David Richard McComb was an Australian musician. He was the singer-songwriter and guitarist of the Australian bands, The Triffids (1976–89) and The Blackeyed Susans (1989–93). He also had a solo career including leading David McComb and The Red Ponies. Over his career McComb had bouts of alcoholism, and amphetamine and heroin abuse. He developed cardiomyopathy and in 1996 underwent a heart transplant. David McComb died on 2 February 1999 "due to heroin toxicity and mild acute rejection of his 1996 heart transplant", according to the coroner. In May 2001, the Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA), as part of its 75th Anniversary celebrations, named "Wide Open Road" by The Triffids – written by McComb – as one of the Top 30 Australian songs of all time. On 1 July 2008 The Triffids were inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame with McComb's contribution acknowledged by a tribute performance.
For the American band with a similar name, see Blackeyed Susan.
"This One Eats Souls" is a single by The Blackeyed Susans, released in July 1994, from their 1993 album, All Souls Alive. The last four tracks are taken from the cassette album Hard Liquor, Soft Music by The Blackeyed Susans Trio.
Some Night, Somewhere is a live album by The Blackeyed Susans, given away with copies of Mouth To Mouth sold around December, 1996 as a Christmas bonus disc. It was recorded live at the Continental Café in Melbourne and was a limited edition CD.
Some Births Are Worse Than Murders is the debut EP by The Blackeyed Susans, released in March 1989 on Waterfront Records.
Anchor Me is an EP by The Blackeyed Susans, released in March 1991.
...Depends On What You Mean By Love is an EP by The Blackeyed Susans, released in late 1991.
Welcome Stranger is the debut studio album by The Blackeyed Susans. Released in August, 1992, the album is a compilation of their first three EPs – Some Births Are Worse Than Murders, Anchor Me and …Depends On What You Mean By Love – with the addition of three tracks recorded at the same time as the material released on those EPs.
All Souls Alive is the second studio album by Australian rock band The Blackeyed Susans. The album was released in December 1993 on the independent record label, Torn and Frayed, and was distributed by Shock Records. The album was released in the United States by Frontier Records on 29 April 1994. Two singles lifted off the album were released in Australia in July 1994, "Dirty Water" and "This One Eats Souls".
Mouth to Mouth is the third studio album by The Blackeyed Susans, released in July, 1995.
Spin The Bottle is the fourth studio album by The Blackeyed Susans, released in July 1997 on Hi Gloss Records. Initial copies came with a karaoke disc containing instrumental versions of each song. The album was produced by Victor Van Vugt and featured ten new original songs and a cover of Billie Holiday's "You're My Thrill". Three singles were released from the album - "Smokin' Johnny Cash", "Spin the Wheel" and "Blue Skes, Blue Sea".
La Mascara is an EP by The Blackeyed Susans released in November 1998. It peaked at No. 5 on the AIR Charts in November 1988 and No. 6 on the Australian Music Report's Alternative Singles/EP chart. Las Mascara was nominated for 'Best Single/EP (Independent)' at the 1999 Music Industry Critics Awards.
Shangri-La is the sixth studio album by The Blackeyed Susans, released in July 2003. After initial writing sessions in mid-1999, recording of the album was scheduled for 2000. It was postponed when the band’s then record company, Mds, was bought by Festival Records. The band eventually returned to the project in 2002, after their covers album Dedicated to the Ones We Love. It was released on their own label, Teardrop, the following year.
Dedicated to the Ones We Love is the fifth studio album by the Australian folk rock group The Blackeyed Susans and was released on 23 April 2001. It is the first issued on their own label, Teardrop, and was distributed through Shock Records. As the name suggests, it is a collection of cover versions, focusing on songs that have influenced and inspired the band. It includes songs made popular by Frank Sinatra, Elvis Presley, The Crystals, Bob Dylan, The Velvet Underground, and, most poignantly, The Triffids. The Triffids were the previous band of David McComb, who had died in 1999 and was a founding member of The Blackeyed Susans. The album was well received by the public and lauded by the critics, a national tour followed keeping the band busy until the end of the year.
"Let's Live" is a single by The Blackeyed Susans, released in June 1995. It was the first single taken from the band's third studio album, Mouth to Mouth. It included several bonus tracks which were not available on the album, the most notable of which was a Suicide-styled re-working of the Bruce Springsteen track "State Trooper".
"Mary Mac" was the second single released by Australian rock band The Blackeyed Susans from their fourth studio album, Mouth To Mouth. It was released on the Hi Gloss Record label in October 1996, three months after the album's release. The song was recorded as part of the band's recording of Mouth to Mouth during the autumn of 1995 at the Fortissimo Sound Studios in Melbourne. The single proved to be the band’s most successful thus far and the song an essential part of The Blackeyed Susans' catalog. The B-sides were bonus tracks, comprising: a cover of The Go-Betweens song, "Dive for Your Memory"; a cover of Canadian country music artist Hank Snow's "Ninety Miles Per Hour"; and an original, "Someone Watching Over Me", which was recorded by Phil Kakulas on an 8-track in a spare room in Abbotsford 1992.
"Smokin' Johnny Cash" is a single by The Blackeyed Susans, released in May 1997. It was the first single lifted from the band's album, Spin the Bottle.
Love of Will is the only studio album by David McComb, released in March 1994. The album was recorded and mixed between June and August 1993, at Platinum Studios with additional mixing at Metropolis and Sing Sing Studios. McComb selected 13 songs out of a pile of 35 and recorded them at Platinum Studios, Melbourne with producer Nick Mainsbridge, together with freelance musical directors Graham Lee and David McComb, and assistant engineers Kalju Tonuma and Phil Jones.
Martha's Vineyard were an Australian rock band formed in Perth, Western Australia in May 1986 by lead singer Peggy Van Zalm. In June 1989 the group issued their debut self-titled album on rooArt, which was produced by Nick Mainsbridge. It peaked in the top 100 on the Kent Music Report Albums Chart. Australian musicologist, Ian McFarlane, described their sound as "reflective folk rock [which] mixed melancholy vocals, acoustic and electric guitars, gentle percussion and spacious arrangements to arrive at a harmonious and intriguing whole". They shared a similar sound and outlook to that of fellow Perth bands like The Triffids, The Honeys and Chad's Tree. Van Zalm's vocals drew positive comparisons with Patti Smith, Chrissie Hynde and Joni Mitchell. The group had toured nationally supporting Simply Red, INXS, Eurythmics, The Go-Betweens, Paul Kelly, The Triffids, Mental as Anything, The Saints and Weddings, Parties, Anything, before disbanding in 1990. By 1994 Van Zalm had launched her solo career.
Hard Liquor, Soft Music is an album by The Blackeyed Susans, recorded in late 1993 by Rob Snarski, Phil Kakulas and Graham Lee as The Blackeyed Susans Trio.
