I thought I'd give you the 80's music perspective from Australia. This is
a list of international acts and songs that unbelievably only had major success in Australia (with some exceptions). I'd be pleased to hear from anyone that may have re-collections of these artist and add their
thoughts.
The Bureau- "Only for sheep"
I believe some of these guys were in an early incarnation of Dexy's Midnight Runners. The song itself had a really catchy chorus and was typical of the ska movement. Lots of brass! The video featured a businessman who wore a sheep's head! Definitely one hit wonder but rarely played on the radio.
Toni Childs- "Stop your fussin'"," Don't walk away", "I've got to go now"," Too
many rivers to cross". An example of an artist that had fairly big success here before getting some international notice. Her main feature was her powerful voice. Toured Australia a fair few times and seems to have a loyal audience here. An
interesting trivia bit. In the late 90's she actually released a greatest
hits cd that sold only moderately. Her version of Jimmy Cliff's "Too many rivers to cross" was featured on a TV bank ad. It caught on so well that the greatest hits
album shot to number one and stayed there for weeks (as the record company
delayed the release of the single so people could buy the album instead). Toni was apparently angry that it was used without her permission, however as she did not write or own the publishing, the estate of Jimmy Cliff got a nice royalty cheque out of
this.
Martha Davis- "Don't tell me the time"
Yes, the Martha Davis from the Motels. Yet another act that was way popular in Australia before their homeland. Total Control was the Motels first big hit (again only in Australia) .This was just a smouldering burner of a song. Martha's solo career never really kicked off, however "Don't tell me the time" was a great pop song that featured jingly-jangly guitars that you sware were "borrowed" from the song "Needles and Pin" by The Searchers.
Fischer-Z (pronounced quickly, sounds like Fishes Head.I'm not sure if
that was the intention)- "So long", "A perfect day"
A classic two-hit wonder!. "So long" was released in 1980 (I think) and
had a huge chunk of a bass line connected to a classic 4/4 beat. Complete with
a falsetto voiced lead singer, this song has always been a personal
favourite. Having been destined for OHWS (One hit wonder status), the belatedly
joined the two-hit wonder club some 6 years later with a completely different
sound; the pop-synth "A perfect day", that had a nursery rhyme feel to it.
Both songs did make our Top 10.
Genghis Khan- "Moscow".
Years before anyone thought they could make money out of songs and the
Olympics (Think, "Reach" by Gloria Estefan 1996, and "Amigos Para Siempre"
by Sarah brightman and Jose Careras, 1992), this was a pure fluke.
In 1980 during the Moscow Olympics, the Australian network was looking for
a song to put to a kind of travelogue of the city of Moscow, when it
stumbled on to this song. A disco-Cossack! song from a German group. Well, we
Australians didn't exactly set world records at the games, but broke most
of the bad taste ones by sending this to No.1. Needless to say, they were a
OHW.
Jerry Harrison: Casual Gods- "Rev it up", "Man with the gun"
The Talking Heads' bass man headed his own side project. "Rev it up" has a
great guitar riff that went right through the song. His voice wasn't half
bad either. "Man with the gun" was a moody piece of music, that some might
have heard on a really crappy film "Two moon junction" starring Richard Tyson
and Sherlyn (Laura Palmer) Fenn. Add Jerry and his gods to the THWC (TWO-HIT
WONDER CLUB)
Paul Lekakis- "Boom, boom (let's go back to my room)"
Released at the height of a Euro-disco craze, constant playing in clubs
was
the major factor in getting this song to No. 1. Ah, I can almost see
myself dancing away (in my pathetic Miami Vice pastels) to this and other
Euro-disco hits such as "Male Stripper", "Love and Devotion", Living on
Video" and "Boys" (Summertime love) by the buxom and way off-key Sabrina!
Oingo Boingo- "Stay"
I'm pretty sure Oingo Boingo were well known in the States (thanks to
soundtrack appearances in Weird Science and Back to School), but this song
was their only hit here and I don't think it did anything elsewhere in the
world. Another personal fave with its strong beat and chorus.
The Quick- "Hip, Shake, Jerk!", "The rhythm of the jungle".
Almost impossible to find either single on any compilation!
Similar to Fischer-Z, in that they were a THW over a period of a few years
with very different sounding songs. Hip, shake, Jerk! was a quintessential techno-pop single with all the
trimmings. Later they went for a club sound with "Rhythm of the jungle".
