The Exiles – Vision

The Exiles were a Brisbane based band formed in early 1966 by rhythm guitarist Bert Mullemeister and drummer David Elias. They were joined by lead guitarist Lindsay Basing, Ray Suckling on bass and vocalist Barry McLean.

The group played at various dances, hotels and disco’s in and around Brisbane supporting southern bands like the Easybeats at the Bowl in South Brisbane and The Scene in the city. They increased their coverage to take in Ipswich, where they featured at the In Scene and the Bowl, before regular gigs at Gympie and the Sunshine Coast where they had a regular spot at the Pearl Hotel, Caloundra and the Alexandra Headlands Surf Club. Bookings also came from the Gold Coast where the group played at various hotels, on the beach venues at Greenmount and Burleigh Heads and Danceland, Coolangatta where they backed artists such as Dinah Lee.

In mid 1967 Bert Mullemeister and David Elias left the band and were replaced by Clive Dunham on keyboards and guitar and Bruce Fraser on drums. Bruce suggested a name change and the band became known as Vision.

Some months passed and Barry moved on being replaced by vocalist, guitarist Mike Preston. They continued to play basically the same circuit with the odd Battle of the Bands thrown in and in early 1968 Lindsay left being replaced by Brian Hanson on lead guitar. Midway through that same year Ray Suckling left to further his career and was replaced by Dave Aust on bass. The band continued in that format until 1969 when they decided to go their seperate ways with Mike persuing a successful solo career.

Even though in the early days the band wrote and performed some of their own material, no recordings were ever made.

Images

Members

• Bert Mullemeister – Guitar
• David Elias – Drums
• Lindsay Basing – Guitar
• Ray Suckling – Bass
• Barry McLean – Vocals
• Clive Dunham – Keyboards, Guitar
• Bruce Fraser – Drums
• Mike Preston – Vocals, Guitar
• Brian Hanson – Guitar

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