Have Gravity Will Threaten

Peter Allen (R) with guitar: 1956 Spotlight Parade †

The most famous entertainer to emerge from the Northern Tablelands was undoubtedly Peter Allen (q.v.). Born Peter Richard Woolnough at Tenterfield in 1944, Allen later lived in Armidale where he attended the local high school. He taught himself to sing and play piano, and learned to tap dance in the building which is now the Folk Museum. Even before reaching his teens he regularly entertained the patrons of the New England Hotel’s Ladies Lounge.   Eileen Kelly (the daughter of Armidale dance teacher Claire Napier) recalls in an ABC “Local Stories”  interview with Jennifer Ingle that Allen and some of her mother’s students performed around the region, and that he also formed a band called “The Skiffle Group” which used to play in a local hotel (possibly Mann’s New England Hotel).  

Mike McClellan

The Armidale Teachers’ College/CAE and the University of New England have also been a source of entertainment and entertainers for both students and the general populace. In the early 1960s, for example, Mike McClellan (q.v.), learned guitar while studying to be a teacher. He soon began playing it while singing pop tunes with the college band. After graduating he moved to Sydney and became a central figure in the emerging folk scene. McClellan didn’t forget the important role that Armidale played in his musical development, however. He returned on an almost yearly basis throughout the ’70s to perform at various venues in the city and at the University of New England.  [see McClellan's entry in Artists/Bands: M-R for further details]

Images: Harry Clay photo courtesy of Clay Djubal • Peter Allen photo courtesy of Eileen Kelly – from ABC New England North West NSW: Local Stories (online): “Peter Allen’s Armidale“ (q.v.) • Mike McClellan photo from An Evening with Mike McClellan – Live (1978).  

2. Armidale and the Tertiary Education Factor

During the 1960s, the Menzies Liberal Government encouraged and funded the establishment of new universities to cater for increasing demand. These universities were built in outlying suburbs and offered special scholarships to encourage students to undertake postgraduate research studies.  In 1967, the Government also created a category of non-university tertiary institution called College of Advanced Education. These CAEs were easier to access and cheaper to attend than the traditional university, while delivering many university-equivalent Bachelor degrees.     

The 1970s saw a significant push to make tertiary education in Australia more accessible to working and middle class Australians. While the Whitlam Labor Government abolished university fees in 1974, this did not greatly change the socio-economic backgrounds of students attending capital city-based universities because 75-80% of students were on Commonwealth scholarships anyway, and most youths from low income families were still disadvantaged because they were not completing secondary education.  

What the combined university and CAE presence in Armidale did was provide an option for a larger number of young people to stay on in the area after school. Most other regional towns to that time saw significant numbers of young locals leave either for tertiary education or wider employment opportunities. As the University expanded its courses and facilities throughout the 1970s and early 1980s, there was also a rise in the number of new families moving to the city. The result was that for the Armidale music scene the considerably high percentage of young people looking for entertainment (and primarily musical entertainment) was much greater than any other regional centre. 

3. Hotels, Clubs and the Birth of the Pub Rock Era 

Prior to the mid-1950s most regional hotels (or pubs) had no real need or desire to offer live entertainment, and certainly not on a regular basis. While the abolition of six o’clock closing in NSW in 1955, and a rise in affluence throughout the general population should have allowed the industry to grow, the introduction of legal poker machines in clubs beginning in 1956 meant that pubs found it increasingly difficult to match the facilities offered to club members. Up until the late 1970s, too, pubs in NSW (unlike licensed clubs) could not trade on Sundays. The only way around this law was for people to travel more than 40 miles. For thirsty Armidalians the Bendemeer Hotel, 42 miles south along the New England Highway, was a favourite destination for a drive during those years. The increasing number of new clubs, along with a rapid spread of motels and takeaway liquor outlets, further eroded the pub’s domination of both liquor sales and accommodation. 

The restrictive state liquor licensing laws (including closing times that ranged between 10pm and midnight) meant that only a small proportion of live pop-rock music in Australia was performed on licensed premises (mostly private clubs or discos). The majority of concerts were held in non-licensed venues like community, church or municipal halls. These concerts and dances were ‘all-ages’ events—often with adult supervision—and alcohol was not served. The problem of suitable venues was exacerbated because Australian clubs, while more suitable in terms of licensing laws, were mostly non-committal when it came to rock music, preferring to cater to the middle of the road tastes of its members. 

The New England Hotel, Armidale (1978)

The 1960s and 1970s therefore saw a shake-out in the hotel industry. While some hoteliers sought to compete with the clubs by offering classier and more family-orientated venues, others focused their attention towards the continually expanding youth market. In addition to this, pub opening hours were extended, discriminatory regulations (such as the long-standing ban on women entering or drinking in public bars) were removed, and in the 1970s the legal drinking age was lowered from 21 to 18. 

