Jerry Speiser | |
---|---|
![]() Speiser in 1983 | |
Background information | |
Birth name | Jerry Harold Speiser |
Born | Australia | 12 August 1953
Genres | Pop, new wave |
Occupation(s) | Drummer |
Years active | 1979–2020 |
Jerry Harold Speiser (born 12 August 1953) is an Australian musician. He is best known as the drummer and a founding member of 1980s pop/new wave group Men at Work, [1] [2] which had Australian, US and UK hits with their singles "Who Can It Be Now?" and "Down Under" and their albums Business as Usual and Cargo . He left the band in 1984 and was a member of other groups including FX, One World and Frost. [1]
In an early session, he played on Greg Sneddon's Mind Stroll album in 1974, Sneddon was also part of the initial Men at Work line-up. He was also a drummer in a local band called Numbers in 1978 and early 1979.
Following Men at Work's break-up in 1985, he briefly joined pop band FX [2] (featuring keyboard player John McCubbery), and then Ross Hannaford's band One World as a guitarist. [2] In 1986, he and former Men at Work producer and sound engineer Peter McIan had a short stint with American band The city, where he played the drums while McIan played keyboards and produced the album Foundation. After that, Speiser joined pop rockers Frost [2] where he played the drums in the single "You and Me" from their album The Usual Suspects.
Speiser (Drums/vocals) and Ben Fitzgerald (Guitars/vocals) co-founded a guitar-driven style rock band Where's Claire? In 1990, they were joined by Andrew Midson (Bass/vocals) and Brenden Mason (Guitars/vocals) and released their first commercial album, Long Time Coming, in 2002. He also formed his own low keyed rock band The Working Stiffs and had a single called "Who Can It Be Down Under?" [3] By 2012 Speiser was a drummer for an Australian band called After Burner.
Men at Work are an Australian rock band formed in Melbourne in 1978 and best known for breakthrough hits such as "Down Under", "Who Can It Be Now?", "Be Good Johnny", "Overkill", and "It's a Mistake". Its founding member and frontman is Colin Hay, who performs on lead vocals and guitar. After playing as an acoustic duo with Ron Strykert during 1978–1979, Hay formed the group with Strykert playing bass guitar and Jerry Speiser on drums. They were soon joined by Greg Ham on flute, saxophone and keyboards, and John Rees on bass guitar, with Strykert switching back to lead guitar. The group was managed by Russell Depeller, a friend of Hay, whom he met at La Trobe University. This line-up achieved national and international success during the early to mid-1980s.
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.
Moving Pictures are an Australian rock music band formed in 1980. Their debut album, Days of Innocence, was issued in October 1981 and eventually peaked at No. 1 on the Kent Music Report Albums Chart in February the following year. In January 1982, they released their single, "What About Me", which reached No. 1 on the Kent Singles Chart. Later that year, Elektra Records issued Days of Innocence and "What About Me" in North America. The single reached No. 29 on the Billboard Hot 100 and appeared on the associated year-end Hot 100 list for 1983. A proposed series of United States performances supporting REO Speedwagon, Tom Petty, and Hall & Oates fell through when Elektra was substantially reorganised.
Frost were an Australian pop rock band, which formed in 1997 by Benny Bishop on keyboards, Lee "Lemon" Trevena on lead vocals and Tim "Porn" Powne on bass guitar. They have used several drummers including Jerry Speiser from 2002 to 2006.
Business as Usual is the debut studio album by Australian new wave band Men at Work, which was released in November 1981 in Australia, and April 1982 in the United States. It spent nine weeks at the top of the Australian Kent Music Report Albums Chart from December 1981 through to March 1982. The Australian version had a black and white cover design; overseas releases had a similar design, but in a black and yellow colour scheme. Business as Usual was one of the most successful albums internationally by an Australian group. It spent an unprecedented 15 weeks at No. 1 on the US Billboard 200 from late 1982 to early 1983; and five weeks at No. 1 in the United Kingdom Albums Chart in early 1983. Business as Usual was also one of the highest selling Australian albums in the early 1980s, with 6 million copies shipped in the US.
Cargo is the second studio album by the Australian pop rock band Men at Work, which was released in April 1983. It peaked at No. 1 on the Australian Kent Music Report Albums Chart, No. 2 in New Zealand, No. 3 on the United States Billboard 200, and No. 8 on the United Kingdom Albums Chart. Four singles were released from the album, with "Overkill" being an international top 10 hit in Canada, Ireland, Norway, and US Billboard Hot 100. This was the final Men at Work album to feature the original lineup.
Two Hearts is the third and final studio album by Australian rock group Men at Work, released on 23 April 1985. Drummer Jerry Speiser and bassist John Rees had left the band prior to the album's production, while guitarist Ron Strykert left the band during recording sessions. Touring behind the album saw sole remaining members Colin Hay and Greg Ham joined by guest musicians. It peaked at No. 16 in Australia, and No. 50 on the US chart.
