Flash and the Pan

[2][3] The duo had been the key creative members of the Easybeats, and subsequently worked, both in Australia and in the United Kingdom (UK), as the songwriting and producing team, Vanda & Young.

Ted Albert was keen for them to use it but it did not suit any of the artists they were working with, namely Stevie Wright, John Paul Young or William Shakespeare.

[7][8] Australian musicologist Ian McFarlane felt "[t]he music was based around an accessible, yet inventive synthesiser-based pop rock sound with an emphasis on George's spoken-word vocals and shouted chorus.

"[2] John Paul Young (no relation), speaking to Kathy McCabe of News Corp Australia, remembered the story of the song: "George was in New York chatting to the hotel doorman about the weather and the African American guy says 'Oh well, man, when my time comes, I am going to say to St Peter "You can't send me to hell, I have done my time in hell in New York!'"

[10] "Hey, St. Peter" was released in July 1977 on Mercury Records for continental Europe, where it reached No.6 on the Belgian Ultratop 50 Singles chart and No.7 on the Netherlands' Dutch Top 40.

[2][7] The group's debut album, Flash and the Pan, was issued in Australia on Albert Productions in December 1978, and internationally in the following year on Mercury, Ensign and Epic.

"[5] Aside from Vanda and Young, the studio musicians included Ray Arnott on drums, Les Karski on bass guitar and Warren Morgan on piano.

[2] AllMusic's Steven McDonald rated the album as four-and-a-half stars out of five and explained that it had "some seriously deranged songwriting, with quirky but attention-grabbing music peppered with pointy, strange lyrics.

[2] In October 1981, UK-based artist Grace Jones released her cover version of "Walking in the Rain", the B-side of "Hey, St. Peter", as a single, which peaked at No.34 in New Zealand.

Vanda and Young's lyrics and Jones's detached delivery captured the restlessness, alienation and pent-up emotions of a stifled adolescence... By the end of the track I was liberated, lifted out of a traditional Greek upbringing and pointed toward a future filled with wide horizons.

[2][3] The liner notes on the first pressing of the album suggest that the members of Flash and the Pan are: Stevie Wright, Harry Vanda, George Young, Les Karski (bass) and Ian Miller (guitar).

The truth of the matter is that there was a plan to put together some sort of band headed by Wright to tour as Flash and the Pan so that Harry and George could stay at home.

[3][23] Wright was the duo's bandmate from the Easybeats, and they had written and produced material for his solo career, including his number one hit "Evie" (April 1974).

[2][24] "Waiting for a Train" reached the top100 in Australia,[7][8] but had greater chart success in Europe when issued there in April 1983:[2][7][8] it peaked at No.7 in the UK,[14] No.15 in Belgium and No.26 in the Netherlands.

"[24] Late in 1984, they issued their fourth studio album, Early Morning Wake Up Call which, according to Neil Lade of The Canberra Times, showed that the duo were "content to rest on their laurels... they have lapsed into the world of 'gimmick' songs... [and] an exercise of the bland and boring... Trite lyrics are made even more limp by droning vocal work.

The most extraordinary thing is that Vanda & Young created six successful studio albums, many singles and several film clips as Flash and the Pan but never played live let alone tour.