All I know about this UK duo is that they later had a US hit in the 90's as
Giant Steps with "Another Lover"(I'm quoting the Billboard book of Top 40
singles here, so I'm not really familiar with that song)
Ritz- "Locomotion"
And you thought there couldn't possibly be more versions of Little Eva's
classic. In 1980, this disco version was a big hit here and nowhere else.
Yet another song that is hard to find. I'm still wishing I kept some of my
vinyl singles!! Damn.
Sandii and the Sunsetz- "Sticky Music"
Err, how do I explain this one? Well.....take a Japanese group with a
female lead singing in English to a pop-reggae beat and voila! you get Sticky
Music. They actually supported Icehouse on one of their tours here and got
sufficient reaction to score a Top 20 hit. Actually the song is quite good
although Sandii kept pronouncing music as moozik, but the rest of her
English was spot on.
Skatt Brothers- "Life at the outpost".
Best described as a poor mans Village People (in sound only), this song
about randy old cowboys was absolutely huge here. The video was laughable
in that these guys could not dance properly. Picture some twangy guitars to a
disco beat and you've got "Life at the outpost"
Sparks- "When I'm with you"
I think Sparks UK singles career had almost finished when they had their
only success with this song. I don't know much about the Ron and Russell
Mael (who made up Sparks) but I read that they were at the forefront of
synthesised/ electronic music. This is another terrific song that featured
what sounded like a synthesised tuba instrumental. Oh, and one of the
brothers looked like Adolf Hitler!
Time Bandits- "I'm only shooting love", "Endless Road"
Another member of the THWC. I believe these guys were Dutch, or was that
Danish?....I apologise for my ignorance. 2 big hits and that was all she
wrote."I'm only shooting love" was a slower dance song complete with a big
drum roll everytime the singer sang the title of the song. "Endless road",
a nice ballad,was actually filmed on an Australian tour. Other than that,
all I remember is that their lead singer had really big creepy piercing
eyes.
Gino Vanelli- "Wild Horses".
I know, I know. Gino was pretty popular in the US, but quite ironically
only scored it big here with a song that didn't do much in the states.A pretty
unique sounding song with the pitter patter drum sound ,bass and
xylophone. Way different from his US hits. Well, we here seemed to enjoy this enough
to send him to the Top 10. For some reason when I see Richard Marx, I
keep thinking it's Gino!
Veterans- "There ain't no age for rock and roll".
I'm sure this was meant to be a joke. A collection of vaudeville
performers ranging in age from 4 to 80 managed to get this song into the top
10!....Even as a novelty record, it's unbearable after only one hearing. I
wonder how many of these guy are still alive?
Pete Shelly- "Homosapien"
Best described as a fuzzy-pop record, with well...distorted guitars,
synths and drum machine. It does sound better than what I've described.
I'm afraid that's all I know about him.
Bill Wyman- "Je Suis un rock star (si si)"
Yes, Bill Wyman from the Rolling Stones had a couple of moments of glory
(at least in Oz). Je suis un rock star (si si) was quite a fun song. It
had a wonderful samba beat that even Bill's very ordinary vocals couldn't
dampen. I remember it was from a long forgotten film called "Green Ice"
(It may have starred Burt Reynolds). He also had another minor hit with
"Come back Suzanne".
The Members- "Radio"
I think these guys were pretty big in the UK, but I couldn't find this
song in their chart listings. However over here it was quite a big hit.
Sounding similar to the Clash's "Rock the Kasbah", "Radio" had a loud
sing-a-long chorus which you couldn't get out of your head. The video
featured lots of punks rollerskating with big ghetto blasters.
I have a friend in Australia and he's sent me many disks with 80's Aussie hits on them. So I have a pretty good collection of Aussie 80's mp3's. Lots of good music came out of Australia and New Zealand. And "So Long" by Fischer-Z is one of my favorites.
G'day from Tassie mate! Yes indeedy I rmember nearly all of those. I remember 'Only For Sheep' when I was very young, no idea why I remembered that song over the years but I did! I have most of those songs so I still enjoy them. I loved 'life at the outpost'
'Give your love to a cowboy man, he's gonna love ya hard as he can, can.....'
PS ---> Love your sig now Wave = Leader of Spinal Crap!
Pete Shelly- "Homosapien"
Best described as a fuzzy-pop record, with well...distorted guitars, synths and drum machine. It does sound better than what I've described. I'm afraid that's all I know about him.
Bill Wyman- "Je Suis un rock star (si si)"
Pete Shelley was the happy vocalist for everybody's favourite Love Punk band of the late 70s - The Buzzcocks. (Ever heard Fine Young Cannibals doing "Ever Fallen In Love"? That's a Buzzcocks song.)
