Ways & Means is a double album recorded by Australian artist Paul Kelly and originally released in February 2004, which peaked at #13 on the ARIA Albums Charts. It won the 2004 ARIA Music Award for Best Adult Contemporary Album. It was issued on EMI in Australia and Cooking Vinyl in the US. Kelly's backing band were later called The Boon Companions and consisted of his nephew Dan Kelly on guitar, Peter Luscombe on drums and his brother Dan Luscombe on guitar and keyboards, and Bill McDonald on bass guitar. "Beautiful Feeling" was used as the theme song for the ABCTV series Fireflies (2004).
Schnell Fenster were a New Zealand rock band formed in Melbourne, Australia in 1986 by Noel Crombie on drums and percussion, Nigel Griggs on bass guitar and backing vocals, Phil Judd on lead vocals and guitar, and Eddie Rayner on keyboards and piano – who were all former members of New Zealand-formed rock group, Split Enz. Fellow founder, Michael den Elzen on lead guitar had worked with Tim Finn Band, another band formed by a Split Enz alumnus. Judd's band were briefly named The Wanx: but Rayner soon left and they changed their name to faux-German for "quick window", because it "appealed to [their] perversity". The group formed the core members of Noel's Cowards, a short-term ensemble, whose sole output was six tracks for the soundtrack of a feature film, Rikky and Pete, in 1988. Schnell Fenster released two studio albums, The Sound of Trees (1988) and Ok Alright a Huh Oh Yeah (1990), before disbanding in 1992. At the ARIA Music Awards of 1989 they were nominated for Breakthrough Artist – Album for The Sound of Trees, Breakthrough Artist – Single for "Whisper" and Best Cover Art for Judd's graphic art.
Deborah Ann Conway is an Australian rock singer-songwriter and guitarist, and had a career as a model and actress. She was a founding member of the 1980s rock band Do-Ré-Mi with their top-5 hit "Man Overboard".
Rebecca's Empire were an Australian indie pop-rock band formed in 1994. Their mainstay members were Rebecca Barnard on lead vocals and her then-domestic partner, Shane O'Mara on lead guitar. They released two full-length albums, Way of All Things (1996) and Welcome (1999) before disbanding in 2000.
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.
Deadstar were an Australian pop rock band formed in August 1995 by Peter Jones on drums and percussion; Caroline Kennedy on lead vocals and guitar; and Barry Palmer on guitar and bass guitar. They released three studio albums, deadstar, Milk and Somewhere Over the Radio. Two singles reached the top 100 on the ARIA Singles Chart, "Run Baby Run" and "Deeper Water", both in 1999. The group were nominated for three ARIA Music Awards. The group disbanded in 2001.
Nina Landis is an Australian stage and screen actress, who trained in Australia and New York. Her feature film credits include the title role (Rikky) in Rikky and Pete, Komodo, Four of a Kind, Handle with Care, and Blackjack: Sweet Science. Her principal roles on television include Embassy, Prime Time, The Keepers, One Summer Again, MDA, The Flying Doctors, Prisoner, A Country Practice. She has performed on the stages of national theatre companies and fringe theatres. Landis also lectures on acting, is a voice-over artist, and a documentary photographer.
One Night the Moon is a 2001 Australian musical non-feature film starring husband and wife team Paul Kelly, a singer-songwriter, and Kaarin Fairfax, a film and television actress, along with their daughter Memphis Kelly. The film was directed by Rachel Perkins and co-written by Perkins with John Romeril. In 2009 Romeril adapted the script as a musical theatre work.
Todd Stuart Hunter is a New Zealand musician and composer known for his involvement in the band Dragon. Their best known songs are "April Sun in Cuba", "Are You Old Enough?", "Still in Love With You", and "Rain". Hunter also composed John Farnham's hit song "Age of Reason" with Johanna Pigott and music for film Daydream Believer (1991) and TV series Heartbreak High (1994–1999).
Stone is a 1974 Australian outlaw biker film written, directed and produced by Sandy Harbutt. It is a low budget film by company Hedon Productions.
