The Stems are a garage punk band founded by Dom Mariani in Perth, Western Australia in late 1983. The group is heavily influenced by 1960s garage rock and 1970s power pop. They broke up in August 1987 and reformed in 2003, releasing a new album in 2007. Although the group disbanded in October 2009, as of 2013 The Stems are an ongoing live concern.
Australian indie rock is part of the overall flow of Australian rock history but has a distinct history somewhat separate from mainstream rock in Australia, largely from the end of the punk rock era onwards.
The Hummingbirds were an Australian indie pop and jangle pop band from Sydney, who formed in 1986 from Bug Eyed Monsters. They were one of the most highly regarded outfits to emerge from Sydney's inner-city scene during the late 1980s and were an early signing to the rooArt label. The Hummingbirds' single "Blush" peaked at No.19 on the ARIA singles charts in 1989. They left rooArt in 1992, and disbanded in 1993.
Died Pretty, sometimes The Died Pretty, were an Australian alternative rock band founded by mainstays Ron Peno and Brett Myers in Sydney in 1983. Their music started from a base of early electric Bob Dylan with psychedelic influences, including The Velvet Underground and Television. They were managed by John Needham, who is the owner of Citadel Records, their main label.
Hoodoo Gurus are an Australian rock band formed in Sydney in 1981, by the mainstay Dave Faulkner and later joined by Richard Grossman (bass), Mark Kingsmill (drums), and Brad Shepherd. Their popularity peaked in the mid- to late 1980s with albums Mars Needs Guitars!, Blow Your Cool! and Magnum Cum Louder.
Ratcat are an Australian indie rock band from Sydney who formed in 1985. The band is fronted by mainstay vocalist and guitarist, Simon Day. Their combination of indie pop song writing and energetic punk-style guitar rock won them fans from both the indie and skate-punk communities. They found mainstream success with their extended play, Tingles, album Blind Love and the single, "Don't Go Now" (April), which all reached No. 1 on the ARIA Charts during 1991. The band released two subsequent albums that did not match their earlier chart success. Ratcat ceased performing live regularly in the late 1990s; however, they continue to perform sporadically. During their career, much of Ratcat's albums and singles artwork was created by Simon Day.
The Shrinking Violet was a band from Sydney, Australia (1987–1990). They recorded with Phantom Records
The Cockroaches were an Australian pub rock band primarily active throughout the 1980s. The band was founded in 1979 by the Field brothers—Paul, John, and Anthony —and Tony Henry on drums and Joseph Hallion on saxophone. They were joined in 1981 by Jeff Fatt on keyboards. In 1986 they signed with an independent label, Regular Records, which issued their first three albums, including The Cockroaches, which peaked at No. 9 on the Australian Kent Music Report Albums Chart; it sold 70,000 copies and was certified platinum by their label. The album spawned the single "She's the One", which became the band's biggest hit when it peaked at No. 7 on the Kent Music Report Singles Chart in April 1987. In 1988, The Daily Telegraph described the Cockroaches, who played over 300 gigs a year, as the "Hardest Working Rock'n'Roll Band" in the country.
Donna Dresch is an American punk rock musician, perhaps best known as founder, guitarist and bass guitarist of Team Dresch.
Suburban Home Records and Distribution is a record label based in Denver, Colorado, United States. The label was founded in 1995 by Virgil Dickerson, and is known for focusing on vinyl releases and bands in the pop-punk and alt-country genres. Its roster has included Two Cow Garage, Drag the River, Oblivion, The Gamits, and Apocalypse Hoboken. In 2006 the label founded the Vinyl Collective, an online store that serves as a community hub for independent vinyl collectors.
rooArt was an Australian independent record label, founded in 1988 by INXS's then-manager, Chris Murphy. The label's roster included several well-known Australian bands and artists such as Crow, Ratcat, Screaming Jets, You Am I, Wendy Matthews, The Hummingbirds, The Trilobites and Amanda Brown. Other bands which made early or first releases on the rooArt label included Hipslingers, The Last Metro, The Lab, The Fauves, Bellicose and Custard. rooArt released a series of three compilation albums of new or then-unsigned acts, called Youngblood. A number of acts released on the compilations went on to record their own albums, including Tall Tales and True, The Trilobites and Martha’s Vineyard.
