The Particles

The Particles name began in the mid to late 1970's and the original band, albeit a loose outfit was formed during the very earliest stages of the new Punk music that was sweeping Britain and Eastern USA at the time. News of this phenomenon spread quickly to Australia and within a few months there were bands forming in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane. The rawest examples of this were coming out of a small block of flats in Berry Street, North Sydney. The building was a crumbling mess, inside and out, but it was Sydney's centre of punk music with bands rehearsing regularly. Some of the bands which visited Berry Street include The Cleaners, The Last Words, and from Brisbane, The Saints. In one of the flats there were The Particles, initially formed by Peter Williams and Mick Smith. The building, not surprisingly was condemned and the tenants evicted. The Berry Street flats have since been pulled down and replaced by a shopping mall. 

 

 After leaving North Sydney in 1977, Peter and Mick moved to inner city Sydney Darlinghurst which was closer to the only venues which would let them perform. Here they were joined by Michael Wood and Steven Williams and together found work at venues like Frenches (Darlinghurst), Blondies (Bondi Junction), The Fun House (Taylor Square), Rags (ex Chequers, City), Civic Hotel (City), and The Grand Hotel (Railway Square); performing with bands such as Kaos, Rejex and The Thought Criminals to name but a few. The band suffered a split later the same year when Michael Wood left the band. Almost immediately, Astrid Spielman filled the front spot. The band went through a number of line up changes in its 7 or 8 year history with perhaps 20 or more musicians claiming 'particle-status'. 

 

The line-up independently released a 7" EP entitled 'Colour-In' in 1979. Despite the obvious low budget nature of the recording, it was quickly included on radio stations playlists including Melbourne's 3RRR-fm as a pop classic. In fact, the band quickly gained a healthy following in Melbourne. Back home in Sydney, the band's following grew slowly but surely thanks to a weekly residency at the Sussex Hotel in the city where the band played 3 sets every Wednesday night. Afterwards, the band went through another line-up change in 1980 with Mick Smith leaving for good and Steven Williams leaving as drummer and staying on as manager. The Particles released two more EPs, 'Advanced Colouring' in 1981 and 'I Luv Trumpet' in 1982. By this stage, Peter and Astrid, in collaboration with others, had experimented extensively with drum machines, tape machines, brass instruments and keyboard sounds. They always maintained an element of '80s Bubblegum' throughout their evolution. The band also toured extensively to Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, Perth, Canberra and many regional centres. By the time the band stopped working in 1985, they had played in front countless people, travelled countless miles and left behind a legion of fans.