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The following information is taken from Neil McKelvies' Southland muso's book 45 SOUTH IN CONCERT
(published by The Southland Musicians' Club and edited by Chris Chilton)
The Tracers' name came from chemically treated shells that mark their trajectory with a trail of smoke or fire, and the band dressed the part, sharp as bullets splitting the
night. Their repertoire featured rock 'n' roll classics such as Memphis Tennessee and Shadows tunes such as Man of Mystery and FBI. They were so popular the Viking Record Company and Murray
Forgie of 4ZA radio noticed them and organised a recording contract, one of the first in the deep south. They released a 45rpm single, Ghia backed with a band original, No Trace. This was an exciting time for both the band and Invercargill. One of Southland's and New Zealand's great promoters heard the performance and commented, "It's a beauty, master". It was none other than The Master himself, Frank Stapp, who was responsible for bringing New Zealand's best talent to Invercargill. The Tracers went to Christchurch, where they played professionally for six months before Paul Browning and Brian Dean returned home and Lex Jenkins and Mike Hope joined Christchurch group The Dynamics. Vern Jenkins then formed The Drifters with Peter Skerrett, and after a time Paul Browning and Vern Jenkins reformed The Tracers. The band took up residency at the Starlight Lounge and tripped regularly to Timaru, where they were popular with their Beatles covers. Browning left again because of work commitments and Brian Dean was asked to rejoin on guitar. The benefit of having two lead guitarists soon became obvious. Bryan Bates was an accomplished singer from Dunedin who had played in a group called The Tigers and previously Solid State (later to become Trak) in Christchurch. He had worked with many musicians and Joe Brown Enterprises before moving to lnvercargill to join The Tracers. When Frank Stapp brought the Rolling Stones and Roy Orbison to lnvercargill, Bates was asked to be the compère. In 1969 he released a single, If l Smile, and later moved to Sydney where he supported John Rowles. He entertained in Bydney and released a CD, Bryan Lawrence — Read My Eyes. Lex Jenkins' musical journey started on violin before he took up the bass guitar. He loved playing a Paul McCartney—style violin-shaped bass until it was accidentally run over by a broadcaster before a recording session. He replaced it with a red Fender bass that had a raunchier tone identifiable in the Tracers' sound. He moved to Brisbane along with Mike Hope, who is remembered as being an exciting drummer with impeccable timing and drum skills. His extraordinary memory and precision timing influenced the professionalism of the group.
Brian Dean was a natural, extremely fluent guitarist who could turn his hand to any style of playing from heavy to solo work to the subtle sound ofjazz. He and his wife now entertain in Sydney. Before The Tracers, Paul Browning had his own group, the Hi Fives, of which Lex Jenkins was also a member. Browning had the X-factor as a stage performer and a self-styled voice that made him one of the most exciting performers to come from The Tracers with an impressive Vox guitar speaker cabinet (seen in the pic). He had the ability to hold an audience in the palm of his hand and was a large part of the magic of The Tracers group. At one time The Tracers were involved in an unusual race against the Echophonics. A member of each band was dressed in weird fancy dress and pushed in a wheelbarrow from the Post Office to the Starlight Lounge, which was running the promotion. |
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