MUCH OF THIS HISTORY WAS PROVIDED BY ALLEN MCMONAGLE WHO JOINED THE CLUB IN 1980. A LARGE PORTION WAS COINCIDENTALLY WRITTEN IN 1984 BY PAT SMITH.
The Redlands Modern Country Music Club had its humble beginnings in 1971. In that year, Stan and Del Moller of Wellington Point, Queensland, got together with a few friends to have occasional “Jam “ sessions at each other’s homes. Some of these people such as Stan and Del had performed professionally, but the majority were gifted amateurs who just wanted to enjoy their music.
In those days it was often referred to Country and Western, C&W, and it was highly influenced by iconic names such as Slim Dusty, Reg Lindsay, Tex Morton, Smoky Dawson, Buddy Williams, Chad Morgan to name a few. American legends also contributed to the feel of the music including Hank Williams, Hank Snow, Jimmy Rodgers. However to most performers Slim Dusty was King. However the great Reg Lindsay had a weekly TV program on Channel 9 so there was an interest in country music within the community. Reg had a big influence on performers and their repertoires. In 1972 another significant event occurred when the Tamworth Country Music Festival commenced and this even really got interest in Country Music happening.
These local performers began to hold regular practice nights and they would circulate between their various homes, sheds and garages each testing and developing their skills with a small but enthusiastic audience. Founding members included Stan and Del Moller and their family based in Wellington Point, as well as Reg and Maureen Grant and their family based in Capalaba. After some time Friday nights became the regular practice night and it was decided that underneath the Moller’s Wellington Point residence would be the regular location
Before long, this group began to grow as each person brought along more country music fans to join in the jam sessions, and in growing, found the need to seek an outlet for what they were learning at these sessions. Consequently, they began performing at charity fund raising ventures and as they began to get more widely known, they attracted more and more people to the jam sessions (including some young ones).
Interest within the community grew and the group decided it needed to become a club. So the Redlands Modern Country Music Club was born. The word “modern” was added to differentiate this club from other clubs who began specialising in the more traditional C&W sounds. Basically using “modern” meant that the material from the new emerging artists such as John Denver, John Williamson, Dolly Parton and Anne Murray could be enjoyed at concerts. Stan Moller was the inaugural Club President.
The inaugural meeting was held on April 18. 1974, with Stan Moller being elected Foundation President.
The aims of the Club were decided at this meeting and have remained unchanged over the years.
- Promote Country music
- Promote country music as a family recreation and past time.
- Help people of all ages to perform whether it be for a past-time, or as a stepping stone to a professional career.
- Help children learning music by giving them an outlet for their studies.
- Provide workshops in the various aspects of the entertainment field.
- Support worthwhile charities.
- No member of the Club to receive monetary gain from the Club.
Occasionally club performers were invited to social occasions where they would perform; however this was an irregular occurrence usually within the Redland Shire as it was known then. The club needed to have a regular performance venue and time so that country singers around Brisbane could visit their club to perform and share their mutual hobby. In 1978 the club began having regular concerts at the Thorneside Hall at Mooroondu Road, Thorneside. It was to be held on the 1st Saturday of each month.
After the decision to have a regular venue the club started to grow and musicians from all over the Redlands began to find guitars and other instruments under their beds and in cupboards that they would bring along to the practice nights. The king of instruments for a country music show was the guitar of course, however piano accordion became popular, electric bass guitar added some depth, harmonica and eventually a drum kit became the standard back line at concerts.
The Club continued to grow slowly but steadily over the years, losing some members for various reasons, such as making music their career (and there have been a few of those), or just leaving the district, and gaining new ones.
During this time, the club was very active in the area, supporting local charities such as the Ambulance Building Fund, Leukemia Foundation, etc., and providing entertainment to pensioner groups, Homes for the aged, and nursing homes.The Club also began competing in the many country music Festivals, with much enjoyment and quite a few successes.
