Biography
Though they never achieved stardom on home soil, the Missing Links rank among Australia’s finest bands of the 1960s. They began as a raw, Kinks-styled outfit and scored a number-two New Zealand hit with the single “We 2 Should Live”/“Untrue.” When the original lineup dissolved in 1965, an entirely new set of musicians assumed the group’s name. This second incarnation produced some of the rawest Australian garage and punk recordings of the period—indeed, some of the strongest anywhere—fusing the Troggs’ primal drive with the early Who’s explosive energy and occasionally unleashing feedback that sounded years ahead of its time. Commercial success remained elusive, however, and the band splintered after issuing several singles, an EP, and an album. Former members later surfaced in other Australian acts, among them Running Jumping Standing Still and Python Lee Jackson. Guitarist Doug Ford proved the most prominent, moving first to Running Jumping Standing Still and then to the Master’s Apprentices, widely regarded as the best Australian band of the 1960s apart from the Easybeats.