Glenn Thompson (musician)

Last updated

Glenn Thompson
Glenn at home August 2013.jpg
Glenn in 2013
Background information
Born (1964-12-06) 6 December 1964 (age 59)
Albury, New South Wales, Australia
Genres Country, art rock, pop
Occupation(s)Musician, singer-songwriter
Instrument(s)Vocals, guitar, keyboards, harmonica, drums, percussion
Years active1984–present
Labels Glitterhouse Records

Glenn Thompson (born 6 December 1964) [1] is an Australian musician who first came to prominence in Brisbane, Queensland, playing in the popular local bands Madam Bones Brothel with Pearly Black and John Rodgers, and COW with Robert Moore and David McCormack. [2] Thompson played drums with Robert Forster of The Go-Betweens on his second solo album Calling from a Country Phone in 1993. [3] He then toured Europe in 1994 with Forster and members of German band Baby You Know, Robert Pöschl and Michael Schott. For Robert Forster's world tour of 1996, Thompson was joined by Adele Pickvance on bass. Thompson and Pickvance were called Warm Nights after Forster's fourth solo release which was also titled Warm Nights . [4]

Contents

Music career

In 1997, Thompson joined Brisbane band Custard. [5] He was a member for the recording of their third album We Have The Technology in Easley Studios, Memphis, in 1997 and Loverama in Brisbane in 1999. Thompson wrote the unexpected hit "Music Is Crap", which made it into the list of the 50 best songs from the state of Queensland, as named by music critic Noel Mengel in 2013. [6]

Custard split in 2000 after years of heavy touring and low CD sales. David McCormack founder and lead singer of Custard went on to form the Titanics with Thompson, journalist Emma Tom, and filmmaker/video artist Tina Havelock-Stevens. The Titanics released Love Is The Devil in 2000 and disbanded in 2001.

Robert Forster [7] reformed The Go-Betweens with co-founder Grant McLennan and bassist Adele Pickvance to record The Friends of Rachel Worth in 2000 with Janet Weiss of Sleater Kinney on drums. Thompson replaced German drummer Mathias Strauder when the world tour to promote Rachel Worth reached Australia for the 2001 Big Day Out. [8] Thompson went on to play on the Go-Betweens next two records, Bright Yellow Bright Orange and Oceans Apart, [9] he was a member of the band until its demise in 2006 with the death of Grant McLennan.

Thompson formed Beachfield [10] in 2006 as a vehicle for his songwriting. Brighton Bothways, Beachfield's first album, was released in Europe in 2007.

Pickvance, Thompson and Forster reconvened in 2007 to record Forsters fifth solo album The Evangelist . [11]

In 2010, he formed a duo with Adele Pickvance from The Go-Betweens, called Adele&Glenn. They released the album Carrington Street on Glitterhouse Records in 2012. [12]

In July 2013, Thompson was named in the top ten greatest alternative music drummers in Australia. [13]

Thompson's most recent concerts in Sydney's inner west have been with a three-piece family band called The Answers with his son Wintah on electric guitar and daughter Nellie on synthesiser. [14]

The first new album by Custard in 16 years, Come Back, All Is Forgiven , was recorded and mixed by Thompson at his Horses of Australia Studio, in 2015. [15]

Thompson works as an art exhibition manager at Carriageworks Sydney.

Custard's seventh studio album, The Common Touch, was also mixed by Thompson and released in October 2017. [16]

Discography

Thompson performs live in 2022 GlennThompson.jpg
Thompson performs live in 2022

Related Research Articles

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

Custard are an Australian indie rock band formed in 1989 in Brisbane, Queensland. The band is colloquially known as Custaro due to frequent misreadings of its name.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Go-Betweens</span> Australian rock band

The Go-Betweens were an Australian indie rock band formed in Brisbane, Queensland, in 1977. The band was co-founded and led by singer-songwriters and guitarists Robert Forster and Grant McLennan, who were its only constant members throughout its existence. Drummer Lindy Morrison joined the band in 1980, and its lineup would later expand to include bass guitarist Robert Vickers and multi-instrumentalist Amanda Brown. Vickers was replaced by John Willsteed in 1987, and the quintet lineup remained in place until the band split two years later. Forster and McLennan reformed the band in 2000 with a new lineup that did not include any previous personnel aside from them. McLennan died on 6 May 2006 of a heart attack and the Go-Betweens disbanded again. In 2010, a toll bridge in their native Brisbane was renamed the Go Between Bridge after them.

