Marcic magic

Herman Marcic when he was a Creature.

Alice Springs musician Herman Marcic has won much rapt attention over the years for — among many other things, of course — his stunning version of Procol Harum’s A Whiter Shade of Pale.

Now Central Australians have cause to be sad, with Herman and his charming wife Chris Marcic leaving town after more than 30 years around the traps.

During this time Herman and Chris both developed considerable followings, Herman for his live performances of blues and rock classics and originals, usually  in combination with other great Alice musos, and Chris as an ABC presenter, most notably for her long-running Saturday morning show.

When Chris did her last show recently. she and Herman treated fans to a few stories of their early days together, when Herman was making his start as a musician in the band The Creatures, described by journalist Ian McIntyre as the ‘epitome of 1960s garage Rock’.

Formed around the trio of Marcic brothers (Herman, Rudolph and Eric) and augmented by singer Keith Matcham and rhythm guitarists Michael Parnis and Keith White the band scorched out of their home town in early 1966. Over the coming years The Creatures literally demolished crowds up and down the East Coast of Australia before settling in at the Gold Coast to run their own venue. With Eric exiting the band in 1967 Greg “Sleepy” Lawrie was drafted in on lead guitar.

Thanks to their brightly coloured hair and bad ass attitude The Creatures left in their wake a legacy of multiple arrests, bloodied noses and legendary rave-ups. Before the band’s demise they also delivered the killer single Ugly Thing to which the eponymous Raven records series and seminal US garage rock magazine owe their names.

You can read Ian McIntyre’s fascinating interview with Herman at this site.

Meanwhile Herman kindly made this video for Alice Online, demonstrating the parts that go to make up the whole of his acoustic interpretation of  A Whiter Shade of Pale.