Growing up in the ’80s, there were a number of great Aussie bands getting around, like Men at Work, Mental as Anything, Cold Chisel. Another great band was Dragon. At the time I was young and didn’t know much about them except I liked their music. I didn’t know there was more to them than just their songs.
Originally from NZ, Dragon was formed in 1972, before moving across the ditch to the great southern land! In 1975 they moved to Sydney where they launch cult hits like April Sun In Cuba, Are You Old Enough, and the earworm Celebrate!
Three of the band have died in tragic circumstances. These tragedies can be attributed to one major cause, drugs, and apparently lots of them. During the early ’80s it was found that in the Stewart Royal Commission, which was investigating the MR Asia drug syndicate, Dragon members were clients of the syndicate.
Problems with the band started shortly after their arrival in Sydney in late 1975. Several months after arriving Drummer Neil Storey died of a heroin overdose. Then in 1985, Keyboardist Paul Hewson Died of a drug overdose. Paul Co-wrote most of Dragons hits in the ’70s. Marc Hunter Died in 1998 Aged 44 years from throat cancer caused by smoking.
We all know Marc Hunter as the lead singer. But in the early years, the band was fronted by Graeme Collins, The band is now fronted by Marc’s brother Todd. In 1978 Marc was fired from the band. during the ’70s Marc did time at Mt Eden Prison in Auckland (1978). During the ’70s Marc developed Heroin and alcohol addictions, which led to him being reckless and outspoken on stage.
In November 1978, Marc famously made some general observations about redneck buddies, illegal oral sex and utility trucks. He continued to call the Audience members Faggots. Whrn they returned to Australia, Marc was fired from the band, but rejoined in 1982.
"I remember seeing someone standing holding a pistol and shouting 'I'm gonna kill you, you son of a bitch' ... I didn't know it but by this point the rest of the band had left the stage. I was still singing because I could still hear the music in my head. It took ages to clear the pile of debris on the stage – broken glass, bottles, chairs, half a table – but I was totally unaware of this, I thought I was going over really well and I'm standing there in a crucifixion pose with my arms out, really gone, with heaps of eye make-up on, looking like some sort of twisted priest. And apparently Johnny Winter was taking bets on the side of the stage as to how long it would take before somebody shot me. Then I turned around and saw no one was on stage so I realised I wasn't going over too well after all and I went back to the dressing room and everyone was just standing there ... I said 'We went great, weren't we terrific?' At that stage of the band I was really a shocking sod. And all the record company people were just staring at me like I was an insectoid from Mars. And so that was it for us for that trip to America."[19]
On 1 July 2008, Dragon was inducted by Richard Wilkins into the ARIA Hall of Fame, Dragon was joined on-stage by James Reyne and Ian Moss to perform “April Sun in Cuba” and “Rain”.
Dragon's performance featured Ian Moss and James Reyne on vocals, alongside founding member Todd Hunter. During a fiery version of "April Sun in Cuba", the late Dragon singer Marc Hunter was incorporated into the chorus via a stirring performance video shown on a huge screen behind the band. Reyne said: "I used to go and see Dragon play in the mid to late 1970s before I even had a proper band, so it's great to be able to do this. I'm a big Dragon fan, and did tours with them when Marc was alive, and I knew him quite well. He'd think this is a blast." According to Todd Hunter, Dragon has had, at last count, 35 members and umpteen reincarnations. "Well, Wikipedia says 35 members so far," he said. "We had a long break as a band, but we started doing acoustic shows a couple of years ago. But we couldn't be heard above the crowd because they were singing so loud, so now we're back doing electric shows."[34]
All up Dragon have released 16 albums over the years, but it was during the early turbulent days that saw Dragon have the most success and fame. What are your memories of Dragon? what was your favourite song? Let us know in the comments below, and don’t forget to like, love, share and follow!
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