Australian Crawl
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- "Australian crawl" can also refer to the swimming stroke now known as Front crawl
| Australian Crawl | ||
|---|---|---|
 |
||
| Background information | ||
| Origin |  Australia |
|
| Genre(s) | Pop Rock |
|
| Years active | 1978–1986 | |
| Label(s) | EMI | |
| Former members | ||
| James Reyne Simon Binks Guy McDonough Bill McDonough Paul Williams Brad Robinson |
||
Australian Crawl was an Australian rock band formed by James Reyne (lead vocals/piano) and Simon Binks (lead guitar) in 1978 and joined by Guy McDonough (co-lead vocals, rhythm guitar), Bill McDonough (drums, percussion), Paul Williams (bass guitar), and Brad Robinson (rhythm guitar). The band was named after the front crawl swimming style also known as Australian crawl. The band's music was a defining feature of Australian surf culture during the 1980s.
Contents |
[edit] History
Their 1980 debut album The Boys Light Up had a number of hit singles including the title track; "Indisposed"; "Downhearted" and "Beautiful People". The Boys Light Up appeared on the Aussie charts for 104 weeks. In 1981 the band released their second album, Sirocco. This album contained the hits "Lakeside", "Things Don't Seem" and "Errol", a song written about the Australian actor Errol Flynn. It was produced by Peter Dawkins in Sydney.
In 1982, they released the Sons of Beaches album. The album was recorded in Hawaii with producer Mike Chapman. The album featured the hit "Shutdown" and it became their third album in a row to reach the top five in the Australian charts.
Soon afterwards Bill McDonough left the band. The remaining members then recorded the EP Semantics. The EP contained what would become possibly their best-known song, "Reckless".
The first of two deaths in the group came in 1984 when Guy McDonough died in Melbourne of viral pneumonia secondary to endocarditis due to intravenous amphetamine use.
The band recorded their final studio album, Between A Rock And A Hard Place, in 1985.
Tensions within the band caused them to disband in 1986. Performing a final concert on 27 January 1986, the concert was recorded and released under the title The Final Wave. In seven years, Australian Crawl sold over a million records in Australia.
[edit] After the split
After the group disbanded, Reyne went on to pursue a successful solo career. Robinson moved into a career in television (with Network Ten's Page One) and documentaries; in the 1990s he became the manager for the Reyne brothers, James and David. (David had been the drummer in Reyne and Binks' first band, Spiff Roach.)
After a three-year battle with lymphoma, Robinson died on 13 October 1996. The band was inducted into the Australian Record Industry Association (ARIA) Hall of Fame in 1996, just before Robinson's death.
In 2002, EMI released a two-CD Greatest Hits package called Australian Crawl: James Reyne, The Definitive Collection, which contained songs from the band and from James Reyne's solo career.
[edit] Discography
[edit] Studio albums
- The Boys Light Up (1980)
- Sirocco (1981)
- Sons of Beaches (1982)
- Between A Rock And A Hard Place (1985)
[edit] Live albums
- Phalanx (1983)
- The Final Wave (1986)
[edit] EPs
- Semantics (1983)
[edit] Trivia
Prior to the formation of the band in 1978 (circa. 1976) Reyne and Binks played in a band with guitarist Mark Hudson who is credited as co-writer of their first hit song "Beautiful People".
In October 2006, a number of Australian Crawl songs have been featured in the Triple M Essential 2006 Countdown of songs including:
- "Louie Louie" (voted 1988 out of 2006)
- "Lakeside" (voted 1818 out of 2006)
- "Boys Light Up" (voted 1342 out of 2006)
- "Beautiful People" (voted 1298 out of 2006)
- "Downhearted" (voted 1177 out of 2006)
- "Indisposed" (voted 883 out of 2006)
- "Things Don't Seem" (voted 771 out of 2006)
- "Oh No Not You Again" (voted 714 out of 2006)
- "Shutdown" (voted 655 out of 2006)
- "Errol" (voted 275 out of 2006)
