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.
Paul Francis McDermott, who performs as Paul Mac, is an Australian electropop musician, singer-songwriter, producer and music re-mixer. He was classically trained at Sydney Conservatorium of Music. Mac has formed various bands including Smash Mac Mac (1986–88), The Lab (1989–1998), Itch-E and Scratch-E (1991–present), Boo Boo Mace & Nutcase (1996–98), and The Dissociatives (2003–2005). Mac has released two solo albums, 3000 Feet High and Panic Room – both appeared in the top 40 on the ARIA Albums Chart.
Itch-E and Scratch-E are an Australian electronic music group formed in 1991 by Paul Mac and Andy Rantzen, both playing keyboards and samples. The duo recorded as Boo Boo & Mace! during the late 1990s. At times they have included a third member, Sheriff Lindo, recording under the name Boo-Boo, Mace 'n' Nutcase. In 2001 they disbanded as Mac pursued his solo career. In 2010 the duo reunited as Itch-E and Scratch-E to release new material.
The Dissociatives were an Australian alternative rock band consisting of Daniel Johns of Silverchair and dance producer and DJ Paul Mac, which formed in mid-2003. They were supported by touring members, Julian Hamilton and Kim Moyes, and James Haselwood. Their first single "Somewhere Down the Barrel" peaked at No. 25 on the ARIA Singles Chart. The duo's debut album The Dissociatives reached No. 12 on the ARIA Albums Chart. At the ARIA Music Awards of 2004 they won two trophies; Best Cover Art for James Hackett's work on The Dissociatives and Best Video for Hackett's direction of "Somewhere Down the Barrel".
Boxcar were an Australian electronic dance pop group formed in Brisbane in 1986. Their founding mainstay was David Smith on vocals, guitar and keyboards. Three of their singles appeared on the Billboard dance chart top 20, "Freemason ", "Insect" and "Gas Stop ". They released two albums on Volition Records/Sony Music Australia, Vertigo (1990) and Algorhythm (1994), before disbanding in 1997. They briefly reformed in 2010 and in 2014.
Robert Racic was an Australian DJ and record producer. He was influential within the local electronic and house music circles, but was less well known internationally. Racic produced several top 10 Billboard dance hits including Volition Records' artists Severed Heads' "Greater Reward" and Boxcar's "Freemason", "Insect" and "Gas Stop". He died in 1996, aged 32, of a brain virus, JC virus, which caused progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy.
Southend is an Australian house-techno band formed in 1992. The group consisted of synthesiser-keyboardists Stuart McCarthy, Steve Younan, Sameer Sen-Gupta, and vocalist Melinda Page. Their single, "The Winner Is...", reached the ARIA Singles Chart Top 10. Sen-Gupta was replaced by Justin Frew on guitar in 1995. The group disbanded in 1997 and reunited in 2003 as a trio, McCarthy, Page, and Younan.
Vertigo is the debut album by Australian electronic-synthpop group Boxcar released in 1990 by Volition Records in Australia (voltcd24) and by Arista Records (ARCD8610) in the United States. The single "Freemason " in 1988 hit number 8 in the United States Billboard dance music chart. "Insect" and "Gas Stop " both charted in the US but had little local impact – "Gas Stop" peaked at #82 on the ARIA singles chart.
Proud: An Urban Pacific Streetsoul Compilation is a 1994 New Zealand hip hop and R&B compilation album. It was released in New Zealand by Second Nature Records and in Australia by Volition Records, and later rereleased in New Zealand by Huh! Records in 2000 and then on vinyl for the first time on 26 May 2023, again on Huh! Records. Proud has been described as "one of the most important NZ releases in the past decades" by New Zealand music industry figure Simon Grigg.
Single Gun Theory was an Australian electronic dance music band formed in 1986. Founding mainstay members were Jacqui Hunt on lead vocals; Kath Power on vocal melodies and synthesiser; and Peter Rivett-Carnac on guitar, synthesiser and sampling. They released three studio albums, Exorcise This Wasteland (1987), Millions, Like Stars in My Hands, The Daggers in My Heart Wage War (1991) and Flow, River of My Soul (1994) for Canadian label Nettwerk and Australia's Volition Records. The band’s music combined elements of downtempo electronic music with introspective, ethereal vocals and samples of dialogue. It also released a soundtrack album for Samantha Lang's film The Monkey's Mask in 2000.