Stan Moller died in 1980 and the new President elect was Bill Smith. However in 1981 Bill decided to move on and form a new club, so Reg Grant took on the job. After only a few months Reg decided to stand down and Del Moller took over as Club President.
In 1981, It was felt that the club was large enough to stage its own country music Festival.There was not much money, but there was a great deal of enthusiasm, and so the Redlands Country Music Festival was born. To raise money to stage the Festival, the Club ran raffles, entertained at Weddings, Engagements, 21st Birthdays, and shopping centres. Nothing was too much trouble. The Club even did gardening to raise the money needed.
The convener was Sharon Oakhill, Reg Grant’s daughter. The venue was Cleveland Community Hall in Smith Street Cleveland. This was an interesting event as visitors came from all over Brisbane to participate and many friendships developed over the festival years. The “club show” section of the 1981 festival was especially entertaining and the winning group from Northern Suburbs Country Music Club included a young performer named Keith Urban. He was around 14 years old then.
It was a humble beginning, with not much in the way of prizes, but, as the old saying goes, from humble acorns to mighty oaks grow, so then we have grown.
This festival was a landmark for the club and interest around the Redlands blossomed. The next year, 1982, there was considerable support both from performers wanting to participate and sponsors supporting the new “country” sound. local AM radio stations were also switching to a country music format because of the community demand.
Each year, the Festival grew as local businesses began to support it, so that in 1984, the 10th anniversary of the Club and the 4th Annual festival included a programme of 34 sections of competition; over $4,500 in prizes and trophies, and the World Championship Kookaburra Laughing Contest. The Festival attracted almost 400 competitors from all over Queensland and Northern Rivers, even from as far south as Wollongong, in excess of 3,500 spectators over the 2 days of the Festival.
The Festival was greatly assisted in its success by the extensive coverage given it by the Redlands Local News, and Radio station 4KQ .
Many of the other Country Music Festivals did not offering the range of sections of competition to cover the wide diversity of ages and types of Country Music. Consequently, they have lost a great deal of the Club participation and only attract the very best individuals from the Clubs to compete. RMCMC decided that we should foster the participation of all ages from the 12 years and under to the super oldies (50 years and over).The 1985 Festival saw the inclusion of a schools’ section for the local schools to participate with a Band and/or Choir in either the High School or Primary School sections. That year’s festival increased the offerings from 34 sections to 40, plus a schools section. Prize monies will be increased from $4,500 to $6,000, plus prizes and trophies for the school sections. The prize of a Trip to New Zealand for the best overall vocalist to appear in the New Zealand Country music Entertainer of the Year Awards will remain the same. This was sponsored by Qantas and Starworld Travel.
In 1982 the club was invited to put on a concert at the Wynnum RSL. This concert proved popular with RSL club patrons and it became a regular Sunday evening gig for the RMCMC through until 1990 when the introduction of poker machines changed RSL priorities. However, this coincided with the establishment of the clubhouse providing a suitable alternative venue for practices and concerts. Revenue from the RSL shows as well some State Government funding was instrumental in getting the clubhouse project to happen.
With the Friday night practice, regular Sunday night RSL gig and the annual festival each May as well as occasional invitation performances the RMCMC became a busy group. Some very dedicated musicians and singers “cut their teeth” at these events and the clubs reputation grew for putting on a fine show with singers and instrumentalists as well a terrific vocal harmonies. The RSL show was the birth place of Stone the Crows Bush Band as well as providing exposure for several other groups and individual artists who went on to develop as great entertainers.
In 1985 Jim Mitchell joined the club and contributed greatly as a musician. He was an accordion player extraordinaire and he always regaled us with yarns and stories of his time in the bush. He was fundamental to establishing the clubhouse. This project began after a conversation with Des Green who was a club member and also a builder. Des owned a house on a site in Thorneside that he wanted removed or demolished and Jim, a former builder, suggested we could make it into a clubhouse, and as they say – the rest is history. Jim with his “pardner” Paddy Currier spent endless hours in 1988 and 1989 establishing the building and fitting it out.
