The Necks are an Australian avant-garde jazz trio formed in 1987 by founding mainstays Chris Abrahams on piano and Hammond organ, Tony Buck on drums, percussion and electric guitar, and Lloyd Swanton on bass guitar and double bass. They play long improvisational pieces of up to an hour in length that explore the development and demise of repeating musical figures characteristic of the New York School of long-form Minimal Music as practiced by La Monte Young, Terry Riley, Steve Reich and Rhys Chatham; and the free improvisation jazz music of Cecil Taylor.
Christopher Robert Lionel Abrahams is a New Zealand-born, Australian-based musician. He is a founding mainstay member of experimental, jazz trio the Necks (1987–present), collaborated with Melanie Oxley as a soul pop duo (1989–2003), and has issued ten solo albums.
The Benders were an Australian jazz band from 1980 to 1985. The group's members included Chris Abrahams on keyboards, Dale Barlow on saxophone, Louis Burdett on drums, Andrew Gander on drums, Jason Morphett on saxophone, and Lloyd Swanton on bass guitar. They issued three albums, E (1983), False Laughter (1984) and Distance (1985).
Tony Buck is an Australian drummer and percussionist. He graduated from the New South Wales Conservatorium of Music, becoming involved in the Australian jazz scene.
Robert George Hirst is an Australian musician from Camden, New South Wales. He is a founding member of rock band Midnight Oil on drums, percussion and backing vocals from the 1970s until the band took a hiatus in 2002. The band resumed activity as a group in 2017. Hirst also wrote a book, Willie's Bar & Grill, recounting the experiences on the tour Midnight Oil embarked on shortly after the 11 September terrorist attacks in 2001.
Nicholas John Cester is an Australian musician, singer, songwriter and guitarist, known for being the frontman and lead singer in rock band Jet alongside his younger brother Chris. Cester is also a founder of the Australian supergroup The Wrights. Jet's track "Are You Gonna Be My Girl", has won APRA Awards for 'Most Performed Australian Work Overseas' in 2006 and 2007.
The Dynamic Hepnotics were an Australian soul, blues and funk band which formed in 1979 and disbanded in 1986. Mainstay, lead vocalist and front man, "Continental" Robert Susz formed the group in Sydney. They had chart success on the Australian Kent Music Report Singles Chart with a top 5 single, "Soul Kind of Feeling" in 1984. It was followed by "Gotta Be Wrong " which reached the top 20 in 1985. Their album, Take You Higher, reached the top 20 on the related Albums Chart in June. In 1986, "Soul Kind of Feeling" won the APRA Music Award for 'Most Performed Australasian Popular Work'.
Suzanne Marguerite Abeyratne, who performs as Zan or Xan, is an Australian-based singer born in London. Abeyratne was a co-lead vocalist of I'm Talking (1984–87), alongside Kate Ceberano. She provided lead vocals on their single, "Holy Word", which peaked at No. 9 in Australia, and No. 21 in New Zealand. Along with her identical twin sister Sherine, Abeyratne has provided backing vocals for Models, INXS, and U2, and has toured the world with other bands.
Cameron Thane Muncey is an Australian guitarist and vocalist. He is the mainstay lead guitarist and one of the songwriters of Melbourne-based rock band Jet which formed in 2001. Muncey co-wrote many of Jet's hits with Nic and Chris Cester, including "Are You Gonna Be My Girl", "Radio Song", "Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is" and "Cold Hard Bitch".
John Kenneth Pochée, OAM was an Australian jazz drummer and bandleader. As drummer, bandleader and organizer he played a major role in the history of Australian jazz.
James William Manzie, known as Jimmy Manzie or Jim Manzie, is an Australian musician and songwriter for a variety of bands including rock revival band Ol' 55 (1975–1979), pop groups The Breakers (1979–1982) and The Fives (1982) before turning to solo work, production and composing for film/television scores and soundtracks. As a member of Ol' 55, Manzie wrote "On the Prowl" their top 20 hit single on the Australian Kent Music Report in late 1975, which was followed by their debut album, Take It Greasy which reached No. 3 on the Kent Music Report Albums Chart in 1976.
"Run to Paradise" is a song by Australian hard rock group The Choirboys which reached No. 3 on the Australian Kent Music Report Singles Chart in December 1987. The related Big Bad Noise album peaked at No. 5, and was the twenty-first highest-selling album of 1988 in Australia. In New Zealand, "Run to Paradise" attained No. 13 on the RIANZ Singles Chart. Released in the United States in 1989, it appeared on the Billboard Hot 100 and Mainstream Rock charts. The song was re-worked for a 2004 release credited to Nick Skitz vs. Choirboys and reached No. 16 on the ARIA Singles Chart. In January 2018, as part of Triple M's "Ozzest 100", the 'most Australian' songs of all time, "Run to Paradise" was ranked number 24.
Sex is the debut album of improvised music trio, The Necks, originally released on the Spiral Scratch label and later rereleased on Fish of Milk and Private Music in the US. The album features a single track of just under an hour in length performed by Chris Abrahams, Lloyd Swanton and Tony Buck improvising over a two-bar motif. On this album the band overdubbed the instrumentation of piano, bass and drums in a dual take creating a "hypnotic repetitive piece".
Next is the second album by Australian improvised music trio, The Necks, originally released on the Spiral Scratch label in 1990 and later re-released on Fish of Milk. The album differs from most of the trio's releases in that it features 6 tracks, rather than a lone track.
Piano Bass Drums is the fifth album and first live album by Australian improvised music trio The Necks released on the Fish of Milk label in 1998. The album features a single track titled "Unheard", performed by Chris Abrahams, Lloyd Swanton and Tony Buck recorded in concert at The Basement in Sydney, Australia.
Chemist is the ninth album by Australian improvised music trio The Necks, which was first released on the Fish of Milk label in 2006 and later on the ReR label, internationally. The album's three tracks, "Fatal", "Buoyant" and "Abillera", were written, performed and produced by the group's members: Chris Abrahams on piano, Lloyd Swanton on double bass and Tony Buck on drums and guitar. It won the ARIA Music Awards Best Jazz Album category in 2006.
Robert Michael Medew is an Australian singer-songwriter who fronted The Screaming Tribesmen, which formed in Brisbane in 1981. Medew has written or co-written a number of independent hits, "Igloo", "Date with a Vampyre" and "I Got a Feeling", which peaked at number seven on the Billboard Hot Modern Rock Tracks college charts.
"The Loved One" is a song by Australian R&B/rock band The Loved Ones and was released in May 1966 as the debut single ahead of their extended play, The Loved Ones, which appeared in December. The song also featured on their debut long play album, Magic Box, in October 1967. "The Loved One" reached No. 2 on the Australian Top 40 singles charts in 1966.
Roger Ashley Mason is an Australian keyboardist who has been a member of new wave groups Models, Absent Friends and Icehouse. He was a session and backing musician for United Kingdom's Gary Numan and for various Australian artists. From the early 1990s he has composed music for television and feature films.
Carl Grant Orr is an Australian jazz guitarist and composer. He has been based in London since the 1990s. Orr earned a nomination for the 1992 ARIA Award for Best Jazz Album for Seeking Spirit (1991).
