Donnette Thayer

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Donnette Thayer
Donnette Thayer in Sacramento 1983.jpg
Donnette Thayer in 1983
Background information
Birth nameDonnette Ruth Thayer
BornJanuary 1958 (age 66) [1]
Genres Power pop, alternative rock, dream pop
Instrument(s)Guitar, vocals

Donnette Ruth Thayer [2] is a vocalist, guitarist, and songwriter most active in the 1980s and early 1990s indie rock scenes of Northern California. Thayer was a member of the band Game Theory, and later formed Hex with Steve Kilbey of The Church.

Contents

She has been described by Bucketfull of Brains magazine as "the enchantress," and by radio trade journal The Hard Report as "Gaea personified," while Trouser Press Record Guide described her work as "a suave (post-paisley?) successor to California flower-pop." [3]

Biography

Thayer in Game Theory rehearsal studio Donnette Thayer in rehearsal studio.jpg
Thayer in Game Theory rehearsal studio

Early musical career

Thayer began her musical career in the late 1970s in Davis, California, as guitarist and vocalist for X-Men. She later formed The Veil, which released one album, 1000 Dreams Have Told Me (1984), produced by Scott Miller of Game Theory. In the mid-1980s, Thayer moved to the San Francisco Bay Area, and formed a short-lived band called No Matter What, which included guitarist Zachary Smith, bassist Daniel Liston Keller, and drummer B Jon Chinburg.

Game Theory

Game Theory in Arizona, 1988, during Two Steps from the Middle Ages tour. L-R: Gil Ray, Thayer, Miller, Shelley LaFreniere, Gui Gassuan. Arizona 2 Steps tumblr mr0rrkBGvS1se7ba5o1 1280.jpg
Game Theory in Arizona, 1988, during Two Steps from the Middle Ages tour. L-R: Gil Ray, Thayer, Miller, Shelley LaFreniere, Gui Gassuan.

In 1986, Thayer joined power pop/college rock band Game Theory as a guitarist and vocalist. She had previously appeared as a guest performer on the band's debut album, Blaze of Glory (1982).

With Game Theory, Thayer recorded the cult classic double album Lolita Nation (1987), and toured extensively promoting the album. Thayer wrote the song "Look Away" (originally performed with her earlier band, X-Men), and is credited as co-writer of "Mammoth Gardens" and "Not Because You Can." She also played on Game Theory's subsequent album, Two Steps from the Middle Ages (1988). Following a promotional tour for the release of Two Steps, Thayer left the band in 1988.

Hex

In 1988, Thayer teamed up with Steve Kilbey of Australian psychedelic rock band The Church, to create the band Hex. Kilbey and Thayer were romantically involved at the time – Kilbey's nickname for Thayer was "Starfish," which became the title of The Church's album Starfish . [4] Starfish featured the single "Under The Milky Way," a top 40 hit for the Church on the US Billboard Hot 100. [5]

Hex (1989)

Hex , the 1989 self-titled debut album by the duo, was originally released on First Warning, then on Rykodisc. Kilbey's biographer has described this collaboration as "one of the most inspired and artistically rewarding collaborations of Steve's career. The arrangements for many of the songs were spare – often consisting of softly strummed acoustic guitars, ambient keyboard textures, and tasteful electronic percussion – which allowed her voice to float up through the wide open spaces like smoke." [6]

According to AllMusic critic Ned Raggett, the debut album "somehow gets the mood right from the start, that lovely end-of-the-'80s psych-pop/indie or whatever groove that had defined much of the underground music of that era." [7] Raggett called it "lovely to hear how well they go together, Thayer's voice just tripped out and intoxicating enough, Kilbey's arrangements suiting the mood well," noting that other than a guest drummer on one track, "the two create everything themselves and do a lovely job", creating a "rainy/sunny rural-afternoon glaze throughout Hex , a wonderful way to spend some time with music." [7]

Vast Halos (1990)

Vast Halos
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [8]

The Kilbey-Thayer duo returned to the studio to produce their second Hex recording, Vast Halos, released in 1990, with guest percussionist Jim McGrath credited for "pounding, shaking, and apple eating." [8]

Vast Halos featured the "same combination of swoony psychedelia and new wave-tinged compositions" as Hex, but was cited as "a varied and intriguing effort that overtops its predecessor with skill and style." [8] According to AllMusic's Raggett, "Thayer's singing is more direct at many points, sounding fuller in the mix and in her general delivery... when the group takes a more organic approach, as with the Indian-sounding percussion on the really lovely 'Centaur,' Thayer's singing is some of her most seductive and thrilling and the results are truly special." [8]

Solo career

In 1997, Thayer released a solo album, Chaos and Wonder, on Escapist Music.

