The buzz surrounding Perth rockers Gyroscope is massive at the moment as they prepare to release their third album Breed Obsession next month.
The album’s first single “Snakeskin” recently won WAMI Awards for best single and film clip. Its follow-up “1981” is the most requested song on national radio network Triple J. And the band are whipping crowds into a frenzy on their Pre-Obsession tour.
I recently caught up with Gyroscope’s guitarist Zoran Trivic to chat about Breed Obsession, life on the road, and why Western Australian bands are some of the country’s best.
How would you describe your latest album, Breed Obsession? We really tried to push the envelope of Gyroscope with this record. We have a feeling that this could possibly be the most important record of our music careers. So we wrote songs like our lives depended on them. This record has a lot of different shades from the super heavy to the really light and I’d like to think it tells a good story from start to finish.
You recorded Breed Obsession in the UK. What made you decide to work so far from home?
We didn’t really decide to travel afar purposely. We loved Dave Eringer’s work [producer on Breed Obsession] for his previous records with Idlewild. His sounds are broad and varied and raw but still precise. He lives in London so we had to travel to work with him. And he was a godsend to tell you the truth. A great experience.
Neighbours hunk Dan O’Connor is leaving Ramsey Street to pursue a musical career.
Dan will film his last scenes as sweet single dad Ned Parker in April. He’ll then travel to Britain in June to launch his musical career. He hopes to have a pop/rock record ready to release by the year’s end.
“To try to do music and the show at the same time is really hard,” he told The Daily Telegraph. “I wanted to commit to it (music) 100%.”
I just hope he’s improved since his stint on Australian Idol in 2004. Even his good looks couldn’t keep him in the competition. He was booted in the second week of the finals. Even Millsy did better than that.
Earlier today I gave you a bit of a blast from the past with a collection of Australia’s finest one hit wonders. If you’re keen for some more one hit wonders, check out these posts all around the music channel.
Stacey shows us that even hippies create irritating one hit wonders. “Afternoon Delight,” “In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida,” and “Spirit in the Sky” are just some of the songs on her Hippie Sounds hit list.
Bruce at Our Digital Sounds also gets cheesed off by one hit wonders, particularly gems by Nena and a-ha.
Bruce is at it again at The Rock Dose, with a tribute to Richard Harris and his one and only hit, “MacArthur Park.”
The Beatles definitely weren’t one hit wonders, but Gilan at The Beatles Invasion loves plenty of artists that are! Soft Cell, The Knack and Cornershop all make this awesome list.
If you browse around the music channel today you’ll notice it’s all about one-hit wonders. I’ve got to admit, this list was a lot harder to compile than I first thought!
Firstly, it seems like the New Zealanders are the ones who really have the market cornered on the one-hit wonders. It seemed like just about everything I thought of was released by a Kiwi! I know most Australians seem to claim the New Zealanders as our own anyway, but I resisted the urge to add the musical stylings of Bic Runga, OMC, Mark Williams, and Dave Dobbyn and The Herbs.
Then I started to realise Australia seems to have a lot more two-hit wonders than one-hit wonders. Did you realise The Sharp, Radio Freedom, Rat Cat, and even Scott Cain graced our charts more than once? So you won’t find them here either.
I also restricted myself to one hit wonders I actually liked. No matter how desperate I got, “Strawberry Kisses” by Nicky Webster was not going to make my list! Here’s what did.
Weddings Parties Anything released plenty of singles, and were favourites on the Australian live circuit for more than a decade, but “Fathers Day” was their only song to achieve any sort of commercial success. This beautiful track about a broken home and a father’s love for his son deservedly won Song of the Year at the 1993 ARIAs. Their follow-up single “Monday’s Experts” was another great song, but it limped into the charts at number 45.
Melbourne’s The Ferrets struck gold in 1977 with their debut single “Don’t Fall in Love.” In actual fact, this song was supposed to be the B-side. But when they decided to sing it on Countdown, Australia went wild. It rocketed to number 2 on the charts. It may be older than I am, but this song is still so much fun.
Things of Stone and Wood were another band who burst onto the charts, then disappeared just as suddenly. Lead singer Greg Arnold wrote “Happy Birthday Helen” as a present for his girlfriend. It must have worked, because he ended up marrying her.
You know, it wasn’t until I started to research this list that I discovered The Dynamic Hepnotics are Aussies. “Soul Kind of Feeling” is 1980s funk at its finest.
The Poor rocked onto the charts in 1994 with “More Wine Waiter Please.” I remember buying their album on cassette while shopping with my grandma, and carefully peeling off the explicit lyrics sticker so my family wouldn’t realise how naughty it was. Wine may not be the most rock and roll drink, but this song still stands up.
