| Died Pretty | |
|---|---|
| Origin | Sydney, New South Wales Australia  |
| Genre(s) | Rock, Psychedelic, Indie Rock |
| Years active | 1984–2002, 2008 |
| Label(s) | Citadel, Blue Mosque, Sony/Columbia |
| Associated acts | The 31st The End Screaming Tribesmen Darling Downs Noises And Other Voices |
| Website | http://www.diedpretty.com/ |
| Former members | |
| Ron S. Sydney (ˈsɪdniː is the most populous city in Australia, with a Metropolitan area population of approximately 4 For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Australia topics. A music genre is a categorical and typological construct that identifies musical sounds as belonging to a particular category and type of music that can be distinguished from other Rock music is a genre of Popular music often though not necessarily employing Electric guitar, Bass guitar, and Drums. Modern psychedelia For "psychedelics" see Psychedelic drug. Indie rock is genre of Alternative rock that primarily exists in the independent Underground music scene In the Music industry, a record label can be a Brand and a Trademark associated with the Marketing of music recordings and Music The Screaming Tribesmen was a band formed in Brisbane by Mick Medew, John Hartley & Murray Shepherd Peno, Brett Myers, Frank Brunetti, Jonathon Lickliter, Colin Barwick, Mark Lock, Chris Welsh, John Hoey, Steve Clark, Robert Warren, Stuart Eadie, Simon Cox | |
Died Pretty (sometimes The Died Pretty) was an Australian indie rock band centred around singer Ron Peno and guitarist Brett Myers. The music of Australia ranges across a broad spectrum of styles and genres Indie rock is genre of Alternative rock that primarily exists in the independent Underground music scene Ron Peno is an Australian rock Singer, best-known for his work with the Died Pretty between 1984 and 2002 The band formed in Sydney in early 1984 and played their last shows in 2002. Sydney (ˈsɪdniː is the most populous city in Australia, with a Metropolitan area population of approximately 4 Year 1984 ( MCMLXXXIV) was a Leap year starting on Sunday (link displays the 1984 Gregorian calendar) See also 2002 (disambiguation Year 2002 ( MMII) was a Common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar.
Their music started from a base of early electric Bob Dylan with psychedelic influences. Bob Dylan (born Robert Zimmerman, May 24 1941 in Duluth, Minnesota) is an American singer-songwriter author poet and painter who has been a major Psychedelic music is a term that refers to a broad set of popular music styles genres and scenes that may include Psychedelic rock, psychedelic folk, Psychedelic They were also notably influenced by The Velvet Underground and Television. This article is about the band For their self-titled album see The Velvet Underground (album; for the book see The Velvet Underground (book Television, formed in New York City in 1973 is an American Rock music band
They were managed their whole career by John Needham of Citadel Records, their label, and were to some degree the Citadel house band.
Contents |
History
The band formed in early 1984 after vocalist Ron Peno's previous band, The 31st, had split. Music journalist and keyboardist Frank Brunetti had formed a band with Brett Myers, formerly of The End, and suggested Peno join as singer. After various temporary rhythm sections, Jonathan Lickliter and Colin Barwick from The End joined a month later on bass and drums respectively.
The band came quickly to the attention of the Australian independent music scene, with the first two singles "Out Of The Unknown" and the 12-minute psychedelic epic "Mirror Blues" (released split over a 7" in Australia and intact on 12" in the UK) and then the EP Next To Nothing starting their career with tremendous critical attention and three alternative chart #1 hits in a row. All three records also achieved "Single Of The Week" in UK music weekly Melody Maker, though the band never achieved any popularity or notice in the UK.
The first album Free Dirt and single "Stoneage Cinderella/Yesterday's Letters" followed in 1986. Free Dirt is Died Pretty 's first full-length album released in 1986 (see 1986 in music) By this time, Mark Lock of the Phantom Agents was on bass and Chris Welsh of The 31st and the Screaming Tribesmen was on drums. Mark Lock (born 22 September 1979) is a Rugby union footballer for Leeds Tykes. Christopher Welsh (born April 14, 1955 in Wilmington, Delaware) is a former Major League Baseball pitcher and a current The Screaming Tribesmen was a band formed in Brisbane by Mick Medew, John Hartley & Murray Shepherd The band spent the next few years touring Australia, Europe and the US.
