"Undecided" | ||||
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Single by The Masters Apprentices | ||||
from the album The Masters Apprentices (EP) & The Masters Apprentices | ||||
B-side | "Wars or Hands of Time" | |||
Released | October 1966 | |||
Recorded | 1966 | |||
Studio | Adelaide | |||
Genre | Rock | |||
Length | 2:22 | |||
Label | Astor | |||
Songwriter(s) | Michael Bower, Richard Morrison | |||
Producer(s) | Max Pepper | |||
The Masters Apprentices singles chronology | ||||
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"Undecided" is the debut single by Australian rock group, the Masters Apprentices, which was issued in October 1966 on Astor Records. It peaked at No. 13 on the Go-Set national singles charts. It was included on The Masters Apprentices debut EP and The Masters Apprentices debut studio album, both released in 1967.
In mid-1966 Adelaide-based rock group, the Masters Apprentices, shared a gig with pop star, Bobby Bright (of Melbourne duo, Bobby & Laurie), who was impressed and recommended them to his label, Astor Records. A few weeks later, they were contacted by Astor's Max Pepper, who requested a four-track demo. [1] [2] The band went to a local two-track studio to record it, but realised that they had only three suitable songs: "Hot Gully Wind", "Buried and Dead" and "She's My Girl". [1] [3] The demo became their debut extend play, The Masters Apprentices (February 1967). [3] [4]
Needing a fourth track, the group's guitarists Mick Bower and Rick Morrison wrote a new song, "Undecided", [1] [5] in about 15 minutes; [1] the instrumental backing was cut in about the same time. [1] [2] The title came from the fact that they were undecided about a name for the song when quizzed by studio owner and producer, Pepper. [1] [3] The biting fuzz-tone of Bower's guitar on the track was a fortunate accident; it was caused by a malfunctioning valve in his amplifier, but the group liked the sound and kept the faulty valve in until after the session. [2] [3]
Their debut single, "Undecided" backed by "Wars or Hands of Time", was released in October 1966 and gradually climbed the Adelaide charts, due to support from local DJs, [3] peaking at No. 4. [6] The B-side, "Wars or Hands of Time", written solely by Bower, [7] is the first Australian pop song to directly address the issue of the Vietnam War, [8] which was then affecting the lives of many young Australians because of the controversial introduction of conscription in 1965. [3] Teen pop newspaper, Go-Set, started publishing their national singles charts in October 1966. By February of the following year the group had relocated to Melbourne and issued their four-track EP on Astor. [4] "Undecided" peaked at No. 13 on the Go-Set National Top 40 in June 1967, [9] spending sixteen weeks in the charts. [10]
ABC-TV series, Long Way to the Top, was broadcast in August 2001. [11] Lead singer Jim Keays featured in "Episode 2: Ten Pound Rocker 1963–1968" where he discussed the UK migrant influence on the Masters Apprentices early work and how "Undecided" was issued. [11] He recalled "I was at the drive-in with my girlfriend and in between the two movies I switched off the drive-in speaker and put on the car radio and 'Undecided' came on, one of the songs we'd recorded as a demo. And I couldn't believe it, it was just a shock. There it was and sure enough we were the last ones to know that it was released." [11]
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
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1. | "Undecided" | Michael Bower, Richard Morrison | 2:22 |
2. | "Wars or Hands of Time" | Bower | 2:50 |
"Undecided" (December 1975) was re-recorded and issued as a single by Jim Keays as lead singer of Jim Keays' Southern Cross with Peter Laffy (ex-Fox) on guitar, Ron Robinson on bass guitar and John Swan (ex- Fraternity) on drums. [12] [13] From 2000, he performed "Undecided" as a member of Cotton Keays & Morris alongside other former 1960s artists, Darryl Cotton and Russell Morris. [5]