I loved Je Suis un Rock Star. I still catch myself singing it once in a while.
"Come with me, and we can rest e la." or something silly like that.
[quote]Originally posted by wavemaster:
[QB]It would be nice (for me...I know ) to hear more about Australian / NZ synthpop from the 80s and today.
Hi Wavemaster,
The main synth-pop bands Oz bands that had some impact in the 80's would be:
Kids in the Kitchen- Had one ginormous album "Shine" which featured 6 chart singles. The lead singer looked a bit like Simon Le Bon from DD, and the group had some really catchy tunes.
Pseudo Echo- Unfortunately known mainly for their cover of "Funky town", nonetheless were kings of synth pop (and really hideous clothing) for a few years. There is a compilation, "Best adventures" which is well worth checking out.
Machinations- Another act with some great dance tunes. I think they had minor success in the States with "No say in it" from "Ruthless people" soundtrack.
Eurogliders- Fondly remembered for their huge hit "Heaven (Must be there)".
Wa Wa Nee- "Sugar Free" made some impact Stateside, but "Stimulation" was their first and best song (IMO)
If you (indeed anyone) would like to sample some great Oz music from the 80's, Our main record label (Mushroom records) brought out some great compilations featuring 40 songs from the 70's, 80's 90's.
The titles are The mushroom story, The hits of the ------. (I think there were at least 2 volumes covering the 80's. I can't recommend them highly enough. With the relative weakness of the Oz dollar
you could import them quite cheaply.!
I picked up those Mushroom compilations of the 80's, as I needed a bunch of those songs on CD!
What about these bands from the area:
Jo Jo Zep (And The Falcons) - MTV used to play the video for "Stay" from the "Cha" album. I just ordered it from an Australian site (only $4 US!!)
Real Life - From what I can gather, they didn't seem to make much of an impact in Australia, but "Send Me An Angel" was a hit TWICE in the 80's (first in 1983, then in remixed form in 1989). Their best-of just got re-released here. The band just released their classic first album "Heartland" on CD on their own. I just bought it, and it sounds great!
Moving Pictures - "What About Me" hit the top 30 here in 1982, then re-charted (I think it hit 59) in 1989 back when reissuing old singles was all the rage in America. ("Red Red Wine," "When I'm With You," "Into The Night" and "Send Me An Angel" were all beneficiaries of this craze). The song still gets airplay today. A Canadian company (Unidisc) released the whole album on CD a couple of years ago.
1927 - the remnants of Moving Pictures. The song "That's When I Think Of You" entered the charts at #100...and died a quick death. The band is kinda poppy, but I like them, particularly "If I Could" and its follow-up "The Other Side." However, I think their best song is "Alright," the b-side of "That's When I Think Of You."
Mi-Sex - "Computer Games" and "Castaway" both received some airplay. I bought a best-of CD from an Australian site over a year ago.
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"Words like conviction can turn into a sentence"
Originally posted by SurlyOne:
<STRONG>I picked up those Mushroom compilations of the 80's, as I needed a bunch of those songs on CD!
What about these bands from the area:
**SurlyOne,
You have a great grasp of Oz music!!! **
Jo Jo Zep (And The Falcons) - MTV used to play the video for "Stay" from the "Cha" album. I just ordered it from an Australian site (only $4 US!!)
**Jo Jo Zep (and the Falcons)- Originally one of our greatest pub-rock banks of the mid 70's led by Joe Camillieri, were never afraid to try different music styles. "Cha" was their attempt at more South American sound best typified by "Taxi Mary". Too many great songs to mention here, but their best of (budget price) is superb.
He later formed another band you may have heard of "The Black Sorrows" who also were quite popular in the late 80's early 90's. **
Real Life - From what I can gather, they didn't seem to make much of an impact in Australia, but "Send Me An Angel" was a hit TWICE in the 80's (first in 1983, then in remixed form in 1989). Their best-of just got re-released here. The band just released their classic first album "Heartland" on CD on their own. I just bought it, and it sounds great!
**Real Life** Whilst "Angel" and "Catch me I'm falling" (one of my favourite 12" singles ever) were major hits, you're pretty much right. They struggled for airplay and I think received more respect overseas. I thought that "Always" was perhaps the best song on "Heartland" but wasn't released as a single.**
Moving Pictures - "What About Me" hit the top 30 here in 1982, then re-charted (I think it hit 59) in 1989 back when reissuing old singles was all the rage in America. ("Red Red Wine," "When I'm With You," "Into The Night" and "Send Me An Angel" were all beneficiaries of this craze). The song still gets airplay today. A Canadian company (Unidisc) released the whole album on CD a couple of years ago.
