The Flying Circus were an Australian pop and country rock band with founding mainstays, Doug Rowe on lead guitar and vocals and Colin Walker on drums. They had three top 30 pop hits, "Hayride", "La La" and "Run Run Run", in Australia from 1968 to 1971. These were not typical of their live work nor later recordings. They re-located to Canada from 1971 to 1974 where they achieved chart success with "Old Enough (to Break My Heart)" and "Maple Lady" (both 1972). Doug Rowe died in July 2015.
1968: Beginnings
The Flying Circus were formed in August 1968 in Sydney as a country, folk-rock band with Bob Hughes on bass guitar and vocals, Doug Rowe on guitar and vocals (ex-New Zealand group, Castaways), James Wynne on vocals and guitar and Colin Walker on drums. They performed "harmony-rich covers of Byrds, Dylan and Dillards country songs." Like the Byrds, a prominent part of their early sound came from the use of a 12-string Rickenbacker guitar. Hughes left the band in early 1969; he was replaced by bassist Warren Ward, while the group added Greg Grace on vocals and harmonica.
Hughes later became an actor and appeared in a musical documentary film, ABBA: The Movie (1977), and had the lead role on the TV sitcom, Hey Dad..! (1987–94). In 2014, Hughes was convicted of sexual offences against children while on the set of Hey Dad...! and was sentenced to 10 years and 9 months imprisonment.
1969: "Hayride" and "La La" to The Flying Circus
The Flying Circus signed to EMI Records/Columbia Graphophone Company in late 1968 and appeared at an outdoor concert in Sydney's Domain on Australia Day 1969. The original line-up recorded a cover version of "Shame Shame", but it was not released at that time. Their first chart success occurred with their debut single, a cover of American songwriters, Buzz Cason and Mac Gayden's song, "Hayride" (February 1969), which peaked at No. 23 on the Go-Set National Top 40. The song has a Chipmunks sounding intro, which resulted in the band being branded with a bubblegum pop tag, although their stage performances and later recordings were in the country rock vein.
Notwithstanding its trite nature, "Hayride", was initially banned in New Zealand due to a suggestive lyric, "making love in the hay." A promotional film-clip was broadcast on national TV pop show, Uptight!. Their second single, another Cason-Gayden song, "La La" (May 1969), reached No. 9. It was a more sophisticated performance, but still reinforced their image as a bubblegum band. The group recorded their self-titled debut album in May, produced by Mike Perjanik and released in that year. According to Australian musicologist, Ian McFarlane, "[it] was an odd collection of the pop hits, Byrds' covers, an ill-conceived medley of songs from the rock musical Hair and a couple of Rowe's country-rock tunes."
Greg Grace left in June 1969 to form Hot Cottage; Warren Ward left in September, to form Stonehenge and he joined Blackfeather in 1971 and performed on their hit single, "Boppin' the Blues" (July 1972). Ward was replaced on bass guitar by Terry Wilkins (ex-Starving Wild Dogs, Quill). "Run Run Run", issued in December 1969, was their last bubblegum pop hit, which peaked at No. 19. It sounded much like the first two Cason-Gayden hits although it was written by Rowe.
1970–71: Prepared in Peace and line-up changes
The Flying Circus released their first extended play, Frontier, in April 1970. Its four tracks were produced by Perjanik, again. McFarlane described how it, "featured all country songs, including covers of Dylan's 'I'll Be Your Baby Tonight' and Merle Haggard's 'The Day the Rains Came'." The band had returned to their country-rock roots; it included Rowe's "I Remember Jo-Anne" and Wilkins' "When Will I See You As You". Also in April they added a fifth member, lead guitarist and pedal steel player, Bertram "Red" McKelvie, (ex-Starving Wild Dogs, Quill). McKelvie's arrival steered the group towards straight-ahead country music.