Deadstar

Last updated

Deadstar
Origin Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Genres Pop, rock
Years active1995 (1995)–2001 (2001)
LabelsWhite, Mushroom, Festival
Past members

Deadstar (styled as deadstar) were an Australian pop rock band formed in August 1995 by Peter Jones (Crowded House) on drums and percussion; Caroline Kennedy on lead vocals and guitar; and Barry Palmer (Hunters & Collectors) on guitar and bass guitar. They released three studio albums, deadstar (October 1995), Milk (April 1997) and Somewhere Over the Radio (September 1999). Two singles reached the top 100 on the ARIA Singles Chart, "Run Baby Run" and "Deeper Water", both in 1999. The group were nominated for three ARIA Music Awards. The group disbanded in 2001.

Contents

History

Deadstar were formed in August 1995 in Melbourne as a pop music band. [1] Initially they were a side-project for Barry Palmer on guitar and bass guitar who was also in Hunters & Collectors and Peter Jones (of Crowded House) on drums. [1] [2] The pair invited Caroline Kennedy (ex-Plums) into the studio to write melodies and lyrics over tracks of guitar music on the score they had recorded for a proposed short film, The Baby Bath Massacre. [1] [2] [3]

The group's first album, Deadstar, was issued in October 1995, it was produced by Palmer for the White Records label and distributed by Mushroom Records and Festival Records. [1] [2] [4] Australian musicologist, Ian McFarlane, described the album as a "mix of trashy pop and indie guitar rock [which] found a ready-made market. There were plenty of loose arrangements in the songs, with Palmer's guitar and Kennedy's quavering, imperfect vocals laid down rough and raw". [1] They released CD singles from the album, "Going Down" / "Valentine's Day" (June 1995), "She Loves She" (October) and "Sister" (April 1996). [1] [5] The singles were co-written by Jones, Kennedy and Palmer, except "She Loves She" which was co-written by the three with Charlie Marshall. [6]

In November 1996 Jones' bandmate from Crowded House, Nick Seymour, joined on bass guitar – allowing Palmer to concentrate on lead guitar for live performances. [1] [2] Stu Thomas had earlier been approached to join on bass but turned it down due to solid commitments in Kim Salmon and the Surrealists. Deadstar toured the United Kingdom where "Valentine's Day" was issued as the A-side of their debut single for Discordant Records. [7] Late that year, Palmer started producing the debut solo album, King Without a Clue , for Nick's older brother, Mark, which was released in the following year. [1] [4] [8] Mark was Palmer's bandmate in Hunters & Collectors, Palmer co-wrote five tracks with Mark and provided lead guitar. [8] Fellow deadstar members, Nick (on bass guitar, backing vocals and piano) and Jones (on drums and percussion), also worked on the album. [8]

In January 1997, Deadstar appeared on the Big Day Out tour. [1] In August that year they issued their second studio album, Milk, which Palmer co-produced with Kalju Tonuma (Nick Barker, The Mavis's). [1] [4] [9] McFarlane felt the album contained "garagey pop gems". [1] In Australia two singles were released from the album, "Don't It Get You Down?" (September 1996) and "I've Got Something to Tell You" (June 1997). [1] Both singles were co-written by Jones, Kennedy and Palmer. [10] In the UK they issued "Sex Sell" as their lead single from Milk (titled Deadstar for the European market) on Discordant Records. At the ARIA Music Awards of 1997 "Don't It Get You Down?" was nominated for Best Independent Release. [11] Late that year Nick Seymour left Deadstar and was replaced on bass guitar by Pete McCracken – Kennedy's bandmate from Plum and her future husband. [1] [3] [7]

By mid-1998 Michael den Elzen (ex-Schnell Fenster, Rebecca's Empire) joined on lead guitar and Deadstar started recording their third album, Somewhere Over the Radio. [1] [2] Its lead single, "Run Baby Run", appeared in January 1999, which reached the top 100 on the ARIA Singles Chart. [12] "Run Baby Run" was co-written by Kennedy and Palmer. [13] Deadstar employed The Killjoys' band member, Anna Burley, as auxiliary keyboardist when performing live. [1] [2] A second single, "Deeper Water", appeared in June, which peaked at No. 28. [14] "Deeper Water" was also co-written by Kennedy and Palmer. [15] The album followed in September and was co-produced by Palmer, Tonuma and Mark Opitz (AC/DC, The Angels, INXS). [1] [2] [16]

