South West Music Archive: The Dogs

"The Dogs" was the name of a band formed at Hamilton's Monivae College in 1965, enduring a couple of incarnations through to the end of 1967. The founding members were Michael Schack, Marty Atchison, Kevin Rooney, Malcolm Thomas, Paul Van Kalken and Leo Tellefson. The band entered the 1965 Battle of the Sounds competition in Warrnambool, sponsored by Hoadleys, and promoted by 3YB at the Capitol Theatre. Although not acclaimed at this outing, they were one of the few bands to present an original song - "Hey woman" by Marty Atchison. In Dec. 1965 Paul Van Kalken (from Balmoral), Malcolm Thomas (from Tennant Creek, N.T.) and Kevin Rooney (from Warrnambool) left the college, and subsequently the band. Van Kalken continued to perform in Hamilton in a band called the Commancheros, which also included Coleraine guitarist Peter Bird - later to play bass with Warrnambool band's "Nevada" and "Lost in Suburbia".

Schack, Atchison and Tellefson pursued the band at school throughout 1966, along with Frank Borbiro. Leo Tellefson departed for his home town Donald at the end of 1966. He performed throughout the Wimmera region in various bands (including "Blend") through to the next century. In 1967 the band comprised Marty Atchison (vocals), Michael Schack (guitar), Frank Borbiro (bass) and Tim Carracher (drums). At the end of 1967 the band dissolved. Michael Schack played temporarily with Hamilton band "The Nuartz" (featuring Gary Andrews and Allan Primrose), before rejoining Atchison in 1969 for the "3M Company", and eventually the "Dead Livers" in 1978.

1965 lineup: L to R: Leo Tellefson (piano), Michael Schack (guitar), Paul Van Kalken (vocals), Malcolm Thomas (drums), Marty Atchison (vocals), Kevin Rooney (guitar)

The article below was reproduced from "The Dolphin" - the magazine for the Monivae Old Collegians Association - Issue 25 May 2014
It’s a Dog’s Life
On January 11th 2014 there was are reunion of the band “The Dead Livers” at the Victoria Hotel Warrnambool. The band of course included two Old Collegians - Marty Atchison (‘67) and Michael Schack (‘67). As an adjunct to this event the idea of having a reunion of their old school band “The Dogs” was floated. The original 1965 formative members were Marty Atchison, Michael Schack, Kevin Rooney (‘66), Leo Tellefson (‘67), Paul Van Kalken (‘65) and Malcolm Thomas (‘67). The
band continued for two more years and later inclusions were Frank Borbiro (‘68) and Tim Carracher (‘67). Contact was made with as many as possible and Marty, Leo, Kevin, Paul, Michael and Tim agreed to give it a go.
The disparate geographic spread of members (Adelaide, Melbourne, Donald, Portland and Warrnambool) made rehearsal impossible until the day of the suggested performance. The six reunited for the first time in about 49 years at an emotional gathering at Kevin Rooney’s former family home in Warrnambool and tried to remember some songs.

Below: L to R: Kevin Rooney, Tim Carracher, Paul Van Kalken, Marty Atchison, MichaelSchack and Leo Tellefson reunited on 11th Jan 2014.

Eventually they settled on “Around and around” (A Chuck Berry song covered by the Rolling Stones), “It’s All Over Now’ (another Rolling Stones cover) and “Money - That’s What I Want” (covered by the Beatles and the Rolling Stones). The performance at night took place during an interval in the Dead Livers’ show and included a supplementary guitarist and drummer to round out things. The three songs went without a hitch (well, almost) and The Dogs seemed to momentarily regain the enthusiasm and energy they displayed in the sixties. The crowd danced ardently and applauded generously at the end of each song.

Above - Leo Tellefson (piano), Mark Meallin (guitar). Marty Atchison (vocal), Richard O'Keefe (drums), Kevin Rooney (guitar), Michael Schack (bass), Paul Van Kalken, Tim Carracher - Jan. 11th, Victoria Hotel Warrnambool.

From 1965 Monivae annual
It’s a Dog’s Life - Quite early in the school year, a small group of boys was banded together and, armed with some of the necessary talent and equipment, called themselves “The Dogs”. After many short, hectic practice sessions, they made their debut into the world of entertainment at the Y.C.S. Concert and, much to the delight of the audience, proved a highlight of the evening. The next public appearance was slightly less formal, held one Sunday afternoon, and was almost a school outing. At the small fee of sixpence, a riotous hour of R & B echoed through the school, amidst the stamping and cheering of the enthusiastic fans. Then as a finale to the year’s activities as a group, The Dogs of Hamilton were contestants for 3YB’s ‘Battle of the Sounds”, this time playing toan audience of one thousand. Although not acclaimed in this outing, the Dogs will be more remembered by the boys at Monivae as more popular relief from Symphony Concerts.

Above L to R: Leo Tellefson (piano), Michaelv Schack (guitar), Paul Van Kalken (tambourine and vocals), Malcom Thomas (drums), Marty Atchison (vocals), Kevin Rooney (guitar)