**Moving Pictures- Mistakenly considered a one-hit wonder here, they actually had a few (minor) hits like "Winners", "Busting Loose" and "Sweet Cherie". When their songwiter left to form 1927, that was the end of Moving Pictures**
1927 - the remnants of Moving Pictures. The song "That's When I Think Of You" entered the charts at #100...and died a quick death. The band is kinda poppy, but I like them, particularly "If I Could" and its follow-up "The Other Side." However, I think their best song is "Alright," the b-side of "That's When I Think Of You."
**1927**- Absolutely huge debut album "-Ish" had about 5 singles off it, of which you've mentioned "THat's when I think of you" and "If I could". I really thought these guys would take off in the US, but it must be as much luck as it is for talent. I'm not sure why their 2nd cd bombed (I thought "The other side" was a great song also)but that's the fickle nature of pop music, I guess.Incredibly they actually released a "Best of" cd!!**
Mi-Sex - "Computer Games" and "Castaway" both received some airplay. I bought a best-of CD from an Australian site over a year ago.</STRONG>
**Mi-Sex- As much as I'd love to claim them as Australians, they are from New Zealand. Another band with a lot of hits over here. "Blue Day" IMO is an all-time classic song!!
I believe their lead singer died a few years ago. **
I'm glad you got the Mushroom compilations as I think that there was some great music that unfotunately never got heard overseas. I supposed that would be the case with lots of other countries.
Thanks for posting that, Jimbo. I was familiar with a few of the artists that you mentioned, and found it interesting reading.
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Most of those songs were also on the charts in South Africa. It might seem strange, but Oz and SA have over quite a long period of time had more or less the same hits charting.
Also, have you heard of Rodrigues (Sixto)
SOngs like: I wonder; Sugar Man; etc.?
You know that SA and Oz are about the only 2 countries where he was well known.
Originally posted by Kayenne:
<STRONG>What about Boom Crash Opera? Have I been mistaken all these years in believing that they're Australian?? Or have they simply been forgotten? </STRONG>
KAY! I thought I was the only one who knew about Boom Crash Opera here. They are Australian. First time I heard about them was when they were mentioned by the lead singer of Icehouse - another great Australian band.
That's exactly how I felt Flix! I first heard their music when I visited a friend who had just returned from a trip downunder (which is why I presumed they were Australian) Unfortunately I only have their music on vinyl and I haven't been bothered to get my record player out - although I might have to as I have too much great music on vinyl!
Originally posted by stinky:
<STRONG>Hey there Jimbo,
Most of those songs were also on the charts in South Africa. It might seem strange, but Oz and SA have over quite a long period of time had more or less the same hits charting.
Also, have you heard of Rodrigues (Sixto)
SOngs like: I wonder; Sugar Man; etc.?
You know that SA and Oz are about the only 2 countries where he was well known.</STRONG>
Hello Stinky,
You can add music to sport that Australians and South Africans have in common!
Unfortunately, I'm not too familiar with Rodriguez's songs. I have heard of him, but cannot remember his songs. A friend of mine was a big fan of his, so maybe I should go check him out!
Originally posted by Kayenne:
<STRONG>What about Boom Crash Opera? Have I been mistaken all these years in believing that they're Australian?? Or have they simply been forgotten? </STRONG>
[quote]
Kayenne,
Flixfan has indeed confirmed Boom Crash Opera as an Australian band.
Their earlier songs were fairly popular. No doubt you would have heard of "Great Wall", "Onion Skin", "Her Charity". Some later songs were also worthwhile: "Better Days" and "Dancing in the Storm". A compilation "Better Days" is available locally for those interested in their singles collection.
I can't hear the song as my soundcard is playing up!
Off the top of my head the artist and song is not familiar to myself. Assuming that they are from Australia, they must have been an underground/ alternative act (with a cult following) as they are not mentioned in a couple of Australian reference books I have. Sorry, I can't help on this one.
Regards,
Jimbo
P.S I don't suppose you have any other info (lead singer's name etc ) that might help?
Big in Australia only....Artists/ songs
) to hear more about Australian / NZ synthpop from the 80s and today.
*80sxchange's Official Tsker and Finger Waver 
Or have they simply been forgotten? 
