The Fab Four - The Down-Under Beatles

This Fab Four are another Beatles success story - but with a twist - although all four members were born in the UK, the all ended up in Australia as teenagers and on finding a common interest in all things 'fab' they decided to become The Fab Four!! In the 60's, 'Beatlemania' reached Australia and The Beatles, visited their land in triumph. Now, 30 years on the Aussies are known for Neighbours, Home and Away, INXS and Rolf Harris and of course the talent of their very own Fab Four!!

Steve Brazier has always fancied himself as a bit of a John...
"From about the age of 6, I used to wear my plastic Beatle wig and copy John Lennon singing 'I Feel Fine'!! I even mimed it at the Saturday morning pictures when I lived in London, and won a competition!!"

Many years later in 1992, he decided to form his own Beatles tribute band and held auditions. The successful candidates were Scott Vance (Paul), Clive Johnston (George) and Gary Carrigan (Ringo) and so The Fab Four were born! Steve admits to taking the role of band leader, "Isn't it strange how most John's in Beatles shows tend to run the band! Yeah, maybe I do think I'm a little like him…or I'm just a working class hero!" His favourite Beatles era is 1965 - 1967 and his favourite quote, 'Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans'.

Scott is a complete Beatle trivia buff and his quest for minutiae has recently led him to teach himself to play the bass left-handed (he's naturally right-handed!!). Clive is another perfectionist and spends hours listening to the Beatles (Aahhh it's a tough job!! - Ed's) to ensure that he plays every George solo 'note for note'! Gary provides The Fab Four with the all-important backbeat, but also adds another dimension with his falsetto harmonies!! Steve maintains that despite their success The Fab Four remain easy going. He sums up the bands raison d'etre, "It's not a case of what we have achieved, the fact is, The Beatles gave us this incredible repertoire of music to perform and, 38 years on people of all ages still love to hear it."

Nina Douglas
TWIL Issue One July 2000