Cris Bonacci

Last updated

Cris Bonacci
Birth nameCristina Bonacci
Born (1964-10-15) 15 October 1964 (age 59)
Myrtleford, Victoria, Australia
Genres Heavy metal, hard rock, pop, dance
Occupation(s)Musician, songwriter, record producer
Instrument(s)Guitar, keyboards, vocals
Years active1977–present
LabelsRenaissance

Cristina "Cris" Bonacci (born 15 October 1964) is an Australian-born producer, songwriter, and musician. She was the lead guitarist in the British heavy metal band Girlschool (1984 to 1992, 2004) and has also provided session guitar work for other artists.

Contents

Career

Bonacci was born at Myrtleford, in northeastern Victoria and grew up on a country farm near Melbourne where her family had moved when she was 11 or 12 years old. She started playing guitar soon after coming to Melbourne, inspired by her father’s guitar playing, her uncle’s band membership, and her Spanish neighbors’ flamenco guitar. Bonacci was largely self-taught [1] and influenced by rock guitarists Jimi Hendrix and Jeff Beck, as well as early Black Sabbath albums. [2]

She played in several Australian bands but never stayed with one for more than a few years. In the early 1970s, she joined the rock group, Vixen, as lead guitarist. [3] In early 1975, Bonacci and Sally Zylstra formed Sweet Jayne in Melbourne with Robyn Clark on drums and Zylstra on bass guitar. They later added lead singer Chris Scheri, who also played the flute. [3] Sweet Jayne developed a large local following and recorded several demos and an EP between 1977 and 1983. [4]

Their self-titled EP was issued in January 1980 and had five tracks, "Ambiguous Girl", "Omniscience", "Some People", "State of Mind" and "Crushed and Crazy". [3] Australian musicologist, Ian McFarlane, opined that it, "highlighted Bonacci's crunching guitar riffs offset by Scheri's melodic vocals and lilting flute lines." [3] Soon after Brendan O'Shea replaced Zylstra on bass guitar and John Zaffarese replaced Clark on drums. [3] In October 1981, this lineup issued a single, "Icarus", with Fab Versace replacing Zaffarese on drums before being replaced in turn by Billy George in 1982. [3] The group disbanded in January 1983. [3]

Following the dissolution of Sweet Jayne, Bonacci moved to the United Kingdom to work as a session musician after being invited by Mike Oldfield. [3] In London, Bonacci joined the all-female hard rock outfit, She, as lead guitarist. She included lead vocalist Jackie "Jacqui" Bodimead and former Rock Goddess bassist Tracey Lamb, whom Bonacci would later team up with in Girlschool. Bonacci and Bodimead were invited to join Girlschool following lead guitarist Kelly Johnson's departure. During her time with Girlschool, Bonacci recorded the albums Running Wild , Nightmare at Maple Cross , Take a Bite and Girlschool , touring extensively all over the world.

In a period of inactivity for Girlschool in 1990, Bonacci joined up with British rock singer Toyah Willcox, performing on GMTV to promote Willcox's album Ophelia's Shadow . In the years 1991 and 1992, Bonacci and Willcox (and Bonacci's bandmates in Girlschool Enid Williams and Kim McAuliffe) formed the short-lived band She Devils, which made two short tours around Europe. After the She Devils project, Bonacci finally left Girlschool and joined Marc Almond's touring band. In December 2004, Bonacci re-joined Girlschool for a one-off gig at the London Garage alongside original guitarist Kelly Johnson and current guitarist Jackie Chambers. She also played at the tribute gig for Kelly Johnson on August 20, 2007, in London. After leaving Girlschool, she worked as a session guitarist and became a member of Jonathan Ross' house band for the British TV show Saturday Zoo , where she backed international artists such as Suzanne Vega, and k.d. lang.[ citation needed ]

Bonacci wrote lyrics, and music and produced for a variety of artists. She wrote mostly for the bands of which she was a member, but she has also written for and produced other artists, such as All Saints and Samantha Fox. In 2003, Bonacci wrote and produced the song "Look Up" which was released on the dance compilation CD Fashion Lounge: Id Models, published in the United States by Water Music Records. [5] She also co-produced and engineered Dawne Adams' album Assume Nothing in 2004. [6] She is currently affiliated with Electracult, a band she formed with Michelle Mullen in January 2005. [7] Electracult released their first full-length release Electracult Me on 15 April 2008, on Renaissance Records. Since 2000, much of her focus has been on software training. In June 2015, Bonacci was interviewed extensively about her musical career on the Australian Rock Show podcast. [8]

Discography

With Sweet Jayne
With Girlschool
With Mark Shreeve
With Marc Almond
With Samantha Fox
With All Saints
With Electracult

As producer

DVD releases

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Samantha Fox</span> English singer and former glamour model

Samantha Karen Fox is an English pop singer and former glamour model from Crouch End in North London. She has also appeared on reality television shows and has occasionally worked as a television presenter and actress.

