The Exiles were a Brisbane based band formed in early 1966 by rhythm guitarist Bert Mullemeister and drummer David Elias. They were joined by lead guitarist Lindsay Basing, Ray Suckling on bass and vocalist Barry McLean.

The group played at various dances, hotels and disco’s in and around Brisbane supporting southern bands like the Easybeats at the Bowl in South Brisbane and The Scene in the city. They increased their coverage to take in Ipswich, where they featured at the In Scene and the Bowl, before regular gigs at Gympie and the Sunshine Coast where they had a regular spot at the Pearl Hotel, Caloundra and the Alexandra Headlands Surf Club. Bookings also came from the Gold Coast where the group played at various hotels, on the beach venues at Greenmount and Burleigh Heads and Danceland, Coolangatta where they backed artists such as Dinah Lee.

In mid 1967 Bert Mullemeister and David Elias left the band and were replaced by Clive Dunham on keyboards and guitar and Bruce Fraser on drums. Bruce suggested a name change and the band became known as Vision.

Some months passed and Barry moved on being replaced by vocalist, guitarist Mike Preston. They continued to play basically the same circuit with the odd Battle of the Bands thrown in and in early 1968 Lindsay left being replaced by Brian Hanson on lead guitar. Midway through that same year Ray Suckling left to further his career and was replaced by Dave Aust on bass. The band continued in that format until 1969 when they decided to go their seperate ways with Mike persuing a successful solo career.

Even though in the early days the band wrote and performed some of their own material, no recordings were ever made.

Images

Members

• Bert Mullemeister – Guitar
• David Elias – Drums
• Lindsay Basing – Guitar
• Ray Suckling – Bass
• Barry McLean – Vocals
• Clive Dunham – Keyboards, Guitar
• Bruce Fraser – Drums
• Mike Preston – Vocals, Guitar
• Brian Hanson – Guitar

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About

The legend of Tommy and Phil Emmanuel extends way back into days of yore.(Early 1980′s if you want to be more exact). But if you were going to pick a point where things were really about to kick into high gear for them, it was The Whiz Band.

L-R Tommy Emmanuel, Nev Napier, Phil Emmanuel, Mark Johnson(Guest). Not visible: Chris Haigh, Steve Hopes, Shauna Jensen

Before Goldrush, this is where most of us got our first taste of the two legendary guitar virtuoso brothers.

The band was a powerhouse of Sydney talent. The cream of the crop.

Featuring Phil and Tommy playing their customised Fender Telecasters, which for the more technically curious both included a middle pick up and a 5 position switch. So basically what you had was a Telecaster body with a Stratocaster pickup configuration. The boys were the first to rape a classic instrument in this way, but it worked.

The show was punctuated with a dazzling accoustic set where they performed songs by Al DiMeola and the like. The electric portion of the show featured material that other bands could only ever dream about doing a decent job of. One thing you can be sure of is that if you managed to catch a Whiz Band gig, you were going to be a fan for life.

The duration of the band was relatively short before the boys moved on and formed Goldrush. The next stage in their evolution.

Update: After speaking to Phil Emmanuel it turns out that there were two versions of this band. The first from 1976-78. They then had four years off to do Goldrush. The second version was from 1982-84 after Tommy had left to go to the US with Doug Parkinson.

Members

• Tommy Emmanuel – Guitar
• Phil Emmanuel – Guitar
• Chris Haigh – Bass
• Steve Hopes – Drums
• Neville Nepia - Vocals/Congas/percussion
• Shauna Jensen – Vocals
• Mal Logan – Keyboards

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