The lanky musician with the walrus moustache teamed up with Mike Rudd in the progressive rock Spectrum, which formed in Melbourne in August 1969. One of the first songs that Rudd wrote, the chart topping I’ll Be Gone became the duo’s signature tune, followed by Trust Me, both from the epic double album Milesago. The two also went on to form a “rock” alter ego (Indelible Murtceps).
Their band after called Ariel – various lineups included Tim Gaze and Nigel Macara of Tamam Shud and Harvey James, later of Sherbet – toured with a massive light show and production. Their hits included Jamaican Farewell (voted single of the year in 1973), I’ll Take You High and Disco Dilemma.
The Rudd-Putt partnership continued through Mike Rudd’s Instant Replay, Mike Rudd & The Heaters and the ambitious digital visual/ audio W.H.Y. In the 1990s they helmed various Spectrum lineups, one which recorded Spectrum Plays The Blues. Earlier this year, Rudd declared on Adelaide radio, “I’m still on the road, and loving it.” He always regarded music as art, declaring “90% of music on YouTube is crap!” Next month, Rudd and he were to unveil a new psychedelic ambient work called Waning Crescent at lighting artist Hugh McSpedden Super Slide Show in Hurstbridge.
In his younger days, Putt spent a year at the Melbourne Conservatorium. “I was asked to leave,” he’d recount gleefully. “I’d put holes in my guitar and make it electric. I told them I didn’t want to become a classical musician, I just wanted to study some techniques, and that didn’t go down too well.” Best known as a bassplayer, Putt expanded to other instruments including style and steel guitar. His unique style of playing downtune slide on nylon strings gave him a different sound. He also developed songwriting and audio engineering skills, and made an unreleased solo album.