An all-female band is a musical group in popular music that is exclusively composed of female musicians. This is distinct from a girl group, in which the female members are solely vocalists, though this terminology is not universally followed. While all-male bands are common in many rock and pop scenes, all-female bands are less common.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Sweet</span> British glam rock band

Sweet are a British glam rock band who rose to prominence in the 1970s. Their best-known line-up consisted of lead vocalist Brian Connolly, bassist Steve Priest, guitarist Andy Scott and drummer Mick Tucker.

Lisa Anne Miller is an Australian country pop singer-songwriter and guitarist. She has issued seven albums, Quiet Girl with a Credit Card (1996), As Far as a Life Goes (1999), Car Tape (2002), Version Originale (2003), Morning in the Bowl of Night (2007), Car Tape 2 (2010) and Meet the Misses (2012). She has a clear, bitter-sweet voice and provides poignant semi-biographical lyrics. At the ARIA Music Awards she has been nominated nine times.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jayne County</span> American singer, songwriter, actress and record producer (born 1947)

Jayne County is an American singer, songwriter, actress and record producer whose career has spanned six decades. Under the name Wayne County, she was the vocalist of influential proto-punk band Wayne County & the Electric Chairs who became known for their campy and foul-mouthed ballads, glam punk inspired songs, and image which was heavily influenced by Jackie Curtis and the Theatre of the Ridiculous. County in particular was known for her outrageous and unpredictable stage antics as well as possessing a distinctive singing voice. She went on to become rock's first openly transgender singer, and adopted the stage name Jayne County.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">"Fast" Eddie Clarke</span> British guitarist (1950–2018)

Edward Allan Clarke, better known as "Fast" Eddie Clarke or simply "Fast" Eddie, was a British guitarist who was a member of heavy metal bands Fastway and Motörhead. Of Motörhead's classic lineup, which consisted of Lemmy and Phil "Philthy Animal" Taylor, he was the last surviving member at the time of his death.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Steeler (American band)</span> American heavy metal band

Steeler was an early 1980s American heavy metal band formed in 1981 in Nashville, Tennessee by vocalist Ron Keel. The band released its self-titled sole album on Shrapnel Records in 1983. Soon after, Ron dissolved the band to form his band Keel. Steeler is also notable for featuring then-emerging guitarist Yngwie Malmsteen, who left to form Alcatrazz shortly after the self-titled album and launch a solo career.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Girlschool</span> British, all-female, heavy metal band

Girlschool are a British rock band that formed in the new wave of British heavy metal scene in 1978. Frequently associated with contemporaries Motörhead, they are the longest-running all-female rock band, still active after more than 40 years. Formed from a school band called Painted Lady, Girlschool enjoyed strong media exposure and commercial success in the UK in the early 1980s with three albums of "punk-tinged metal" and a few singles, but lost their momentum in the following years.

<i>Take the Leap!</i> 1993 studio album by Toyah

Take the Leap! is a studio album by the British singer Toyah Willcox, first released as Leap! in 1993 by Pony Canyon. It consists of new tracks as well as re-recordings of older songs from Toyah the band's repertoire.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kelly Johnson (guitarist)</span> English guitarist and singer (1958–2007)

Bernadette Jean "Kelly" Johnson was an English guitarist and singer, widely known in the UK in the early 1980s as the lead guitarist of the all-female rock band Girlschool.

<i>Running Wild</i> (album) 1985 studio album by Girlschool

Running Wild is the fifth studio album by the British heavy metal band Girlschool, released on Mercury Records in 1985.

