It is believed that the appearance of the Hungarian band Syrius was the first performance  of a Hungarian band of this nature in Australia. Cat Stevens didn't play, but pulled out of the line-up before the concert started, but too late for the printing of the promotional material to be changed. Black Sabbath made their first Australian appearance at Myponga.

Spectrum:- Les Neale, Bill Pitt; Mark Kennedy
& Mike Rudd, missing Roy Arnott

Jeff St John as he was back then

Some of the line-up were combinations of other groups put together as one for the occasion. The Lipp Caine Rock Orchestra, for instance was a combination of Lipp Arthur and the Company Caine; while Sons of a Vegetal Mother and the spin off band Daddy Cool, had practically the same line-up of band members.

After Myponga Festival, many of the home grown bands that played there enjoyed a huge boost in record sales.
 

Jeff St. John - still making music from
his wheelchair today.

The compere for the concert was Adrian Rawlins.

There were several other acts named in the newspaper reports following the concert. These included:-

Hans Poulsen
Steve Foster & Backfire
Storyville
Healing Force

Daddy Cool:- Ross Wilson; Gary Young;
Ross Hannaford & Wayne Duncan

Many who played at Myponga are long gone from the world music scene, but some are still hanging around:-

Bon Scott - played at Myponga as lead vocalist with Fraternity. He went on to become the lead singer of AC/DC. He passed away from alcoholic poisoning on 19th Feb 1980. Although he was born in Scotland, he spent much of his youth here in Adelaide, Melbourne and Freemantle.

Doug Parkinson - played at Myponga as lead vocalist with Fanny Adams. He went on to a successful solo career. He is still working within the music industry today.

Jeff St. John - played at Myponga with Copperwine. He has been in and around the music scene ever since. In his own words after the opening of the Paralympics in Sydney 2000, Jeff, a sufferer of spina bifida all his life - said of his music career "It has allowed me to be crazy for more years than I can remember..."

Billy Thorpe - played at Myponga as lead vocalist with Billy Thorpe & The Aztecs. Former Aztecs founding member Vince Melourney played there too, but with Fanny Adams. Sadly, Billy passed away on 28 Feb 2007.

Ozzie Osbourne - played at Myponga with Black Sabbath. He moved to the US where he continued his music career and went on to make a few cameo appearances in movies and starred in a reality show about life with his second wife Sharon and their children.

Ross Wilson - Mr Daddy Cool himself. Ross played at Myponga with both Sons of a Vegetal Mother  and with Daddy Cool. He has been in and around the music industry as a band member, solo artist, song writer and producer for over 40 years and is still going strong.

Wendy Saddington - played at Myponga with the band Copperwine with Jeff St. John. A blues singer of some note, she is still making the occasional appearance at pubs & clubs in Sydney and Brisbane. Wendy also played with the band Chain, although not at Myponga.

Ian Rilen - played at Myponga with Lotus. He was born in Bendigo and grew up in Torquay on the Great Ocean Road in Victoria. He played with bands such as Space, Band of Love, Blue Aliens and was a founding member of Rose Tattoo with Angry Anderson. Ian played his last note in 2006 when he succumbed to the ravages of cancer.

Steve Foster - played at Myponga with the band Backfire. Born at Murray Bridge, Steve is probably the closest we can get to a "Fleurieu" boy playing at Myponga. In the early days of his career, he was a member of the band Mt Lofty Rangers which included such musicians as the legendary Bon Scott in the line-up. He is still singing and writing music today and his messages are just as potent now, as they were back then. His songs of the time were very much against the Vietnam war.

Fanny Adams:- Vince Melourney; Teddy Tei;
Johnny Dick & Doug Parkinson

Bon Scott in his Fraternity days - 1971

Steve Foster in his Backfire days

Wendy Saddington - 1971

Much of the information and pictures on this page have been used with the kind permission of Duncan Kimball who runs the amazing Milesago website http://www.milesago.com/ and in particular their pages on the Myponga Festival http://www.milesago.com/festivals/myponga.htm. Special thanks to the contributors who have made Milesago successful and without whose contributions this collaboration would not be possible - John Low, Carl Belle, Sam Pickering, Vince Lovegrove and Terry Stacey.

View of the crowd at Myponga

The Anti-Vietnam War group

The crowd from the stage