The Strangers

The Strangers were an Australian rock band, which existed from 1961 to 1975. The band started out playing instrumental songs in a style similar to the Shadows, with influences from Cliff Richard. The original line-up was Laurie Arthur (lead guitar), Peter Robinson (bass guitar), Graeme "Garth" Thompson (drums) and Fred Wieland (rhythm guitar). Robinson had previously played with fellow local band the Thunderbirds and went on to replace Athol Guy in the Seekers from the late 1970s. Founding and history The Strangers were formed in Melbourne as an instrumental rock band in 1961 with the line-up of Laurie Arthur on lead guitar (ex-the Planets, the Chessmen), Peter Robinson on bass guitar (ex-the Thunderbirds), Graeme "Garth" Thompson on drums (ex-the Earls) and Fred Weiland on rhythm guitar (ex-the Lincolns). Instead of joining the prevailing surf music trend, the Strangers modelled themselves on British and European instrumental groups, the Shadows, the Tornados and the Spotnicks. Arthur, Robinson and Weiland had attended Glenroy High School before joining different groups. The Strangers performed across Melbourne's major dance venues. At the end of 1962 they signed with W&G Records, headed by Ron Tudor after working as the studio band for the Seekers, Frankie Davidson, Johnny Chester, Merv Benton Little Gulliver and the Children, Pat Carroll and Joy Lemmon. The group's first charting single was their instrumental cover version of "Cry of the Wild Goose" (written by Terry Gilkyson) backed with "Leavin' Town", which was released in January 1963 and reached number 12 on the Melbourne charts. This was followed in April by an instrumental single "Torlido" / "The Outcast", which reached the Melbourne Top 40.