Regular practices began at the clubhouse in 1989 and it was formally opened in 1990. The opening was big affair with politicians and the like but my favorite memory was guitarist legend Barry Thornton playing Cammoweal on the club’s front veranda. I thought that was a real baptism for the building.
Sadly the old practice venue under Del Moller’s house now became disused. We had some wonderful times under that house. They say you can still hear “You are my Sunshine” down there on dark & stormy nights. Without the use of this facility this club would not have flourished as it did in the mid to late 80s. It was used for Friday night practices, Saturday Kids practice, regular monthly meetings, Christmas parties, and the storage of club PA equipment as well as various festival stage props and associated stuff. The Moller’s car trailer (built by Stan) was also requisitioned for carrying PA gear to and from gigs. So the Moller contribution to the club was immense and must not to be forgotten.
After the official opening Jim was not content with the size of the clubhouse and he immediately drew up expansion plans. the building making it larger and adding more toilets, turning it into a wonderful practice venue available for members only. Later on the kitchen was extended under the direction of Barry Phillips, Paddy’s Bar was set up and the storage shed at the back completed. All the work was carried through regular organized working bees attended by club members who gave freely of their time and expertise.
Meanwhile in 1988 three members of the club had a collective brainwave to set up a high level competition where winners from all the country music festivals in Queensland could join together at a single venue for a chance at a top award called “Queensland Country Music Clubs Champion of Champions”. It was Jim Mitchell’s dream with the first event was put together by Jim Mitchell, Dave Hack and Allen McMonagle. Thanks to the collective work of many people from the various country music clubs of Queensland this event continued until 2016. 28 years of good competition producing some fine performing artists.
The clubhouse proved to be a significant asset not just for the RMCMC but for the local community in general. It was and still is a regular venue for our club practices every Friday night, also now is our venue for the monthly social, still on the 1st Saturday of each month, and each May it became the venue for a three day Redlands Country Music Festival. Sadly in 2021 we held our last annual Festival. Changes in the CM community as well as other distractions saw diminishing attendances so the event was cancelled. Apart from that many musicians and bands continue to use the clubhouse for their regular rehearsals.
In 1993 the first Bluegrass Festival:was held. Several members of the club were really into bluegrass music. So after looking around it was decided to have the event at Kindilan Girl Guides centre in Redland Bay. For the first two years it was called a Fiddlers Convention but after that renamed Redlands Bluegrass Festival. It became a “go to” festival for bluegrass fans from all over Australia and some from New Zealand and some momentous concerts were held. We occasionally brought on artists from the USA, they were expensive but highly appreciated. To subsidise this event we received funding from the Redlands City Council and the Arts Council over several years. Many of the festival concerts were video recorded by Phil Macqueen and are still available if anyone wants to see them. This event continued annually under the guidance of Neil and Cilla Wills and a club committee, however after 20 years of running this event many of us were a bit worn out and venue issues were becoming too difficult to manage so it was terminated in 2014.
Also in 1993 a group from the club started doing radio broadcasts with 100.3 BAYFM. The RMCMC club show went to air every Thursday night at 6pm for over 20 years until BAYFM moved in a different direction and the show was cancelled. 1993 the Club has its own radio show at BayFM: Several club members became involved with the development of community radio station 100.3 BAYFM based in Cleveland. As part of this initiative the RMCMC had its own two hour radio program every Thursday night. It was manned on a weekly roster basis and continued from 1993 until 2016. Changes in the radio station priorities in 2016 caused the program to close down but it was a wonderful 23 years effort by club members.