<i>Oceans Apart</i> 2005 studio album by The Go-Betweens

Oceans Apart is the ninth and final studio album by The Go-Betweens, released in 2005. All the songs were written by Grant McLennan and Robert Forster. The album was recorded at the Good Luck Studios in London between November 2004 through to January 2005, except for "Boundary Rider" which was recorded at The White Room Recording Studio in Brisbane.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David McCormack</span> Australian singer

David Liam McCormack is an Australian musician, singer-songwriter, and actor. He is best known as the frontman of the Brisbane-based rock group Custard and for voicing the character Bandit Heeler in the animated children's series Bluey.

<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>The Friends of Rachel Worth</i> 2000 studio album by The Go-Betweens

The Friends of Rachel Worth is the seventh album by Brisbane indie band The Go-Betweens, released in 2000, 12 years after their sixth, 16 Lovers Lane. For this album, Robert Forster and Grant McLennan were joined by all members of American indie rock bands Sleater-Kinney and Quasi as well as new bassist Adele Pickvance. The album was recorded in Portland, Oregon at Jackpot! Recording Studio by Larry Crane.

<i>Worlds Apart</i> (The Go-Betweens EP) 2005 EP by The Go-Betweens

Worlds Apart is a 7" vinyl EP by the Australian indie group The Go-Betweens, released on 7 November 2005 on LO-MAX Records in the UK only. It contains a collaboration with Sushil K. Dade, "The City of Lights", which was included on his 2006 album, Secrets of the Clockhouse. "The City of Lights" was recorded in Glasgow in 2005 with Dade producing. "Finding You", "Ashes on the Lawn" and "Crystal Shacks" were recorded during the Oceans Apart sessions at the Good Luck Studios in London between November 2004 and January 2005. "Sleeping Giant", however, was recorded in Brisbane in 2004.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert Forster (musician)</span> Musical artist

Robert Derwent Garth Forster is an Australian singer-songwriter, guitarist and music critic. In December 1977 he co-founded an indie rock group, The Go-Betweens, with fellow musician Grant McLennan. In 1980, Lindy Morrison joined the group on drums and backing vocals, and by 1981 Forster and Morrison were also lovers. In 1988, "Streets of Your Town", co-written by McLennan and Forster, became the band's highest-charting hit in both Australia and the United Kingdom. The follow-up single, "Was There Anything I Could Do?", was a number-16 hit on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart in the United States. In December 1989, after recording six albums, The Go-Betweens disbanded. Forster and Morrison had separated as a couple earlier, and Forster began his solo music career from 1990.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Streets of Your Town</span> 1988 single by The Go-Betweens

"Streets Of Your Town" is a song by Australian indie group The Go-Betweens that was released as the lead single from their 1988 album 16 Lovers Lane. Featuring polished production, a prominent backing vocal by Amanda Brown and a guitar solo by bassist John Willsteed, "Streets of Your Town" is one of the band's most recognised songs. It was released in July 1988 in the UK on Beggars Banquet, where it reached #80 on the singles charts and in Australia in August 1988 on Mushroom, where it reached #68. In New Zealand, the song was issued in November 1988, and was a top 40 hit, peaking at #30—the band's highest-ever placing on any national chart.

Far Out Corporation were an Australian rock band formed in Brisbane, Queensland in November 1997. They were led by singer-guitarist Grant McLennan, formerly in The Go-Betweens. McLennan started the group with Ross MacLennan on drums (ex-Turtlebox), bass player Adele Pickvance and Powderfinger's guitarist Ian Haug. It was a side project for most of its members, other than Ross MacLennan, as they were in other bands which were in hiatus. The group's name is a reference to the rock supergroup, Far Corporation.

<i>Bright Yellow Bright Orange</i> 2003 studio album by The Go-Betweens

Bright Yellow Bright Orange is the eighth album by Australian indie rock group The Go-Betweens, released in February 2003 on the Trifekta Records label. It was nominated at the 2003 ARIA Music Awards for Best Adult Contemporary Album, but lost to John Farnham for The Last Time.

<i>Calling from a Country Phone</i> 1993 studio album by Robert Forster

Calling from a Country Phone is the second album by former Go-Between Robert Forster, and his first self-produced disc. Drummer Glenn Thompson would later join Forster and Grant McLennan in a reformed Go-Betweens years later. The album also features Custard frontman David McCormack on lead guitar.