During 1999 Mushroom Records owner Michael Gudinski sold his record label to Festival Records. [17] As a result of the negotiations and subsequent sale of Mushroom Records, the promotion of deadstar's album was compromised. At the ARIA Music Awards of 1999 "Run Baby Run" was nominated for Best Pop Release. [18] A third single, "Somewhere Over the Radio", appeared in May 2000 but did not chart. [1] At the ARIA Music Awards of 2000 Somewhere Over the Radio was nominated for Best Rock Album. [19] The group disbanded in 2001. [2]

The band enjoyed mixed commercial success during their existence. They had some success in the UK and toured there after extensive radio play of "Sex Sell". They were played on national Australian radio station Triple J with two of their tracks listed on its annual Hottest 100: "Don't It Get You Down" at No. 70 in 1996 and "Deeper Water" at No. 74 in 1999. [20] They were picked up by commercial radio stations and their music was used in TV ("Run Baby Run" on Home and Away , [21] Queen Kat Carmel and St. Jude, [22] and Good News Week ; [23] "Deeper Water" on The Panel ) [24] and film productions.

Other projects

Before Caroline Kennedy joined Deadstar she played guitar and sang in The Plums, with Shamus Goble on drums, Pete McCracken on bass guitar and Stephen Moffatt on guitar. [2] [3] McFarlane described their sound as "mixed strident guitar riffs with melodic pop roots" and Kennedy as "the band's focal point with her tough-but-graceful presence, opinionated views and emotion-charged, if imperfect, vocals". [3] While a member of Deadstar she also had her own project, The Caroline Kennedy Conspiracy, with Goble and McCracken, joined by Ted Cleaver on guitar. [1] After Deadstar had disbanded in 2001 Kennedy, McCracken and Goble formed The Kicksilvers with McCracken's sister, Jane on bass guitar. In 2002 Kennedy, McCracken and Goble formed The Tulips and they released a country-tinged album, In the Honeycone (May 2003). [25]

Barry Palmer continued to write, record and perform with Hunters & Collectors during his time with Deadstar until that group disbanded in March 1998. [4] [26] Palmer formed his own label, The Devil's Music, and continued to record, produce and write. [4]

Peter Jones worked as a session musician for various groups including in Ross Hannaford's Reggaebites (2002). [27] As a producer he worked on albums by Stephen Cummings Firecracker (3 February 2003), Close Ups (16 August 2004), Tess McKenna Boom Bam (2003), Rebecca Barnard Fortified (2006) ; [27] and also worked as a teacher in Melbourne. He died on 18 May 2012 of brain cancer, aged 49. [28] [29]

Discography

Studio albums

TitleDetailsPeak chart positions
AUS
[30]
Deadstar—
Milk
  • Released: April 1997
  • Label: Mushroom Records (D31616)
  • Format: CD
91
Somewhere Over the Radio
  • Released: September 1999
  • Label: Mushroom Records (MUSH33240.2)
  • Format: CD
66

Compilation albums

TitleDetails
The Definitive Collection
  • Released: August 2004
  • Label: Festival / Mushroom (337722)
  • Format: CD

Singles

List of singles as lead artist, with Australian chart positions
TitleYearPeak
chart
positions		Album
AUS
[30]
"Going Down"/"Valentine's Day"1995—Deadstar
"She Loves She"—
"Sister"1996—
"Sex Sells" (UK release)—Milk
"Don't It Get You Down"—
"I've Got Something To Tell You"1997—
"Run Baby Run"199964 [12] Somewhere Over the Radio
"Deeper Water"28
"Over the Radio"2000—

Awards and nominations

ARIA Music Awards

The ARIA Music Awards are a set of annual ceremonies presented by Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA), which recognise excellence, innovation, and achievement across all genres of the music of Australia. They commenced in 1987. Deadstar were nominated for three ARIA Music Awards [31]

YearNominee / workAwardResult
1997 "Don't it Get You Down" Best Independent Release Nominated
1999 "Run Baby Run"' Best Pop Release Nominated
2000 Somewhere Over the Radio Best Rock Album Nominated

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nick Seymour</span> Australian bassist

Nicholas More Seymour is an Australian musician and record producer. He is the founding bass guitarist and a mainstay of the rock group Crowded House, and is the younger brother of Mark Seymour, singer-songwriter-guitarist in the rock band Hunters and Collectors.

