Cold Chisel are an Australian pub rock band, which formed in Adelaide in 1973 by mainstay members Ian Moss on guitar and vocals, Steve Prestwich on drums and Don Walker on piano and keyboards. They were soon joined by Jimmy Barnes on lead vocals and, in 1975, Phil Small became their bass guitarist. The group disbanded in late 1983 but subsequently reformed several times. Musicologist Ian McFarlane wrote that they became "one of Australia's best-loved groups" as well as "one of the best live bands", fusing "a combination of rockabilly, hard rock and rough-house soul'n'blues that was defiantly Australian in outlook."
INXS is the debut studio album by Australian rock band INXS. It was released on Deluxe Records in Australia on 13 October 1980. The band recorded the album in midnight to dawn sessions during 1979 to 1980 after performing, on average, two gigs a day at local pubs around Sydney. All tracks were credited to band members, Garry Gary Beers ; brothers Andrew, Jon and Tim Farriss ; Michael Hutchence ; and Kirk Pengilly. The album was co-produced by the band and Duncan McGuire. It spawned the single, "Just Keep Walking", which became their first Australian Top 40 hit. INXS peaked in the Top 30 of the related Kent Music Report Albums Chart. The album did not appear internationally until 1984.
Blackfeather are an Australian rock group that formed in April 1970. The band has had numerous line-ups, mostly fronted by founding lead singer, Neale Johns. An early heavy rock version recorded their debut album, At the Mountains of Madness, which peaked at number seven on the Go-Set Top 20 Albums chart. It provided the single, "Seasons of Change", which was co-written by Johns with lead guitarist, John Robinson. In July 1972 a piano-based line-up led by Johns issued an Australian number-one single, "Boppin' the Blues".
Richard Clapton is an Australian singer-songwriter-guitarist and producer. His solo top 20 hits on the Kent Music Report Singles Chart are "Girls on the Avenue" (1975) and "I Am an Island" (1982). He reached the top 20 on the related albums chart with Goodbye Tiger (1977), Hearts on the Nightline (1979), The Great Escape (1982) and The Very Best of Richard Clapton (1982). Clapton's highest-charting album, Music Is Love (1966–1970), peaked at number 3 on the ARIA Chart.
Rabbit were an Australian glam rock band from Newcastle, which formed in 1973 by Jim Porteus on bass guitar, Phil Screen on drums and Mark Tinson on guitar and vocals. In October 1974 they were joined by Dave Evans (ex-AC/DC) on lead vocals. The group relocated to Sydney and released two albums, Rabbit (1975) and Too Much Rock n Roll (1976), before disbanding in late 1977. Porteus, Screen and Tinson returned to Newcastle where they formed a hard rock band, Heroes, with Peter de Jong on guitar and vocals. They issued a self-titled album in October 1980 and disbanded in 1982.
Richard Batchens is an Australian record producer and audio engineer. From 1971 to 1976 he was the main in-house producer for Festival Records' imprint Infinity Records. His work includes most of the early albums and singles for Sherbet, one of Australia's most successful pop bands of the 1970s, and the first six albums by singer-songwriter, Richard Clapton. He also produced some of the early Cold Chisel material, including the single, "Goodbye " (1978), and their second album, Breakfast at Sweethearts (1979).
Band of Light were an Australian blues rock quartet formed in October 1972 by Tony Buettel on drums, Phil Key on lead vocals and guitar, Peter Roberts on bass guitar and Norm Roue on slide guitar. Roberts was soon replaced by Ian Rilen on bass guitar. They had a top 20 hit single, "The Destiny Song" on the Go-Set National Charts. The group released two albums, Total Union – which peaked at No. 13 – and The Archer (1974) before disbanding in late 1974. Phil Key died in May 1984 of a congenital heart condition; Ian Rilen died of bladder cancer in October 2006.
The Black Sorrows are an Australian blues rock band formed in 1983 by mainstay vocalist Joe Camilleri, who also plays saxophone and guitar. Camilleri has used various line-ups to record 17 albums, with five reaching the top 20 on the ARIA Albums Charts: Hold on to Me, Harley and Rose, Better Times, The Chosen Ones - Greatest Hits and Lucky Charm. Their top 40 singles are "Chained to the Wheel", "Harley + Rose" and "Snake Skin Shoes".
