Hoodoo Gurus are an Australian rock band formed in Sydney in 1981, by the mainstay Dave Faulkner and later joined by Richard Grossman (bass), Mark Kingsmill (drums), and Brad Shepherd. Their popularity peaked in the mid to late 1980s with albums Mars Needs Guitars!, Blow Your Cool! and Magnum Cum Louder.
Stoneage Romeos is the debut album by Australian rock group Hoodoo Gurus. Released on 9 March 1984 by Big Time Records in Australia, the album's release saw them receive record sales to complement their already strong reputation for live performances. With radio and television support for their third single "My Girl" (1983), complete with a film clip about a greyhound of the same name, the band's following grew. The album's other singles were "Leilani" (1982), "Tojo" (1983), and "I Want You Back" (1984).
The Victims were an Australian punk band from Perth, Western Australia, active from 1977 to 1979. The founding mainstay members were James Baker on drums, Dave Flick on guitar and vocals, and Rudolph V on bass guitar. Their debut single, "Television Addict", was issued in April 1978 and was followed by a five-track extended play, The Victims, in August of that year. The group disbanded early in the next year. In 1989 Timberyard Records released a compilation album, All Loud on the Western Front, of their material. In late 2014 and early 2015 Baker and Faulkner were joined by Ray Ahn as the Television Addicts to perform the Victims material. The 2014 and '15 shows were so well received that the trio rightly assumed the band name The Victims and played sold-out shows at Rosemount Hotel and Mojo's Bar.
Mars Needs Guitars! is Australian rock group Hoodoo Gurus' second album, released in 1985. The title is a reference to the 1967 science fiction film, Mars Needs Women. Singles from the album were "Bittersweet" (1985), "Like Wow – Wipeout", "Death Defying" (1986) and "Poison Pen" (1986). Mars Needs Guitars! reached No. 140 on the American Billboard 200 albums chart in 1986.
Blow Your Cool! is Australian rock group Hoodoo Gurus' third album, released in May 1987 and contains their hit single "What's My Scene?". The single reached #3 on the Australian Music Charts. The band's American label, Elektra Records, was hoping that they could come up with something a bit easier to market than the witty, 1960s-obsessed pop/rock of Stoneage Romeos and Mars Needs Guitars!, so they paired the group with producer Mark Opitz, who had previously produced records for AC/DC, INXS, and the Divinyls. Background vocals on two tracks were supplied by the Bangles. It was recorded both in Sydney and Los Angeles. The album reached No. 120 on the Billboard 200 album charts in 1987.
"When the Blow Your Cool! touring was over Clyde retired from the road and the band. At this point we persuaded Rick Grossman to join, contributing his tremendous bass skills to the band, and so we had reached what was to be our ultimate line-up. After that we only changed our haircuts ." - Dave Faulkner.
Magnum Cum Louder is Australian rock group Hoodoo Gurus' fourth album, the first with their new label, RCA Records, after being dropped by Elektra Records following disappointing sales in the United States. The album was produced by the group, and released in Australia on 28 June 1989.
James Lawrence Baker is an Australian musician, best known as the drummer of various rock and punk rock groups, including the Victims, the Scientists, Hoodoo Gurus, Beasts of Bourbon, and the Dubrovniks. In 2006 Baker was inducted into the West Australian Music Industry Hall of Fame. The following year, Hoodoo Gurus were inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame.
David Jonathan Faulkner is an Australian rock musician who also performed as Dave Flick. Faulkner is a singer-songwriter, guitarist and keyboardist; he has performed with several bands, but is best known as a member of Hoodoo Gurus. He wrote the band's best known single, 1987 hit "What's My Scene?", which reached No. 3 on the National charts.
Kinky was Australian rock group Hoodoo Gurus' fifth studio album, and was released on 9 April 1991 by RCA Records. It was produced by the group.
Crank is Australian rock group Hoodoo Gurus' sixth studio album, released in early March 1994. The album was produced by Ed Stasium, who had mixed Hoodoo Gurus previous studio album, Kinky in 1991. It was the band's first release on Zoo Records.
Blue Cave or In Blue Cave was the Australian rock group Hoodoo Gurus' seventh studio album. The album was nominated for 'Best Pop Release' at the 1996 ARIA Awards. The album was co-produced with Charles Fisher, who had produced the band's second album, Mars Needs Guitars!, in 1985; Paul McKercher was the sound engineer and the Silverchair producer Kevin Shirley mixed the tracks. The entire album also had a limited release as a set of seven 7" vinyl singles as In Blue Cave on Mushroom Records; and, as a CD, it was released with More Electric Soup video in a special box.
