Paul Maurice Kelly is an Australian rock music singer-songwriter and guitarist. He has performed solo,and has led numerous groups,including the Dots,the Coloured Girls,and the Messengers. He has worked with other artists and groups,including associated projects Professor Ratbaggy and Stardust Five. Kelly's music style has ranged from bluegrass to studio-oriented dub reggae,but his core output straddles folk,rock and country. His lyrics capture the vastness of the culture and landscape of Australia by chronicling life about him for over 30 years. David Fricke from Rolling Stone calls Kelly "one of the finest songwriters I have ever heard,Australian or otherwise". Kelly has said,"Song writing is mysterious to me. I still feel like a total beginner. I don't feel like I have got it nailed yet."
So Much Water So Close to Home is an album by Australian rock band Paul Kelly and the Messengers and was originally released in August 1989. The title comes from a short story of the same name by author Raymond Carver. Carver died in August 1988. Kelly co-wrote the score for the 2006 Australian film Jindabyne,which was also based on the same story. The entire album was recorded in the U.S. with producer Scott Litt,best known for his work with R.E.M. It was released on Mushroom/White Records in Australia &New Zealand and A&M Records for the rest of the world. The album peaked at #10 on the ARIA album charts,but none of its singles,"Sweet Guy","Careless" and "Most Wanted Man in the World" had any Top 40 chart success. All tracks for the album were written by Kelly,who provided vocals,guitar and harmonica and also co-produced with Litt.
Gossip is the double LP debut album by Australian rock group Paul Kelly and the Coloured Girls. Produced by Alan Thorne and Paul Kelly,it was released on Mushroom Records in September 1986,which peaked at No. 15 on the Australian Kent Music Report Albums Chart,and achieved gold record status. There was commercial success for "Before Too Long" which peaked at No. 15 and "Darling It Hurts" reached No. 25 on the related Singles Chart. Gossip was released in different forms,initially as a double album with 24 tracks,it was edited down to a single 15-track LP for North American and European release on A&M Records,when released on CD in North America,it featured 17 tracks.
Comedy is a double album recorded by Paul Kelly &the Messengers and originally released in 1991. It peaked at No. 12 on the ARIA Albums Chart and remained in the top 50 for 12 weeks. Comedy reached the top 30 on the New Zealand Albums Chart.
Hidden Things is an album by Australian folk rock group Paul Kelly &the Messengers released in March 1992 on Mushroom Records,which reached No. 29 on the ARIA Albums Chart. It also reached the Top 40 on the New Zealand Albums Chart. It is a collection of tracks recorded by Kelly and both his backing bands,the Coloured Girls and the Messengers,from 1986 to 1991,but were not issued on previous studio albums. The album spawned a single,"When I First Met Your Ma",which was released in March. Messenger band members provide lead vocals on "Hard Times" from its writer Steve Connolly,and "Rock 'n' Soul" from its writer Jon Schofield. "Sweet Guy Waltz" is a slower version of "Sweet Guy" which was on 1989's So Much Water So Close to Home. The album was re-released in 2011 as Hidden Things:B-sides &Rarities.
Wanted Man is a folk rock album by Paul Kelly and was originally released in July 1994. It was issued on Mushroom Records in Australia and was Kelly's first solo studio album after disbanding his previous group,The Messengers. Tracks 1–10 were recorded at three Los Angeles studios while tracks 11–13 were recorded in Melbourne. It was produced by Kelly,Randy Jacobs and David Bridie. The cover art for Wanted Man is a colophon rendering of Australia's legendary outlaw Ned Kelly as a guitarist and was painted by David Band.
John Martin Armiger was an Australian musician,record producer and composer. He was one of the singer-songwriters and guitarists with Melbourne-based rock band the Sports from August 1978 to late 1981,which had Top 30 hits on the Kent Music Report Singles Chart with,"Don't Throw Stones" (1979),"Strangers on a Train" (1980) and "How Come" (1981);and Top 20 albums with Don't Throw Stones,Suddenly and Sondra (1981).
"Before Too Long" is a song by Australian rock group Paul Kelly and the Coloured Girls,released as the first single from their debut double album,Gossip. It was released in June 1986 on the original White Label Records,a subsidiary of Mushroom Records. It reached No. 15 on the Australian Kent Music Report Singles Chart,remaining for 19 weeks. The track was a surprise hit for Kelly at a time when chart success had eluded him and provided increased interest for the release of Gossip,which would become his biggest mainstream success to that date.
How to Make Gravy is a four-track EP by Australian singer-songwriter Paul Kelly and was originally released on 4 November 1996 on White Label Records in Australia. The title track was written by Kelly and earned him a 'Song of the Year' nomination at the Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA) Music Awards of 1998. It tells the story of a newly imprisoned man writing a letter to his brother,in which the prisoner laments that he will be missing the family's Christmas celebrations. The same character appears in Kelly's earlier songs,"To Her Door" (1987) and "Love Never Runs on Time" (1994). The gravy recipe is genuine –Kelly learnt it from his first father-in-law. It was covered by James Reyne on the 2003 tribute album,Stories of Me:A Songwriter's Tribute to Paul Kelly and on Reyne's 2005 acoustic album And the Horse You Rode in On.
