 ted mulry gang (TMG)
When the Ted Mulry gang formed in 1972, Mulry was already a
well-known pop balladeer. His backing band was drawn from the
remnants of suburban dance band The Velvet Underground. (The band
claimed complete ignorance of the famed US band of the same name).
Between 1974 and 1980, the band racked up seven best-selling
albums of good-time pop 'n' boogie. During that time the band also
undertook some of the most extensive national tours ever by an
Australian band.
Even when the band's hits dried up during the
1980s the Ted Mulry Gang machine rolled on with regular tours of
the pub circuit.
 The Ted Mulry Gang issued their debut album,
Here We Are, on
the Alberts label in November 1974. The album originally sold only
moderately until 1975 when Alberts released Jump In My Car as a
single. A month later it had shot to Number One on the national
chart.
By 1976, the band were rubbing shoulders with the likes of Sherbet,
Skyhooks, Hush and
Ol' 55 as darlings of the Australian
pop scene. That year they issued not one, but two best-selling
albums; Struttin' and Steppin' Out, plus three hit singles;
Darktown Strutters Ball (a remake of the 60 year old song), Crazy
and Steppin' Out. Jamaica Rum provided the band with their 5th
consecutive hit.
In April 1977 the band left Alberts and signed to the Mushroom
label, changing their name from the Ted Mulry Gang to plain TMG
and issuing a new album The TMG Album which produced two hit
singles, My Little Girl and Naturally.
Their 1978 release, Disturbing the Peace included the singles
Lazy Eyes, Heart of Stone and (You've Got) The Devil In
You.
 In April the band set off on a three month tour - supported by
Feather - and at the end of 1978 signed an American deal with
Atlantic. Their records were also released in New Zealand, South
Africa, Canada, New Guinea and South East Asia.
The TMG Live album featured one of the band's stage favourites,
a ribald version of the bawdy Dinah. ("Dinah Dinah show us
yer leg, a yard above your knee").
The Locked In album included three singles, Save Me,
Can't Take
It All and Captured but none were successful. Thus ended TMG's
love affair with the pop charts, but their place in Oz music
history was assured. A reunion album - called oddly enough
Re-Union - produced the single Old Habits.
In February 2001 Ted Mulry revealed he was suffering from brain
cancer. He passed away on September 1, just one day short of his
50th birthday. Go well, Ted.
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