Ray Brown & the Whispers

Ray Brown & the Whispers were a highly successful Australian rock band from 1964 to 1967. Led by singer Ray Brown, they ranked alongside the Easybeats, Billy Thorpe & the Aztecs and Normie Rowe as one of the most popular acts of the period. In 1964, the band played at the Bowl, a Sydney nightclub, doing covers of popular songs such as "Shakin All Over". The group performed regularly in front of thousands of excitable teenagers who danced wildly to the sounds and energy provided by these new pop heroes. It was inevitable that the clean-cut and personable Brown would stand as the equal of Normie and Stevie Wright as a pin-up sensation. Over a frantic period of two years, Brown and the Whispers issued four excellent albums, seven hits singles and eight EPs. Indeed, their remarkable run of four Top 5 hits in a row – including three #1s in "20 Miles", "Pride" and "Fool, Fool, Fool" - in hometown Sydney during 1965 alone proved to be a milestone in local pop music history. Other highlights include the gritty garage rockers "(Ain't It) Strange" and "That's Evil", the moody "Too Late to Come Home" (with the Bee Gees on backing vocals), the chiming "Go to Him", laden with electric 12-sting guitar, and tremendous covers of soul staples "In the Midnight Hour" and "Respect".

When Brown parted company from the group at the end of 1966, he continued the hit run as a solo artist with covers of the Four Tops' "The Same Old Song" and the Who's mod classic "Ivor the Engine Driver".