<i>Ghost Nation</i> (album) 1989 studio album by Hunters & Collectors

Ghost Nation is the sixth studio album by Australian rock band, Hunters & Collectors. It was co-produced by the band with Clive Martin and issued on White/Mushroom Records on 27 November 1989. It reached No. 10 on the ARIA Albums Chart, No. 29 in New Zealand and No. 31 in Sweden.

Peter Robert Jones was an English-born Australian musician. He replaced Paul Hester on drums for Crowded House in mid-1994. After the band split up in June 1996, he played in Deadstar with Caroline Kennedy and Nick Seymour, but did not return to Crowded House when they re-formed in 2006 about a year after Hester's death. Jones worked as a secondary teacher in Melbourne and on 18 May 2012, he died from brain cancer, aged 49.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chris Wilson (Australian musician)</span> Australian musician (1956–2019)

Christopher John Wilson was an Australian blues musician who sang and played harmonica, saxophone and guitar. He performed as part of the Sole Twisters, Harem Scarem and Paul Kelly and the Coloured Girls, and fronted his band Crown of Thorns. Wilson's solo albums are Landlocked, The Long Weekend, Spiderman (2000), King for a Day, Flying Fish (2012) and the self titled Chris Wilson (2018).

<i>Short Cool Ones</i> 1996 studio album by Wilson Diesel

Short Cool Ones is a 1996 collaborative album by Wilson Diesel,. The album consists mainly of blues covers, with one original track, "Other Man". It was co-produced by Doug Roberts, Wilson, and Diesel. They released two singles, "I Can't Stand the Rain" (March) and "Strange Love" (May).

Things of Stone and Wood or ToSaW are an Australian folk rock band which formed in 1989. The original line-up was Michael Bruce Allen on bass guitar and backing vocals; Greg Arnold on lead vocals and acoustic guitar; Justin Brady on violin, mandolin and harmonica; and Tony Floyd on drums and percussion. Two of their albums, The Yearning and Junk Theatre peaked at No. 8 on the ARIA Albums Chart. Their 1992 single, "Happy Birthday Helen" reached No. 9 on the ARIA Singles Chart, which was written by Arnold for his then-girlfriend, whom he later married. At the ARIA Music Awards of 1993 the group won ARIA Award for Best New Talent for "Share This Wine". Arnold won 'Songwriter of the Year' at the 1993 APRA Awards.

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.

Caroline Frances Kennedy-McCracken is an Australian musician and visual artist. Kennedy-McCracken has been a singer-songwriter and guitarist in several bands, including The Plums (1992–1995), Deadstar (1995–2001) and The Tulips (2002–2006). In 2013, she appeared as a vocalist on Don't Tell The Driver, a solo album by the Dirty Three's Mick Turner. Kennedy-McCracken is also a visual artist, working primarily as a painter and sculptor.

Karma County are an Australian country, pop music trio which formed in 1995. They comprise Stuart Eadie on drums, percussion and backing vocals; Michael Galeazzi on bass guitar, double bass and backing vocals; and Brendan Gallagher on lead guitar, lead vocals, keyboards, bouzouki, percussion, drums and bass guitar. They have released five studio albums, Last Stop Heavenly Heights (1996), Olana, Into the Land of Promise, Happy Birthday Dear Customer and Pacifico. At the ARIA Music Awards of 2000, Into the Land of Promise won the ARIA Award for Best Adult Contemporary Album.

<i>Juggernaut</i> (Hunters & Collectors album) 1998 studio album by Hunters & Collectors

Juggernaut is the ninth and final studio album by Australian rock band, Hunters & Collectors. The album, recorded in 1997, was co-produced by the group with Kalju Tonuma and Mark Opitz. It was released on 26 January 1998 on Mushroom's White Label. With its release, Hunters & Collectors announced they would disband after the Say Goodbye Tour – they gave their final performances in late March 1998. The album peaked at No. 36 on the ARIA Albums Chart and No. 48 on the New Zealand Albums Chart.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">James Baker (musician)</span> Australian musician

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jim White (drummer)</span> Australian musician

Jim Ronald White is an Australian drummer, songwriter, and producer. In 1992 he formed Dirty Three, an instrumental rock band, with fellow mainstays Warren Ellis on violin; and Mick Turner on guitar. In Dirty Three, White sometimes shares songwriting duties with Ellis and Turner.

