The Allusions were one of the most stylish and inventive of Sydney’s 1960s beat groups.
The band issued six singles; Gypsy Woman (March 1966), The Dancer (July 1966), Looks Like Trouble (October 1966), Roundabout (February 1967), Seven Days Of Rain (July 1967) and Mr Love (January 1968), plus one excellent – and very rare – self-titled album through EMI/Parlophone (January 1967).
Bruce Davis replaced Terry Chapman on bass in July 1966, in time to appear on the album. Chapman went on to join one of America’s first psychedelic trios, The Knack (not the band of My Sharona fame).
Gypsy Woman and the Mike Morris/Bruce Davis-penned The Dancer were both Top 10 hits in Sydney and are rightly regarded as Australian 1960s classics. The Dancer owed a debt to The Beatles‘ arrangement of I’m Happy Just To Dance With You but is a superb stand-out track all the same.
The Allusions also included a tough cover of The Kinks‘ R&B stomper I Gotta Move on their album.
Morris left the band in late 1967 to be replaced briefly by John Spence. The band then continued on as a four-piece until October 1968 when Terry Hearne joined Digger Revell’s backing band. Morris returned but, having failed to adapt to the prevailing winds of psychedelia, the band finally called it a day in 1969.
Chris Bailey (ex-The Saints) recorded a version of Gypsy Woman in 1981.
Michael Morris
Guitar, vocals
Terry Hearne
Guitar, vocals
John Shaw
Organ, vocals
Terry Chapman
Bass
Kevin Hughes
Drums
Bruce Davis
Bass
John Spence
Guitar, vocals
