Page 4. 1990’s Resurrections of Sorts…
Nothing much happening band-wise for me during the early 1990’s. I had stayed in touch with Rob “Pud” Holcombe from the Avengers days, and with my brother Oz of course, but I had lost contact with Don Newman for many years. Noycey caught up with Don circa 1997, and the idea was floated that we should form a band to play for Di Noyce’s 50th birthday. Jack Harvey was on board and “Jack and the Flashbacks” were formed–Jack singing and playing keyboard and guitar, Noycey on guitar, sax, harmonica and occasionally squeezebox, Don on guitar, Pud on drums and Kev on bass. Jack did most of the singing, Don some too, and I sang harmony. We played old style rock ‘n roll together with some more recent country (eg The Amazing Rhythm Aces), and some of Jack’s and Don’s originals. The Flashbacks played mainly for private friends’ parties (a few noteworthy New Year’s Eves!), but a few paid functions where Noycey took most of the money because we all owed him for various musical services and equipment!
We played a few times for a group called “the Wine Flies”, food and wine people who used to book an accommodation or camping venue for a weekend of self-catered wine and food. The challenge was to see if the band could outlast the punters into the small hours, and we did once or twice!
The Flashbacks played occasionally for a few years. Don and Pud living in Melbourne made rehearsals difficult, and we had never really planned to be an ongoing working band.
The Surf Shadows
The 5 O’Clock Shadz finished in 1994. Around the turn of the century, Dave Dahlenburg, Bruce Schmidt and Kev from the original 5 O’Clocks talked about playing surf instrumentals. John Ducardus came on board. John is a guitarist who played in several Ballarat bands through the 60’s, 70’s, 80’s. John is also a singer. I had redeveloped a backyard shed into a rehearsal space, and started to collect some PA gear and a drum kit courtesy Kurtis Noyce, and the Greenshed was born! The Surf Shadows persist to this day! Most recent gig late July 2024. We’ve played pretty consistently at various gigs over the years, including one function at the MCG (in a function room, not on the hallowed turf). We also recorded an album of tunes, “Living in a Surf Shadow”, at the Greenshed 2015-18.
COVID put a stop to gigs and even rehearsals in 2019 as did serious cancer treatments and recoveries for John, Bruce and Dave over the next few years. Their oncologist reckons he has me in his sights for the quadrella of Surf Shadz members, but I’ve dodged him so far! The Surf Shadz are back on the horse in 2024 with a couple of gigs. Check the band out further below…
The Surfers were my primary band through the early 2000’s and the Flashbacks played occasionally. I also played in a group with friends Ollie and Allie Parnaby and Sandy Richards. Ollie played guitar, Allie sang and Sandy played drums. I’ve forgotten the name of the band, but we played a few gigs.
Greenshed Music 