Rockmelons

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Rockmelons
Also known asRockies
Origin Sydney, Australia
Genres Pop, electronic, R&B
Years active1983–2002
Labels Phantom, Festival, True Tone, Mushroom
Past members Raymond Medhurst
Bryon Jones
Jonathon Jones
Vincent Dale
Sandi Chick
Peter Kennard
Geoff Stapleton
Peter Blakeley
John Kenny
Stephen Allkins
Mary Azzopardi
Wendy Matthews
Deni Hines
Doug Williams
Eric Sebastian
Jeremy Gregory
Roxane LeBrasse

Rockmelons, often referred to as the Rockies, were an Australian pop/dance/R&B group formed in 1983 in Sydney. [1] Primary members are Bryon Jones, his brother Jonathon Jones and Raymond Medhurst. [1] [2] They had two Australian top five hit singles in the early 1990s with "Ain't No Sunshine" and "That Word (L.O.V.E.)", [3] both sung by Deni Hines. [1] The associated album, Form 1 Planet, peaked at number 3 on the ARIA albums chart in 1992, [3] and was certified platinum in Australia. [4]

Contents

Career

1983–1986: Formation and early singles

The group concept was formed in 1983 at a warehouse party in Sydney when Raymond Medhurst (keyboards) [2] wanted a band to perform for a private party. [5] He contacted the Jones brothers Bryon (keyboards, bass guitar, backing vocals) [2] and Jonathon (keyboards, guitar, drums) [2] and Medhurst's schoolmate, Vincent Dale (keyboards) [2] to join. [1] [5]

Sandi Chick (lead vocals) and Peter Kennard (guitar, percussion) entered in late 1983 and were followed closely by Geoffrey Stapleton (keyboards, guitar, percussion) (later in GANGgajang) in early 1984. [1] [2] Stapleton had worked with the Jones brothers when they were in Les Ukeleles and No Heavy Lifting by recording their songs. [6] Vocalists Peter Blakeley and John Kenny (known to Stapleton in Adelaide) were brought in and with Stephen Allkins (operated turntables at gigs) made them a ten-piece. [1] [2]

The group's first single, "Time Out (For Serious Fun)", was released on Phantom Records on 4 February 1985 with lead vocals by Chick. A second single, "Sweat It Out" was released in September of the same year with vocals by Blakeley. Chick and Stapleton left that year.

1987–1990: Tales of the City

1987 saw the arrival of Mary Azzopardi (backing vocals) and Wendy Matthews (vocals). The pattern of using different vocalists continued during the recording of their debut album. In June 1987, the group released "Rhymes", a cover of a 1974 song by Al Green with vocals by John Kenny. In November 1987, the group released "New Groove", which was followed by "What's It Gonna Be" in February 1988. All three singles peaked inside the Australian top 50. The album Tales of the City was released in May 1988 and peaked at number 9 on the Australian charts. Three further singles were released from the album in 1988.

At the ARIA Music Awards of 1989, Rockmelons shared the ARIA Award for Breakthrough Artist – Album with 1927's album ...ish . [7] The album peaked at number 6 on the Australian charts. [3] [8]

By 1990 the Rockmelons were down to Medhurst and the Jones brothers after all others including founding member Dale had left. [1]

1991–2000: Form 1 Planet

In 1991, Rockmelons recruited vocalist Deni Hines and recorded their cover of Bill Withers' "Ain't No Sunshine", which reached number 5 in Australia in January 1992, [3] and was certified gold. [4] Their follow-up single "That Word (L.O.V.E.)" (written by B. Jones, J. Jones, Medhurst and Robin Smith) [9] reached number 4 in Australia, [3] and was also certified gold. [4] By 1992, Doug Williams had joined as a vocalist whilst Hines left to have success as a solo artist, with the "It's Alright" single (1995) peaking at #4 in Australia. [10] Rockmelons were nominated for ARIA Album of the Year award in 1993 for Form 1 Planet , [7] which peaked at number 3 in Australia in August 1992 [3] and was certified platinum by ARIA. [4]

2001–2005: Rockies 3

Rockmelons' third album, Rockies 3 was released in October 2002. Rockmelons used eight different vocalists on the album. [8] The Jeremy Gregory lead single "All I Want Is You" was nominated for 2003 APRA Most Performed Dance Work. [11] Other vocalist were: Roxane LeBrasse, Darren Paul, Doug Williams, Emma Morton, Sydney Bouchaniche, and Evelyn Rubuen. [12]

Producers

Collectively, the trio of Medhurst, B. Jones and J. Jones (as Rockmelons) have produced (or co-produced): Time of Our Lives for Marcia Hines, [2] "Hook Me Up" and "Let it Whip" for CDB, [13] No Commandments for Kaylan, and two tracks for Disco Montego for Disco Montego (aka Kaylan). [13] The Rockmelons have also produced music for Sophie Monk.

