Dead Doug Rowe, The Flying Circus was a pioneering Australian country rock band who had a number of pop hits in Australia from 1968 to 1971 and then re-located to Canada from 1971 to 1974 where they also achieved a degree of success.
The Flying Circus were formed in August 1968 in Sydney starting out as a country/folk-rock band. They performed “harmony-rich covers of Byrds, Dylan and Dillards country songs”.
Like The Byrds, a prominent part of their early sound came from the featured use of a 12 string Rickenbacker guitar. They were brought together by lead guitarist Doug Rowe who had been a member of New Zealand band, The Castaways, before coming to Australia.
The original line-up was Doug Rowe [lead guitar, vocals], James Wynne [lead vocals, rhythm guitar], Bob Hughes [bass, vocals] and Colin Walker [drums]. Bob Hughes left in early 1969 and went on to become a well known screen actor with credits including the hit TV sitcom Hey Dad..!, ABBA: The Movie, but in 2014 he was found guilty of sexually molesting girls on the set of Hey Day and was sentenced to a jail term. He was replaced by bassist Warren Ward, an experienced musician.