Davey Ray Moor

Last updated

Davey Ray Moor
Birth nameDavid Raymond Moore
Born Beirut, Lebanon
OriginSydney, Australia
Genres
  • Rock
  • indie rock
Occupation(s)
  • Musician
  • composer
  • producer
  • teacher
Instrument(s)
  • Vocals
  • keyboards
Years active1983–present

Davey Ray Moor (born David Raymond Moore, Beirut) is an England-based songwriter, singer, multi-instrumentalist, composer and producer.

Biography

Davey Ray Moor was born as David Raymond Moore in Beirut, his father was an accountant for the United Nations. [1] [2] As a child he had asthma and was confined indoors where he taught himself to play the piano by playing along to Elton John and David Bowie. He was raised in Sydney then Canberra. [1] In Canberra he had attended Copland College alongside Russell Kilbey (The Crystal Set) and drummer Charles Ratcliffe. [3]

In 1983 Moor, on keyboards and vocals, with Kilbey, Phil Maher and Ratcliffe formed a psychedelic rock group, the Crystal Set, in Sydney. [4] [5] Moor also supplied keyboards for the psychedelic band, the Church, on two of their extended plays, Remote Luxury (March 1984) and Persia (August). The Crystal Set issued their debut album, From Now On, in May 1987 – which included the track, "Flat Earth", written by Moor. [2] [4] [5] The album went to the top of the Australian Independent Chart, and was well received by the critics.

Moor relocated to the United Kingdom where he began working at The Beatmasters' studio as a media and film composer. He later established a recording studio near Glastonbury where, for the next decade, he composed soundtracks for television, film, advertising and documentaries. In 1998, with partners Robin Brown (later of Cousteau and Zennor Alexander, Moor contributed the soundtrack to the BAFTA-winning 1998 Best Documentary for a Channel 4 "Dispatches" film.

Clients across this period include Pepsi, Budweiser, Bacardi, Nintendo, Nissan, Remington, the BBC, Channel 4, ITV, MTV, VH-1 and Sky. All the while Moor continued to develop his idea for original songs, eventually writing all the songs that were to become the launchpad for Cousteau.

Toward the end of the nineties, Moor recruited Cousteau and the band recorded a collection of his songs. An invitation to play on Later With Jools Holland on the BBC launched the band into the mainstream. In 2000, Chris Blackwell's Palm Pictures released the recordings as a self-titled album. With baritone Liam McKahey singing all but two of the songs (Moor leads the vocals on the others), Cousteau's lounge-set sound was presented with the perfect raft upon which Moor's romantic sound could float. The band received both enthusiastic reviews (Single of the Week, The Times, Album of The Week, The Guardian, 5-stars, Uncut) and sales throughout the United Kingdom and Europe and met with substantial success in the United States.

Capturing the allure of its predecessor, a second album Sirena [6] replicated its critical and substantial commercial success yet Moor departed the band prior to their third American tour. Instead he chose to work as a producer on Italian singer Cristina Donà's album, which achieved critical acclaim and went to No. 4 on the Italian Charts.

In 2004, with the assistance of vocalists Sergio Cocchi, Darion Marshall, Christina Dona and Debbie Sanders, Moor released his first true solo endeavour "Telepathy" on NuN/Edel in Europe. 4 and 5 star reviews across publications such as Rolling Stone Magazine and All Music followed, and Telepathy was included in Musica's Critics Top 100 in 2004 - one of two albums that Moor wrote and produced - the other being Cristina Donà's debut album in English. In 2005 Telepathy was released by Lakeshore Records throughout the US. Critical reaction was again enthusiastic, some describing the album as the best work of his career.

Later Moor teamed up with Libertine Carl Barât co-wrote "Run With the Boys", "Carve My Name", "Shadows Fall", "Death Fires" and "This Is The Song" on Barât's eponymous solo album, which was released in 2010. He co-wrote one song ("Beginning to See") with Barât, and also produced two songs ("We Want More" and "The Gears") on Carl Barât and The Jackals' Let It Reign album. Moor and Barât continued their partnership, composing the soundtrack to the French movie This Is My Body, directed by Paule Mueret which debuted at the Geneva Film Festival in 2015. It was in this era that the songs "The Innermost Light" and "Love Is Not On Trial" were written, later performed by the reformed CousteauX and Marc Almond.

