Coloured Balls -

Coloured Balls were an Australian hard-rock band from Melbourne led by guitarist Lobby Loyde. They collaborated with Aztecs figurehead Billy Thorpe on the 1973 Mushroom release Summer Jam, followed by the EMI albums Ball Power and Heavy Metal Kid. Their earliest sessions (circa 1972) appeared as The First Supper Last, released in 1976 on Rainbird.

Members: Lobby Loyde (guitar), Andrew Fordham (guitar, vocals), Janis Miglans (bass), Trevor Young (drums), Phil Rudd (drums)

Background

Coloured Balls formed in March 1972 in Melbourne when guitarist–singer Lobby Loyde assembled guitarist–singer Andrew Fordham, bassist Janis “John” Miglans, and drummer Peter White around a name first used for a studio project.

Loyde originated the Coloured Balls name in January on “Liberate Rock” and “Slowest Guitar on Earth,” which he cut at TCS Studios in Richmond with members of Billy Thorpe & The Aztecs. Loyde played in the Sixties bands Purple Hearts and Wild Cherries, followed by a 1968-70 Aztecs stint. Fordham came from Melbourne group the Brigade, which released two Astor singles following a 1968 appearance in the Hoadley’s Battle of the Sounds.

Early Activity

Coloured Balls made an early festival appearance at Rock Isle in Mulwala over the Easter weekend and established a Melbourne circuit that included Sebastians, the Roundhouse, Q Club, and Garrison. The group also made two trips to Sydney. White soon left the drum chair, filled briefly by “Big” Jeff Lowe. Unreleased Album

In July 1972, Coloured Balls hired drummer Trevor Young, who first worked with guitarist Ian “Bobsie” Millar in the 1967 group Blacksie’s Babies Soul Band. Havoc issued “Liberate Rock” in August while Coloured Balls entered Armstrong Studios with engineer John Sayers. Loyde produced a full album under the working title Rock Your Arse Off, which Havoc announced for release near the end of the year. After the death of label head Frank Smith, Havoc folded with the album in the vaults.

Image Change

During their late 1972 stop in Brisbane, Loyde and his bandmates cut their long hair close except for tails at the back, which they bleached. Millar later traced the idea to a Hare Krishna roadie and acquaintances in Queensland, although the resulting look closely matched hairstyles within Melbourne’s Sharpie youth culture.

Sharpies soon formed a substantial part of the Coloured Balls audience, and the band became closely identified with the movement. Loyde had already taken an interest in the emerging Sharpie generation and regarded Coloured Balls as a means of reaching younger Melbourne audiences. (The band’s new look also resembled Clicker, a contemporary yet musically dissimilar Wisconsin band.)

Coloured Balls played the second Sunbury Pop Festival in January 1973 and joined Billy Thorpe and Leo de Castro for a late-night jam. After Sunbury, Fordham cleared for “Bobsie” Millar, fresh from the Australian Army National Service. Midyear, manager Rod De Gruchy secured an EMI deal. However, EMI rejected Rock Your Arse Off and paired Coloured Balls with producer Ian D. Miller and engineer John Sayers for “Mess of the Blues” (b/w “Devil’s Disciple”). When the single reached No. 39 on the Kent Music Report, EMI greenlit sessions for an album.

Discography: