Wild Cherries

The Wild Cherries
Origin	Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Genres	R&B, psychedelic rock
Years active	1964–1966, 1967–1969, 1971–1972, 2002
Labels	Festival, Havoc, Raven, Half A Cow
Associated acts	The Purple Hearts, The Weird Mob, Billy Thorpe and the Aztecs, The Bay City Union, Chain, Lobby Loyde & the Coloured Balls, The La De Das, The Virgil Brothers
Past members	see Personnel section below

The Wild Cherries was an Australian rock group, which started in late 1964 playing R&B and became "the most relentlessly experimental psychedelic band on the Melbourne discotheque / dance scene" according to commentator, Glenn A. Baker.

The band had several personnel changes, the 1967 line-up featured Keith Barber on drums, Peter Eddey on bass guitar, founder Les Gilbert on keyboards, Lobby Loyde (ex-The Purple Hearts) on guitars, and Dan Robinson on vocals. The band released four singles for Festival Records, including "Krome Plated Yabby" in June 1967 and "That's Life" in November, which peaked into the Go-Set National Top 40. A compilation, The Wild Cherries: That's Life was released in 2007 by Half A Cow Records. Loyde went on to join Billy Thorpe & the Aztecs, then formed Lobby Loyde & the Coloured Balls and also had a solo career.

In 1964, Melbourne University's Architecture students, John Bastow on vocals, Rob Lovett on rhythm guitar and vocals, and Les Gilbert on bass guitar, formed The Wild Cherries. Although Gilbert had studied classical piano with noted pianist Leslie Miers at an early age, he initially played bass guitar. The Wild Cherries were named by word association: Chuck Berry – Buck Cherry – Black Cherries – Wild Cherries. Local bluesman Malcolm McGee on lead guitar and vocals, and Geoff Hales on drums soon joined. Their debut performance was at Melbourne's first discothèque, the Fat Black Pussycat, located in South Yarra. Drummer Kevin Murphy, who had been playing in a modern jazz trio, replaced Hales almost immediately.

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