Max Merritt may be a Kiwi, but his band The Meteors were 100% homegrown. They reached number 2 in Australia and number 5 in New Zealand in 1975 with the beautiful “Slippin’ Away.” The group disbanded the following year, leaving this stunning track as their greatest legacy.
Peter Blakeley was a member of The Rockmelons before he struck out on his own in 1990. “Crying in the Chapel” was massive, reaching number 2 on the Aussie charts. Sadly, nothing else he recorded came close. I can never resist singing along to this one.
Destiny’s Child covered it in 2001, but before they were even born Australia’s own Samatha Sang had a worldwide hit with “Emotion.” The Bee Gees wrote the track, and even sang the back-up vocals for her, so it was always going to do big things. She was offered more Bee Gees songs, but was determined to make it on her own merits. She never did.
Stunning siblings Matt and Becky Thomas made “Cry” a massive hit for The Mavis’s in 1998. I can’t believe it’s been ten years either. I just love this song, and the film clip is just so pretty.
I couldn’t write a list about Australian one hit wonders without including the granddaddy of them all, “Shaddup You Face” by Joe Dolce. This song regularly makes those worst songs of all time lists, but I still love it. It’s silly, it’s fun, and old Joe even makes it easy to sing along.
Later in the day I’ll clue you in on all the other one hit wonder posts in the music channel. But until then, I’d love to know what you think about one hit wonders. Do you love or loathe the songs I’ve listed. And what did I miss?
“I know Australian fans might want to shoot me for saying this, but that would be a far better option than to listen to one of her albums.
“She was on Irish television recently. I couldn’t bear it and had to turn it off.”
Ouch! Sinead is currently preparing to perform at Australia’s blues and roots festivals in March. We probably won’t see Kylie in the audience at these shows!
Sydney’s Delta Goodrem fans are in for a real treat when this stunning songstress performs a super intimate performance at the Seymour Centre on March 27.
According to Sony BMG, a “very special guest MC” will host A Night with Delta Goodrem. They’ll give the audience a chance to ask Delta any questions they have, and request the songs they want to hear.
“My fans are so important to me and I am really excited about the night. My supporters have been tremendously loyal and I wanted to be able to share a fun night of music and discussion with everyone,” explained Delta.
“Launching the new album has been so great and this is a chance for me to get together with the fans to give something back until I tour nationally as soon as my schedule allows.”
Tickets are on sale now from the Seymour Centre Box Office. You can get yours by calling (02) 9351 7940. But be quick – this is such a small venue they won’t last long.
Charli Delaney has devasted kids around the country by announcing she’s leaving Hi-5.
Charli told The Daily Telegraph she’d considering quitting the popular children’s group for years, but was inspired to take the plunge by cricketer Adam Gilchrist.
“Gilchrist retired on the same day as my last show in Perth and I’m a cricket tragic,” she said. “I thought: ‘Thanks Gilly’ … it was a typical Aussie girl thing to do.”
Since the formation of Hi-5, Charli has completed 10 television series, toured the world six times, recorded 11 albums, and made 27 DVDs. She now leaves Nathan Foley and Kellie Hoggart as the only original members of the award-winning group.
Charli now plans to establish herself as an actress, and is considering enrolling in NIDA to hone her skills. She said she may consider another TV presenting gig, but would really enjoy working in films or television.
You might remember me mentioning Michael Buble impersonator extraordinaire Earl Cole a couple of weeks ago. His Valentine’s Day show was a sell-out, but if you missed out don’t stress.
Earl Cole will perform his Michael Buble tribute show with the Earl Cole Dancers on Thursday 27 March at Perth’s Social Subiaco. The romantic show costs $75, which isn’t bad for the entertainment, three delicious courses, and a glass of champers. It all kicks off at 7:30 pm and should run until around 10 pm.
This is your last chance to see Earl before he heads overseas to wow the crowds in Malaysia. Seats are strictly limited, so call (08) 9380 6277 to reserve yours today!
Last night the top 12 guys kicked off American Idol’s sixties week. Our Aussie hopeful Michael Johns closed the show with his take on The Doors’ classic “Light My Fire.”
I’m not sure it was his strongest performance, but I’m positive he did enough to escape elimination this week. The judges seemed to lap it up though. Perhaps I felt underwhelmed because I’d seen him sing this song in Hollywood? Whatever the case, I look forward to big things from him next week!
Australia’s own Kylie Minogue was named Best International Female Solo Artist at last night’s Brit Awards. She received the trophy from her Doctor Who costar David Tennant.
