Ray Arnott


Raymond "Big Daddy" Walter Arnott is an Australian rock drummer, singer-songwriter, he was a member of Spectrum, which had a number one hit with "I'll Be Gone" in January 1971. He also had short stints with The Dingoes in the 1970s and Cold Chisel in 1980s.

Biography

In late 1970 he replaced original drummer Mark Kennedy in the renowned Australian progressive rock group Spectrum and he remained with them until they split in early 1973. He sang backing and lead vocals with the band, as well as drumming, and he contributed several songs to their repertoire.
Arnott left Spectrum to join Mighty Kong, a new band formed by ex-Daddy Cool members Ross Wilson and Ross Hannaford, but the new group was very short-lived and broke up soon after recording its only LP in late 1973.
Arnott took over the drum stool from the original drummer in two of the most prominent Australian groups of the period, The Dingoes in the late 1970s and Cold Chisel in 1983, but in both cases his tenure was relatively short.
During the late 70s to mid 80s, Arnott served as the drummer for George Young and Harry Vanda's Flash and the Pan project, recording drums for their first three albums.
Cold Chisel frontman Jimmy Barnes took on Arnott for his first two solo releases, the Bodyswerve album in 1984 and For the Working Class Man album in 1985.
Arnott now lives and works on the NSW North Coast of Australia as a Teaching Assistant at Lismore Heights Public School and occasional band member.
In July 2015 Ray was interviewed by The Australian Rock Show
http://australianrockshow.libsyn.com/episode-30-ray-arnott-interview