User:Priscillian
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Sidewinder was a rock band formed in Melbourne, Australia in 1976 by David Castles and Richard Lee who had previously played together in a band called Isaac Aaron (1972-1974)[1] Originally intended to be a blues revival band Richard's classic violin training led towards an eclectic mix of blues, hard rock and classical influences. A number of members came and went but soon after Ashley Buckle joined the nucleus of the musical form was set and Richard and Ashley co-operated on writing many of the songs. With such instrumental virtuosity at hand Dave eventually threw away his guitar and became the singer. With Greg Pope on bass and Michael Buckingham on drums the gigs consisted mostly of small pubs and bluesy riffs. In 1978 Wayne Young replaced Michael on drums and the form became closer to the heavy driving pub sound that marked the rock genre of the late 70's, Sidewinder toured widely playing in Melbourne, Adelaide, Sydney, Brisbane and Perth and many large regional centres. One of the hardest working bands in Australia at the time they attracted a loyal and growing band of followers especially in hometown Melbourne. Due to the heavy touring commitments and a failure to secure a badly needed recording contract cracks appeared in the band in late 1978 and Lee left to form another band with the same name with new members Chris Barker, Rick Rankin, Tony Thornton and Steve Walsh. Lee disbanded the group soon after following an offer to join Dragon (minus Mark Hunter). Sidewinder was no more. Lee went on to record the "Power Play" album with Dragon. An E.P. with 4 songs was released soon after the original band spit up.
Ashley Buckle , David Castles and Greg Pope joined with Bob Furst (electric piano) & Danny Gallagher(drums) to form "Liners". (1979-81)
Although no album was released of Sidewinder there are recordings made at EMI in Sydney and 4 track recordings of a number of live performances.
Another, unrelated, Australian band called Sidewinder was formed in Canberra in 1991 by brothers Nick and Martin Craft.