Bryon Jones, also known as Bry Jones, has worked as a producer for artists, especially Australian Idol contestants including Guy Sebastian, Shannon Noll, Anthony Callea, Casey Donovan, Jessica Mauboy, Damien Leith, Kate DeAraugo, Stan Walker, and Wes Carr. He has also produced The Voice artists Rachael Leahcar, Harrison Craig, and Fatai; and The X Factor artist Jason Owen. Bryon also produced the music and soundtrack for the Australian movie The Sapphires , featuring Jessica Mauboy. [13]

Jonathon Jones remixed "Love & Glory" for Tina Harrod. [13]

Discography

Studio albums

YearAlbum detailsPeak chart positions Certifications
(sales thresholds)
AUS
[3] 		NZ
[14]
1988 Tales of the City 6—
1992 Form 1 Planet
  • Released: July 1992
  • Label: Mushroom
  • Formats: CD, cassette
314
2002 Rockies 3
  • Released: October 2002
  • Label: Festival
  • Formats: CD
——
"—" denotes releases that did not chart.

Compilation albums

YearAlbum details
2015 Serious Fun: Tales of the Rockmelons (1985–2002)

Singles

YearTitleLead vocalistPeak chart positionsAlbum
AUS
[3] 		NZ
[14] 		UK
[16]
1985"Time Out (For Serious Fun)"Sandi Chick81——Singles only
"Sweat It Out" Peter Blakeley ———
1987"Rhymes"John Kenny26—— Tales of the City
"New Groove"21——
1988"What's It Gonna Be"41——
"Thief"———
"Jump"
(As Rockmelons featuring Wendy Matthews)		Wendy Matthews———
"Boogietron"Ensemble———
1991"Ain't No Sunshine"
(As Rockmelons featuring Deni Hines)		Deni Hines58— Form 1 Planet
1992"That Word (L.O.V.E.)"
(As Rockmelons featuring Deni Hines)		4590
"It's Not Over"
(As Rockmelons featuring Deni Hines)		1517—
1993"Form One Planet (Power to the People)"
(As Rockmelons featuring Eric Sebastian)		Eric Sebastian73——
1994"Stronger Together"Doug Williams96—80
"Love's Gonna Bring You Home"
(As Rockmelons featuring Doug Williams)		———
2002"All I Want Is You"
(As Rockmelons featuring Jeremy)		 Jeremy Gregory 41——Rockies 3
"I Ain't Playin'"
(As Rockmelons featuring Roxane)		 Roxane LeBrasse 79——
"Police Woman 2002"
(with Groove Quantize)		N/A———Single only
"—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released in that territory.

Awards and nominations

ARIA Music Awards

The ARIA Music Awards is an annual awards ceremony that recognises excellence, innovation, and achievement across all genres of Australian music. [17]

YearNominee / workAwardResult
1989 Tales of the City ARIA Award for Breakthrough Artist – Album Won
1995 "Stronger Together" ARIA Award for Best Dance Release Nominated

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 McFarlane, Ian (1999). "Encyclopedia entry for 'Rockmelons'". Encyclopedia of Australian Rock and Pop . Allen & Unwin. ISBN   1-86448-768-2. Archived from the original on 18 April 2004. Retrieved 1 April 2009.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Rockmelons". Australian Rock Database . Magnus Holmgren. Archived from the original on 20 October 2000. Retrieved 1 April 2009.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Australian chart peaks:
  4. 1 2 3 4 Ryan, Gavin (2011). Australia's Music Charts 1988-2010. Mt. Martha, VIC, Australia: Moonlight Publishing.
  5. 1 2 "Rockmelons". HowlSpace. Retrieved 26 September 2007.
  6. ↑ Geoffrey Stapleton. "Rockmelons". GANGgajang Official Website. Retrieved 26 September 2007.
  7. 1 2 "ARIA Awards". Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA). Retrieved 26 September 2007.
  8. 1 2 Maree Hamblion. "Profile on Rockmelons". EMI Music Publishing Australia. Archived from the original on 19 September 2007. Retrieved 26 September 2007.
  9. ↑ ""That Word LOVE" at APRA search engine". Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA). Retrieved 1 April 2009.
  10. ↑ "Discography Deni Hines". Australian charts portal. australian-charts.com. Retrieved 1 April 2009.
  11. ↑ "2003 Most performed dance work". Australasian Performing Right Association. Archived from the original on 6 September 2007. Retrieved 27 September 2007.
  12. ↑ "Rockmelons, The - Rockies 3 (CD)". Discogs . Retrieved 1 April 2009.
  13. 1 2 3 4 "Rockmelons, The - Discography". Discogs. Retrieved 1 April 2009.
  14. 1 2 "charts.nz > Discography Rockmelons". Hung Medien. Retrieved 23 February 2016.
  15. ↑ "End of Year Charts – ARIA Top 50 albums - 1992". Australian Recording Industry Association . Retrieved 5 June 2016.
  16. ↑ "Official Charts > Rockmelons". The Official UK Charts Company. Retrieved 23 February 2016.
  17. ↑ ARIA Award previous winners. "Winners By Award - 27th ARIA Awards 2013". Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA). Retrieved 1 March 2014.
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