Dragon "Weetbix" 1974 Australia, N.Z Prog Rock
- 11 years ago
Dragon. "Universal Radio"1974 Australia/New Zealand.
Dreams Fantasies & Nightmares:
A New Zealand band who came together in Auckland in 1973, although their drummer and guitarist were actually from Wellington. Over the years their music would prove extremely diverse ranging from pop through to rock with traces of reggae and calypso. Certainly, Scented Gardens For The Blind is an excellent melodic progressive rock album with appealing vocals and some excellent keyboard and guitar moments. As one would expect the title cut is the magnum opus with a nice church organ intro giving way to a melodic, keyboard driven song somewhat reminiscent of Barclay James Harvest.Heroes in their native land they later settled in Sydney in May 1975. Three years later, having established themselves as a household name in Australia, they headed for the States.They went on to record a plethora of albums and 45s in the post-1975 era, enjoying two Top Ten and six Top 50 hits in New Zealand and one U.S. hit Rain. They developed a notoriety acquired through deaths and decadence but toured more extensively and attracted more press than any other New Zealand rock band. As you'll have realised by now their heyday was beyond the timespan of this book.
Vocalist Marc Hunter died from throat cancer in Sydney,July 1998.
Marc Hunter - lead vocals
Todd Hunter - bass guitar, vocals; and flute on "Dinghy Days"
Ray Goodwin - lead guitar, vocals
Ivan Thompson - organ, piano, Moog synthesizer, vocals
Neil Storey - drums
Dreams Fantasies & Nightmares:
A New Zealand band who came together in Auckland in 1973, although their drummer and guitarist were actually from Wellington. Over the years their music would prove extremely diverse ranging from pop through to rock with traces of reggae and calypso. Certainly, Scented Gardens For The Blind is an excellent melodic progressive rock album with appealing vocals and some excellent keyboard and guitar moments. As one would expect the title cut is the magnum opus with a nice church organ intro giving way to a melodic, keyboard driven song somewhat reminiscent of Barclay James Harvest.Heroes in their native land they later settled in Sydney in May 1975. Three years later, having established themselves as a household name in Australia, they headed for the States.They went on to record a plethora of albums and 45s in the post-1975 era, enjoying two Top Ten and six Top 50 hits in New Zealand and one U.S. hit Rain. They developed a notoriety acquired through deaths and decadence but toured more extensively and attracted more press than any other New Zealand rock band. As you'll have realised by now their heyday was beyond the timespan of this book.
Vocalist Marc Hunter died from throat cancer in Sydney,July 1998.
Marc Hunter - lead vocals
Todd Hunter - bass guitar, vocals; and flute on "Dinghy Days"
Ray Goodwin - lead guitar, vocals
Ivan Thompson - organ, piano, Moog synthesizer, vocals
Neil Storey - drums