Models are an Australian rock band formed in Melbourne, Victoria in August 1978. They went into hiatus in 1988, but re-formed in 2000, 2006 and 2008 to perform reunion concerts. The band began regularly performing again from 2010 onwards. "Out of Mind, Out of Sight", their only No. 1 hit, appeared on the Australian singles charts in July 1985. The related album, Out of Mind, Out of Sight, peaked at No. 3 on the Australian albums charts after its release in August. Out of Mind, Out of Sight appeared on the Billboard 200 albums chart, with the single, "Out of Mind, Out of Sight", peaking at No. 37 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart. An earlier song from the same album, "Barbados", had peaked at No. 2 on the Australian singles chart.
Alphaville is a German synth-pop band formed in Münster in 1982. They gained popularity in the 1980s. The group was founded by singers Marian Gold, Bernhard Lloyd, and Frank Mertens. They achieved chart success with the singles "Forever Young", "Big in Japan", "Sounds Like a Melody", "The Jet Set", and "Dance with Me". Gold remains the only continuous member of Alphaville. They took their name from Jean-Luc Godard's film of the same name.
Spiderbait is an Australian alternative rock band from Finley, New South Wales, formed in 1989 by bass guitarist and singer Janet English, drummer and singer Kram, and guitarist Damian Whitty. In 2004 the group's cover version of the 1930s Lead Belly song "Black Betty" reached number one on the ARIA Singles Chart. They have five top 20 albums: The Unfinished Spanish Galleon of Finley Lake (1995), Ivy and the Big Apples (1996), Grand Slam (1999), Tonight Alright (2004), and Greatest Hits (2005). The group have won two ARIA Music Awards with the first in 1997 as 'Best Alternative Release' for Ivy and the Big Apples and the second in 2000 as 'Best Cover-Art' for their single "Glockenpop". In November 2013 the band released its first studio album in nine years, Spiderbait.
Wendy Joan Matthews is a Canadian-born Australian singer-songwriter who has been a member of Models and Absent Friends and is a solo artist. She released Top 20 hit singles in the 1990s including "Token Angels", "Let's Kiss ", "The Day You Went Away" and "Friday's Child" with Top 20 albums, You've Always Got The Blues, Émigré, Lily, The Witness Tree and her compilation, Stepping Stones. She has won six Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) Awards. According to rock music historian, Ian McFarlane she provides "extraordinary, crystal-clear vocals [...] a soulfulness that was the mark of a truly gifted singer".
Magic Dirt is an Australian rock band, which formed in 1991 in Geelong, Victoria, with Daniel Herring on guitar, Adam Robertson on drums, Adalita Srsen on vocals and guitar, and Dean Turner on bass guitar. Initially forming an alternative underground band called Deer Bubbles which split and formed into the much heavier, rock based group called The Jim Jims, they were renamed as Magic Dirt. Their top 40 releases on the ARIA Albums Chart are Friends in Danger (1996), What Are Rock Stars Doing Today (2000), Tough Love (2003) and Snow White (2005). They have received nine ARIA Music Award nominations including four at the ARIA Music Awards of 1995 for Life Was Better – their second extended play. Turner died in August 2009 of dermatofibrosarcoma protuberans. From 2010 to November 2018, the band were on hiatus.
The Choirboys are an Australian hard rock and Australian pub rock band from Sydney formed as Choirboys in 1979 with mainstays Mark Gable on lead vocals, Ian Hulme on bass guitar, Brad Carr on lead guitar and Lindsay Tebbutt on drums. In preparation for their second album Big Bad Noise in 1988, the band changed their name to The Choirboys. The band line-up saw many changes from 1983 to 2007, while releasing 8 studio albums. Their 1987 single "Run to Paradise" remains their biggest commercial success.
The Sleepy Jackson are an Australian alternative rock band formed in Perth, Western Australia. The band's name was inspired by a former drummer who was narcoleptic. The band revolves around the distinctive vocal style of multi-instrumentalist and songwriter Luke Steele. Stemming from a musical family, Luke's father Rick Steele is a local blues musician, and two of Luke's siblings are also musicians, with brother Jesse a former member of The Sleepy Jackson, and sister Katy, who fronts another Perth rock band, Little Birdy. While a series of acclaimed EPs brought The Sleepy Jackson to a broader musical attention of Australia, it was the release of their 2003 album Lovers and 2006 second album Personality – One Was a Spider, One Was a Bird that directed significant international focus upon the band.
Neon were a three-piece Australian rock band from Melbourne. Founders were Josh Bitmead on guitar and vocals, Britt Spooner on bass guitar and Jamie Gurney on drums. Their four-track extended play, A Man reached the top 50 of the Australian singles chart. It received critical acclaim in the British music media. Their debut album, Neon, appeared in July 2005.