The Black Sorrows are an Australian blues rock band formed in 1983 by mainstay vocalist Joe Camilleri, who also plays saxophone and guitar. Camilleri has used various line-ups to record 17 albums, with five reaching the top 20 on the ARIA Albums Charts: Hold on to Me, Harley and Rose, Better Times, The Chosen Ones - Greatest Hits and Lucky Charm. Their top 40 singles are "Chained to the Wheel", "Harley + Rose" and "Snake Skin Shoes".

Charles Lothian Lloyd "Charlie" Owen is an Australian multi-instrumentalist and producer. He has been a member of The New Christs (1987–90), Louis Tillett and His Cast of Aspersions (1990), Tex, Don and Charlie, Tendrils (1994–99) and Beasts of Bourbon. His solo album, Vertigo and Other Phobias, was released in 1994 on Red Eye/Polydor.

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.

Buster Brown was an Australian rock band, which featured vocalist Angry Anderson and drummer Phil Rudd, that was formed in Melbourne in 1973. Their sound was hard rock mixed with blues rock influences. Their first album, Something to Say was produced by Lobby Loyde and released in 1974. Rudd left to join an early version of AC/DC while Anderson continued with new line-ups and eventually disbanded the group in November 1975. Anderson joined Rose Tattoo which later included former Buster Brown bandmates, Geordie Leach on bass guitar and Dallas "Digger" Royall on drums.

Big on Love is a song by Australian new wave rock band Models. It was released as a single on 18 November 1984, well ahead of its parent album, Out of Mind, Out of Sight, which was issued in August 1985. It peaked at No. 24 on the Australian Kent Music Report Singles Chart in December 1984, remaining at that position for two weeks. It was produced for Mushroom Records by Reggie Lucas, and was co-written by Sean Kelly, the group's lead guitarist and lead vocalist, and Lucas. For the single, Models line up was Kelly, James Freud on backing vocals and bass guitar, Andrew Duffield on keyboards, and Barton Price on drums.

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.

Harem Scarem were an Australian blues rock group which formed in 1982. They issued two studio albums, Pilgrim's Progress on Au Go Go Records (1986) and Lo & Behold on Citadel Records (1988) before disbanding in 1989. The early line-up was fronted by Christopher Marshall on lead vocals and included his brother, Charlie Marshall first on bass guitar, then rhythm guitar and, when fronting the group from 1987, was also on lead vocals. By September 1985 they had been joined by Peter Jones on drums and percussion; Barry Palmer on lead guitar; Glen Sheldon first on rhythm guitar and then on bass guitar; and Chris Wilson on harmonica and saxophone. Australian musicologist, Ian McFarlane, felt that "Few alternative bands of the day could ever hope to match that line-up for muscular bravado and sheer instrumental firepower". On 18 May 2012 Peter Jones died of brain cancer, aged 45.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mark Kingsmill</span> Australian rock musician (born 1956)

