Michael Turner In Session | Interview | “Pop bands hated us”

Michael Turner in Session was the opening band at the Sunbury Rock festival and toured other capital cities around the country.

---

In 1972 Turner won Australian best Vocalist in an event called Hoadley’s National Battle of the Sounds. In 1973 the band called it quits and Turner moved back to Brisbane.

It all started with 16 years old Michael Turner joining his first band in North Queensland called Michael and the Mustangs playing covers at dances. He left for Brisbane in 1969 with his band Force V playing covers but the music was more blues and powerhouse rock. Turner moved to Melbourne in 1970 and was asked to join Session. They were signed to Havoc records releasing a single ‘Just Around Midnight’ / ‘Patten of my Life’ in 1972.

“Pop bands hated us”

Tell us about your background.

I grew up in a place called Innisfail in far north Queensland and was around before rock started. As a child I could sing, I came from a family of singers but was pushed into choral play type stuff, then one day I heard Elvis Presley and then Little Richard who really blew my mind and that was that. At sixteen I joined my first band in Cairns just north of my home town, it was called Michael and the Mustangs. We were the top band up there but just playing hit parade covers at dances et cetera then finally I found direction as Jimi Hendrix and Cream and others came along.

​I left north Queensland in 1969 and brought a band with me to Brisbane called Force V​.​ ​W​e were playing covers but it was more blues and power house rock we had come from the country to the city to find bubblegum music was raging​.​ ​W​e created quite a storm playing blues and wearing far​-out clothes​.​ ​W​e became a bit​ of a​​ cult​.​ ​T​he pop bands hated us. Unfortunately it folded and there were no recordings done.

How did Session start?

​​I wanted to try a solo career but was enticed to join this band and they said just put your name in front of it. They were called Session and that’s how it began. I have great memories of those early days as Led Zeppelin had just taken the world by storm and I had the band to play it and I had the voice to sing it. We became very popular fast. I know we were only covering but no other bands could manage it in those days and it really kick started us (my thanks to them especially to Robert Plant).

Would you like to share some of the strongest memories from producing ​your only 7″ single?​

I moved the band to Melbourne in 1970 as it was the music capital of Australia and it was all happening​. W​e were playing alongside the top bands in the country and got signed up with Havoc ​Records​.​ ‘Just Around Midnight’ / ‘Patten of my Life ‘were written to suit what the record company wanted. They didn’t think they could sell what we were playing live which was heavy rock blues … and then the labels were attached to the back and front which stuffed it for airplay. It ended up on a compilation album called ‘Australian Rock 71-72 Collectors’ which had big name band names like Billy Thorpe and Wild Cheeries and was a hit. My strongest memory of producing it was working with great engineers and I was very deaf and how they helped me get it done thanks to modern technology. I have some of my hearing back which I am grateful for.

​Is there anything unreleased?

Unfortunately no unreleased material exists.

 

There’s incredible footage from the Sunbury Festival in 1972.

The Sunbury Rock Festival was known as the Woodstock of Australia and was the first big festival of its kind here and being the opening band was a privilege as it has become a legend in Australia. 50,000 people attended which was big for those days and even people who were not born then have heard of it. I guess for me it became the hit record I never had. I never got to see the whole festival as we had to go to Adelaide to do another one the same weekend. There were 10,000 there.

 

Where did you tour?

Being based in Melbourne our main touring was to the other capital cities in our country, not many stories to tell but one night Robert Plant and John Bonham turned up at our gig after their concert. I think my legs went to jelly. It was great to meet them. In later years played with Johnnie Johnson and 10cc. In 1972 I won Australian best Vocalist in an event called Hoadley’s National Battle of the Sounds. I had a wife and young family and in 1973 called it quits and came back to Brisbane to raise my family.

What happened next?

In 1995 I started a blues band with the same name which went till about 2000 and also toured back to my home towns in north Queensland as a solo artist, having been doing that until last year 2010. Currently I am preparing to do what will probably be an EP recording of about six songs. I have my original drummer Paul Olsen who is on the Youtube films. Have had a lot of response to our version of ‘Southbound Train’ even though it’s not ours may redo that as it was recorded studio live, and add a few originals. I’m getting on in years but the voice is still the same and blues has no age limit so I’m still battling on.

Klemen Breznikar

---

Headline photo: Michael Turner In Session at Berties, Melbourne, 1971