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The Reels
The Reels 1988
The Reels 1988
Background information
Origin Flag of Australia Dubbo, New South Wales, Australia
Genre(s) Indie Rock
Years active 1979 - 1991
Label(s) Mercury Records
RCA Records
K-tel
Regular Records

The Reels was an Australian rock music group which performed and recorded between 1978 and 1991. Dubbo is a city in the Central West Region of New South Wales, Australia. 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 Indie rock is genre of Alternative rock that primarily exists in the independent Underground music scene See also Musical groups established in 1979 Record labels established in 1979 1979 in music (UK See also 1991 in music (UK Musical groups established in 1991 Record labels In the Music industry, a record label can be a Brand and a Trademark associated with the Marketing of music recordings and Music Mercury Records is a Record label operating as a standalone company in the UK and as part of the Island Def Jam Music Group in the US and are both subsidiaries of RCA Records (originally The Victor Talking Machine Company, then RCA Victor is one of the flagship labels of Sony Music Entertainment. For the Albuquerque Telemundo station see KTEL-LP. K-tel International is an " As-Seen-On-TV " company which is most noted for For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Australia topics. Rock music is a genre of Popular music often though not necessarily employing Electric guitar, Bass guitar, and Drums. Year 1978 ( MCMLXXVIII) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link displays the 1978 Gregorian calendar) Year 1991 ( MCMXCI) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar.

Contents

Biography

Early Days

The Reels originated with the group Native Son (Mason, Hooper, Bliss and Newham), which was formed in the country town of Dubbo, New South Wales and played in the area for about three years, mainly playing cover versions of current and classic hits. Dubbo is a city in the Central West Region of New South Wales, Australia. After moving to Sydney in 1978 they added Abrahams and changed the band's name to The Brucelanders. Sydney (ˈsɪdniː is the most populous city in Australia, with a Metropolitan area population of approximately 4 They gradually developed an original repertoire of fast-paced, quirky pop and ska music, and their energetic performances gained them a strong following on the thriving east coast live music scene at that time. They were also given enormous support in Sydney by the ABC's rock radio station Double J (which moved to the FM band and became Triple J in 1980). The Australian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly abbreviated to the 'ABC' is Australia's national public broadcaster. Jeffrey "Jeff" Leonard Jarrett (born April 14, 1967) is an American professional wrestler currently signed to Total Nonstop Action Wrestling. Triple J is a nationally-networked government-funded Australian radio station (a division of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation) mainly aimed

In 1979 they secured a recording contract with the Australian branch of the Mercury Records label, changed their name to The Reels and released their debut single, "Love Will Find A Way". Mercury Records is a Record label operating as a standalone company in the UK and as part of the Island Def Jam Music Group in the US and are both subsidiaries of This, and its follow-up "Prefab Heart", combined with the band's distinctive image, gained increasing attention with their music videos featured on the influential national TV pop show Countdown. A music video is a Short film or video that accompanies a complete piece of music most commonly a Song with lyrics These were followed by their self-titled debut album with producer Mark Opitz (The Angels, Cold Chisel). Mark Opitz is an Australian record producer who produced many chart albums in the late 1970s and 1980s The Angels were an American Girl group, best-known for their 1963 number 1 hit " My Boyfriend's Back " This article is about the Australian rock band For the cutting tool see The "cold chisel" section of the article "Chisel".

In 1980 the Reels added second keyboardist Karen Ansell and released their third single, 'After The News'. Karen Ansell was an influential member of Australian pop band The Reels in the 1980s It marked an important transition in their music -- their songs began to take on a more serious lyrical tone, and they dispensed with guitars, began using synthesizers as their main instruments, and were one of the first groups to use wireless headsets instead of traditional microphones.

In mid-1980 the group undertook the innovative "Reels By Rail" tour, which saw them using rail transport to travel to all the destinations on their tour. At the end of the year, returning to their roots as a covers band, they released a five track Christmas EP, Five Great Gift Ideas From The Reels, produced by Bruce Brown and Russell Dunlop, which included versions of Jim Reeves' "According To My Heart", and Freda Payne's "Band Of Gold". James Travis "Jim" Reeves ( August 20 1923 &ndash July 31 1964) was an American country and Pop singer Freda Charcelia Payne (born September 19 1945 in Detroit Michigan) is an African-American Singer and actress best known "According To My Heart" was very successful and featured a folksy music video filmed at the ranch of Australian country music star Smokey Dawson. Country music is a blend of popular musical forms originally found in the Southern United States and the Appalachian Mountains. Smoky Dawson MBE ( 19 March 1913 &ndash 13 February 2008) was an Australian Country music performer

Quasimodo's Dream

In May 1981 they released the album considered by many to be their best work, Quasimodo's Dream, which saw the band displaying an impressive maturity in songwriting, backed with strong performances, inventive arrangements and top-class production. The LP's classic title track was released as a single, and although widely considered to be among the best Australian singles and albums of that period, neither it nor the album was a major commercial or chart success, although it did succeed in reaching #27 in June that year. The band undertook the "Kitchen Man Tour", which saw the stage dressed as a fully-equipped Australian kitchen.