The Party Boys was an Australian rock supergroup with a floating membership commencing in 1982. Created by Mondo Rock's bass guitarist, Paul Christie, with founding member Kevin Borich as a part-time venture for professional musicians with downtime from their other projects; the group had temporary members from Status Quo, the Angels, Sherbet, Skyhooks, Rose Tattoo, the Choirboys, Australian Crawl, Divinyls, Models, Dragon and Swanee, plus international stars such as Joe Walsh, Eric Burdon, Alan Lancaster, and Graham Bonnet.
Goh Tee Huat, known professionally as Rex Goh, is a Singaporean-born Australian rock guitarist. In 1972 Goh moved to Australia. He has been a band member of various groups including Air Supply, QED (1983–85), and Eurogliders.
Harvey James born Harvey William James Harrop was an English-Australian rock guitarist. He was a member of the bands Mississippi (1973–74), Ariel (1974–75), Sherbet and the Party Boys (1982–83). James was diagnosed with lung cancer in July 2010 and died on 15 January 2011, aged 58, leaving behind his three children, Gabriel, Alexandra and Joshua.
Matthew David Moffitt was an Australian singer-songwriter and guitarist. He fronted the rock band, Matt Finish, and worked as a solo artist. Matt Finish were a popular live band, which had a top 20 hit on the Kent Music Report singles chart with "Short Note" (1981).
Mario Daniel Millo is an Australian musician and composer from Sydney, he was a member of symphonic rock group Sebastian Hardie from 1973 to their disbandment in 1977. Their debut album, Four Moments (1975) peaked at No. 13 on the Australian Kent Music Report Albums Chart. He has had a solo career and composed film and television soundtracks and scores. In 1978, he worked with Jon English on the soundtrack for the television series, Against the Wind and its related single, "Six Ribbons". Both album and single peaked in the Top 10 on the relevant Kent Music Report charts. The series had international release, known as Mot alla vindar/Mot alle vindar/Mod vinden (1980) in Scandinavian countries where the album and single reached No. 1 in Norway and No. 4 in Sweden. Millo's compositions have won Australian film industry awards for, The Lighthorsemen (1987) and television awards for, Brides of Christ (1991) and Changi (2001). Brides of Christ won an Australian Record Industry Association (ARIA) Music Award in 1992 for 'Best Original Soundtrack Album' - Millo was nominated for the same award in 1997 for G.P. and in 2002 for Changi.
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.
Simon Cyril Hussey is an Australian multi-instrumentalist, songwriter-arranger, record producer and audio engineer. In 1984 he formed Cats Under Pressure on keyboards with David Reyne on vocals and Mark Greig on guitar. On the Australian Crawl album Between a Rock and a Hard Place, Hussey co-wrote four tracks with the band's lead singer, James Reyne. In 1987 when James undertook his solo career, Hussey joined his backing band on keyboards, and co-wrote six tracks for James' debut self-titled album including top 10 hit singles, "Hammerhead" (October) and "Motor's Too Fast". In May 1988 Hussey was the producer, and provided keyboards and song writing, for Edge (November), the comeback album by Daryl Braithwaite (ex-Sherbet), which peaked at No. 1 on the ARIA Albums Chart for three weeks in mid-1989.
Andrew MacLeish Durant was an Australian musician-songwriter. He was a member of country rock group Stars (1976–79) providing guitar, harmonica, and backing vocals. He was also a session and backing musician for a range of artists. He died of cancer, aged 25. On 19 August 1980 a tribute performance was held in his honour, with a live double-album recorded by various artists, Andrew Durant Memorial Concert, which was released on 9 March 1981. All but three tracks were written by Durant. It peaked at No. 8 on the Australian Kent Music Report Albums Chart and reached No. 40 on the End of Year Top 100 Albums Chart for 1981.
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.
Girls on the Avenue is the second studio album by Australian rock music singer-songwriter, Richard Clapton, which was released in April 1975. It peaked at number 33 on the Kent Music Report Albums Chart. The title track reached number 4 on the related Singles Chart. It was originally released as the B-side of "I'm Travelling Down the Castlereagh", after considerable radio play, it was named as the A-side. The album was produced by Richard Batchens who later produced albums for the Australian band Sherbet, and was released on CD in 1990.
Goodbye Tiger is the fourth studio album by Australian rock music singer-songwriter, Richard Clapton. It was released in October 1977 via Infinity Records/Festival Records and was produced by Richard Batchens. It peaked at No. 11 on the Kent Music Report Albums Chart.
