The Clique came from Perth in the far west of Australia. Shortly after forming they won the western division of Hoadley’s Battle of the Sounds competition in 1966. Though they didn’t win the national final at Festival Hall in Melbourne, they did secure a contract with the Go!! label, and a slot on television’s Go!! Show, notable as Perth bands were usually signed to the Clarion label.

Members were:

Joe Orifici – vocals, keyboards
Lenny Hayworth – guitar
Mike Carr – guitar
John Tucak – bass
Ferdie Ferrante – drums

The band cut their only 45 at Bill Armstrong Sound Recording Studios in South Melbourne. Joe and John were just sixteen at the time, while the others were twenty or twenty-one. The single has two excellent originals, each written by one of their guitarists. Lenny Hayworth’s “Love Me Girl” was the A-side, a driving song with nice tremolo on the guitars and a shouted chorus.

On the flip is the Mike Carr-penned “Stop, Look and Listen”, one of my very favorite songs from Australia in the ’60s. It was certainly catchy enough to be an A-side itself, with a loping rhythm and neat lyrics about how envious folks are of his girlfriend. I like how the backing vocalists shout “They stop” behind the guitar solo.

This was their only recording. They had the option of relocating to Melbourne or Sydney to promote the band through live shows, but they chose instead to return to Perth and break up for college and careers.

This Clique have no relation to the groups of the same name in the U.S. (who did “Superman” as well as a White Whale 45 I’ve seen mistakenly credited to the Australian group: “Soul Mates” / “I’ll Hold Out My Hand”) or the U.K. (“She Ain’t No Good” on Pye, etc).

Sources include: Kommotion!! #2 (thanks to Steve F. for locating that for me).