The Reels' lack of mainstream commercial success was at odds with their strong live following, but it was due in part to the restrictive programming on commercial radio at that time, which gave little exposure to local "new wave" acts. The group's deteriorating relationship with Mercury was also a factor, as evidenced by the LP's track listing -- it included the earlier hit "According To My Heart", but a disclaimer printed on the LP sleeve noted that the track had been included at the insistence of the record company (i. e against the band's wishes).

Bliss left just after the recording of the album, and Newham had also quit by the time the LP was released. The new five-piece lineup (with Fidock) cut a new single, "No. 3", which was not successful; soon after this, both Abrahams and Ansell left. Now reduced to a trio (Mason, Hooper and Fidock) they continued performing by augmenting their live sound with taped backing tracks, and used the new Fairlight synthesizer for studio recordings. The Fairlight CMI (Computer Musical Instrument was the first polyphonic digital sampling Synthesizer.

K-Tel

In late 1982, having signed a new contract with the RCA Records label, The Reels scored an unexpected hit with a wry cover of the Burt Bacharach-Hal David classic "This Guy's In Love With You", which reached #7. RCA Records (originally The Victor Talking Machine Company, then RCA Victor is one of the flagship labels of Sony Music Entertainment. Burt Bacharach (ˈbækəræk born May 12, 1928) is an American Pianist and Composer. Hal David (born May 25, 1921 in New York City, New York) is an American Lyricist and Songwriter. " This Guy's in Love with You " is a song written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David and recorded They followed this with a highly unusual tactic -- they recorded a one-off album for the K-tel company, which was best known for its licenced pop hit compilations and budget 'golden oldie' LPs. For the Albuquerque Telemundo station see KTEL-LP. K-tel International is an " As-Seen-On-TV " company which is most noted for Although the tracks on Beautiful walked a fine line between sincere tribute and gentle parody, it proved to be the biggest success of their career, selling in excess of 40,000 copies and reaching #32 in the album chart - this chart position would presumably have been much higher if the album had been sold through chart return shops. The album was later released through RCA.

In 1983 saw the band travel to the United States and Britain, released another five track EP, Pitt Street Farmers (the title is an old Australian satirical expression referring to wealthy rural landowners who never leave the city). The United States of America —commonly referred to as the The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located This was followed by a new version of "Quasimodo's Dream" in December 1983, which demonstrated the band's faith in the song, although it failed to chart on its second release.

At this point Mason was forced to give up performing after contracting hepatitis, and this effectively ended the group. Hepatitis (plural hepatitides) implies injury to the Liver characterized by the presence of Inflammatory cells in the tissue of Hooper joined The Church as keyboard player, and then joined The Mullanes, which was the first incarnation of Crowded House. The Mullanes was the first incarnation of the New Zealand/Australian rock group Crowded House following the demise of Split Enz in 1984 Crowded House is a rock group formed in Melbourne, Australia and led by New Zealand musician and Singer-songwriter Neil Finn.

By late 1985 Mason had recovered and The Reels was revived (with the original lineup of Mason, Hooper, Bliss and Newham) and completed their commitments to RCA with a single, an unsuccessful cover version of Etta James's "It Must Be Love". RCA Records (originally The Victor Talking Machine Company, then RCA Victor is one of the flagship labels of Sony Music Entertainment. Etta James (born Jamesetta Hawkins on January 25, 1938) is an American Blues, soul, R&B, Rock & roll " It Must Be Love " is a song originally written and recorded in 1971 by Labi Siffre.

Neighbors

They then signed with Regular Records and released a radically slowed-down, synthesiser-driven version of Creedence Clearwater Revival's "Bad Moon Rising". Creedence Clearwater Revival (often abbreviated CCR) was an American Rock and roll band who gained popularity in the late 1960s and early 1970s with " Bad Moon Rising " is a 1969 song by Creedence Clearwater Revival, written by John Fogerty. It proved to be another surprise hit, reaching #11 (October 1986); the arrangement featuring prominent use of the Vocoder voice synthesiser, which the band also used extensively on stage to augment Mason's vocals. A vocoder, ˈvoʊkoʊdər (a Portmanteau of vox/voc ( voice) and encoder) is an analysis / synthesis system mostly used for speech in which the input is Bliss left the band again at the end of 1986.

Their next single (Jan. 1987) was a cover of the old Edison Lighthouse hit "Love Grows (Where My Rosemary Goes)" . Edison Lighthouse was a UK pop group, initially a studio only assemblage that served as a vehicle for session vocalist " Love Grows (Where My Rosemary Goes " is a popular song by " One-hit wonder " Edison Lighthouse. During the year they embarked on the popular "Reels By Request" tour, where the audience was allowed to call out for the songs they wanted to hear. This was followed by an 'all Australian songs' version of the same concept, and this in turn led to the Reels' next studio album, Neighbors - the name of which, for reasons best known to the band, excluded the 'u' which would normally be contained in the Australian English spelling. This LP contained their idiosyncratic versions of thirteen Australian rock classics, including the singles "Are You Old Enough" (originally a hit for Dragon) and "Forever Now" (by Cold Chisel). Dragon is a popular New Zealand / Australian !--Don't remove either New Zealand or Australian without references see talkpage for discussion --> Rock band This article is about the Australian rock band For the cutting tool see The "cold chisel" section of the article "Chisel". Steve Prestwich, who wrote "Forever Now", played on The Reels' version.