What has led to the RMCMC having been so successful over the 40 years since it was established? Like the experience of so many similar organizations there were tough times and there were exceptional times but somehow the club persisted. I recall club numbers being down to about 10 members at one stage in the mid 1980s (and we were still doing the RSL show too). Then I can recall when we had so many members we considered having two separate practice nights just to fit everyone in. In summary I think it comes down to sensitive and sensible leadership from member of the executive committee and commonsense management of the club in general. For example all club meetings are open to all members. Any member can attend and have a say in club activities and policy. Yes, there is an executive committee but club decisions are made by consensus rather than by voting which I believe could polarize members. I can only recall one or two instances in recent times where a contentious issue has had to be resolved by secret ballot.
Yes there have been some extraordinary achievements especially by individual characters like Jim Mitchell or Del Moller, they stamped their mark on the club, but on reflection I think the simple policy of 50 percent music and 50 percent social has been a significant aspect. If you focus 100% on music the support people and volunteers will be forgotten, but then if you focus just on the social aspect you will lose the interest of the musicians.
One of the features of our club constitution placed a restriction of 3 years for an individual to reside in any club executive position. This policy has helped us develop “new blood” within the executive. The aim was to bring new ideas and skills to the committee but also allow them with access to the knowledge of previous occupants in a non-competitive environment.
Challenges: The average age of the club is steadily climbing. However it is lovely to see fresh young faces occasionally appearing on stage and helping out at socials. We need to hang on to these young people as much as possible. They are our future and we need them to ensure longevity of the club by cultivating and encouraging junior activities. Unfortunately the young ones are faced with pressure from all directions, i.e. get born, get the education, get the job, get the girl/boy, get the house, get the friends on facebook and on and on. Perhaps we could market the club as an oasis away from all this pressure where they can express themselves with music, find friends with similar ideas and have fun.
Country music is also facing cultural challenges. The dinkum Aussie performer is seriously under threat from overseas influences. Without being xenophobic I think we need to be seen to encourage Aussie singers and songwriters just to keep practicing what we see as our Country Music Heritage.
The club continues to grow and evolve. The challenge remains to stay relevant to the changing demands of our members and the public. We continue to provide a good venue with a regular entertainment program, as well as to provide an excellent opportunity for existing and emerging country music artists to practice their respective arts.
The following extract is from Allen McMonagle, featured in the club’s August 2021 Newsletter:
I joined the club I think about May 1980 as a result of an advertisement in the Bayside Bulletin. It was just promoted as a country music concert at Thorneside Hall on a Saturday night. So with seriously pregnant wife Loretta and our 2 year old daughter Emma we attended the night to see what was going on. I was interested because I had taught myself to play the guitar and had a repertoire of several John Denver songs as well as songs from the Kingston Trio, Marty Robbins, Peter Paul and Mary, Cat Stevens and many others. We were welcomed at the door by a very enthusiastic Brenda Smith, wife of club President Bill Smith. We handed over our 50 cents entry and then bought the obligatory 20 cent raffle ticket and soon we were sitting down on those old cold metal stacking chairs to enjoy a procession of artists good, bad and indifferent supported by a band of guitarists. I know Del Moller was playing bass and Bill Smith on rhythm guitar. A young Alan Moller was also playing rhythm guitar and I recall there were some good female singers including Brenda Moller, Jackie and Carol Mullen, Sharon Oakhill also Pat Fletcher who sang beautifully with her “light operatic” style. The men singers were also well represented. Alan Zsolczay, Davey Ward, Bill Smith and a few others. Also at that first concert a duo of Ray Cullen and Roy Cox were a standout act with some fine vocal harmonies. There was also a drummer, Dave Gannon I think. Later in the night a young Reg Grant turned up with his Fender Stratocaster and his big 120 Watt Roland Jazz Chorus amplifier. Reg was about 14 and thin as a whip and it took three grown men to lift the Roland amp onto the stage. Reg’s guitar playing was an inspiration. The story was Reg had been wagging school and just playing guitar for about six months, it doesn’t matter now, but his talent was obvious. On reflection now we weren’t exactly blown away by the entertainment but I can recall the atmosphere was so friendly and down to earth that I found it appealing and thought I might fit in. This is one of the secrets that we all enjoy about country music clubs. During the supper break I spoke to Ray Cullen and asked him about joining the club. He explained where the Friday night practices were held and encouraged me to come along and then the adventure began.