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.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 McFarlane, Ian (1999). "Encyclopedia entry for 'Deadstar'". Encyclopedia of Australian Rock and Pop . St Leonards, NSW: Allen & Unwin. ISBN   1-86508-072-1. Archived from the original on 13 August 2004. Retrieved 26 August 2013.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Holmgren, Magnus; Warnqvist, Stefan; Wood, Kelly. "Deadstar". Australian Rock Database. Passagen (Magnus Holmgren). Archived from the original on 17 May 2000. Retrieved 27 August 2012.
  3. 1 2 3 4 McFarlane 'The Plums' entry. Archived from the original on 28 August 2004. Retrieved 27 August 2013.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 Holmgren, Magnus. "Barry Palmer". Australian Rock Database. Passagen (Magnus Holmgren). Archived from the original on 17 February 2012. Retrieved 27 August 2012.
  5. ↑ "Artists :: Deadstar". Australian Music Online (Government of Australia). Archived from the original on 19 December 2004. Retrieved 27 August 2013.
  6. ↑ "'Going Down' at APRA search engine". Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA). Retrieved 27 August 2013.[ permanent dead link ] Note: For further information click on Search again and 'Enter a title:' or 'Performer:'.
  7. 1 2 Demalon, Tom. "Deadstar – Music Biography". Allmusic (Rovi Corporation). Retrieved 27 August 2013.
  8. 1 2 3 King Without a Clue (Media notes). Mark Seymour. Mushroom Records. 1997. MUSH33040.2.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  9. ↑ Holmgren, Magnus. "Kalju Tonuma". Australian Rock Database. Passagen (Magnus Holmgren). Archived from the original on 2 October 2012. Retrieved 27 August 2013.
  10. ↑ "'Don't It Get You Down' at APRA search engine". Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA). Archived from the original on 22 February 2014. Retrieved 27 August 2013. Note: For further information click on Search again and 'Enter a title:' or 'Performer:'.
  11. ↑ "ARIA Awards – History: Winners by Year 1997". Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA). Retrieved 27 August 2013.
  12. 1 2 Savage, Grant (20 December 2012). "Top Singles of 1999". Australian Charts Portal. Hung Medien (Steffen Hung). Archived from the original on 11 March 2016. Retrieved 27 August 2013.
  13. ↑ "'Run Baby Run' at APRA search engine". Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA). Archived from the original on 22 February 2014. Retrieved 27 August 2013. Note: For further information click on Search again and 'Enter a title:' or 'Performer:'.
  14. ↑ Hung, Steffen. "Discography Deadstar". Australian Charts Portal. Hung Medien (Steffen Hung). Archived from the original on 4 November 2012. Retrieved 27 August 2013.
  15. ↑ "'Deeper Water' at APRA search engine". Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA). Archived from the original on 22 February 2014. Retrieved 27 August 2013. Note: For further information click on Search again and 'Enter a title:' or 'Performer:'.
  16. ↑ Holmgren, Magnus; Shaw, Julian. "Mark Opitz". Australian Rock Database. Passagen (Magnus Holmgren). Archived from the original on 27 November 2013. Retrieved 27 August 2012.
  17. ↑ Jenkins, Jeff; Meldrum, Ian (2007). "Mushroom Records - Magic Mushroom". Molly Meldrum Presents 50 years of Rock in Australia. Wilkinson Publishing. pp. 87–94. ISBN   978-1-921332-11-1.
  18. ↑ "ARIA Awards – History: Winners by Year 1999". Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA). Retrieved 27 August 2013.
  19. ↑ "ARIA Awards – History: Winners by Year 2000". Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA). Retrieved 27 August 2013.
  20. ↑ National radio station Triple J's listeners have voted for Deadstar's tracks on annual Hottest 100 lists:
  21. ↑ Home and Away: Songs from and Inspired by the Television Series, Mushroom Records. National Library of Australia, 2000, retrieved 27 August 2013
  22. ↑ McCarthy, Maureen (1999), Queen Kat Carmel and St. Jude, Mushroom. National Library of Australia , retrieved 27 August 2013
  23. ↑ McDermott, Paul (2000), Live Songs, Good News Week Productions for GNWF Records. National Library of Australia , retrieved 27 August 2013
  24. ↑ More Music Live from The Panel, Liberation Music / Working Dog. National Library of Australia, 2000, retrieved 27 August 2013
  25. ↑ Kennedy, Caroline (23 October 2005). "Pregnant Pause, Then as Good as It Gets". The Age . Fairfax Media . Retrieved 27 August 2013.
  26. ↑ McFarlane 'Hunters & Collectors' entry. Archived from the original on 29 August 2004. Retrieved 27 August 2013.
  27. 1 2 Holmgren, Magnus. "Peter Jones". Australian Rock Database. Passagen (Magnus Holmgren). Archived from the original on 2 October 2012. Retrieved 27 August 2012.
  28. ↑ Koha, Nui Te (19 May 2012). "Crowded House Drummer Peter Jones Dies After Battle with Brain Cancer". Sunday Herald Sun . News Corp Australia . Retrieved 27 August 2013.
  29. ↑ Cashmere, Paul (29 May 2012). "Crowded House Drummer Peter Jones Loses Battle with Cancer". Noise11. Undercover.com (Paul Cashmere, Ros O'Gorman). Retrieved 27 August 2013.
  30. 1 2 Ryan, Gavin (2011). Australia's Music Charts 1988–2010. Mt. Martha, VIC, Australia: Moonlight Publishing. p. 76.
  31. ↑ "ARIA Awards Winners".
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.