The fabulous Dance Band of 1971
In 1971, four of our HSC students got together, rehearsing during lunchtimes, and put together a dance band. They were all very talented musos; Malcolm Linsell and Jim Davidson on trumpet, Barry George on alto sax and Tony Coulepis on tenor sax.
Whenever they rehearsed in Assembly Hall, a small crowd would gather, appreciatively, to hear In the Mood and St Louis Blues.
They linked up with other musicians, and expanded their repertoire; Michael Tyack on piano, Greg Whittle on rhythm guitar, Karl Wirz on base guitar and Geoff, a drummer from outside the school.
And they even went on Channel 9's New Faces and did very well, coming second.
Nowadays, they are all engaged in diverse careers...Malcolm is a plastic surgeon in Melbourne, who is about to branch into entrepreneurial pursuits. Barry, a structural engineer, lives in Shanghai, where he plays music in a bush band (no longer alto sax or clarinet) and his wife, Jackie, sings and plays guitar and banjo. Tony has been involved in major research into Hepatitis classifications and biotechnology. Jim has lived in Botswana and the Northern Territory, where he has resided for the past 25 years - he is occupied with management projects and as an advisor to a Northern Territory politician. Karl, was a very talented musician and artist (and I can remember him putting together a fabulous bright blue sports car in his final year!) - it was a tragedy that he died prematurely, from a heart attack, at age 36. Michael, an incredible talent on piano (he had his A.Mus.A by the end of Form 5 and had won a major piano competition announced at Assembly), went on to become a prominent musical director and accompanist.
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Left to right: Malcolm Linsell, Jim Davidson, Barry George, Tony Coulepis |
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The regulars are joined by Michael Tyack on piano and Greg Whittle on guitar |
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And here they are performing on Channel 9's "New Faces"! The fabulous Late (great) Karl Wirz is playing bass guitar. |
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The Dance Orchestra (left to right): Michael Tyack on piano, Malcolm Linsell (trumpet), Greg Whittle (guitar), Tony Coulepis (saxophone), Barry George (saxophone), Ian Tantau (saxophone), Ian Riley (saxophone) and Karl Wirz (bass guitar) |
©CHESS 2001