This is part 1 of a 4-part program featuring the Life and Times of Melbourne musician – Laurie Arthur.
Laurie formed the iconic Australian group the Strangers in the early 1960’s and then went on to form the Mixtures in the mid 1960’s and continued on as a musician of note for many decades.
As a child Laurie suffered from a medical affliction that affected his ability to hold his neck up straight, which resulted in terrible tormenting at primary school. However it was during this time his father encouraged the young Laurie to build things. Among his first projects were electronic pieces. These included crystal sets before he moved onto valve radios. All of this achieved at the age of 9!
Then at 10, he contracted polio. The story of his polio testing and then his treatment is a story of a processes that would be considered as brutal today. Yet again he overcame this debilitating condition. As part of his recovery became heavily involved in physical activities going on to become a sports champion at secondary school prior to moving into an extraordinary career in the Australian music scene.
Click to hear – Laurie Arthur – Part 1
[Listen To Older Voices receives funding from the Commonwealth Government through the Commonwealth Home Support Program Program]