stage presentation.”
The current Troupadores 2000 line-up closed the show. The members included John Hossen, Paul Ewing, John Kellett, Chris O’Leary and Peter Slatter.
The Troupadores continued working around Perth throughout the 80s and 90s and had regular work at hotels and sometimes at bigger functions like balls and corporate functions on weekends. But when the .08 drink driving limits were introduced in the mid-90s, there was a dramatic fall in the number of people going to hotels. Eventually the band was not getting enough work to continue. Peter Bull retired in 1992 when he turned 50 and Peter Anderson left in 2000. The band continued on for a few more years before calling it a day, but have occasionally reformed for special one-off shows. Peter Anderson made this comment regarding the demise of the band,
“When the .08 drinking level came in, people just stopped going to pubs. We would always do a hotel on Wednesday, Thursday, sometimes Friday and a Sunday session. Once .08 came in, the crowds dwindled and in the end, the pubs turned into restaurants. There was just not enough money to keep the band going on a professional basis.”
The Troupadores were a hardworking and professional group of talented musicians. They entertained many people and thrilled audiences with their skilful playing, singing and stage antics. In the very competitive live music scene they set the benchmark for other groups to aspire to. They may not be as well known as other groups from the 60s and 70s, but they definitely deserve a place among the top entertainers in Australian music in this era. Lorraine Bull was able to witness the band perform many times during the time her husband Peter was part of the band and comments,
“They always kept it fresh, even though they sang the same songs year after year, every night. They seemed to enjoy themselves onstage and I think that is what came across to the audience. They kept it fresh and they didn’t look as if it was, ‘Oh no, not this song again.’ They loved doing it.”
Discography:
Big Boat(Peretti, Creatore, Weiss)/Near To Me (Rick Selby, Jimmy Lee)
Clarion MCK-1722 02/67
Come Home Baby (Mann, Weil)/Little Boat
Clarion MCK-2104 01/68
The Troupadors EP Life 4-027 1969
Conversations, I Say A Little Prayer, I Can’t Quit Her(Al Kooper, Irwin Levine)
Sound Of Peppermint (Ross Ryan)/Keep On Truckin’
Peppermint 1 1971
By The Devil(I Was Tempted)(Flett,Fletcher)/The Collector(Rick Selby)
M7 MS-015 04/74
Sing A Song (Martin Brown)/Roberta (Huey Smith)
M7 MS-028 1974
The Playroom LP Wheel 1975
Love The One Your With, Drift Away, William Tell Overture, Leah, Little Darlin’, Beach Boys Medley/I’ve Got The Music In Me, Lonely Days Lonely Nights, Rockin’ Pneumonia, I’ll Never Pass This Way Again, The Wonder Of You, Rhythm Of Life, Higher & Higher.
Tracks on compilation albums:
By The Devil - Super Bad Majestic TA-246 1975
By The Devil – Rock Me Gently: Australian Pop OF The 70s
Sony 88697966302 2012
RIP
Lloyd Abeysekera 1936 - 2017
Peter Bull 1943 – 2014
Rex Bullen 1946 - 1982
Reg Carson 1942 - 2018
John Hossen 1942 - 2007
Jimmy Lee 1940 - 1997
Doug Wilkinson 1945 - 2010
Sources:
Peter Andersen – Interview: March 9th, 2020
Bill Blissett – Interview: October 21st, 2020
Graeme Brown – Sunshine Secrets, Moonlight 2019
Lorraine Bull – Interview: May 13th, 2020
Peter Bull – Interview: August 13th, 2003
Bruce Coleman – Interview: November 11th, 2020
Peter Nell – The Evolution of the Troupadores, 2020
The Profile with Gary Dunn – Peter Andersen Ep.46 Jan 19th, 2018; Reg Carson Ep.40 Dec 8th, 2017; Peter Nell Ep.82 Feb 15th, 2019; Rick Selby Ep.63 Oct 12th, 2018, Kenny Walther Ep.76, Jan 3rd, 2019
Rick Selby – Interview – June 19th, 2020
Kenny Walther – Interview: November 16th, 2020