Steve Hughes is an Australian musician and stand-up comedian. Originally becoming famous as the drummer for Australian thrash metal band Slaughter Lord, Hughes moved to the UK in 2002 to begin his work in stand-up. Following successful Edinburgh festival appearances, Hughes has firmly established himself as a raconteur, basing much of his act around his heavy metal past.
Weddings Parties Anything, often known as WPA and Weddoes, is an Australian folk rock band formed by Mick Thomas in Melbourne in 1985 and continuing until 1998. Their name came from a Clash song ("Revolution Rock") and musicologist Billy Pinnell described their first album as the best Australian rock debut since Skyhooks' Living in the '70s. WPA initially gained a reputation as a hot new band through their constant touring in their early days, however they never really became a commercial success.
Richard Clapton (1951?-) is an Australian singer/songwriter. His date of birth is somewhat elusive, but in an interview with the Melbourne Age in 2002, he described himself as 50 something. In an article in "Who" magazine his birthdate was given as 1951.
His albums include: "Prussian Blue" (1973)"Girls on the Avenue" (1975) "Main Street Jive" 1976 "Goodbye Tiger" 1977, "Past Hits and Previews" 1978 "Hearts on the Nightline" 1979 "Dark Spaces" 1980 "The Great Escape" 1982 "Solidarity" 1984 "Glory Road" 1987 "The Best Years of Our Lives" 1989 "Distant Thunder" 1993 "Angeltown" 1995, "Diamond Mine" 2004 and "Rewired" 2006.
Although not well-known outside Australia, a number of his songs such as "Girls On The Avenue", "Capricorn Dancer", "Deep Water", "Lucky Country", "The Best Years of Our Lives", and "I Am an Island" are staples of FM radio playlists in Australia.
The early 1970s are often regarded as a stagnant time for Australian rock music. In this context, the emergence of Richard Clapton as a talented and ambitious songwriter in the "troubadour" tradition of, for instance, Neil Young and Jackson Browne (both of whom later expressed their admiration for Clapton) was refreshing. Although no hit singles were on his first album, "Prussian Blue", by the time of his second album, "Girls on the Avenue," Clapton enjoyed a reasonable amount of mainstream success, with the title song from the album reaching #2 spot on the Australian top 40 charts. Clapton's first five albums were produced by Richard Batchens.
At the times of its release, "Goodbye Tiger" was one of the most critically acclaimed albums an Australian artist had produced. It was produced by Richard Batchens, who was one of the most prominent and successful producers of the era.(See articles collected on the fan site linked below for confirmation of this). Many Clapton fans continue to regard this notably melancholic record as Clapton's masterpiece.
Thereafter, Clapton played less of a central role in the music industry; although "The Great Escape" (featuring contributions from members of Cold Chisel and INXS) sold strongly and contained memorable singles in "I Am an Island" and "The Best Years of Our Life." During the early 1980s he was acknowledged as a mentor to several bands emerging from the then vigorous pub-rock scene, in particular INXS whose second LP, Underneath the Colours he produced.
On a 2006 album, Rewired, recorded at his home studio, Clapton produced "unplugged" acoustic versions of his early songs. This album contains many early Clapton Gems that have been reworked to fit in with the acoustic vibe of the album.
(From the Wikipedia entry for Richard Clapton) Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.
The Vasco Era are a three piece rock/blues band from Apollo Bay 180km from Melbourne, Australia. Its members are brothers Sid (vocals, guitar) and Ted (bass) O'Neil and Michael Fitzgerald (drums). The intensity of their live shows will make them your new favourite band many times over. In 2004 the band won the Australian "National Campus Band Competition", the largest band competition in the southern hemisphere. Their first release was the EP "Miles" in 2005.
Yeo combines his skills as keyboardist, bass player, vocalist and drum programmer to create some joyful organic sounding pop numbers. His tracks have got catchy hooks and lyrics to make you smile. Yeo is currently a popular artist in Triple J's Unearthed competition. Think Phoenix meets Pharrell.
"Peter Gabriel meets David Gray in one-man popster Nicholas Roy. His beautiful voice is full of weariness and drama; his instruments stretched and warped to create a whole dynamic world"
Beat Magazine "I like a guy bold enough to list Elton John as an influence.." Richard Kingsmill, Triple J When Nicholas Roy started playing the Melbourne live circuit, he felt a bit out of place in venues like The Espy.
Chocolate Starfish were an Australian rock music group based in Melbourne, Australia, releasing a number of hits in the early 1990s, before disbanding in 1998. The original line up featured Craig Harnath ( Kids in the Kitchen) , Brett Kingman ( James Rayne), John Justin (Himself) and Bruce Pawsey (Kate Ceberano) and was born from the desparate cover band scene of the early 1990s. Scottish frontman Adam Hootsman emigrated to Melbourne from the scottish village of Shepparton, in the outter hebrides. He remained as the only original member until the bands demise.
Jebediah are a pop-rock band from Perth, Australia. Forming in 1994, the band consists of Kevin Mitchell (vocals, rhythm guitar) Vanessa Thornton (bass guitar), Chris Daymond (lead guitar) and Brett Mitchell (drums). The band signed with Murmur, a label of Sony Music, in 1996 and released their first album Slightly Odway in 1997. They released three more albums before splitting with Sony: Of Someday Shambles, Jebediah and Glee Sides and Sparities.