The End. . .

In 1989 Mason appeared in the acclaimed Australian feature film Ghosts... of the Civil Dead, in which he co-starred with Nick Cave. Ghosts of the Civil Dead is a 1988 Australian movie directed by John Hillcoat. Nicholas Edward Cave (born 22 September 1957 in Warracknabeal, Victoria) is an Australian Musician, Songwriter, Author In September 1991 the Reels issued their first original single in five years, "I Don't Love You Anymore", followed by what proved to be their last single, a remix by Filthy Lucre of "Bad Moon Rising" . For the term for money see Lucre; for the Sex Pistols live album see Filthy Lucre Live Filthy Lucre were a band featuring Phil Lewis The group officially disbanded to coincide with the release of the compilation CD Requiem.

The Comeback. . .

In May ‘07, Dave Mason released his first album in more than 15 years, ‘Reelsville’, an acoustic celebration of The Reels hits re-recorded by the original artist. In August ‘07 ‘Reel To Reel’ was also released - a compilation of The Reels classic tracks with new liner notes as written by Dave.

Dave Mason, John Bliss and Colin ‘Polly’ Newham have resurrected themselves in their former guise ‘The Reels’ and plan to play shows in May 2008.


Other info

David Mason is the son of mid-1970s NSW state Liberal Party leader John Mason. This article is about the Decade 1970-1979 For the Year 1970 see 1970. The Liberal Party of Australia is an Australian political party. Hooper was also a member of The Church, The Mullanes (the original incarnation of Crowded House), and also recorded with The Rockmelons and Ross Wilson. The Mullanes was the first incarnation of the New Zealand/Australian rock group Crowded House following the demise of Split Enz in 1984 Crowded House is a rock group formed in Melbourne, Australia and led by New Zealand musician and Singer-songwriter Neil Finn. The Rockmelons are an Australian Pop / Dance / R&B group based around Bryon Jones, Jonathon Jones and Raymond Medhurst Ross Wilson (born Ross Andrew Wilson November 18, 1947 in Melbourne, Victoria Karen Ansell (now Ansel), went on to become a noted film and TV computer graphics specialist in the United States (IMDb). Karen Ansell was an influential member of Australian pop band The Reels in the 1980s Computer graphics are Graphics created by Computers and more generally the Representation and Manipulation of Pictorial Data

David Mason appeared in the Countdown Spectacular 2 concert series in Australia between late-August and early-September 2007 as a solo performer. The Countdown Spectacular is a series of concerts reviving the nostalgia of the Australian music television series Countdown. For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Australia topics. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. He sang the song "Quasimodo's Dream" only.

In 2007, Dave Mason released a new album - "Reelsville" - on Liberation Blue. Dave performed one gig to launch the album at 'the Basement' in Sydney on May 16 2007. A further gig is booked for 'the Factory Enmore Theatre' in Sydney on May 24 2008.

"On his first album in more than 15 years, Dave Mason reinterprets the Reels’ catalogue with the maverick musical flair that characterised that band’s every step from ‘78 to ‘91. Reelsville is an album of extraordinary left turns down an intriguing track in Australian pop history.

The stately grand piano of Quasimodo’s Dream presages something very special. After covers by Kate Ceberano and Jimmy Little, Dave’s signature song stands in its definitive light, an aching piano/cello treatment that justifies its position among APRA’s Top 10 Australian Songs of All Time.

It’s a mark of Dave’s dogged pursuit of innovation that the old Creedence standard is again reborn. From his eccentric chamber orchestral take of World’s End to the playful dub undertow of After the News to the impossibly spare shuffle of Go Away, the strength of his tunes and the ache in his voice have never been more striking. "

Personnel

The major figures in the group were:

Discography

Albums

The Reels
(1979)
#81 AUS
Quasimodo's Dream
(May 1981)
#27 AUS
Beautiful
(October, 1982)
#32 AUS
Neighbors
(November, 1988)
#81 AUS

Compilations

Unreel
(October, 1983)
Requiem, (Best of. Craig Hooper is an Australian musician who was a core member (with Dave Mason of Indie rock band The Reels (1977-1992 and was in bands The Mullanes Karen Ansell was an influential member of Australian pop band The Reels in the 1980s . . )
(1995)

EPs

Five Great Gift Ideas From The Reels
(November, 1980)
#12 AUS
Pitt Street Farmers
(September, 1983)

Singles

Trivia

External links

The Encyclopedia of Australian Rock and Pop by Ian McFarlane is a guide to Australian popular music from the 1950s to the 1990s
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