Creation (Band)

A Christian Band Called 'Creation' (1971-1976)

The 1970s saw an extraordinary move of God sweep across the world. In Australia, people from mainstream churches started meeting in family loungerooms. More than 70 young people met weekly in the McLucas home in Ipswich, perching on every horizontal surface of its 1879s drawing room, including the floor, to sing and talk about Jesus Christ. It was standing room only at the Hills home in Eastern Heights, too. Young people gathered in churched halls to listen to music and drink coffee by candlelight at events they called 'coffee shops'. And new churches began - what is now Vision Christian Family was established in 1875 and recently celebrated 50 years of ministry in Ipswich. An old bakehouse on the corner of Cook and Railway Streets, Booval, got a makeover and became home to The Jesus Family under the guidance of David Chisholm. His team included Kay Fox, Don Fox, and Des McLucas. Music played a significant role in all this activity, with artists like Larry Norman, Keith Green, Andraé Crouch, Phill Keaggy, Barry McGuire, and Randy Stonehill, and groups like Love Song and 2nd Chapter of Acts, becoming household names. Blending folk and rock with Christian lyrics, musicians pioneered contemporary Christian music and influenced mainstream culture. In the middle of this global phenomenon, an Ipswich band emerged. it was called Creation.

Originating in California, the 'Jesus Movement' was a major countercultural revival that peaked in the late 1960s/early 1970s. Thousands of hippies, also known as 'Jesus freaks', converted to Christianity. young people rejected traditional church norms and, instead, emphasised a return to a simple Gospel and, in many cases, charismatic worship. Godspell kicked off the decade, premiering in 1970. Based on the Gospel of Matthew, this sweet rock musical is structured as a series of parables interspersed with music, some of which is set to traditional hymn lyrics. Geoffrey Rush was in the cast when the Queensland Theatre Company presented the musical at the SGIO Theatre in Brisbane in 1974. Rush went on to win an Academy Award for Best Actor (Shine, 1996). Another musical capitalised on the widespread popularity of Jesus. Viewed by many as anti-Christian, it portrayed Jesus as 'just a man', rather than God, but in cultural terms, Jesus was a superstar. In one of the songs Caiaphas sings this line: 'One thing I'll say for him, Jesus is cool.' With music by Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyrics by Time Rice, Jesus Christ Superstar opened on Broadway in 1971.

Many capable bands formed in Queensland in the early 1970s. A group called Family rose to the top and made a significant impact on Christian and mainstream music in Australia during the 1970s and 80s. This harmonising trio, which consisted of Ian Smallbone and brothers Phil and Ian Truscott, formed in 1972 and played initially at coffee shops. By 1973, Family was touring Australia with Burt Bacharach. The group consistently attracted the largest audiences of any Australian Christian bad, including an audience of over 12,000 at the Sydney Entertainment Centre. The band crossed over into the mainstream, performing on television shows like In Melbourne Tonight, The Mike Walsh Show and The Bert Newton Show. Family released 15 singles and 21 albums, including their first single, Hallelujah Day, which reached number 6 on the Top 40 chart in Brisbane. In 2005, the band was awarded the Yamaha Golden Gospel Award for significant contribution to the growth of Gospel Music in Australia.

In several places across south-east Queensland, Family was backed by an Ipswich band called Creation. Family had a folk group sound, its tight three-part harmony influenced by groups like Peter, Paul and Mary, Creation had more of a band sound with multiple instruments, multiple harmonies, and strong Christian themes and focus. Word was, 'If you can't get Family, the next best is Creation.'

The Ipswich group was yet to be named when it made its first appearance in 1971 at St John's Presbyterian Church in Booval. Four musicians - Kathy McEwan, Barbara Rose, Ian Thomson and Ron Oostenbroek - performed only one song, Love is Surrender, and they repeated it twice upon a request. This was a special moment for Kathy because Neville Bonner and his wife were in the audience that night. 'Mrs Bonner was my favourite primary school teacher at Silkstone State School, and the one who sparked by lifelong interest in theatre production.' The four musicians soon recruited Barry Burke and Bruce Poulton. Barbara and Bruce had been in a band called Coaltown Revival - Ipswich being a coal town - which included David Donald and Tony Potter, joined occasionally by Ian Smallbone. Coaltown Revival was based at All Saints Anglican Church in Booval. The following year, Ian invited Richard Starratt to join the new band.

Bruce remembers those early months. 'Practice got serious quickly as we all wanted a high standard. We dropped one practice night for Bible study together and I'm sure that helped us more than music practice. Everything was very prayer-based too.' The group had its name by this time and was the regular band at Jesus Family gatherings in the old bakehouse (A block of units now stands on this site). Kathy and Ian married. Barbara married Barry's brother and left the band soon afterwards. The band was then made up of Kathy Thomson (vocals/flute), Ian Thomson (vocals/piano/musical director), Ron Oostenbroek (lead guitar/vocals), Bruce Poulton (rhythm guitar/vocals), Richard Starratt (bass guitarist/vocals/drums), and Barry Burke (drums). They came from different denominations. 'This was quite a remarkable thing for the times, when denominations tended to stay in their own lane,' said Kathy. 'It was the 1970s, the rise of coffee shops, folk festivals, alternative lifestyles. The thought behind the band's formation was that it would be a vehicle to share the priceless gift of salvation.'

