Stephen Donald Cummings is an Australian rock singer and songwriter. He was the lead singer of Melbourne-based rock band the Sports from 1976 to 1981, followed by a solo career which has met with critical acclaim but has had limited commercial success. He has written two novels, Wonderboy (1996) and Stay Away from Lightning Girl (1999), and a memoir, Will It Be Funny Tomorrow, Billy (2009). In 2014 a documentary film, Don't Throw Stones, based on his memoir premiered as part of the Melbourne International Film Festival.
The Sports were an Australian rock group which performed and recorded between 1976 and 1981. Mainstay members were Stephen Cummings on lead vocals and Robert Glover on bass guitar, with long-term members such as Paul Hitchins on drums, Andrew Pendlebury on lead guitar and vocals, and Martin Armiger on guitar. Their style was similar to both 1970s British pub rock bands and British new wave. The Sports' top forty singles are "Who Listens to the Radio", "Don't Throw Stones", "Strangers on a Train" and "How Come". Their top 20 releases on the Australian Kent Music Report Albums Chart are Don't Throw Stones, Suddenly and Sondra.
The Dynamic Hepnotics were an Australian soul, blues and funk band which formed in 1979 and disbanded in 1986. Mainstay, lead vocalist and front man, "Continental" Robert Susz formed the group in Sydney. They had chart success on the Australian Kent Music Report Singles Chart with a top 5 single, "Soul Kind of Feeling" in 1984. It was followed by "Gotta Be Wrong " which reached the top 20 in 1985. Their album, Take You Higher, reached the top 20 on the related Albums Chart in June. In 1986, "Soul Kind of Feeling" won the APRA Music Award for 'Most Performed Australasian Popular Work'.
Joseph Vincent Camilleri, aka Jo Jo Zep, is a Maltese Australian singer-songwriter and musician. Camilleri has recorded as a solo artist and as a member of Jo Jo Zep & The Falcons and The Black Sorrows. Jo Jo Zep & The Falcons' highest-charting single was "Hit & Run" from June 1979, which peaked at #12; Jo Jo Zep's "Taxi Mary" peaked at No. 11 in September 1982; and The Black Sorrows top single, "Chained to the Wheel", peaked at No. 9 in March 1989.
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".
Peter Solley was an English musician and record producer. He recorded with Eric Clapton, Al Stewart and Whitesnake, as well as producing records for Ted Nugent, Oingo Boingo, Motörhead, The Romantics, Jo Jo Zep, Peter Frampton, The Sports, Wreckless Eric and many others.
Jo Jo Zep and the Falcons are an Australian blues and rock band that features the singer, songwriter and saxophonist Joe Camilleri. The band was active in the late 1970s and early 1980s, and had several Australian chart hits including "Hit and Run", "Shape I'm In" and "All I Wanna Do". The Falcons dissolved in 1981 and the group's biggest Australian hit, 1982's "Taxi Mary", as well as the New Zealand top ten hit "Walk on By", were both credited simply to "Jo Jo Zep". In 1983, Camilleri and other members of the Falcons formed the Black Sorrows.
Talk is the debut album by Australian rock group Paul Kelly and the Dots and was originally released on 30 March 1981 by Mushroom Records and re-released in 1990. Jo Jo Zep & The Falcons leader Joe Camilleri produced seven of the eleven tracks with three tracks produced by Martin Armiger and one by Trevor Lucas. The album spawned the singles, "Recognition", "Billy Baxter" and "Lowdown". Only "Billy Baxter" appeared on the Kent Music Report Singles Chart it peaked at No. 38. The album peaked at No. 44 on the related Albums Chart. All tracks were written by Kelly, including two co-written with guitarist Chris Langman.
"Billy Baxter" is a song by Australian rock group Paul Kelly and the Dots, released on 20 October 1980 as the lead single from the album Talk (1981). It was written by band members Paul Kelly and Chris Langman. It peaked at No. 38 on the Australian Kent Music Report Singles Chart. The song was produced by Joe Camilleri for Mushroom Records. In early November the group performed the track on national pop music TV show, Countdown – it was Kelly's first TV appearance. The song's subject, Billy Baxter, is an Australian musician and was a long term member of Coodabeens Footy Show on ABC Radio National.
"Foot in the Door" is the fourth studio album by Australian singer songwriter Russell Morris. It was credited to The Russell Morris Band. Two singles were released from the album throughout 1979, with "Hot Love" peaking at number 48. The album peaked at number 38 on the Kent Music Report.
For the AC/DC song of the same name, see Highway to Hell.
Don't Waste It is the debut studio album by Australian band Jo Jo Zep & The Falcons. Released in February 1977, the album peaked at number 37 on the Australian Kent Music Report.
"So Young" is a pop song written by Joe Camilleri, Jeff Burstin and Tony Faehse and recorded by Australian blues, rock and R&B band Jo Jo Zep & The Falcons. The song was the group's fifth single, released in September 1978 as the lead single from a 12" EP also entitled So Young (1978).
So Young is a mini-album by Australian blues, rock and R&B band Jo Jo Zep & The Falcons. Released in November 1978. The Album peaked at number 80 on the Australian Kent Music Report. "Soon You'll Be Gone" charted on the UK Indie Singles Charts at #35.
"Hit and Run" is a pop song written by Joe Camilleri, Jeff Burstin and Tony Faehse and recorded by Australian blues, rock and R&B band Jo Jo Zep & The Falcons. The song was the first on the Mushroom Records label, released in July 1979 as the lead single from the band's fourth studio album Screaming Targets (1979).
"Shape I'm In" is a pop song written by Joe Camilleri, Jeff Burstin and Tony Faehse and recorded by Australian blues, rock and R&B band Jo Jo Zep & The Falcons. The song was released in October 1979 as the second single from the band's fourth studio album Screaming Targets (1979).
Hats Off Step Lively is the fifth studio album by Australian blues/rock band Jo Jo Zep & The Falcons. The album was released in August 1980 and peaked at number 17 on the Australian Kent Music Report, becoming the band's second top twenty album. The band toured the album across Australian throughout August and September 1980.
"I Will Return" is a pop song written by Joe Camilleri, Jeff Burstin and Tony Faehse and recorded by Australian blues, rock and R&B band Jo Jo Zep & The Falcons. The song was released in October 1980 as the third and final single from the band's fifth studio album Hats Off Step Lively (1980).
Cha is the seventh studio album by Australian band Jo Jo Zep & The Falcons, but first and only to be credited as Jo Jo Zep. It is also the final studio album by the band until Ricochet in 2003. The album was released in November 1982 and peaked at number 28 on the Australian Kent Music Report. David Nichols called Cha primarily a "latin-based dance record".
Step Lively is a reissue of Hats Off Step Lively, the fifth studio album by Australian blues/rock band Jo Jo Zep & The Falcons. The album was released in North America and Europe in September 1981.