Chatterbox Records was an independent record label based in Sydney, Australia, founded in 1997 by musician Nik Tropiano and Sebastian Chase of Phantom Records. The label boasts an eclectic mixture of various genres. Its first release was a vinyl EP from Sydney electro-goth band Cult 45. Just two years later, the label came close to mainstream success when Canberra nu metal band Henry's Anger was nominated for an ARIA Award in the 'Best Rock Album' category for the album Personality Test. In 2000 Chatterbox came close again when the Sydney all-girl rock act Skulker was nominated in the 'Best Independent Release' category for its album Too Fat for Tahiti.
Sunnyboys were an Australian power pop band formed in Sydney in 1979. Fronted by singer-songwriter/guitarist Jeremy Oxley, the band began performing on the city's pub circuit – where, according to music historian Ian Mc Farlane, they "breathed some freshness and vitality into the divergent Sydney scene". Their first two albums, Sunnyboys and Individuals, both appeared in the Top 30 of the Australian Kent Music Report Albums Chart.
XL Capris were an Australian indie-punk band formed in Sydney in 1978 by Julie Anderson, Tim Gooding, Johanna Pigott, and Kimble Rendall.
Rodney John "Roddy" Radalj is a Croatian-born Australian musician and singer-songwriter. He has provided guitar, bass guitar and vocals in several influential Australian bands starting with Perth punk bands in the late 1970s before relocating to Sydney to become a founder of the Hoodoo Gurus in 1981 and of Dubrovniks in 1988. Since 1989, as Roddy Ray'Da he has released a number of solo albums, including Guns Girls & Guitars in 2005.
The Fun Things were an Australian punk rock band that was formed during the heyday period of punk rock. Known for their admiration of Radio Birdman, they also have been documented as being "modeled on almost exclusively on the Radio Birdman/Stooges/Sex Pistols mould". Original band members were Brad Shepherd on guitar and vocals, John Hartley on bass guitar, Graeme Beavis on guitar and Murray Shepherd on drums. Brad Shepherd and Murray Shepherd were brothers in the band, which released one highly acclaimed E.P. and has become "one of the most collectable artifacts from Australia's punk rock era".
Sunnyboys is the debut studio album by the Australian power pop group of the same name. It was released in September 1981 on Mushroom Records, which peaked at No. 13 on the Australian Kent Music Report albums chart.
"Happy Man" is a song by Australian power pop band, Sunnyboys. It was written by lead singer-guitarist, Jeremy Oxley, and was the first single released in June 1981, on Mushroom Records, from their self-titled debut album, which followed in September. The studio tracks were produced by Lobby Loyde and engineered by Colin Freeman at Alberts Studios, Sydney. "Happy Man" reached No. 26 on the Kent Music Report singles chart. The live tracks were recorded at the Bombay Rock, Brunswick.
Red Eye Records was an independent record label started in 1985 in the rear of the pre-existing record store of the same name in Sydney, Australia. It had two sub-labels Black Eye Records and Third Eye. The label functioned independently for 5 years before entering into a joint venture with Polydor / PolyGram records. The partnership functioned successfully for six years achieving accredited Gold & Platinum sales for some Artists that wouldn’t otherwise been possible without the joint venture arrangement. The partnership was amicably dissolved at the end of 1996 with label founder John Foy retaining ownership of the Red Eye Label company structure, as he does to the present. Some of the more successful Red Eye Artists continue to this day, either within their groups or as solo Artists. In 2018 Foy released his Snaps Crack Pop! book, a music career memoir of sorts also containing images from his parallel graphic career as Skull Printworks. The current owners of the Red Eye Label repertoire, Universal Music, have recently embarked on a program of issuing Red Eye’s finest moments on vinyl, most for the first time in that again popular format. >"PISSANT! A Story of 80's Australian Underground". Retrieved 3 October 2015.</ref>
John Foy (b.1958) is an Australian visual artist.
