Bellydance | |
---|---|
Also known as | Bellydance Disco |
Origin | Sydney, New South Wales, Australia |
Genres | |
Years active | 1987 | –1996
Labels | |
Associated acts | |
Past members |
|
Bellydance were an Australian 9 piece dance, funk band originally known as Bellydance Disco, which formed in Sydney 1987. Mainstays were Tony Hughes on vocals, Frank Ward on bass, Ted Cavanagh on guitar and Scott Saunders (also in Directions in Groove) on keyboards. Featured a range of musicians/vocalists and brass. Their debut album, One Blood (1993), was nominated at the ARIA Music Awards of 1994 for Best Pop Release.
Bellydance were formed as a dance, funk band, Bellydance Disco, in Sydney in 1987 by mainstays Ted Cavanagh on guitar, the actor, Tony Hughes on vocals, and Scott Saunders (ex-Deckchairs Overboard, Beatfish) on keyboards. [1] Their line-up changed often and the ensemble sometimes reached 12 members. [1] The group's debut single, "Spittin' Bullets", appeared in July 1987. [1]
According to Australian musicologist, Ian McFarlane, they "built up a strong following on the Sydney dance/pub circuit, and first came to national prominence with the release of the topical single 'Green Revolution' in mid-1992." [1] By that time Saunders had also formed an acid jazz group, Directions in Groove (initially styled as d.i.g.), with Alexander Hewetson on bass guitar, Terepai Richmond on drums, Rick Robertson on saxophone, and Tim Rollinson on guitar. [1] They released an extended play, Fun Dopin', in May 1993 and also supported visiting English reggae singer, Maxi Priest, on his tour of Australia. [1]
Bellydance issued their debut studio album, One Blood, in October 1993 via Regular Records/Festival Records. [1] [2] It had been recorded in the previous year with Stephen Ferris producing. [1] McFarlane observed, "[it] contained a mix of hard funk, smooth soul-pop, dub reggae and jazz-funk." [1] At the ARIA Music Awards of 1994 it was nominated for Best Pop Release. [3] The group released another EP, The Joker, in 1994 and followed with their second album, Babylon Mixed Business, late in the next year, via Roadshow Music. [1] Another EP, Ain't no Use, appeared in November 1995 and the group disbanded in 1996. [1]
The Whitlams are an Australian indie rock band formed in late 1992. The original line-up was Tim Freedman on keyboards and lead vocals, Andy Lewis on double bass and Stevie Plunder on guitar. Other than mainstay Freedman, the line-up has changed numerous times. Since 2001 he has been joined by Warwick Hornby on bass guitar, Jak Housden on guitar and Terepai Richmond on drums. Four of their studio albums have reached the ARIA Albums Chart top 20: Eternal Nightcap, Love This City, Torch the Moon and Little Cloud. Their highest charting singles are "Blow Up the Pokies" and "Fall for You" – both reached number 21. The group's single, "No Aphrodisiac" was listed at number one on the Triple J Hottest 100, 1997 by listeners of national radio station, Triple J. In January 1996 Stevie Plunder was found dead at the base of Wentworth Falls. Andy Lewis committed suicide in February 2000.
Eurogliders are a band formed in 1980 in Perth, Western Australia, which included Grace Knight on vocals, Bernie Lynch on guitar and vocals, and Amanda Vincent on keyboards. In 1984, Eurogliders released an Australian top ten album, This Island, which spawned their No. 2 hit single, "Heaven ". "Heaven" also peaked at No. 21 on the United States Billboard Mainstream Rock charts and appeared on the Hot 100. Another Australian top ten album, Absolutely, followed in 1985, which provided two further local top ten singles, "We Will Together", and "Can't Wait to See You". They disbanded in 1989, with Knight having a successful career as a jazz singer. Australian rock music historian Ian McFarlane described Eurogliders as "the accessible face of post-punk new wave music. The band's sophisticated brand of pop was traditional in its structure, but displayed the decidedly 'modern veneer' ". The band reformed in 2005 releasing two new albums followed in 2014 by their seventh album.
Big Pig was an Australian funk, rock and pop band that existed from 1985 to 1991. An early line-up was Sherine Abeyratne on lead vocals and percussion ; Tony Antoniades on vocals and harmonica; Neil Baker on drums; Nick Disbray on vocals and percussion; Tim Rosewarne on vocals and keyboards (ex-Bang); Adrian Scaglione on drums; and Oleh Witer on vocals and percussion (ex-Bang). They issued two albums, Bonk and You Lucky People, on the White Records Label imprint of Mushroom Records.
