Formed: 1970

Style: Rock & Pop

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Lineup: Shane Hewitt (Vocals), Kim Dawson (Lead Guitar, Vocals), Warwick Wilkes (Organ, Vocals), Ian Every ( Bass, Vocals) & Ray Smedley (Drums)

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Like A number of Sydney bands that earned a living on the discoteque circuit of the early 1970's, Lotus was always destined to be trapped somewhere between minor pop star status and the dedicated progressive rock devotee. When the members of Lotus first came together at the start of 1970, they lived on a farm on the outskirts of Sydney where they grew their own food. Lotus moved to Melbourne later in the year, and established a reputation for energetic live shows. In December 1970, the band issued its one and only single 'Lotus 1 (I'll Be Gone)/ Epoch' on EMI Parlophone. Lotus made an appearance at Myponga in 1971 and lived on the Myponga farm owned by organiser and backer Hamish Henry. Lotus 1 was an impressive hard rock single and graced the lower reaches of the national top 40 (peaking at #33) in May, but a month later Lotus broke up. Dawson and Wilkes played in Melbourne band The Ash for a time. By the end of 1971, Dawson, Wilkes and Smedley had returned to Sydney and reformed Lotus with newcomers Norm Roue (Slide Guitar) from Gutbucket and Billy Rylands (bass) from Freshwater. That lineup was short lived and by early 1972, Roue and Rylands had joined Wolfe and after Roue joined Buffalo and Band Of Light. Ian Every returned to Lotus and the Dawson/Wilkes/Smedley/Every lineup kept active until August 1973.