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.
Out of Mind,Out of Sight is the fourth studio album by Australian new wave rock band Models,it was their most successful album and peaked at No. 3 on the Australian albums chart. It was released in September 1985 by Mushroom Records with Nick Launay,Reggie Lucas and Mark Opitz producing.
"To Her Door" is a song by Paul Kelly and the Coloured Girls,released as a single ahead of their second album,Under the Sun. The single was released in September 1987 and reached No. 14 on the Australian singles charts.
Richard Arnold Pleasance is an Australian rock musician and producer. He was a founding member of Boom Crash Opera on guitar,bass guitar,vocals and as a songwriter in 1985;they released three albums before Pleasance left in 1992. Their hit Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) singles,"Great Wall" and "Onion Skin" were co-written by Pleasance,who also co-produced their second album,These Here Are Crazy Times. His debut solo release,Galleon received four nominations at the ARIA Music Awards for 1992. Pleasance composed the theme music for Australian television series,SeaChange (1998–2001),for 2006 feature film Kenny and more recently he composed the theme music for the prison drama series Wentworth. Pleasance is married to Michelle and,as from May 2009,he was living in Hepburn Springs,Victoria where he has a recording studio.
"Darling It Hurts" is a song by Australian rock group Paul Kelly and the Coloured Girls released in September 1986 as the second single from their first double album,Gossip. The song,written by Kelly with lead guitarist Steve Connolly,reached No. 25 on the Australian Kent Music Report Singles Chart in October. It was issued in 1987 on A&M Records in the United States,where it reached No. 19 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Chart. Due to possible racist connotations the band changed its name,for international releases,to Paul Kelly and the Messengers. According to Allmusic's Mike Gagne,"Kelly's pain can be felt as he describes an ex-girlfriend of his who has turned to prostitution."
Roger Ashley Mason is an Australian keyboardist who has been a member of new wave groups Models,Absent Friends and Icehouse. He was a session and backing musician for United Kingdom's Gary Numan and for various Australian artists. From the early 1990s he has composed music for television and feature films.
"Dumb Things" or "I've Done all the Dumb Things" is a song by Australian rock group Paul Kelly and the Coloured Girls,released as the fourth single from their second album,Under the Sun. It was released by Mushroom Records imprint White Label Records in January 1989 and reached No. 36 on the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) Singles Chart. In the US,it was released under the band name,Paul Kelly and the Messengers,which reached No. 16 on the Billboard Modern Rock chart. A music video,directed by Larry Williams,was provided for the single –a still from the clip is used as the single's cover.
"Sweet Guy" is a song by Australian rock group Paul Kelly and the Messengers released in June 1989 as the lead single from the studio album,So Much Water So Close to Home. The song was written by Kelly –his first from a woman's point of view. He co-produced the track with Scott Litt. The single was released in June 1989 on the Mushroom Records label. It reached No. 53 on the Australian ARIA Singles Chart and the Top 40 in New Zealand. The song was later covered by Renée Geyer on Difficult Woman (1994),Adalita Srsen on Before Too Long.
"Careless" is a song by Australian rock group Paul Kelly and the Messengers,released in October 1989 as the second single from their 1989 studio album,So Much Water So Close to Home. The song was written by Kelly and co-produced with Scott Litt. The single was released in October 1989 on the Mushroom Records label. It peaked at number 116 on the ARIA singles chart. The song was later covered by Renée Geyer on Difficult Woman (1994),Angie Hart on Women at the Well (2002),and Ozi Batla on Before Too Long (2010).
"Leaps and Bounds" / "Bradman" is a double A-sided single by Australian rock group Paul Kelly and the Coloured Girls released in January 1987. "Leaps and Bounds" is from their debut double album,Gossip (1986). "Bradman" did not appear on a studio album until the international version of Under the Sun (1988). The single reached top 100 in the Australian Kent Music Report Singles Chart. Due to possible racist connotations the band changed its name,for international releases,to Paul Kelly and the Messengers. In 1997,Kelly was inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame,at the ceremony Crowded House paid tribute to Kelly and performed "Leaps and Bounds". In October 2003,Xanthe Littlemore covered "Leaps and Bounds" for the tribute album,Stories of Me –A Songwriter's Tribute to Paul Kelly. In 2005,rock music writer,Toby Creswell described two of Kelly's songs:"Leaps and Bounds" and "From Little Things Big Things Grow" in his book,1001 Songs. For the former,Creswell observed "The grand themes of [his] work are all there –Melbourne,football,transcendence and memory... [he] is a detail man –the temperature,the location,foliage". On 26 March 2006 Kelly performed at the Commonwealth Games closing ceremony in Melbourne,singing "Leaps and Bounds" and "Rally Around the Drum". In February 2009 Patience Hodgson,Glenn Richards and Kelly performed "Leaps and Bounds" at the Myer Music Bowl for SBS-TV's concert RocKwiz Salutes the Bowl. On 29 September 2012 Kelly performed "How to Make Gravy" and "Leaps and Bounds" at the 2012 AFL Grand Final although most of the performance was not broadcast on Seven Network's pre-game segment.