Noiseworks are an Australian hard rock band formed in Sydney in 1986 with bass guitarist Steve Balbi, guitarist Stuart Fraser, drummer Kevin Nicol, keyboardist Justin Stanley and lead vocalist Jon Stevens. They had four Australian Top 10 albums, Noiseworks, Touch, Love Versus Money and Greatest Hits. They produced three Top 10 singles, "Take Me Back", "Touch" and "Hot Chilli Woman" before disbanding in 1992. Reunion tours occurred in 1999, 2004, 2007–2008 and 2011.
Juice are an Australian funk rock band formed in 1991 by brothers: Amarnath and Krishna Jones both on guitar and vocals, Lucius Borich on drums; and David Kyle on bass guitar. They released their debut album, Wine of Life, in 1994 which peaked in the top 50 on the ARIA Albums Chart. At the ARIA Music Awards of 1994, their debut extended play, Movin' On, was nominated for an ARIA award for 'Best Independent Release'.
Body and Soul is the first solo studio album by New Zealand singer Jenny Morris, released in July 1987 by Warner Music Group. The album peaked at number 13 in Australia and 21 in New Zealand.
Ganggajang are an Australian pop rock band which formed in 1984. Three of the founders are frontman Mark 'Cal' Callaghan (ex-Riptides) on guitar and lead vocals, Chris Bailey on bass guitar and Graham 'Buzz' Bidstrup on drums. They were soon joined by Geoffrey Stapleton (ex-Aliens] on keyboards, guitar and vocals, and Robbie James on lead guitar. Their most popular song, "Sounds of Then", a.k.a. "This Is Australia", was issued in December 1985 and peaked in the top 40 on the Australian Kent Music Report Singles Chart. It gained further exposure in Australia ten years later when it was used on TV in a Coca-Cola ad and then for the 1996 Nine Network station ID promotion. Their highest selling album was GANGgajang, which was released in November 1985. They have issued three other studio albums, Gang Again, Lingo and Oceans and Deserts. On 4 April 2013, Chris Bailey died of throat cancer, aged 62.
Leonardo's Bride were an Australian pop band that formed in 1992. It consisted of Abby Dobson on lead vocal and acoustic guitar; Dean Manning on electric guitar, piano, wurlitzer and hammond; Jon Howell on drums; and Patrick Wong on bass guitar, backing vocals and cello. They released two EPs, Debut and Temperamental Friend and two albums, Angel Blood and Open Sesame, before disbanding in 2001.
Terepai Chalmers Richmond is an Australian drummer. He joined the Sydney-based rock band The Whitlams in September 1999 and formerly played in acid jazz group Directions in Groove (d.i.g.).
Directions in Groove or DIG were an Australian acid jazz band which formed in 1991 by Alexander Hewetson on bass guitar, Terepai Richmond on drums and percussion, Rick Robertson on saxophone, Tim Rollinson on guitar and Scott Saunders on keyboards. Originally styled as dig they performed instrumental acid jazz before Saunders added vocals. They released three studio albums, Dig Deeper, Speakeasy and Curvystrasse. At the APRA Music Awards of 1996 they won Most Performed Jazz Work for their track, "Futures". They disbanded in 1998 before reforming in 2008 for selected performances and again 2011 to release a fourth studio album, Clearlight.
1927 are an Australian pop rock band formed in 1987 with James Barton on drums, Bill Frost on bass guitar, his brother Garry Frost on guitar and keyboards, and Eric Weideman on vocals, guitar and keyboards. They were popular in the late 1980s and early 1990s with their major hit songs "That's When I Think of You", "If I Could", "Compulsory Hero" and "Tell Me a Story". Their multi-platinum number-one album, ...ish (1988) was followed by The Other Side (1990). At the ARIA Music Awards of 1989 they won two categories: Breakthrough Artist – Album for ...ish and Breakthrough Artist – Single for "That's When I Think of You". At the 1990 ceremony they won Best Video for "Compulsory Hero", which was directed by Geoff Barter. In 1992 the group released a third studio album, 1927, which reached the top 40; but they disbanded the following year. Weideman reformed 1927 in 2009 with a new line-up.