"Leilani" is the debut single by Australian rock group Hoodoo Gurus when they were called Le Hoodoo Gurus, released on Phantom Records in October 1982. It had been written by all four Gurus: James Baker, Dave Faulkner, Roddy Radalj and Kimble Rendall. Rendall left shortly before its release and, not long after, the band dropped the 'Le' to become Hoodoo Gurus. Le Hoodoo Gurus were noted for having three guitars and no bass player, creating a distinctive, layered sound. This was captured on "Leilani", which told the story of a maiden sacrificed to the gods and an erupting volcano while her true love looked on helplessly. A re-recorded version of the song was later released on Hoodoo Gurus' first album Stoneage Romeos (1984).
"Astute listeners will note the absence of bass guitar in the band... "Leilani" was based on an old 50s movie, Bird of Paradise starring Jeff Chandler..." - Dave Faulkner.
"Tojo"a.k.a."Tojo Never Made it to Darwin" was the second single by Australian rock group Hoodoo Gurus. It was released on Big Time Records and distributed by EMI in June 1983. It was written by their lead singer-guitarist, Dave Faulkner. It was also featured on their first album Stoneage Romeos (1984), which was produced by Alan Thorne. Tojo in the title refers to the World War II Japanese General and Prime Minister Hideki Tōjō.
"My Girl" was the third single by iconic Australian rock group Hoodoo Gurus and was released on Big Time Records and distributed by EMI in October, 1983; it peaked at #35 on the Australian charts. It was written by Dave Faulkner and was also on their first album Stoneage Romeos, which was produced by Alan Thorne. The single was also subsequently released in the United Kingdom in 1985 by Demon Records with a different cover sleeve and a different B-side, "Leilani".
"Like Wow – Wipeout" is a song written by Dave Faulkner and recorded by Australian rock group Hoodoo Gurus for their album Mars Needs Guitars!. As a single, it was released on Big Time Records in October 1985 and reached #28 on the Melbourne record chart.
"Come Anytime" was a single by iconic Australian rock group Hoodoo Gurus which reached #27 on the ARIA Singles Charts and #1 on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks. It was released on RCA Records in June, 1989; and was written by Dave Faulkner. B side "Cajun Country" was also written by Faulkner.
" "Come Anytime"... best described as a romantic song about an unromantic subject but you can reverse the adjectives and the statement would be equally correct.
"Cajun Country" wears its Creedence influence proudly on its sleeve which is probably the reason we (foolishly) left if off the album and consigned it to the obscurity of a flip-side..." - Dave Faulkner.
"The Right Time" was a single by iconic Australian rock group Hoodoo Gurus which reached #41 on the ARIA Singles Charts. It was released on RCA Records in November, 1993; and was written by Dave Faulkner. First B side "Road Hog" was written by Brad Shepherd and second B side "Wait for the Sun" by Faulkner.
"... was originally conceived to be just one of a suite of songs, a mini-opera like the Who's A Quick One as I strived to fulfill my Wagnerian masterplan to revive the '70s concept album. Two other songs from Crank, "Hypocrite Blues" and "Gospel Train", also survive from the grand opus. "The Right Time" was intended as the theme for a female gang of motorcycle hellcats, but of course that's obvious." - Dave Faulkner.
"You Open My Eyes" is a single by iconic Australian rock group Hoodoo Gurus which reached #43 on the ARIA Singles Charts. It was released on BMG in February, 1994; and was written by Brad Shepherd. This was the first Hoodoo Gurus single that was not written or co-written by Dave Faulkner. The B side, "Something I Forgot to Say", was written by Faulkner. The second B side was a cover of The Victims' "Television Addict" written by James Baker and Faulkner. The music video for "You Open My Eyes" was directed by former Guru, Kimble Rendall and was their most expensive to date.
"... found Brad taking over lead vocal duties on a Hoodoo Gurus single. Though Brad had sung on every album since Mars... this was the first time that people started crying out, 'It's a hit!' The video was pretty spectacular and was the most expensive of our career even though we were charged a fraction of its true cost - thanks, Kimble!" - Dave Faulkner.
Bradley Mark Shepherd is an Australian rock musician. Shepherd is a guitarist, singer-songwriter and harmonica player; he has performed with several bands, especially Hoodoo Gurus.
Mark Adrian Kingsmill is an Australian rock musician. He has drummed with several bands including the Hitmen (1979–84), New Christs (1983–84), the Screaming Tribesmen (1984) and Hoodoo Gurus. He is the older brother of Richard Kingsmill, music director and presenter on Triple J.
[1] 