Although the band members were young, they were talented. Ian's mother taught piano. When Ian was two, she heard what she thought was her older son, Blair, playing piano exam pieces in a different key. She found Ian, reaching up, playing the pieces in the wrong key. He had never been taught. Ian became proficient with musical instruments and sound equipment; he had done the sound for Family and now managed sound for the group. Richard taught himself drums and had been playing in secular bands. he was 18 when he joined Creation and had only recently become a Christian. Richard learned to play bass guitar at an Ipswich music store called Dialbo, and still has his first guitar, a Fender he bought secondhand in the 1960s. Many of the band members have since played with other groups - Christian and secular - and have been a regular part of worship ministries in their local churches.

Creation played across denominations all over Ipswich - Catholic, Anglican, Presbyterian, Church of Christ, Baptist, Salvation Army - and in venues at Toowoomba, Brisbane and the God Coast, often working with organisations like Teen Challenge, Youth for Christ, Covenant Players, and the God Squad. The latter was a Christian motorcycle club that the Reverend John Smith established in the late 1960s. Smith insisted that Creation play at some God Squad outreach events. The band also played for church camps, tent missions, and youth rallies. Outdoor events were common: carols in local parks, Aquarius Festival at Minden (May 1973), Roma Street Forum, Milton Tennis Courts, and the Botanic Gardens for Brisbane's Warana Festival. They performed on the beach at Surfers Paradise during Quo Vadis, a youth conference on the Gold Coast, Christmas 1972. The band also played live for an American Christian musical called Come Together, first at Mayne Hall on the University of Queensland campus, and then at the Wintergarden Theatre in Ipswich. They also appeared on ABC television in a program called Divine Service, which was filmed at the Holland Park Methodist Church. The calendar was full.

Richard recalls the years between 1973 and 1976: 'We worked hard, having practices every Tuesday and Thursday night without fail. Then, as we got known, we would play every Saturday night and Sunday - morning and night - anywhere in southeast Queensland. Some Friday nights and Saturday mornings as well. We often dropped in afterwards to a café in Indooroopilly. I'm sure they stayed open until late for us - band members and their girlfriends - and most times this would be about 10pm.' Band members couldn't be involved in their own churches, and everyone had a fulltime job in addition to practice nights and bookings. They were becoming weary. A breakthrough came when they found a booking manager in Kay Fox. Richard remembers that they asked Kay to block out an occasional weekend, just so they could have a break. 'I feel this kept Creation going longer.'

Despite the pressure, Richard formed a 'fun rock and roll band' called Tom's Left Boot, with Bruce on bass guitar, Ron on lead/rhythm guitar, and himself on drums. For Bruce, this sense of fun was a memorable aspect of their time together. 'We played at the Canberra Hotel in Toowoomba with a group called Gentle Folk. We called them Mental Joke and they introduced as Cremation.' Richard remembers that when a dance band was playing, eh and Bruce started cutting in on each other and waltzing off together. This became a kind of gag that the audience looked for. At other times, Richard and Barry played at swapping instruments - Ron would make a show of placing Barry's fingers on the guitar strings, while Richard took over on drums.

Richard believes there were many times when God protected or provided for them. On one occasion, a lady approached the bikers in John Smith's God Squad. She was carrying a bundle. 'God told me to give you this.' It was a large casserole. The squad had eaten already, and when they tried to refuse the meal, she was adamant. 'God told me to give you this.' One of the bikers came over to the band. It was late in the evening and they had all gone without food for some time, simply because there had been no time between gigs. The casserole fed them and their girlfriends. Another time, police came into a venue while they were performing. They tackled a man who had guns and knives and was ready to use them. Kathy was grateful they hadn't gone off key.

Ipswich was right in the path of the Jesus Movement in the 1970s. It was an exciting time when hundreds of young people gave their lives to Christ. Many of them have, in the decades since, been the backbone of the city's mainstream churches. It is worth noting that women played leadership roles in this era. Kay Fox was the 'mother' at Jesus Family and Kathy Thomson played a similar role in the band. Richard notes that she pulled 'the boys' up for flirting if it was needed. As talented young men, they might so easily have succumbed to the adoration of attractive young women. So many musicians have. Although Kathy recalls this as 'stomping on their inflated egos' when necessary, the value of her oversight was incalculable for the future of those men, and for the band.

But the pressure was building; they were tired. Band members never wrote their own music, but their commitments were such that the band had reached a crossroads: if they were to continue, they needed to give up their jobs and make this their fulltime occupation. As they stood at the crossroads, Kathy had a strong sense of what ought to happen; she felt it was time to let the group go, and most of them agreed. The end finally came when the Commonwealth Bank transferred Bruce to Charleville. Creation disbanded in 1976.

With long hair, flared trousers and open-necked shirts, the band ministered to their generation during an extraordinary era that changed the direction of church culture. They had lived in each other's pockets for several years but never faced the interpersonal conflicts that destroy so many bads. 'The experience and friendships formed in Creation have stood the test of time,' said Ron. 'The influence of the other band members prompted me to go into full0time church ministry and Air Force Chaplaincy. Music and guitar have remained an important part of my ministry to this day.' Bruce adds, 'It was 50 years ago, and although a lot of detail has blurred in memory, I recall the good times and blessing we enjoyed together, both as Creation and as friends.'

Band members still meet socially from time to time.

Queensland Times article, ca. 1974, depicting (from left) Ian Thomson, Kathy McEwen, Ron Oostenbroek, Bruce Poulton and Richard Starrett.