Noiseworks are an Australian hard rock band formed in Sydney in 1986 with bass guitarist Steve Balbi, guitarist Stuart Fraser, drummer Kevin Nicol, keyboardist Justin Stanley and lead vocalist Jon Stevens. They had four Australian Top 10 albums, Noiseworks (1987), Touch (1988), Love Versus Money (1991) and Greatest Hits (1992). They produced three Top 10 singles, "Take Me Back", "Touch" and "Hot Chilli Woman" before disbanding in 1992. Reunion tours occurred in 1999, 2004, 2007–2008, 2011, 2013. The band later reformed in 2016 and in August 2022, released "Heart & Soul"; their first new song in 30 years. Noiseworks' fourth studio album, Evolution was released in November 2022.
Mark Denis Lizotte is an American-born Australian singer-songwriter and musician, who has released material under the name Diesel, Johnny Diesel, as leader of band Johnny Diesel & the Injectors, and as a solo performer, as well as under his birth name. Two of his albums reached No. 1 on the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) Albums Charts, Hepfidelity in 1992 and The Lobbyist in 1993.
Skeleton Jar is the second album by Australian rock band Youth Group. It was first released in Australia on 22 March 2004, and on 24 May 2005 on Epitaph Records in the United States with a re-arranged track listing and one new song. The US version was released in Australia as a "repackaged" album in July 2004. In 2011 the album was voted #98 on Australian radio station Triple J's Hottest 100 Australian Albums of All Time.
Black Fingernails, Red Wine is the third studio album by Eskimo Joe, released on 10 June 2006. The album became their first number one on the Australian ARIA Albums Chart, debuting atop the chart in the week of 19 June 2006. The album was certified 4× Platinum in Australia. It is their best selling album to date. It was released as the band's debut album in the United States on 25 September 2007.
Casino Twilight Dogs is the third studio album from Australian band Youth Group, released in Australia by Ivy League Records on 15 July 2006, then in the United States by ANTI- on 30 January 2007. The album came several months after the Australian chart success of the band's cover of Alphaville's "Forever Young", which had been recorded for the soundtrack of the US TV drama The O.C.. "Forever Young" had received extensive radio airplay and become a platinum-selling, No. 1 single in Australia, its success taking the band by surprise as they mixed Casino Twilight Dogs. The song, although different in style to their self-written material, was added as the album's final track.
"Forever Young" is a song by German synth-pop band Alphaville from their 1984 debut studio album of the same name. The single was successful in Scandinavia and in the European German-speaking countries in the same year.
"It's Too Late" is the lead single by rock band, Evermore, taken from their debut album Dreams. The track was written by the group's three New Zealand-raised brothers: Dann, Jon, and Peter Hume. It was produced by John Alagía and released on 2 August 2004, which reached No. 16 on the ARIA Singles Chart in their adopted country of Australia. The song features on The OC Mix 2 soundtrack as a bonus Australian release only track. It also features on the Australian and New Zealand editions of SingStar Pop. In Australia, the song was listed at No. 14 on Triple J's Hottest 100 of 2004.
"Big in Japan" is the debut single of the German synth-pop band Alphaville from their 1984 album Forever Young.
Hermitude is an Australian electronic-hip hop duo, originating from the Blue Mountains, New South Wales.
The Temper Trap are an Australian indie rock band formed in 2005 by Dougy Mandagi, Jonathon Aherne, and Toby Dundas. In 2008, the group relocated from Melbourne to London. The band released their debut album Conditions in June 2009 to favourable reviews and commercial success; it peaked at No. 9 on the ARIA Albums Chart and into the top 30 on the UK Albums Chart. Its lead single, "Sweet Disposition", peaked in the top 10 on the Belgian, Irish and UK Singles Charts and reached No. 14 on the ARIA Singles Chart. At the ARIA Music Awards of 2010 in November, The Temper Trap won Best Group and Most Popular Australian Single for "Sweet Disposition". Their eponymous second album was released in late May/early June 2012 under Liberation Music (AUS), Infectious Records (UK) and Glassnote Records (US). The album won the band Best Rock Album, and they also won Best Group at the 2012 ARIA Awards. In October 2013 guitarist Lorenzo Sillitto left the band, during the recording of the third album.
The Spazzys were an Australian pop punk band, formed in 2000 by twins Katerina and Lucy Ljubicic, with their schoolmate Alice McNamara on drums and vocals. Their cover version of "My Boyfriend's Back" peaked at number 24 on the ARIA Singles Chart.
William Toby Martin, is an Australian singer-songwriter, musician, academic, and lecturer at University of Huddersfield UK. Martin is the grandson of Hungarian-born Australian poet David Martin and has a PhD in the history of Australian music from the University of Sydney. After fronting Sydney-based band Youth Group from 1996 to 2009, Martin developed his solo career, releasing his first album, Love's Shadow in 2012.
