The Missing Links

'[Andy] Anderson wanted to check the source of the energy that was invigorating the pop scene, and aged just 16, he loaded up his green sparkly Ludwig drums and headed for Sydney, the first stop, he thought, on his way to England. In Sydney, he changed his name to Andy James and fell in with a bunch of bluesy long-hairs called the Missing Links. Anderson: "They were wild, as in head turners on the streets. Pete (Anson) and John (Jones) had the longest hair I'd ever seen. I had reasonably long hair, but these guys had shoulder-length hair. They were playing a lot of Leadbelly, and old R&B stuff I'd never heard." Anderson joined the Links after they'd released their only Parlophone single, "We 2 Could Live"/"Untrue", by which time the line-up was Ronnie Peel (bass), Dave Boyne (replaced by John Jones) (guitar), Pete Anson (guitar) and Bob Brady up front.

'"We used to play a wild pub opposite Darling Harbour, full of early beats," remembers Andy "I loved that place, I'd never seen anything like it. I first met Chris Gray (future Missing Link and sometime roadie) there. He was playing a guitar and harp, like Dylan."

'Gray was a dope smoking rich kid with bohemian leanings, but he slotted right in with James, who was living a similar-styled life in Kings Cross, Sydney's red light district. They were all habitues of the Royal George, the beat friendly pub Anderson describes above...

The Missing Links