Angelique Frances Meunier, known professionally as Havana Brown or DJ Havana Brown, is an Australian DJ, singer, songwriter, record producer, and dancer. In 2008, Brown signed with Island Records Australia as a DJ for the record company and began releasing her Crave compilation album series, which featured remixes of songs from other artists. This led to her touring with international artists, including Britney Spears, Rihanna, the Pussycat Dolls, Chris Brown, and Enrique Iglesias.
Davide Carbone is an Australian music producer, composer, sound designer and technologist. Listed as one of the 7 most influential Australian music producers of all time by Australia's premier audio and music publication Mixdown Magazine, Carbone has released several records, produced music for major artists, composed music and created sound design for TV, film, theatre, and video games, and developed music making software.
Noel Burgess is an Australian electronic dance music producer.
Vision Four 5 was an Australian dance music group whose performances featured interactive video technology. They were formed in 1990 in Brisbane, Queensland with Noel Burgess and fellow students Gavin Sade, Harry Ho and Ben Suthers while studying Music Technology at Queensland Conservatorium Griffith University. The lineup changed through the first few years to settle from 1993-1997 with members Noel Burgess (Music), Tim Gruchy (Video/Interactives), Ben Suthers (Music) and Al Ferguson (Video/Animation).
The ARIA Music Award for Best Dance Release, is an award presented at the annual ARIA Music Awards, which recognises "the many achievements of Aussie artists across all music genres", since 1987. It is handed out by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA), an organisation whose aim is "to advance the interests of the Australian record industry." To be eligible, the recording must have been commercially released. The award is presented to an artist within the dance genre. The accolade is voted for by a judging school, which comprises between 40 and 100 members of representatives experienced in this genre, and is given to a solo artist, group, production team or various artist compilation, who is either from Australia or an Australian resident.
Edwin Campbell X Morrow, known professionally as DJ Edwin, was a DJ, remixer, songwriter and producer. As a DJ he pioneered the Brisbane dance music and club scene, along with DJ Angus and DJ Kesson, in the late 1980s. In the 1990s Edwin created the Halloween and Adrenalin dance parties and the all-female DJ party, Adrenalene. He was a long-term resident DJ at The Beat and Rockafella's nightclubs in Fortitude Valley.
Nina Elizabeth Agzarian, known professionally by her stage name Nina Las Vegas, is an Australian radio host, DJ and music producer. From 2009 to 2014 she was the host of House Party on national radio station Triple J. She released compilation albums, House Party Volume 1 and House Party Volume 2, which appeared on the ARIA Charts. In 2015 she started her own music recording label "NLV Records". Las Vegas is also signed to the label.
Future Sound of Melbourne is an Australian electronic group formed in Melbourne in 1990. At the ARIA Music Awards of 1996, they won the award for ARIA Award for Best Dance Release for their album, Chapter One.
Bad Mood Guy is the seventh studio album by the Australian experimental group Severed Heads, first released in 1987. Upon its initial release, the album met positive reviews with critics, one in particular referring to it as "punishing pop with crunching rhythms". The album's lead single "Hot With Fleas" did well on independent radio stations, peaking at #4 on Rockpool's dance charts during the week of 31 December 1987. In 2002, after an attempt at making a version 2 of the album which was aborted due to the master DAT tape being irreparably damaged, Tom Ellard made a new version available on CD-R on his SevCom label, which substituted demo and live versions of some tracks and added extra material. This version is what Tom made available on the official Severed Heads Bandcamp page. In 2023, the UK label Futurismo, Inc. released a remastered version of the album on two different pressings of 2LP set containing a 12-page "Bad Mood Booklet" styled after the zines Ellard would publish and sell via mail order in the mid-late 80s to augment the albums. They also released it on CD in a standard Digipak with a foldout insert reproducing parts of the booklet. All these versions had artwork redone by Ellard.
"Sweetness and Light" is a song recorded by Australian electronic music group Itch-E and Scratch-E. The song was released in May 1994 and peaked at number 65 on the Australian singles chart.
