Blind Ambition
History
The first incarnation of this Sydney based pop/rock/punk outfit had it’s beginnings back in 1978, but didn’t become serious until around 1980.
The band was 50/50 covers and originals, and much like Mad Gorilla, was putting up huge light shows and pyrotechnic displays in pubs around Sydney and up the central coast. The musicians never saw a cent from performances, but the production team were making out like bandits.
The band was playing much the same circuit as the aforementioned primates, The Zarsoff Bros, Snake, Dee Minor and the Rupert B Funkified Filth Band. Back then it was almost a family affair with everybody supporting everybody else.
Blind Ambition put in a good show, but never really rose to the top as it never secured the strong management to nail the band down into any firm direction, thus confusion reigned supreme. Both Mark Johnson and Peter Ray would leave and return a number of times between them because of falling outs. After a couple of years on the circuit, the band imploded altogether as the chief songwriters really started pulling the band every which way.
After the breakup there were several attempts at a reunion over the years but they never got out of the rehearsal studio. The band initially broke up because of differences in opinion over direction. For the reunions this same problem was even more pronounced as some members had really continued to hone their skills while others had not.
Blind Ambition’s legacy was the opening up of new live venues around Sydney that hadn’t had bands before. Sadly, a lot of those rooms fell to newly founded booking agencies, and rooms that Blind Ambition had opened and conquered, they could no longer gain access to as they refused to sign exclusive rights to any one agency.
Members
- Brian Carden – Lead vocals
- Phillip Hogan – Guitar
- Mark Johnson – Guitar
- Mitchell Parkes – Bass
- Paul Signorelli – Guitar, then changed to Bass when Mitchell departed.
- Nick Matorana – Drums
- Peter Ray – Guitar
- David Koenig – Keyboards
- John Daniels – Lead vocals
- Tony Dwyer – Guitar
Images