Imperial Hotel, Armidale (1970s)

As publicans began to realise the profit potential, more and more pubs in capital cities and major towns began to offer regular live music, and a thriving circuit evolved. This enabled bands to tour up and down the eastern and southern coast of Australia from North Queensland to South Australia. As a result the pub rock era was born. Some of Australia and New Zealand’s most successful bands emerged during this time, including AC/DC, Billy Thorpe and the Aztecs, Cold Chisel, Skyhooks, Sherbet, Dragon, Split Enz, Jo Jo Zep and the Falcons, The Angels, The Radiators, INXS, Icehouse, Rose Tattoo, Hush, Midnight Oil and so on. 

The pub rock phenomenon eventually caused the clubs to feel the financial pinch as that industry failed to attract young people and hence numbers began to fall. However, when poker machines were eventually allowed in pubs, many hoteliers saw this as an easier option to live music. As the pub rock industry gradually contracted, and commercial pressures were applied to up and coming bands to play mostly cover songs, the end result was that more and more bands were competing for fewer venues. The electronic dance movement in Australia had also by the mid-1990s taken many patrons away from pubs and into either night clubs or raves, further eroding the industry, and thus signalling the end of the pub rock era. 

Images:  Imperial Hotel photo by Roy Evans, courtesy of Armidale and District Historical Society 11 (1968), p. 36.  • New England Hotel photo from Neucleus 13 Sept. (1978), p. 23.

4. Cafes, Restaurants and Community Centres

While the hotel and club industry was the primary employer of local rock bands throughout the Northern Tablelands during the 1970s and 1980s, many other opportunities were available to musicians outside the pub environment. Cafes, restaurants and small community-based centres also became viable venues for solo performers and small ensembles (both acoustic and electric) from the early 1970s onwards. Although increasing competition in Armidale’s hospitality industry, for example,  led many businesses to put on regular entertainment sessions as a means of attracting custom (espeically in the lucrative youth and student demographic), there were also a number of community and service organisations which saw value in providing a performance space in order to encourage fellowship if not just a place for young people to hang out.

1976

The range of alternative music venues in Armidale during the 1970s ranged from places like The Coffee House (which encouraged such free activities as jam sessions, songwriting competitions and bush music weekends) to wine bar/bistro-type establishments such as The Galloping Grape (which regularly employed musicians to entertain its customers – with the music ranging from lounge-style piano bar music to low volume bands playing traditional bush music and jazz). Other opportunities for musicians could be found in small cafe/restaurants like the Peter Rabbit Teahouse (Centrepoint Arcade), while the 7 Brothers Greek restaurant, owned and operated by the Rologas family, employed its own house band to entertain patrons (up to five nights a week during the mid-late 1970s). In 1979 the 7 Brothers even began operating an occasional disco in its upstairs function room. Another local institution, the Umberumerka Art Gallery Restaurant, situated on Rockvale Road a few kilometres outside the city limits, also provided occasional employment opportunities.

In the 1980s, as Armidale grew exponentially as a result of increasing student numbers, the number of local businesses offering entertainment also increased. One of the key establishments operating between 1987 and 1988 was Clayz Kitchen, which attracted a largely student/youth patronage. In addition to cheap food and beverages (with a focus on international and vegetarian cuisines), the cafe/restaurant provided regular entertainment on weekends and throughout the week. In addition being a venue for musicians and small ensembles Clayz was regularly used by the University of New England’s Film Club (Duck Soup) and its drama society. The 1987 Australian Jazz Festival, which was held in Armidale between Boxing Day and New Year’s Eve, also turned Clayz into an almost 24 hour venue during that week.  

Sources: Clay Djubal (2010) • Neucleus (1970-1979). Image: Galloping Grape advertisement, Neculeus 27 Apr. (1976), p. 17.

 Further Reference:

• Armidale and District Historial Society Journal (1964-1995)
• Djubal, Clay. “Harry Clay and Clay’s Vaudeville Company – 1865-1925: An Historical and Critical Survey.” MA Thesis, University of Qld, 1997.
• Neucleus (1970-1994)
• Turnbull, Malcolm J. ”Key Players in The Sydney Coffee Lounge Scene.” In Australian Folklore Unit with Warren Faye.  Malcolm J. Turnbull Archive, p. 6, 2006, http://www.warrenfahey.com/revival_sydney.htm (sighted 10 Dec. 2009)  [re: Mike McClellan]

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