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BAND HISTORY The band formed in Auckland , New Zealand, in 1972 , with a line-up that featured Todd Hunter, guitarist Ray Goodwin, drummer Neil Reynolds and singer Graeme Collins, but by 1974 several personnel changes had occurred before Marc Hunter joined on vocals and Neil Storey came in on drums. Dragon recorded two Progressive Rock albums in their native New Zealand, ''Universal Radio'' and ''Scented Gardens for the Blind'', the second with an added guitar element from Robert Taylor. Paul Hewson also joined the band on keyboards and from this point Dragon's music took on a pop-flavoured AOR feel. Dragon eventually landed a contract in Australia with CBS Records and relocated to Sydney in 1975. Always a lightning rod for controversy, the band was rocked by the Heroin Overdose death of Storey only weeks after arriving in Australia, and their original manager was also deported back to New Zealand on drugs charges. By then, founding member Goodwin had left the group. Storey was replaced by Kerry Jacobson and, between 1975 and 1979 , Dragon scored a string of major hits on the Australian pop charts with songs including "April Sun in Cuba," "Are You Old Enough" and "Still In Love With You" and with the albums ''Sunshine'' and ''O Zambezi'', making them one of the country's most popular rock acts. There were high hopes of an American breakthrough but these were scuttled by a disastrous American tour, in which Marc Hunter incited an Austin, Texas crowd (calling all Texans " Faggots ") and the band had to dodge flying beer bottles. Marc Hunter left the band in 1979 due to health problems which were, by then, seriously affecting his performances. A new singer in Richard Lee was recruited and the group recorded ''Powerplay'' LP before breaking up in 1979. Marc Hunter cleaned up somewhat in the post-Dragon years and released two moderately successful solo singles, "Island Nights" (1979) and "Big City Talk" (1981) from the LPs Fiji Bitter and Big City Talk respectively. The "Big City Talk" video clip was filmed in Sydney in the Broadway Tunnel, a long and dreary pedestrian walkway linking Sydney's Central Station with Broadway. The clip captured the seedy and unsettling atmosphere of the tunnel and added extra flavour to the song's words and meaning. Marc's solo outings were later complemented by another solo album, Communication, in 1985. The title track became a moderate hit in Australia and featured a loosely cabaret-oriented video clip, filmed in Amsterdam, in which Marc (resplendent in a bright red cowbot hat) was flanked by two females who also danced away under red Stetsons. Brother Todd had meanwhile teamed up with his partner (and later wife) Johanna Pigott (formerly of indie group XL Capris ) and together they became a successful songwriting team. Dragon was forced to reform in 1982 to pay off outstanding debts, but they stayed together and decided to have another shot at success. The band's second comeback single "Rain" proved to be a massive hit, but Jacobson left the band for health reasons and was replaced by British drummer Terry Chambers , formerly from the band XTC . American keyboard player and producer Alan Mansfield also joined the band at this point. The group's 1984 album ''Body and the Beat'' became one of the biggest-selling albums in Australia and New Zealand and the band was restored to something close to its late 70s glory. Paul Hewson left the band and tragically died from a Drug Overdose in New Zealand in January 1985 and Chambers and Taylor left some time after. American Doanne Perry replaced Chambers, and Taylor was eventually succeeded by local Sydney guitar ace Tommy Emmanuel . This line-up produced the Todd Rundgren -produced ''Dreams of Ordinary Men'' album and toured Europe under the name Hunter in 1987 , where they were somewhat misrepresented as a Heavy Metal band in some markets. After this, Dragon again split up in 1988 although a year later the Hunter brothers and Mansfield had reconvened once again with guitarist Randall Waller and drummer Barton Price, ex- Models and The Choirboys , for ''Bondi Road'', which actually featured Emmanuel's guitar playing. Dragon continued to record and tour off and on with varying line-ups centered around Todd and Marc Hunter and Mansfield until 1997 , although Todd Hunter retired from the band to do soundtrack work Heartbreak High after the 1995 album ''Incarnations'', which featured reworkings of earlier hits. In 1998 Marc Hunter was diagnosed with severe Throat Cancer and he died later that year. The CD "Forever Young", released on Raven Records, captures some of the highlight tracks from both Dragon's and Marc Hunter's musical output over the years. PERSONNEL Todd Hunter (bass) 1972 - 1995 Marc Hunter (vocals) 1973 - 1979, 1982 - Alan Mansfield (keyboards) 1982 - Paul Hewson (keyboards) 1975 - 1985 Robert Taylor (guitar) 1975 - 1985 Tommy Emmanuel (guitar) 1985 - 1988, 1995 Ray Goodwin (guitar) 1972 - 1975 Neil Storey (drums) 1972 - 1975 Kerry Jacobson (drums) 1975 - 1982 Terry Chambers (drums) 1982 - 1985 Doane Perry (drums) 1985 - 1988 Richard Lee (vocals) 1979 - 1980 Neil Reynolds (drums) 1972 Graeme Collins (vocals) 1972 Ivan Thompson (vocals) 1972 (replaced Collins) Don Miller-Robinson (guitar) 1985 (replaced Taylor) Randall Waller (guitar) 1989 Barton Price (drums) 1989 Mike Caen (guitar) 1989 - 1995, 1996 - 1997 Ange Tsoitoudis (guitar) 1996 - 1997 Dario Bortolin (bass) 1996 Mick O'Shea (drums) 1996 - 1997 Billy Kervin (bass) 1996 - 1997 MAJOR HITS
ALBUMS ''Universal Radio'' 1974 ''Scented Gardens for the Blind'' 1975 ''Running Free'' 1977 ''Sunshine'' 1978 ''O Zambezi'' 1978 ''Power Play'' 1979 ''Dragon's Greatest Hits Vol 1'' 1979 ''Body and the Beat'' 1984 ''Live One'' 1985 ''Dreams of Ordinary Men'' 1986 ''Bondi Road'' 1989 ''So Far: Their Classic Collection'' 1990 ''Incarnations'' 1995 |
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