Cam-Pact was an Australian soul and psychedelic pop band which formed in April 1967. Originally they performed as The Camp Act but soon changed to Cam-Pact. Although little known outside Melbourne at the time, the various lineups of the group featured a number of young Melbourne musicians who went on to become significant figures on the Australian music scene, including Ray Arnott, Keith Glass, Chris Löfvén, Russell Smith, Robert Lloyd, and Chris Stockley. Cam-Pact issued five singles and three extended plays on Festival Records before disbanding in March 1970.
History
Cam-Pact were formed in Melbourne in April 1967 with a line up of Mark Barnes on bass guitar ; Keith Glass on vocals and guitar ; John Pugh on guitar, vocals and autoharp ; Chris Stockley on guitar ; and Bob Lloyd on drums. Originally named The Camp Act but, as that was "too outrageous", they soon changed to Cam-Pact. Initially they performed soul music in the Stax Records and Tamla-Motown mould. By 1968 Greg Cook, on organ and guitar, had replaced Pugh; and Trevor Courtney had replaced Lloyd on drums. In March 1968 they issued their debut single, "Something Easy", on Festival Records followed by a four-track extended play of the same name. The track was written by Glass. Their second single, "Drawing Room", appeared in May and was also written by Glass. It was followed by a third single, "Good Good Feelin'", in September, which was co-written by Cook and Courtney. Late that year Barnes left and Glass took up bass guitar. The group issued a fourth single, "Potion of Love", in June 1969. Australian musicologist, Ian McFarlane, described these singles as "fine examples of late 1960s psychedelic pop". By mid-1969 Glass had left to join the cast of Hair and Stockley left to join Axiom, and they were replaced by Chris Löfvén on bass guitar and Russell Smith on guitar, respectively. The group issued a second EP, Cam-Pact / Pastoral Symphony, with two tracks by Cam-Pact and two by label mates, Pastoral Symphony, which were a studio ensemble. Soon after Cook was replaced in Cam-Pact by Bill Blissett on organ and vocals. In September that year they released another single, "Zoom Zoom Zoom", and an EP of that name. Early in 1970 Ray Arnott replaced Courtney on drums and Cliff Edwards replaced Löfvén on bass guitar. They toured to Sydney with Matt Taylor guesting on lead vocals. A three-piece line up of Arnott, Edwards and Smith continued until March 1970 before the trio formed Company Caine with Gulliver Smith on lead vocals and Jeremy Noone on saxophone.
Afterwards
Ray Arnott played in a number of major Australian groups: he replaced founding drummer Mark Kennedy in Spectrum and played with them from 1971 until the group disbanded in 1973; this was followed by a brief stint in the short-lived "supergroup" Mighty Kong, various solo projects, Cold Chisel and Jimmy Barnes Band. In 1969, Glass scored the role of Berger in the original Australian stage production of Hair, and performed on the award-winning original cast recording. After leaving that production, in the early 1970s alongside many other notable releases, including the earliest recordings by The Go-Betweens and The Birthday Party. Chris Löfvén became a film maker, creating pioneering Australian "film clips" for Daddy Cool and Spectrum; he also directed a feature film, Oz, alongside his continuing music work. Russell Smith co-founded progressive rockers Company Caine and was also a member of the short-lived Mighty Kong. Stockley was a founding member of early Australian "supergroup" Axiom and The Dingoes. Robert Lloyd went on to study and teach music and become a successful composer, poet, songwriter and recording artist. After leaving Cam-Pact, Bob Lloyd was in Carnival, Extradition and then Forest, before establishing a successful career as a composer. John Pugh joined a number of different groups including James Taylor Move, The News, The Avengers, Healing Force, Baiyana, Silversun, Ray Burton Nightflyers and the Renée Geyer Band. In 1970 Barnes and Glass were both in country rockers, Sundown. Chris Stockley was a founding member of rock group, Axiom and country rockers, The Dingoes ; as well as a range of other bands. After leaving Company Caine, Ray Arnott joined Spectrum, then The Dingoes with Stockley, various solo projects and eventually was in Cold Chisel and Jimmy Barnes Band. Chris Löfvén was a film maker and in 1971 he generated music videos for Spectrum's "I'll Be Gone" and Daddy Cool's "Eagle Rock"; he also directed a feature film, Oz. In 1977 Glass, with David Pepperell, created Missing Link Records and one of their first releases was a four-track EP by Cam-Pact, Living in the '60s. In October 2002 Glass oversaw his label's release of a Cam-Pact compilation album, Psychedelic Pop 'n' Soul 1967-69. Mark Barnes died in August 2014.
