Description
• A smorgasbord of driving R&B, sunshine pop, studio psychedelia and progressive rock recorded in Perth, Western Australia.
Teenager Martin Clarke was working at a local radio station when he converted a spare bedroom into a makeshift recording studio. That modest early venture evolved into Martin Clarke Recording Studios, which opened in 1962 to become Perth’s first professional recording facility. By the time the studio purchased a four-track in 1966, Clarke had launched the Clarion label, working with a constant stream of solo singers and beat/R&B groups.
With a raised profile after Johnny Young had a national hit with the Easybeats-penned ‘Step Back’, Clarion signed a number of promising new acts that included The Valentines (featuring a pre-AC/DC Bon Scott) and Young’s TV colleague Robbie Snowden.
Clarion went on to have a number of regional and national successes, releasing interesting music into the 70s (British expatriates The Birds and Chalice, plus local progressive rockers Fatty Lumpkin) before Clarke wound down the label and relocated to England.
A four-hour 3CD anthology, ‘The Clarion Set’ assembles the pick of the label’s roster, with choice selections from the aforementioned acts as well as female-fronted folk rockers Gemini, powerhouse R&B/soul vocalist Ray Hoff, pre-Valentines garage band The Spektors and in-house psychedelic experiment The Vegetable Garden.
