Ariel were an Australian progressive rock band fronted by Mike Rudd and Bill Putt, who formed the band in 1973 after the breakup of their previous group Spectrum (which also performed under the alter-ego Indelible Murtceps). The original Ariel line-up was Mike Rudd (guitar, harmonica, vocals), Bill Putt (bass), Tim Gaze (guitar), John Mills (keyboards) and Nigel Macara (drums). Gaze and Macara were recruited from seminal Australian progressive rock band Tamam Shud. The band released three studio albums and two live albums between 1973 and 1977, during which there were several line-up changes, with Rudd and Putt the only permanent members. Other members of Ariel included guitarists Harvey James and Glyn Mason and keyboard player Tony Slavich. History 1973-1975: A Strange Fantastic Dream & Rock'n Roll Scars Their debut album A Strange Fantastic Dream, produced by Peter Dawkins was released in Australia on EMI and in the UK on progressive label Harvest in December 1973, and reached No. 17 on the Australian charts in February 1974. It included their most successful single "Jamaican Farewell", which peaked at No. 34, its success hampered by lack of airplay, especially in Sydney, although it impressed the industry enough to win the FACB "Single of the Year". According to the liner notes for the CD release of the album, there were calls to ban the LP because of its psychedelic cover artwork by Stephen Nelson, which included a figure holding a hypodermic syringe. Airplay for the LP was further hindered by the banning of three songs (the darkly satirical "Confessions of a Psychotic Cowpoke", "Miracle Man" and "Chicken Shit") by the commercial radio industry's self-regulatory body in Australia, the FACB. Critical reception to A Strange Fantastic Dream was glowing. One particularly important outcome for the group was that EMI International's President, Allan Davies, who fell in love with the album saying "You know, Peter (Dawkins), I can't recall ever hearing a song about necrophilia!" Renowned British DJ John Peel also picked up both album and single and "said some really nice things about both of them". The remastered re-release of A Strange Fantastic Dream was described as "extraordinary" by The Sydney Morning Herald in September 2002. Gaze and Nigel Macara left the band abruptly after a trip to Perth in early 1974, so Rudd and Putt began work on an ambitious science-fiction themed concept work entitled The Jellabad Mutant, which they hoped to record.