The second album, Lost, was released in 1988 on the Blue Mosque label, a major-distributed offshoot of Citadel, and outside Australia through Beggars Banquet. Beggars Banquet is an English Independent record label that began as a chain of record shops owned by Martin Mills and Nick Austin, and is part of This album achieved great chart success in Italy and produced three singles - "Winterland", "Towers Of Strength" and "Out Of My Hands". Italy (Italia officially the Italian Republic, (Repubblica Italiana is located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe, and on the two largest Frank Brunetti left the band in 1988 (his last recording with the band being the single "Everybody Moves", released in 1989) and was replaced with John Hoey, of the Thought Criminals and the New Christs. The New Christs was an Australian rock and roll band led by Rob Younger, with various lineups through the 80s 90s Noughties Mark Lock also departed the band around this time as he had grown weary of touring; he was replaced by Steve Clark. The third album, Every Brilliant Eye, was released on Blue Mosque in 1990. Recorded overseas in California, it featured leaner, more rock-oriented songs and a more polished production from Jeff Eyrich, who was pinned down by the band after they heard his work with The Gun Club and The Plimsouls. For information on "gun clubs" see Shooting ranges ' The Gun Club was an American Punk blues band from Los Angeles The Plimsouls are an American rock band formed in Los Angeles, California in 1978.
They achieved Australian chart success in the early 1990s with their fourth album Doughboy Hollow, again released through Blue Mosque, and its singles "Godbless", "D. C. " and "Sweetheart. " This album was notable for its strong pop melodicism, and its smooth production from Englishman Hugh Jones, whose other credits included The Damned, Kitchens of Distinction, Echo & The Bunnymen, Simple Minds and Stan Ridgway. Hugh Jones is the name of Hugh Jones (producer, British record producer The Damned are an English band formed in London in 1976 notable for being the first Punk rock band from England to release a single (" New Rose " an Kitchens of Distinction (often shortened colloquially to KOD) were a three-person Alternative rock / Dream pop band from South London, Echo & the Bunnymen are an English Post-punk group formed in Liverpool in 1978 Simple Minds are a rock band from Scotland, who had their greatest worldwide popularity from the mid-1980s to the early 1990s Stan Ridgway born April 5, 1954 in Barstow California, is a Multi-instrumentalist Singer-songwriter, and was the original After the recording of the album, Brisbanite Robert Warren replaced Clark on bass. Robert Warren played Bass guitar in various Australian bands in both Brisbane and Sydney from 1985 to 2006, including and The band were nominated for three ARIA awards after the release of Doughboy Hollow - 'Best Independent Album', 'Best Independent Album Cover' and 'Best Alternative Video' for the single, DC.
After the success of Doughboy Hollow, their next two albums, Trace (1993) and Sold (1995), were released worldwide by Sony Music. Sony Music Entertainment is a major global Record label controlled by the Sony Corporation of America, being one of the "big four" record companies During this period, they supported R.E.M. at the band's request on the Australian leg of their Monster tour, in early 1995. REM is an American rock band formed in Athens, Georgia, in 1980 by Michael Stipe ( lead vocals) Peter Buck ( Guitar Although Trace had been their biggest-selling record to date (debuting at #11 on the Australian mainstream chart), sales were insufficient for Sony and the band were dropped by the label.
Soon after the release of Trace, long-time drummer Chris Welsh left the band (he retired from music and became an English teacher in Thailand), and Sold was recorded with two guest drummers - Shane Melder of Sidewinder and Nick Kennedy of Big Heavy Stuff, before Simon Cox signed on as session drummer. Sidewinder was a rock band founded in 1991 by brothers Nick and Martin Craft in the Australian capital Canberra. Big Heavy Stuff is a Sydney-based Australian Indie rock band with a unique style blending edgy guitars and a pounding rhythm section with songwriter Greg Atkinson's exceptional Sold saw them reunited with original producer Rob Younger, who co-produced the album with Wayne Connolly; it was also mixed at the well-known Fort Apache Studios in Boston by Paul Kolderie and Sean Slade (Buffalo Tom, Radiohead, Dinosaur Jr). Wayne Connolly is an Australian musician and producer Starting out as a singer songwriter and guitarist for Sydney band The Welcome Mat, Connolly also worked at Fairlight Fort Apache Studios is a New England recording studio internationally renowned for Alternative rock sessions produced there since 1986 Paul Q Kolderie is a record producer engineer and mixer He has worked with artists including The Pixies, Radiohead, Orangutang, Hole, Sean Slade is a record producer engineer and mixer He has worked with artists including Orangutang, Hole, Radiohead, Warren Zevon, Dinosaur A rougher, harder-sounding collection than Doughboy or Trace, it gained critical acclaim but did not reach a wide audience - its singles "Cuttin' Up Her Legs" and "Good At Love" also failed to chart, the album went out of print within a year, and Died Pretty were dropped by Sony.