<i>Take a Bite</i> 1988 studio album by Girlschool

Take a Bite is the seventh studio album by British heavy metal band, Girlschool, released by GWR Records in 1988. It is the first album to feature Tracey Lamb on bass, replacing Gil Weston-Jones.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Orianthi</span> Australian musician, singer and songwriter (born 1985)

Orianthi Penny Panagaris, known mononymously as Orianthi, is an Australian guitarist, singer and songwriter who rehearsed in 2009 with Michael Jackson in preparation for his This Is It concert series, and performed with Alice Cooper's touring band. Her 2009 debut single "According to You" peaked at No. 3 in Japan, No. 8 in Australia and No. 17 in the US; her second album, Believe, received a worldwide release in late 2009. The same year, she was named one of the "12 Greatest Female Electric Guitarists" by Elle magazine. She also won the "2010 Breakthrough Guitarist of the Year" award hosted by Guitar International magazine.

The Three 4 Tens are an American garage rock band, based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States.

Peter Richard McCracken is an Australian composer, guitarist and singer-songwriter, living and working in the Melbourne area. He has been a member of indie band The Plums (1992–1995), pop-rock band Deadstar (1997–2001) and country-tinged duo The Tulips (2002–2006). He married visual artist and bandmate Caroline Kennedy-McCracken. By 2005, the couple had two children.

<i>Girlschool</i> (album) 1992 studio album by Girlschool

Girlschool is the eighth studio album by British heavy metal band, Girlschool, released on Communiqué Records and Progressive International in 1992. It is the fourth and last studio album recorded with lead guitarist Cris Bonacci and the only one with bassist Jackie Carrera. It is also the first Girlschool album to be self-produced for an independent British label.

Richard Arnold Pleasance is an Australian rock musician and producer. He was a founding member of Boom Crash Opera on guitar, bass guitar, vocals and as a songwriter in 1985; they released three albums before Pleasance left in 1992. Their hit Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) singles, "Great Wall" and "Onion Skin" were co-written by Pleasance, who also co-produced their second album, These Here Are Crazy Times. His debut solo release, Galleon received four nominations at the ARIA Music Awards for 1992. Pleasance composed the theme music for Australian television series, SeaChange (1998–2001), for 2006 feature film Kenny and more recently he composed the theme music for the prison drama series Wentworth. Pleasance is married to Michelle and, as from May 2009, he was living in Hepburn Springs, Victoria where he has a recording studio.

<i>Play Dirty Live</i> 1985 video by Girlschool

Play Dirty Live is the first video album released by the British heavy metal band Girlschool in 1985. The American release of the VHS was done by Polygram, the label that had Girlschool under contract at the time. The release of the video was part of the marketing strategy to launch the studio album Running Wild in the US, the only country where it was published. The British edition was instead licensed to Castle Communications and released at the same time. The concert was filmed by Trillion Pictures at the Camden Palace Theatre in London on 7 December 1984 for the British TV show Live from London. The band, which had been recently augmented to a five-piece group, was still recording Running Wild and presents in this show five new songs from the upcoming album. The following songs have their titles wrongly indicated on the sleeve of the VHS: "Out to Get You", "Ready to Rock", "Emergency 999" (Emergency). The song "I Like It Like That" is the B-side of the "20th Century Boy" 12 inches single.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tonight Alive</span> Australian rock band

Tonight Alive are an Australian rock band from Sydney. As of 2023, the band consists of lead vocalist Jenna McDougall, guitarists Jake Hardy and Whakaio Taahi, bassist Cameron Adler, and drummer Matty Best.

References

  1. ↑ "The Australian Rock Show: Episode 24 - Cris Bonacci interview". The Australian Rock Show. Retrieved 14 June 2019.
  2. ↑ "Cris Bonacci interview". Metal Attack no. 23. S.A.R.L. de Presse DB2. 22 July 1985. p. 51.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 McFarlane, Ian (1999). "Encyclopedia entry for 'Sweet Jayne'". Encyclopedia of Australian Rock and Pop . St Leonards, NSW: Allen & Unwin. ISBN   1-86508-072-1. Archived from the original on 26 August 2004.
  4. ↑ "Sweet Jayne". Aus Metal Guide. Retrieved 29 December 2010.
  5. ↑ "Various – ID Models – Fashion Lounge". Discogs . Retrieved 6 January 2011.
  6. ↑ "Assume Nothing". Archived from the original on 16 March 2012. Retrieved 13 December 2010.
  7. ↑ "Quick Electracult bio". Archived from the original on 4 September 2009. Retrieved 29 December 2008.
  8. ↑ "Australian Rock Show Podcast #24". Archived from the original on 15 December 2021.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.