Th' Dudes

Bio

The national success of the Th' Dudes came about through a combination of genuine talent and clever marketing and, at the height of their popularity, the group acted and demanded to be treated like stars. For a while they were, but few groups have come tumbling down as fast as the Th' Dudes, leaving behind a trail of bad debts and bad manners.

Peter Urlich, Dave Dobbyn and Ian Morris were all school friends at Sacred Heart College and on leaving school they all shared the dream of entering the world of rock n roll.

In 1974 Urlich and Morris formed a band called Chillum with Glendowie College boys Andrew Bayliss, Glen Owen and Bruce Murdoch. Having no success as a group they disbanded in 1975. Urlich, Morris andanother Sacred Heart College old boy, Peter Coleman, stayed together and, after several false starts, finally convinced Dobbyn to join them. They recruited Bruce Hambling on drums and called themselves Th' Dudes. The name of the group coming from Tony Benyon's Lone Groover cartoon character in New Musical Express. The Lone Groover was a hip, masked bandido who spoke in apostrophes and called everyone "dude" way before the surf culture claimed the term.

Th' Dudes began rehearsing in the summer of 1975/1976 and made their debut at Crofts nightclub. In September 1976, they were a late entry in the Battle Of the Bands contest, but proved successful by taking out first prize. They gradually built up a reputation as THE hard-rocking band for your club social or school ball.

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