The band returned to their original home, Citadel, and released a four-track EP, Deeper, notable for featuring a guest appearance from Hoodoo Gurus guitarist Brad Shepherd, and Ron Peno's only instrumental contribution to a Died Pretty record (harmonica on the opening track "You Need Wings"). Hoodoo Gurus (referred to as the Gurus by fans are an Australian Rock band, formed in Sydney in 1981 by the mainstay Dave Faulkner (songwriter Brad Shepherd (born Bradley Mark Shepherd 2 February 1961 in Sydney, New South Wales) is an Australian Rock musician Shepherd is a Guitarist
Their last two albums, Using My Gills As A Roadmap (1998) and Everydaydream (2000) show the band moving away from basic guitar rock and making greater use of electronics, citing Kraftwerk and obscure Euro dance records as influences. They also released a comprehensive best-of, Out Of The Unknown (1999), on Citadel.
Long-time bassist Robert Warren departed the band temporarily in December 2001 due to tinnitus problems. Myers and Peno began demoing songs for a new album, but in May 2002 it was announced they would be disbanding and embarking on a final farewell tour around Australia. Their final release was a three-track farewell single, "My Generation Landslide. "
Ron Peno joined forces with Kim Salmon in 2005 under the name Darling Downs. Kim Salmon is a renowned and influential Australian Indie rock musician and songwriter They have recorded two albums together, How Can I Forget This Heart Of Mine? (2005) and From One To Another (2007). Also in 2007, Ron and Brett came together to record an independently-released and recorded album under the name NOISES And Other VOICES. It comprises material that was originally slated for Died Pretty's unrecorded final album, along with some newly-written songs.
Died Pretty will be performing Doughboy Hollow in its entirety as part of the All Tomorrow's Parties-curated Don't Look Back series in Australia in February 2008, without the services of long-time bass player, Robbie Warren, and drummer, Simon Cox. All Tomorrow's Parties is a Music festival which takes place in England at Camber Sands holiday camp in East Sussex and Butlin's holiday Don't Look Back is a yearly series of concerts in which London based promoters All Tomorrow's Parties ask artists and bands to play one of their seminal albums live in its entirety Instead, the lineup that recorded the album - Myers, Peno, Steve Clark (bass), Chris Welsh (drums) and John Hoey (keyboards) - will be playing together for the first time in sixteen years. Out of print for the past few years, the album will also be remastered, expanded and reissued through Citadel Records in February 2008.
Ron Peno also revealed in an interview with the I94 Bar website that a documentary about the band is pending - interviews with key band members have already been filmed, along with rehearsal footage from the Don't Look Back shows. A late-2008 release is tentatively expected.
Albums
- Next To Nothing EP (1985)
- Free Dirt (1986)
- Pre-Diety (1987)
- Lost (1988)
- Every Brilliant Eye (1990)
- Doughboy Hollow (1991)
- Trace (1993)
- Days EP (1994)
- Sold (1995)
- Deeper EP (1996)
- Using My Gills As A Roadmap (1998)
- Out Of The Unknown - the best of (1999)
- Everydaydream'' (2000)
- My Generation Landslide EP (2002)
- Doughboy Hollow - expanded & remastered (2008)
References
- Died Pretty (Encyclopedia of Australian Rock and Pop by Ian McFarlane)
- Died Pretty Discography (Australian Rock Database)
External links
Free Dirt is Died Pretty 's first full-length album released in 1986 (see 1986 in music) The Encyclopedia of Australian Rock and Pop by Ian McFarlane is a guide to Australian popular music from the 1950s to the 1990s Ian McFarlane is an Australian music journalist. McFarlane is the author of the renowned Encyclopedia of Australian Rock and Pop (Allen &Dapyx Software network: MP3 Explorer | Ebook Manager | Zenithic