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.
The Riptides were an Australian power pop group which was formed in Brisbane, Queensland in 1977 as The Grudge. Their founding mainstay was Mark Callaghan on lead vocals, bass guitar, rhythm guitar and as principal songwriter. Former member Michael Hiron died in 2001.
Grant William McLennan was an Australian alternative rock singer-songwriter-guitarist. He co-founded the Go-Betweens with Robert Forster in Brisbane in 1977 and issued four solo albums: Watershed (1991), Fireboy (1992), Horsebreaker Star (1994) and In Your Bright Ray (1997). He collaborated with other artists on side projects. In May 2001, the Australasian Performing Right Association called his "Cattle and Cane" (1983) one of its top 30 Australian songs of all time.
...ish is the debut album by Australian pop rock band 1927, released on 14 November 1988, which peaked at number one for four weeks in early 1989 on the ARIA Albums Chart. The album remained in the top 50 for 46 weeks and reached No. 2 on the 1989 ARIA Year End Albums Chart. The album was awarded 5× platinum certification – for shipment of more than 350,000 copies. At the ARIA Music Awards of 1989, 1927 won 'Breakthrough Artist – Single' for "That's When I Think of You" and 'Breakthrough Artist – Album' for ...ish. At the 1990 ceremony the group won 'Best Video' for "Compulsory Hero", which was directed by Geoff Barter. In 1999 rock music historian, Ian McFarlane, described the album as "brimful of stirring, stately pop rock anthems". As of 2002, it was in the top 10 of the most successful debut albums by Australian artists.
The Mavis's were an Australian rock band formed in Ballarat, Victoria, in 1987. Founding mainstays are Becky Thomas on vocals and keyboards, her brother Matt Thomas on guitar and vocals, and Andrea Vendy on drums. They were joined by Nick Gill on guitar in 1990, and Josh Alexander on bass guitar in 1994. They released three studio albums: Venus Returning, Pink Pills – which reached No. 12 on the ARIA Albums Chart – and Rapture. Their synth-driven single, "Cry", peaked at No. 13 on the ARIA Singles Charts and was listed on the Triple J Hottest 100 for 1998. The band also performed the song on Hey Hey It's Saturday. They disbanded in December 2001 after a farewell tour of Australia.
Ronald Graham Strykert is an Australian musician. He is best known for playing lead guitar, co-founding and composing songs with the 1980s band Men at Work.
"Overkill" is a song by Australian pop rock band Men at Work. It was released in March 1983 as the second single from their second studio album Cargo. Written by lead singer Colin Hay, it peaked at No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100; No. 5 on the Australian Kent Music Report Singles Chart; and top 10 in Canada, Ireland, and Norway. The song was a departure from the group's style of reggae-influenced pop rock, featuring a melancholic feel musically and lyrically.
Sebastian Hardie were Australia's first symphonic rock band. They formed in Sydney in 1967 as Sebastian Hardie Blues Band but dropped the 'Blues Band' reference when they became pop-oriented. By 1973 they developed a more progressive rock style, and later performed as Windchase, but disbanded in 1977. An early member of Sebastian Hardie was Jon English, who starred as Judas Iscariot in the Australian version of the stage musical Jesus Christ Superstar in 1972 and subsequently had a solo career as a singer, actor and playwright. A later member, Mario Millo became a multi-award winner for his television and movie music.
Tim Gaze is an Australian rock and blues guitarist, songwriter, singer, and producer. He was a member of several Australian groups from the 1960s to 1990s including Tamam Shud, Kahvas Jute (1970), Ariel (1973–74) and Rose Tattoo (1985–87). He also had a solo music career and released the albums, Band on the Run, Rough Trade (1992), Blue Sierra (1996) and Blues Remedy (1998). In April 2008 he issued a retrospective compilation covering both his group and solo work, Reckless Love: the Tim Gaze Anthology.
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."
The Monitors were an Australian pop band of the early 1980s. They were primarily a studio group which involved a collaboration between Terry McCarthy on vocals and keyboards, and Mark Moffatt on guitar, bass guitar and keyboards. They used various guest vocalists. Their debut single, "Singin' in the '80s", was released in 1980 and reached No. 16 on the Kent Music Report singles chart.
Christopher Mark Bailey was an Australian bass guitarist and vocalist. He was a member of various rock groups including Headband (1971–1974), The Angels, Gang Gajang (1984–2013), and The Stetsons. Bailey died of throat cancer, aged 62.
Mark Kennedy is an Australian musician who has been the drummer for several artists including Spectrum (1969–70), Doug Parkinson in Focus (1971), Leo de Castro (1971–73), Ayers Rock (1973–76), Marcia Hines (1976–83), Men at Work (1985), Renée Geyer and Jimmy Barnes (2005).