Thayer contributed vocals and lyrics to the song "Peregrine," music by Tony Pucci and Stefan Horlitz, for the ALS charity CD Songs for Jenny, released on Heyday Records in October 2009. [9] The Songs for Jenny CD also featured vocal performances by Tim Powles of The Church and Margot Smith, among others. [9]

In 2014, Thayer recorded a version of the Scott Miller song "The Red Baron," which originally appeared on Game Theory's 1984 EP Distortion . [10] Her version, released as a music video in June 2014, is expected to appear on an upcoming Scott Miller memorial tribute album. [10]

Discography

With X-Men:

With The Veil:

With Game Theory:

With Hex:

Solo releases:

Related Research Articles

Hex usually refers to:

<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">Marty Willson-Piper</span> English guitarist and singer-songwriter

Martin Howard Willson-Piper is an English guitarist and singer-songwriter best known as a former long-time member of the Australian psychedelic rock band The Church. He joined in 1980 after seeing an early gig where they were performing as a three-piece. He was an integral member of the band for 33 years. He was also the guitarist for the English alternative rock band All About Eve from 1991 to 1993 and again from 1999 to 2002. He has also worked with Swedish progressive rock band Anekdoten.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peter Koppes</span> Australian guitarist

Peter Koppes is an Australian guitarist, best known as a founding and almost-continuous member of the independent rock band The Church. He is a multi-instrumentalist, also playing mandolin, drums, piano, and harmonica. He has also released various solo albums and various recordings with his group The Well (1989-1995). Koppes lives on the Australian Central Coast in NSW but sometimes spends time on the Sunshine Coast in Queensland where he sometimes produces albums and has previously conducted seasonal 'song writing' and 'performance for demo recording' short courses at Nambour TAFE, as well as offering private tuition in guitar, bass, drums and song writing. His daughters are Tatiana 'O' Koppes and Neige Koppes who had their own band, Rain Party but now have independent solo careers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Game Theory (band)</span> 1980s power pop band founded by Scott Miller

Game Theory was an American power pop band, founded in 1982 by singer/songwriter Scott Miller, combining melodic jangle pop with dense experimental production and hyperliterate lyrics. MTV described their sound as "still visceral and vital" in 2013, with records "full of sweetly psychedelic-tinged, appealingly idiosyncratic gems" that continued "influencing a new generation of indie artists." Between 1982 and 1990, Game Theory released five studio albums and two EPs, which had long been out of print until 2014, when Omnivore Recordings began a series of remastered reissues of the entire Game Theory catalog. Miller's posthumously completed Game Theory album, Supercalifragile, was released in August 2017 in a limited first pressing.

<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.

<i>The Blurred Crusade</i> 1982 studio album by The Church

The Blurred Crusade is the second album by the Australian alternative rock band the Church, released in March 1982 by EMI Parlophone. Moving away from the new wave leanings of their debut, it was stylistically more complex and "a smoother, fuller release". "With its mystical lyrics the second album ... brought the group's own style more into focus". The album peaked at No. 10 on the Australian Kent Music Report Albums Chart and "Almost With You" reached No. 21 on the related Singles Chart.

<i>Remote Luxury</i> (album) 1984 compilation album by The Church

Remote Luxury is the first compilation album by the Australian psychedelic rock band the Church, released in 1984. The band had recently signed to Warner Bros. in the United States and their new label decided to re-release the band's most recent Australian material, the Persia and Remote Luxury EPs, as an album with a new running order. They also released "Constant In Opal" as a single in the US. The version of "No Explanation" included here has a 20-second instrumental jam at the beginning.

<i>Starfish</i> (album) 1988 studio album by The Church

Starfish is the fifth album by the Australian rock band The Church, released in February 1988 by Mushroom Records in Australia and by Arista Records internationally. The band's international breakthrough album, Starfish went gold in America and has remained their most commercially successful release. The album sold 600,000 copies in the United States alone. The first single, "Under the Milky Way", charted on the US Billboard Hot 100, peaking at #24, and at #2 on the Mainstream Rock Tracks chart, leading to significant exposure of the then relatively underground Australian act. In Australia "Under the Milky Way" climbed to #22, and Starfish reached #11 on the album charts.

