The Captain Matchbox Whoopee Band
The Captain Matchbox Whoopee Band, also known as Soapbox Circus or Matchbox, were an Australian jug band formed in 1969. It centred on Mic Conway (“Captain Matchbox”) on lead vocals, washboard and ukulele; and his brother, Jim Conway, on harmonica, kazoo and vocals. They issued four studio albums, Smoke Dreams (June 1973), Wangaratta Wahine (late 1974), Australia (November 1975) and Slightly Troppo (1978), before they disbanded in September 1980. The Conway brothers reformed the group in 2010 as Captain Matchbox Reignited and disbanded again two years later.
In October 2010, Smoke Dreams was listed in the book, 100 Best Australian Albums.
The Captain Matchbox Whoopee Band were formed in Melbourne in 1969 as a jug band by Mic Conway on lead vocals, washboard and ukulele; his brother, Jim Conway on harmonica, kazoo and vocals; Mick Fleming on banjo, mandolin, guitar and vocals; Dave Hubbard on guitar; David Isom on guitar and vocals; Jeffrey Cheesman on guitar and vocals; Inge de Koster on violin; and John McDiarmid on tea-chest bass and flute. David Isom, Jeffrey Cheesman, Inge de Koster and John McDiarmid later replaced by Peter Inglis on guitar and vocals; Jim Niven on piano; and Peter Scott on tea chest bass.
Inspired by early jazz recordings and jug band music they heard on reel-to-reel tapes and 78s as teenagers, the Conways formed the Jellybean Jug Band while secondary students at Camberwell High School.[2] After they left school, in 1969, they formed the Captain Matchbox Whoopee Band, which grew from an underground art school band to a national icon, with film and television appearances and regular appearances in the charts. Australian musicologist, Ian McFarlane, opined, “one of the most unusual aggregations ever assembled in Australia, [they] played jug-band blues enlivened with sideshow entertainment and vaudeville lunacy.”
During 1971 they appeared as themselves in Tim Burstall’s comedy feature film, Stork. They signed with Image Records and issued their debut single, “My Canary Has Circles Under His Eyes” (written by Jack Golden, Ted Koehler and Edward Pola), which is a cover version of Irish-born English band leader, Debroy Somers’ 1931 original. Captain Matchbox’s version reached No. 35 on the Go-Set National Top 40 in November 1972. Their follow up single, “I Can’t Dance (Got Ants in My Pants)” (April 1973), did not chart.
The Captain Matchbox Whoopee Band’s debut album, Smoke Dreams (June 1973), reached the Go-Set Australian Albums Top 20. McFarlane observed that it consisted entirely of “1930s and 1940s jazz, blues and jug-band standards.” It was also released in the US via ESP-Disk label, in the DynaQuad quadraphonic format. AllMusic’s reviewer, arwulf arwulf, rated it at four-and-a-half stars out of five and explained, “this frowsy little group specialized in popular novelty, jazz and blues songs dating from the 1920s and ’30s, whipping themselves into a frenzy over vintage delights.”
In November 1973 the group’s line-up was the Conway brothers, Fleming and Niven with Dave Flett on electric bass, slide dobro, backing vocals and ukulele (ex-Lipp and the Double Dekker Brothers); Geoff Hales on drums and washboard; and Fred Olbrei on violin and vocals. Jon Snyder joined on guitar early in the following year.
Mic Conway continued to record and perform regularly, both as a solo artist and with his National Junk Band. Jim Conway worked on many musical projects and became a sought-after session and backing musician, however due to the onset of multiple sclerosis, his health (but not his playing) was significantly affected and in early 2014 he retired.
Chris Worrall was the founding guitarist of Melbourne-based pub rockers, the Bleeding Hearts, in 1976, and joined Paul Kelly & the Dots in February 1979. Manny Paterakis was the founding drummer in Mike Rudd & the Heaters in 1979. Eric McCusker joined Mondo Rock on guitar in April 1980. From 1980 to 1983 Dave Flett was bass guitarist of folk and political rockers, Redg Louis McManus joined Adelaide-based reggae rockers, No Fixed Address, on guitar in 1984.[28] Peter Inglis joined the original Skyhooks in 1973.