Boxes is a soundtrack credited to Sydney Dance Company with Iva Davies, released by Festival Records / Chrysalis Records in November 1985. The work was originally conceived by its composers, Iva Davies and Robert Kretschmer, in collaboration with choreographer Graeme Murphy of the Sydney Dance Company for performance as the ballet Boxes. The first live performance of Boxes was given by the Sydney Dance Company together with Davies and Kretschmer of Icehouse and guest percussionist Masaki Tanazawa in the Opera Theatre of the Sydney Opera House on 7 November 1985.
Jim Ronald White is an Australian drummer, songwriter, and producer. In 1992 he formed Dirty Three, an instrumental rock band, with fellow mainstays Warren Ellis on violin; and Mick Turner on guitar. In Dirty Three, White sometimes shares songwriting duties with Ellis and Turner.
Johanna Paton Pigott is an Australian musician, singer-songwriter and screenwriter. Her best known hit songs are Dragon's "Rain" which peaked at No. 2 on the Australian Kent Music Report Singles Chart in 1983, and John Farnham's "Age of Reason". "Rain" was co-written with her partner, Dragon's Todd Hunter, and his younger brother, Marc Hunter. When "Age of Reason" reached the top of the charts in July 1988, Pigott became the first Australian woman to have written a No. 1 hit. It was co-written with Todd Hunter.
Lisa Anne Edwards is an Australian solo and session singer and musician. In July 1992 she had a top 5 hit on the ARIA Singles Chart with her cover version of Godley and Creme's "Cry". Edwards is primarily a backing vocalist and has worked for fellow Australian and international artists, including John Farnham and Kylie Minogue.
"Downhearted" is the third single released by Australian surf rock band Australian Crawl from their debut album The Boys Light Up. The song was written by Sean Higgins, Guy McDonough and Bill McDonough. All three songwriters had been bandmates in the Flatheads, but at the time only Bill McDonough was a member of Australian Crawl. It was produced by David Briggs.
Kimble Rendall is an Australian director, musician and writer mostly known for his Second unit direction of The Matrix Reloaded (2003), The Matrix Revolutions (2003), I, Robot (2004), Casanova (2005) and Ghost Rider (2007). As a musician Rendall was guitarist, vocalist and co-founder of punk rockers XL Capris and of rock band the Hoodoo Gurus.
"Reckless" (aka "Reckless (Don't Be So)", "Reckless (Don't You Be So)", "She Don't Like That") is a 1983 song from the EP Semantics by Australian band Australian Crawl. The song showed a change in the line up of the band as drummer Bill McDonough was temporarily replaced by Graham Bidstrup (also on keyboards). After the EP was released, Bidstrup was replaced by John Watson (drums).
O Zambezi is the fifth studio album by New Zealand rock band, Dragon. It was produced by Peter Dawkins and was released in September 1978 on vinyl and re-released on CD in 1988. The album peaked at number 3 on the Australian Kent Music Report which remains the band's highest charting album in that country. The album was certified platinum in Australia.
Gerald Richard "Gerry" Hale is an English-born, Australian-based multi-instrumentalist and vocalist. He has worked as a session musician for the Soft Boys (1978–80) and was a band member of Bouncing Czecks before relocating to Australia in 1987. He has provided violin and mandolin for Colin Hay Band and Broderick Smith Band. Hale formed a bluegrass group, Uncle Bill, in 1996 which has had a variable line up. The group worked with Paul Kelly and together they released an album, Smoke, which peaked at No. 36 on the ARIA Albums Chart. On that album, Hale provided guitar, mandolin, fiddle, dobro, lap steel, vocals and he co-produced it with Kelly.
Cameron Beck Allan was an Australian-born American-based composer, record producer, filmmaker and former label owner. In September 1978 he co-founded the record label Regular Records with fellow filmmaker Martin Fabinyi. Their first signing was the new wave group Mental As Anything, and their second was the pub rock band Flowers. Allan produced both groups' early work. His TV and film music compositions include Stir (1980), The Umbrella WomanKojak: Ariana (1989), and Kojak: Flowers for Matty (1990). In 1986 he relocated to the United States and in July 1992 he married Margaret Wertheim, a science writer. The couple had separated by 2007. Cameron Allan died of liver failure, after a transplant, aged 57.