<i>Gold Afternoon Fix</i> 1990 studio album by the Church

Gold Afternoon Fix is the sixth album by the Australian alternative rock band the Church, released in April 1990. It was their second album for Arista Records in the US and was expected to capitalise and build on the success of 1988's Starfish. The album saw considerable promotion upon its release, but despite moderate success in the US, with the single "Metropolis" reaching the top of the Modern Rock Tracks chart, the release failed to deliver mass commercial appeal.

<i>Sometime Anywhere</i> 1994 studio album by The Church

Sometime Anywhere is the ninth album by the Australian alternative rock band the Church, released in May 1994.

<i>Lolita Nation</i> 1987 studio album by Game Theory

Lolita Nation is the fourth full-length album by Game Theory, a California power pop band fronted by guitarist and singer-songwriter Scott Miller. Originally released in 1987 as a double LP, the album was reissued by Omnivore Recordings in February 2016 as a double CD set with 21 bonus tracks.

<i>Two Steps from the Middle Ages</i> 1988 studio album by Game Theory

Two Steps from the Middle Ages (1988) is the fifth studio album by power pop band Game Theory.

<i>El Momento Siguiente</i> 2007 studio album by the Church

El Momento Siguiente is the 21st album by the Australian psychedelic rock band the Church and their second in the Liberation Acoustic Series, following 2005's El Momento Descuidado. The title translates from Spanish as "The Following Moment".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Metropolis (The Church song)</span> 1990 single by the Church

"Metropolis" is a song by Australian alternative rock band the Church. It was released as the lead single from their sixth album, Gold Afternoon Fix (1990), and the songwriting credits were given to all four members of the band. The song topped the US Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart and reached number 19 in Australia. A music video directed by David Hogan and produced by Chris O'Brien was made for the song.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Reptile (song)</span> 1988 single by The Church

"Reptile" is a song by Australian alternative rock band The Church. It was released as a single from their 1988 album Starfish, and the songwriting credits are given to all four members of the band.

<i>Distortion</i> (Game Theory EP) 1984 EP by Game Theory

Distortion is a 1984 five-song EP by Game Theory, a California power pop band fronted by guitarist and singer-songwriter Scott Miller. A remastered reissue of Distortion was released by Omnivore Recordings in November 2014 as a 10-inch EP on green vinyl, with four of the songs released on CD as part of Omnivore's reissued Dead Center compilation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gil Ray</span> American drummer

George Gilbert "Gil" Ray was an American rock drummer, guitarist, and vocalist, best known for his recordings in the 1980s and 1990s as a member of the bands Game Theory and The Loud Family. In late 2012, he joined Rain Parade as drummer for a series of reunion performances.

<i>Hex</i> (Hex album) 1989 studio album by Hex

Hex is the 1989 self-titled debut album by indie pop band Hex, a duo formed by guitarist, songwriter, and lead vocalist Donnette Thayer, previously of Game Theory, and Steve Kilbey of Australian psychedelic rock band The Church.

References

  1. ↑ "Donnette Thayer". BBC Music. Retrieved December 11, 2015.
  2. ↑ "AQUAMARINE". ASCAP. American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers. Retrieved November 13, 2023.
  3. ↑ Green, Jim; Eberhard, Floyd (1991). "The Church". In Robbins, Ira A. (ed.). The Trouser Press Record Guide (4th ed.). Collier Books. ISBN   0020363613.
  4. ↑ Lurie, Robert Dean (2009). No Certainty Attached: Steve Kilbey and the Church. Portland, Oregon: Verse Chorus Press. pp. 178–181. ISBN   9781891241222.
  5. ↑ "The Church". Billboard. Retrieved April 9, 2022.
  6. ↑ Lurie, Robert Dean (2009). No Certainty Attached: Steve Kilbey and the Church. Verse Chorus Press. p. 188. ISBN   9781891241949.
  7. 1 2 Raggett, Ned. "Hex". AllMusic. Archived from the original on November 15, 2012.
  8. 1 2 3 4 Raggett, Ned. "Vast Halos". AllMusic. Archived from the original on November 15, 2012.
  9. 1 2 Pucci, Tony (2009). "Songs for Jenny (ALS Charity)". Fatal Interview. Archived from the original on February 9, 2014.
  10. 1 2 Thayer, Donnette (June 15, 2014). The Red Baron (Release notes). YouTube.com. Archived from the original on December 14, 2021.
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