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Strange Idols

Strange Idols were a New Wave influenced band that was formed in 1980 by Peter Summers and Brian Gamble in Melbourne, Australia. The band played 346 gigs, supporting many of the best known Australian bands of the time (Cold Chisel, Midnight Oil, The Angels, Split Enz) and disbanded in 1983. During that period they recorded the single "Tired of Earth" for Polygram Records, appeared on Australian pop TV show "Countdown" on May 7 1982 and "Hey Hey It's Saturday" on May 22, and recorded an unreleased album at Sing Sing Studios in 1983.

The band consisted of


 * Robert Price, vocals (replaced by Ray Fitzgerald in November 1982)
 * Brian Gamble, drums, vocals
 * Howard Croft, keyboards
 * Mat Morris, bass
 * Victor Kater, guitar, vocals
 * Peter Summers, guitar, keyboard, vocals

A Strange Idols performance at Earls Court in Melbourne was reviewed in Juke Magazine on 19/12/1981 by Christie Eleazar.

"What is in the Strange Idols sound? A little bit of this and a little bit of that, actually.

It’s a brave attempt by the six piece to borrow from as many sources of Australian Top 40 and American underground and produce a sound that’s deliciously different from the usual and tired garbage peddled by bands in Melbourne at the moment.

Strange Idols are led by the over-confident Robert Price (who introduces himself as the “Perry Como of the new wave”) who’s always given a visual spark to his former bands, the Riverina Playboys and Shades. Both aroused some (read : minimal) critical acclaim around the circuit but split up before they had a chance to establish themselves.

Let’s hope that Strange Idols hang around, because they do have something to offer.

Some of the band come from another unit who caused some interest in the critical arena of Melbourne pop-rock - Airwaves - who later evolved into The Touch. But the band failed to break into the wider area and went the way of all cult bands. The lineup of Strange Idols includes Peter Summers (guitar) Brian Gamble (drums) Viv Kater (guitar) Howard Croft (keyboards) and Mutt Morris (bass).

In most bands, attempts to fuse different styles invariably end up weak and diluted. Strange Idols transcend that with a charm that is both listenable and danceable. “Letter to the Editor” introduced wryly as “how Issi Dye affects the brain” (Dye is a late night TV ad plugger doing the East Coast who manages to let us watch movies between the ads - ed) has a catchy AM radio hook. Most of the songs are propelled along by a strong bass line and thrashing drums but within that the strong melody work still get some nice keyboards/guitar licks to bring them out.

“Line of Least Resistance” and “Airwaves” were two songs that stood out. Price has always been a rogue onstage. He deliberately keeps pricking the audience’s attention with weird stage patter, sarcastic asides and funny one-liner putdowns. Whether you end up wanting to kill him or shake his hand because he’s “okay”, he’s one of the few showman around who’s up there because he thinks he’s great (and it’s imperative an entertainer should think like that) and deserves to be heard.

It’s a case of how-dare-you-pricks-down-there-keep-on-drinking-and-chatting-up-people when-you-should-be-thinking-how-great-I-am. I’m exaggerating of course, but you get my drift.

“Isolation” is a slow moody piece, almost sensual in the way the keyboards/synthesiser frills are approached, and creates a contrast with the rest of the set. For the most part Strange Idols work on the clever musicianship within melodic dance music, with songs like “Tired of Earth” and “Strange Affair”. I didn’t catch the full set, but in the red carpeted quasi-poshness of the newly opened Earl’s Court, the crowd came to be entertained.

Strange Idols have an LP in the can engineered by Ernie Rose and produced by European knob twiddler Ray Ruic".