A brief history of The Executives
1959-66: Formation and first release

The lineage of The Executives dates back to 1959, when 18-year-old Brian King formed a semi-professional, three-piece dance band called The Kingwoods. The name of the band combined Brian’s surname with the surname of the drummer, 18-year-old Bob Woodhill. Brian and Bob had been close friends ever since they met at High School in 1953.

Brian was born in Helensburgh, a small coal mining town situated between Sydney and Wollongong, NSW. Brian started musical training at the age of five and gave his first public piano recital at the age of eight. He formed his first semi-professional band at 13.

Joining them on guitar was 19-year-old Dudley Hood. Dudley had struck up a friendship with Brian after moving to Helensburgh from Moss Vale in the mid-fifties. His initial interest was music and he was greatly influenced from a very early age by his uncle who played Latin jazz. After completing school, Dudley commenced formal music studies, eventually earning a Bachelor of Music (Guitar) degree.

In 1958, after completing high school, Brian started working at the Australian Gas Light Company in Sydney where he met Carole Edgar. The two formed a friendship that blossomed into romance a few years later
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Carole was born in London, England and had migrated to Australia when she was four years old. Carole was an attractive brunette, who, while at school, was in both the drama club and opera group. However, it was not until after Carole and Brian married in late 1963 that Carole became a fully-fledged member of the band.

In 1963, the band added its first regular singer, Keith Leslie. Keith was also a saxophonist, which was an added bonus to the band. His inclusion saw the band move from Floyd Cramer-esque piano dance numbers towards more contemporary music.

Between 1962 and 1965, the band had a few different bassists, including Les Young—better known for his later work with popular Sydney group The Questions—before settling with Brian’s younger brother, Gary King.

In August 1966, Bob introduced the band, then known as The Associates, to Harry Widmer. Harry signed on as their manager after attending one of their Sydney performances and immediately convinced all but Bob to turn professional. Bob left the band the following month and was replaced by Rhys Clark.

Rhys was born in Auckland, New Zealand. His career as a drummer began as a teenager in 1963 when he joined The Zodiacs, followed by The Chequers (1964) and The Silhouettes (1965-66). A recording contract with Allied International Records saw The Silhouettes record three local hit singles during Rhys’ tenure, including the 1966 national hit and Loxenne Gold Disc Award nominee ‘Theme From The Endless Summer’. Keen to turn professional, Rhys, like many New Zealand musicians, decided to move to Australia, arriving in July 1966.

Coinciding with the addition of Rhys, the band changed their name to The Executives, a name chosen by Harry and the others in part to avoid confusion with the US band The Association.

Seeking a unique appearance in an era of Beatles look-alikes, Harry devised an adult image of designer suits and ties befitting business executives – the best in the business. To cement the image, he had promotional photographs taken in office settings.

Almost immediately, Harry arranged an audition with prominent A&R man, Pat Aulton. Pat had just been appointed to the Festival Records production team and even at that time had a reputation for being Australia’s leading pop producer. Based on Pat’s positive impression, Festival Records signed the band to a five-year contract in November.

The band’s first single was ’Wander Boy’ b/w ‘You’re Bad’, released in December, a mere three months after turning professional!

Both tracks were faithful copies of the originals but in a more infectious upbeat style. Keith had the lead vocal on ‘Wander Boy’ while Carole had the lead on ‘You’re Bad’.

Radio DJs were reportedly enthusiastic; however, despite admirable airplay, the single failed to chart in Sydney, although it did manage to reach #15 on Wollongong’s South Coast Times top 100 on 12 January 1967!

Its lack of success led Festival Records to consider dropping the band. Consequently, Harry created Cordon Bleu Productions, which would take care of production costs and then lease the finished tapes back to Festival Records.

Summarised extracts from the book "The Executives: Their Aim Was To Please You" (P)(C) 2015 Jaesen Jones. Buy the book for the full story!

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