That same year, Moor and Liam McKahey re-united to record their comeback album CousteauX. In September 2017 the album was released in the UK and the US to resounding acclaim. Mojo magazine gave the album 4 stars, describing it as 'feel-the-quality nourish songs of emotional masochism'. All Music said "CousteauX is not only one of the year's most promising debuts, but a timeless offering that a decade on will sound as vital and provocative as it does now." Music Republic awarded it 5 stars and claimed it was "One of the very best albums in a decade- the album throbs and pulses with passion... It’s faultless." KCRW in LA featured the opening track Memory Is A Weapon in its Today's Top Tune feature, and Huffington Post singled out Seasons of You for a feature. The album launched with sell out shows in Italy, England and Portugal. CousteauX remain an international cult band with a following distributed across 47 countries.

Until February 2022 Davey led the world's first Distance-Learning Songwriting Masters Degree at Bath Spa University, as well as re-designing their popular Commercial Music BA (Hons) degree. Alumni include Ren (#1 UK Album October 2023), Mike Dawes (acoustic guitar wizard), Ben Jackson-Cooke (songwriter/producer Rag & Bone Man) and blues/Americana icons Ida Mae.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cold Chisel</span> Australian rock band

Cold Chisel are an Australian pub rock band, which formed in Adelaide in 1973 by mainstay members Ian Moss on guitar and vocals, Steve Prestwich on drums and Don Walker on piano and keyboards. They were soon joined by Jimmy Barnes on lead vocals and, in 1975, Phil Small became their bass guitarist. The group disbanded in late 1983 but subsequently reformed several times. Musicologist Ian McFarlane wrote that they became "one of Australia's best-loved groups" as well as "one of the best live bands", fusing "a combination of rockabilly, hard rock and rough-house soul'n'blues that was defiantly Australian in outlook."

The Crystal Set were an Australian indie rock group formed in March 1983. By 1987 the line-up was Russell Kilbey, Phillip Maher, Davey Ray Moor and Tim Seckhold (drums). In April 1988 Moor was replaced by Craig Hooper, who was replaced in turn by Luke Blackburn, in May 1989. The group issued two studio albums, From Now On and Almost Pure, before disbanding later that year. Russell Kilbey is the younger brother of the Church's mainstay, Steve Kilbey.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Necks</span>

The Necks are an Australian avant-garde jazz trio formed in 1987 by founding mainstays Chris Abrahams on piano and Hammond organ, Tony Buck on drums, percussion and electric guitar, and Lloyd Swanton on bass guitar and double bass. They play improvisational pieces of up to an hour in length that explore the development and demise of repeating musical figures. Their double LP studio album Unfold was named by Rolling Stone as "one of the top 20 avant albums of 2017."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Steve Kilbey</span> Australian musician (born 1954)

Steven John Kilbey is an English-Australian singer-songwriter best known as the lead singer and bass guitarist for the rock band The Church. He is also a music producer, poet, and painter. As of 2020, Kilbey has released 14 solo albums and has collaborated on recordings with musical artists such as Martin Kennedy, Stephen Cummings and Ricky Maymi as a vocalist, musician, writer and/or producer. Ian McFarlane writes that "Kilbey's solo recordings [are] challenging and evocative. They ran the gamut of sounds and emotions from electronic and avant-garde to acoustic and symphonic, joyous and dreamy to saturnine and sardonic".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Church (band)</span> Australian rock band

The Church are an Australian rock band formed in Sydney in 1980. Initially associated with new wave, neo-psychedelia, and indie rock, their music later came to feature slower tempos and surreal soundscapes reminiscent of alternative rock, dream pop, and post-rock. Glenn A. Baker has written that "From the release of the 'She Never Said' single in November 1980, this unique Sydney-originated entity has purveyed a distinctive, ethereal, psychedelic-tinged sound which has alternatively found favour and disfavour in Australia." The Los Angeles Times has described the band's music as "dense, shimmering, exquisite guitar pop".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rob Younger</span> Australian musician, songwriter and producer

Rob Younger is an Australian rock musician, vocalist, songwriter and producer. He is a founding mainstay of the punk rock group Radio Birdman, and he is a pioneer of the local independent music scene. Radio Birdman, formed with Deniz Tek on guitar in November 1974, was one of the first punk rock bands ever formed in Australia, and it is considered one of the most influential and crucial bands in Australian music history. Younger formed a short-term super-group, New Race, in 1981. He also formed New Christs in that year, who is still active today.

