The Holy Rollers (Bands from Perth, Australia)

The Holy Rollers were around for a few years in the mid 1980s and they were one of a couple of bands led by Greg Dear. The Holy Rollers featured his sister Felicity "Flick" Dear on drums, Craig Chisolm on guitar and on bass Kim Williams (of The Summer Suns and the man responsible for the Easter Records and House Of Wax record labels, both of which have released many great Perth bands).

Their sound was different to most of their peers in Perth at the time (which tended to the swamp rock of bands such as the Kryptonics or the Bamboos or the power pop of bands such as The Stems or The Marigolds), closer to the musical stylings of The Triffids, but with influences including the New York sounds of the Velvet Underground and Television.

The Holy Rollers recorded a 7" double A-side single Above The Law / Lifestyle in 1985 and a self titled album in 1986, both released on Easter Records.

My favourite memories of The Holy Rollers were their regular Saturday night gigs at the Shenton Park Hotel with the Marigolds, with each band headlining on successive weeks.

Greg Dear also led The Beautiful Losers and released some solo recordings on cassette in the 1980s. Greg is now performing as a senior lecturer at Edith Cowan University's School of Psychology.

Felicity "Flick" Dear went on to play drums with Charlottes Web, Wooden Fische, Box and Butternut (with Gretta Little from The Rosemary Beads and Sascha Ion from Spank). Flick is now Principal of Djidi Djidi Aboriginal School and plays in a Noongar band called Warangka.

Kim Williams is still active in the Perth scene, and is currently playing in The White Swallows.