<i>The Evangelist</i> (album) 2008 studio album by Robert Forster

The Evangelist is the fifth solo album by Australian singer-songwriter Robert Forster, released by YepRoc in 2008.

<i>Loverama</i> 1999 studio album by Custard

Loverama is the fifth studio album by the Australian band Custard. It was released in June 1999 and peaked at number 19 on the ARIA Charts; the band's highest charting album.

Adele&Glenn are a two piece band from Sydney. They are Adele Pickvance and Glenn Thompson, formerly the rhythm section of the reformed Go-Betweens. Their first album Carrington Street was recorded in 2011 at Glenn Thompson's Horses Of Australia studio in Marrickville.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Caroline and I</span> 2003 single by The Go-Betweens

"Caroline and I" is a song by the Australian indie rock band The Go-Betweens that was released as the lead single from their eighth studio album Bright Yellow Bright Orange. It was released as a promotional CD single on the Circus Records label in the United Kingdom in February 2003 and by Trifekta Records in Australia on 9 June 2003.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Going Blind (The Go-Betweens song)</span> 2000 single by Australian indie group

"Going Blind" is a song by the Australian indie rock band The Go-Betweens that was released as the lead single from their seventh album The Friends of Rachel Worth. It was released as a CD single by W. Minc Records in Australia, on the Circus Records label in the United Kingdom and Jetset Records in the United States in September 2000. "Going Blind" was The Go-Betweens' first single since "Love Goes On" in 1989.

<i>Come Back, All Is Forgiven</i> 2015 studio album by Custard

Come Back, All is Forgiven is the sixth album by Australian band Custard, and their first new material in 16 years. It was released on 6 November 2015 through ABC Music on CD, vinyl, and digital. The album features the classic line-up of David McCormack, Glenn Thompson, Paul Medew and Matthew Strong. The songs were tracked at Horses Of Australia Studio on a weekend in February 2015. Overdubs were later added by David at Sonar Studio and Glenn at Horses Of Australia Studio. Glenn mixed it over the following couple of months.

<i>The Common Touch</i> (album) 2017 album by Custard

The Common Touch is the seventh studio album by Australian alternative rock band Custard, released on 6 October 2017 by ABC Music. It was supported by the singles "In the Grand Scheme of Things " and "2000 Woman".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Music Is Crap</span> 1998 single by Custard

"Music Is Crap" is the third single from We Have the Technology, the fourth album by Custard. It reached #73 on the Australian ARIA singles chart, and No. 24 on the 1998 Hottest 100.

References

  1. "Glenn Thompson Songs, Albums, Reviews, Bio & More". AllMusic . Retrieved 29 April 2023.
  2. "Dave McCormack (Custard) Bio - From Who's Gerald to the Millionaires". Musiciscrap.com.
  3. "Robert Forster - Calling From a Country Phone Album Reviews, Songs & More". AllMusic . Retrieved 29 April 2023.
  4. "The five ages of Robert Forster … - Music". Blogs.news.com.au.
  5. Pig City: From the Saints to Savage Garden. Univ. of Queensland Press. ISBN   0-7022-3561-X, 9780702235610. Andrew Stafford. (2006)
  6. "Top 50 Queensland songs". M.couriermail.com.au. 5 July 2013.
  7. The Go-Betweens. Verse Chorus Press. ISBN   1-891241-16-8; David Nichols (2005)
  8. ">The Go Betweens: Big Day Out, Sydney, 26th January". Go-betweens.net.
  9. "Search results for 'identifier:"nla.cs-ma-destra Media~881DA4EE-34D1-414D-8222-9206C5E6A22F"' - People and organisations". Trove.nla.gov.au.
  10. [ dead link ]
  11. "Forster strikes out on his own". Couriermail.com.au. 18 April 2008.
  12. "MUSIC: Carrington St - Adele & Glenn". Couriermail.com.au. 11 May 2012.
  13. "The 10 greatest drummers of Australian alternative music". M.fasterlouder.com.au. 23 May 2013.
  14. "The Answers - Facebook". Facebook .
  15. Mathieson, Craig (3 December 2015). "Dave McCormack's Custard comes back (and all is forgiven)". Smh.com.au.
  16. Wilding, Adam. "Album Review: Custard - The Common Touch". Themusic.com.au. Retrieved 29 April 2023.