JakHousden is an Australian guitarist, singer, and composer. Best known as a long-standing member of or The Whitlams, he is also a founding member of The Badloves, appearing on all their classic 1990s releases. A revered session guitarist, Jak has performed and recorded with Barry Gibb, Olivia Newton-John, Richard Clapton, Steve Kilbey, Kate Ceberano, Jimmy Barnes, Daryl Braithwaite, and Steve Balbi. Since 2015, Jak has been involved with Tim Minchin, touring extensively and recording on the album Apart Together.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Beeb Birtles</span> Musical artist

Beeb Birtles is an Australian musician, singer, songwriter and guitarist. He has been a member of various Australian groups including Zoot (1967–71), Mississippi (1972–74), Little River Band (1975–83) and Birtles Shorrock Goble (2002–07). He has also worked as a solo artist, including releasing an album, Driven by Dreams (2000). In 2004, Birtles and other members of the classic line-up of Little River Band were inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stevie Plunder</span> Musical artist

Stevie Plunder, born as Anthony Hayes, was an Australian guitarist and singer-songwriter. He was a founding member of the groups, The Plunderers (1984–1995) and The Whitlams (1992–1996).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cousteau (band)</span> English band

Cousteau are a London-based band who enjoyed considerable international success, particularly in Italy and the U.S. from 1999 to 2005. The band's sound has been compared to Burt Bacharach, Scott Walker and David Bowie with an updated contemporary edge.

The Bhagavad Guitars were an indie-rock band which formed in 1985 as Inner Circle in Canberra by Jeremy Butterworth on guitar and vocals, Kynan Hughes on bass guitar and Matt Kerr on drums and John Kilbey on guitar and vocals. Hughes was replaced successively by Adrian Workman and then by Tony Locke. They recorded three 12 inch extended plays for Red Eye before recording a studio album, Introversion, in 1991 which was shelved due to record company disputes until July 1996. Meanwhile, they issued their first album, Hypnotised, in May 1992 via Karmic Hit/Shock, and disbanded in 1998. The group reformed in 2008 to record a new album, Unfamiliar Places, released in May 2011.

David Ross Hope Bridie is an Australian contemporary musician and songwriter. He was a founding mainstay member of World music band Not Drowning, Waving which released six studio albums to critical acclaim. He also formed a chamber pop group, My Friend the Chocolate Cake, which released seven studio albums. During his solo career he has issued five studio albums and worked on soundtracks for Australian films and television like The Man Who Sued God, Remote Area Nurse, Secret City, and The Circuit. Bridie is the founder and artistic director of Wantok Musik Foundation; a not-for-profit music label that records, releases and promotes culturally infused music from Indigenous Australia, Melanesia and Oceania. In 2019 he received the Don Banks Music Award.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Under the Milky Way</span> 1988 single by the Church

"Under the Milky Way" is a single by Australian alternative rock band The Church, released on 15 February 1988, and appears on their fifth studio album Starfish. The song was written by bass guitarist and lead vocalist Steve Kilbey and his then-girlfriend Karin Jansson of Curious (Yellow). It peaked at No. 22 on the Australian Kent Music Report Singles Chart, No. 24 on the United States Billboard Hot 100 and No. 25 on the New Zealand Singles Chart; it also appeared in the Dutch Single Top 100. At the ARIA Music Awards of 1989, the song won 'Single of the Year'. It was issued simultaneously in both 7" vinyl and 12" vinyl formats by Arista Records (internationally) and Mushroom Records.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grant McLennan</span> Australian musician (1958–2006)

Grant William McLennan was an Australian alternative rock singer-songwriter-guitarist. He co-founded the Go-Betweens with Robert Forster in Brisbane in 1977. In addition to his work with the Go-Betweens, he issued four solo albums: Watershed (1991), Fireboy (1992), Horsebreaker Star (1994) and In Your Bright Ray (1997). He also undertook side-projects and collaborations with other artists. McLennan received a number of accolades recognising his achievements and contributions as songwriter and lyricist. In May 2001, the Australasian Performing Right Association listed "Cattle and Cane" (1983), written by McLennan, as one of their top 30 Australian songs of all time. McLennan died of a heart attack in 2006 at the age of 48.

