Richard Fielding

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Richard Fielding
OriginSydney, Australia
Genres electronic dance
Occupation(s)musician, radio presenter
Instrumentsdrum machine, tape loops
Years active1975–present
Associated acts Severed Heads

Richard Fielding was a founding member of the Australian electronic dance group Severed Heads in 1979 in Sydney. He has been a member of other experimental, avant garde music groups such as Z-Glutz, The Loop Orchestra and Budgie Woops! He has had a career as a radio presenter on various New South Wales stations.

Biography

Richard Fielding trained as a radio presenter in the mid-1970s with Korg Pally Oskin, Ian Borri Okem, Rusty Nails and Peter Doyle, as part of a Sydney inner city (informal) group of "radio bad boys" called "The Thrifty Tones". He started as a presenter using the moniker 'Old Siddeley", on 2MBS—part of the "Late Night Collective". On sister station 5MBS with his own show "Yntmppry Yditions" and on Bega Station 2BE, co-hosting the 'Good Morning Ghostbusters" program with local Bega star Ian Wright. His longest on-air partnership was in the 1980s at Sydney's 2RES-FM with Dan Mayok, on "Anything That's Jandy", which was broadcast Saturday mornings from 6 am – 9 am. His sign-off call was "Have a great day - I know I don't".

In 1979, Fielding formed an electronic dance group, Mr. and Mrs. No Smoking Sign, with Andrew Wright and they were soon joined by Tom Ellard. [1] With Fielding on drum machine and tape loops, Wright on organ and synthesiser and Ellard on tapes they recorded a demo in Fielding's home. [1] [2] Renamed as Severed Heads they started recording their first album, Ear Bitten when Wright left in 1979. Fielding departed in 1981 during the recording of the band's second album, Clean. [3]

He was also part of an unsuccessful venture called the "5 to 6 Federation" a self-styled "Electronic Green Movement" which proposed all radio stations go off air for 5 minutes every morning from 5:55 am to "clear the airwaves from constant radiowave transmissions". In the latter days of his broadcasting career he was a panel operator and technical producer at community radio station 2SER FM on The Mamma Lena Show and RadioActiviky with Dr Xob Schmottman.

Fielding was also a founding member of The Loop Quartet, which was formed in 1982, along with John Blades, Ron Brown and Jaimie Leonarder. [4] During the same year, another group performing with reel-to-reel tape machines, The Loop Orchestra, was formed by Fielding, John Blades and Anthony Maher. In 1983, Peter Doyle joined the group, and this line-up remained until 1997. [5]

Related Research Articles

Severed Heads

Severed Heads were an Australian electronic music group founded in 1979 as Mr. and Mrs. No Smoking Sign. The original members were Richard Fielding and Andrew Wright, who were soon joined by Tom Ellard. Fielding and Wright had both left the band by mid-1981 with Ellard remaining the sole consistent member for the rest of the band's existence. Throughout the next decade, several musicians joined Severed Heads' ranks, including Garry Bradbury, Simon Knuckey, Stephen Jones and Paul Deering.

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John Thomas Blades was an Australian experimental music artist and member of The Loop Orchestra; he also worked as a radio broadcaster and documentary maker, and as a civil engineer. In 1982 he was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis and used a wheelchair from 1993. In 2010, his radio documentary, The Too Hard Basket, won the Walkley Award for 'Social Equity Journalism – All Media', and the 'Radio Documentary of the Year Award' from the Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union. Blades died on 25 November 2011 after complications from cancer therapy.

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<i>City Slab Horror</i> 1985 studio album by Severed Heads

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Dead Eyes Opened 1984 single by Severed Heads

"Dead Eyes Opened" is a song by the experimental Australian group Severed Heads, originally released on their 1983 album Since the Accident. Upon its initial release as a 12-inch record single in 1984, the track received critical success. A remixed version released in October 1994 achieved commercial success in Australia, peaking at #16 on the ARIA Charts.

References

  1. 1 2 Zachritz, Todd (1990). "Interview from Godsend 1990". Godsend Online. Retrieved 7 June 2010.
  2. McFarlane, Ian (1999). "Encyclopedia entry for 'Severed Heads'". Encyclopedia of Australian Rock and Pop . St Leonards, NSW: Allen & Unwin. ISBN   1-86508-072-1. Archived from the original on 5 June 2004. Retrieved 7 June 2010.
  3. Deming, Mark. "Severed Heads > Biography". Allmusic . Rovi Corporation . Retrieved 7 June 2010.
  4. Andrews, Ian; John Blades (2009). "The Lost Decade: Post-Punk, Experimental and Industrial Music". In Gail Priest (ed.). Experimental music : audio explorations in Australia. Sydney, N.S.W.: UNSW Press. p. 47. ISBN   978-1-921410-07-9.
  5. Blades, John (2004). "Reel Time: The Story of the Loop Orchestra". Southerly. 1. Halstead Press. 64 (Outsiders): 97–99. ISSN   0038-3732 . Retrieved 26 November 2011.