Some of Laurie Bell’s closest friends are unaware he is rock ’n’ roll royalty.
These days, he is better known as an active member of the Brooklyn Residents Action Group, fighting the scourge of pollution in his home suburb.
But the 78-year-old former lead guitarist with The Thunderbirds has just been inducted into The Age Music Victoria Awards Hall of Fame along with his fellow band members, joining the likes of AC/DC, John Farnham, Olivia Newton-John and The Seekers among this year’s inductees.
“It’s a good achievement for the band and a tribute, I think, to the guys, musicians, who were in the band at the time and really put the band on the map,” Mr Bell said.
He joined The Thunderbirds in 1956 after answering an advertisement placed by band founder Harold Frith, who was living in his mother’s bungalow in Essendon.
The band became a bastion of Melbourne’s early 1960s rock scene and their instrumental Wild Weekend is one of the most successful Australian singles of all time.
“When rock ’n’ roll started, the Victorian music scene was right into it straight away,” Mr Bell said.
THUNDERBIRDS BAND MEMBERS, PETER ROBINSON, MURRAY ROBERTSON, HAROLD FRITH AND LAURIE BELL DURING THE BAND’S 50TH ANNIVERSARY TOUR IN 2007. PICTURE: JASON SOUTH
“Even though they won’t admit it, Sydney were behind us.”
The Thunderbirds went on to have a successful career as an instrumental band, backing the likes of the Bee Gees, Roy Orbison and Johnny O’Keefe.
When told his friends were excited to learn they had a rock star in their midst, Mr Bell modestly shrugged off the label.
“I’ve never looked on myself as a rock star and I don’t think any of the others have either, because we haven’t just been rock ’n’ roll musicians,” he said.