<i>Nova Scotia</i> (album) 2005 studio album by Cousteau

Nova Scotia is the third album by Cousteau, released in 2005 on the Endeavour record label. It was subsequently released in the U.S. under the band name 'Moreau' due to legal reasons on the One Little Indian label with two additional tracks (*). The US release also featured new artwork.

Gyan Evans, who performs as Gyan, is an Australian singer-songwriter and record producer. She began her musical career in the Sydney band Haiku before winning the 1986 grand final in the local version of the TV talent quest Star Search. This led to a recording contract with Warner Music, which resulted in her October 1989 debut self-titled album. It peaked in the top 30 on the ARIA Albums Chart and provided "Wait", which reached the top 20 on the ARIA Singles Chart. At the ARIA Music Awards of 1990 she won the ARIA Award for Best New Talent.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Steve Balbi</span> Australian musician and record producer

Stephen Vert Balbi is an Australian musician and record producer. He was the founding bass guitarist in pub rockers, Noiseworks in 1986 and formed a psychedelic pop group and production duo, Electric Hippies in 1993 with fellow Noiseworks member, Justin Stanley. He joined Mi-Sex in 2011. Balbi issued his debut solo album, Black Rainbow, in October 2013.

Jack Frost were a short-term Australian rock band, a side project for Grant McLennan and Steve Kilbey. They released two albums, Jack Frost (1991) and Snow Job (1996). Australian musicologist, Ian McFarlane, determined their material, "ranged from romantic ballads to tough rock, with the two singers' voices fitting together well."

Curious (Yellow) was a pop, alternative rock band formed in 1987 by Swedish-born Karin Jansson, a singer-songwriter and guitarist, formerly of feminist punk band Pink Champagne. Curious (Yellow) had releases on Red Eye Records – an EP, I Am Curious and an album Charms and Blues. Both were produced by Steve Kilbey of The Church, who was Jansson's domestic partner. The band's name and that of their first release are references to the 1967 Swedish cult film I Am Curious (Yellow).

Andrew MacLeish Durant was an Australian musician-songwriter. He was a member of country rock group Stars (1976–79) providing guitar, harmonica, and backing vocals. He was also a session and backing musician for a range of artists. He died of cancer, aged 25. On 19 August 1980 a tribute performance was held in his honour, with a live double-album recorded by various artists, Andrew Durant Memorial Concert, which was released on 9 March 1981. All but three tracks were written by Durant. It peaked at No. 8 on the Australian Kent Music Report Albums Chart and reached No. 40 on the End of Year Top 100 Albums Chart for 1981.

References

General
Specific
  1. 1 2 Heingartner, Douglas (12 July 2005). "Locked Out". Village Voice. Retrieved 18 August 2017.
  2. 1 2 "'Flat Earth' at APRA search engine". Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA). Retrieved 18 August 2017. Note: For additional work user may have to select 'Search again' and then 'Enter a title:' or 'Performer:'
  3. ↑ Lovett, Simone (19 December 1984). "Timespan: Crystal Set Keen to Impress at Homecoming". The Canberra Times . Vol. 59, no. 17, 979. p. 29. Retrieved 18 August 2017– via National Library of Australia.
  4. 1 2 McFarlane, 'The Crystal Set' entry. Archived from the original on 9 August 2004. Retrieved 18 August 2017.
  5. 1 2 Holmgren, Magnus. "Crystal Set". hem.passagen.se. Australian Rock Database (Magnus Holmgren). Archived from the original on 25 August 2012. Retrieved 18 August 2017.
  6. ↑ Loftus, Johnny. "Biography: Cousteau". Allmusic . Retrieved 25 July 2010.
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.