RMCMC MAGAZINE JUNE 2021 12 So after 50 years we’re still here, still enjoying the friendship and the down to earth music. Friday nights: Practice nights were held under the house at Del and Stan Moller’s place, 50 Wellesley Street Wellington Point. They started about 7pm and went pretty late sometimes. There was always a procession of singers of all shapes and sizes, we sat on a collection of chairs and sofas and used a small PA system with one or maybe two mikes. The cost was one dollar to cover the tea and biscuits. Del and Stan must have suffered some comments from the neighbours in those days because occasionally the music got pretty loud as well as the conversations. I don’t recall any fights thank goodness, but I do know some secret romances blossomed. The main idea of Friday night was for the inexperienced performers to have time on the microphone and to help get over nerves and stage fright etc. The band was always a bit irregular but mostly Bill Smith on guitar and Del on bass. I do remember one Friday night when a young Keith Urban was in attendance, he was mate of Reg Grant and Brenda Moller and you could see that his skill on guitar then was amazing at the ripe old age of about fourteeen. Allen
1988 several of us formed Stone the Crows Bush Band: The initial formation of Stone the Crows Bush Band was made in 1988 and comprised Jim Mitchell, Del Moller, Dave Hack, Bill Turner and Allen McMonagle. The band became a sort of default house band for most club functions and continued in that vein for many years. Stone the Crows played their last gig in January 2020.
1990 the clubhouse opens: The opening of the clubhouse was big deal for us. At last we had an independent base to work from. The first Friday night practice was held in 1989 but work was still proceeding right up until the official opening. Immediately after the opening Jim and Paddy were back at it adding the extension to the western and southern sides of the building effectively doubling the usable area. The amount of work these members did in that time cannot be over emphasised, they were at it day and night 7 days a week. We did hold working bees for members as well but the majority of the work was undertaken by Jim Mitchell & Paddy Currier.
1990 we had our last social at Thorneside Hall and the Sunday night RSL concert ends: These had been regular venues for almost 20 years but with the opening of the clubhouse our priorities had shifted. Another factor was the RSL introduced poker machines and needed the space. It was a turning point for the club and a refocus on what we were all about. The clubhouse had become our main priority and performance space.
1993 Clubhouse extension Barry Phillips: Barry was a wonderful pedal steel player and popular member of the backing band. His personal career was in building houses, so during a downturn he turned his building talent into extending the clubhouse kitchen out over part of the veranda. The kitchen expansion was greatly appreciated by the kitchen hands and became an ideal conversation spot away from all that singing & stuff.
1999 our last Festival at Cleveland Community Hall: The Cleveland Community Hall had become quite run down and even unsafe for the annual festival so the club agreed that we should look elsewhere. In 2000 the club decided to move the festival to the Capalaba Bowls club, I decided this was my last festival as coordinator or so I thought. In 2001 Karen Williams ran the festival at Capalaba Bowls Club and it was successful but the venue was not an ideal arrangement so in 2002 we ended up moving to be incorporated into the Strawberry Festival at Cleveland Showgrounds. We did the same again 2003 but this arrangement was not ideal either. In 2004 we tried using the Victoria Point Bowls Club and again in 2005. After the frustration of these moves we ended up simply using the clubhouse as a venue and catering for the event ourselves. It was a great move and has been highly successful ever since 2006 coordinated by several of our members especially John Dillon and Bill & Dawn Healey and many others.
I hope you have enjoyed these reminiscences. I have probably skipped over many notable events and contributions by significant members but as they say “how long is a piece of string”. Allen