The Radiators are an Australian pub rock band formed in September 1978. Mainstay members are Brian Nichol on lead vocals and guitar, Stephen "Fess" Parker on lead guitar and Geoff Turner on bass guitar. In 1989 they were joined by Mark Lucas on drums. Their most popular albums are Feel the Heat and Scream of the Real, which both peaked in the top 25 of the Australian Kent Music Report Albums Chart. Their best known songs are "Comin' Home", "No Tragedy" and "Gimme Head". Rock music historian, Ian McFarlane described the group as "an archetypal, hard-working pub-rock band capable of delivering tightly crafted, well-executed, hard-hitting metal-pop anthems backed by a playful sense of humour. The band toured constantly, racking up over 2500 gigs by the early 1990s".
Christian John Brien is a drummer, percussionist and drum clinician. From 1992 he was a member of Australian rock, funk and disco band, Swoop and appears on all three of their studio albums, Thriller, Woxo Principle, and Be What You Is. Their most popular single, "Apple Eyes", was released in 1995, which reached No. 9 on the ARIA Singles Chart. At the ARIA Music Awards of 1994 Swoop were nominated for 'Best New Talent' for Thriller; at the 1996 awards they were nominated for 'Song of the Year' and 'Best Video' for "Apple Eyes", and for 'Best Pop Release' for Woxo Principle. Late in 1999 Swoop disbanded, Brien became a session musician and drum clinician, and has released solo material. He has released a number of instructional DVDs including Independence (2002) and Independence, Part 2 (2004). In November 2006 he relocated to Hong Kong, where he issued his instructional book, The Chris Brien Drumming System , in late 2010.
The Allniters are a Sydney-based Australian ska pop band, founded in 1980. Original line-up was Ted Ayers on sax, Dave Bebb on drums, Stuart Crysell on guitar, Martin Fabok on guitar, Peter Hill-Travis on vocals, Graham Hood on bass guitar, Brett Pattinson on vocals and Mark Taylor on keyboards. Numerous changes occurred in band members with Fabok, Hill-Travis and Pattinson common to almost all line-ups.
Rockmelons, often referred to as the Rockies, were an Australian pop/dance/R&B group formed in 1983 in Sydney. Primary members are Bryon Jones, his brother Jonathon Jones and Raymond Medhurst. They had two Australian top five hit singles in the early 1990s with "Ain't No Sunshine" and "That Word (L.O.V.E.)", both sung by Deni Hines. The associated album, Form 1 Planet, peaked at number 3 on the ARIA albums chart in 1992, and was certified platinum in Australia.
Roxus were an Australian hard rock band which existed between 1987 and 1993. Members included Juno Roxas - lead vocals, Dragan Stanić - guitar, Darren Danielson - drums, John 'Stones' Nixon - bass guitar and Andy Shanahan - keyboards. Their debut album, Nightstreet was released in August 1991 and peaked at No. 5 on the ARIA Albums Chart. Their most successful single, "Where Are You Now?", reached No. 13 on the ARIA Singles Chart and was certified gold.
David Alexander John Steel is an Australian singer-songwriter, guitarist and producer. He is a former member of folk rock group, Weddings Parties Anything (1985–88) and pop band, The Whipper Snappers (1990–91). Steel has released eleven solo studio albums, including one as leader of Dave Steel and the Roadside Prophets and two albums with folk singer, Tiffany Eckhardt. He has been nominated for three ARIA Music Awards.
Swoop were an Australian seven-piece rock, funk and disco band established in 1991. Swoop released three studio albums, Thriller, The Woxo Principle, and Be What You Is. Their most popular single, 1995's "Apple Eyes", reached No. 9 in Australia on the ARIA Singles Chart, and was certified gold by ARIA.
Renegade Funktrain is an Australian groove band that formed in 1994.
Bachelors from Prague were an Australian band formed in 1985. Original members were Russell Cook on drums, George Friml on bass guitar, Bruce Haymes on keyboards, Henry Maas on vocals, Chris Minko on trumpet, Andrew Philipp on saxophone, Jeff Raglus on trumpet, Tom Roberts on guitar, and Justin Stanford on percussion. Their music is described by Ian McFarlane as a mix of "1940s jazz, 1950s R&B;, 1970s funk and salsa" and by Maas as, "jazz meets dance." In 1991 Friml was replaced on bass guitar by Thiery Fossemalle. The group broke up in 1993 but reunited in 2016 and in the following year. They released five albums including, Live at Sing Sing (1986), The Energetic Cool, Birth of the Fool and The Essentials (1990). Their 1989 single, "Get Smart", was later covered by Melbourne Ska Orchestra, which issued it as a single in 2014.