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Australian Crawl was an Australia n rock band formed by James Reyne ( Lead Vocal s/ Piano ) and Simon Binks ( Lead Guitar ) in 1978 and joined by Guy McDonough ( Co-lead Vocal s, Rhythm Guitar ), Bill McDonough ( Drum s, 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. BIOGRAPHY 1978 - Formation Reyne, McDonough, Robinson and Binks grew up in the Mornington Peninsula suburb of Mt. Eliza on the outskirts of Melbourne , where judges and diplomats raised their young families in a pseudo rural setting within driving distance of the city. While their bored parents attended cocktail parties the bored children surfed and smoked marijuana. For extra fun this particular group of friends also formed a band to entertain their friends. Australian Crawl were formed in 1978 when Reyne and Bink's first attempt at a band, Spiff Roach ended. The original line-up consisted of James Reyne (vocals), Simon Binks (lead guitar), Brad Robinson (rhythm guitar), Paul Williams (bass), and David Reyne (drums) with Bill McDonough (ex-Loose Trousers) replacing David Reyne. 1980 - The Boys Light Up Once the band’s escalating popularity brought them into the city they caught the attention of Little River Band ’s guitarist David Briggs , who helped them to a recording contract and produced their first single. Their 1980 Debut Album '' The Boys Light Up '' had a number of Hit Single s including the title track; "Indisposed"; " Downhearted " and "Beautiful People". The band made one of the most memorable debuts on the ABC-TV pop show Countdown (performing "Beautiful People") when James Reyne appeared with both arms encased in plaster. He had been hit by a car, an episode chronicled in the track "Indisposed" on the debut album Countdown Club . ''The Boys Light Up'' spent more than 50 weeks in the Top 30 and sold five times platinum, one of the biggest selling Australian albums of the 1980's. 1981/83 - Sirocco/Sons of Beaches Singer/guitarist Guy McDonough (Bill's younger brother) joined Australian Crawl in October 1980. In 1981 the band recorded their second album, '' Sirocco '' with producer Peter Dawkins in Sydney. Named for womanizing actor Errol Flynn 's yacht, the album peaked at No. 1 on the Australian album chart on 3 August and remained there for six weeks''Australian Chart Book 1970-1992'' David Kent (ISBN 0-646-11917-6) . ''Sirocco'' spawned the hit singles "Things Don't Seem" (May), " Errol " (August) and "Oh No Not You Again" (November)''Who's Who of Australia Rock'' Chris Spencer, Zbig Nowara, Phil McHenry. Another track, "Lakeside", became a popular radio inclusion. In 1982, they released the '' Sons Of Beaches '' album, recorded in Hawaii with expatriate Australian Mike Chapman producing. The album featured the hit " Shut Down " (June) and included a re-recorded version of "Downhearted". It became their third album in a row to reach No. 1 on the Australian albums chart, peaking there on 2 August , almost precisely a year after ''Sirocco'' achieved the same feat, and remained there for five weeksKent. EMI issued the album in the USA. Two further singles, "Daughters of the Northern Coast" (August) and "Runaway Girls" (November)Spencer, et. al., failed to chart. Around the same time, Reyne starred with Rebecca Gilling and Wendy Hughes in the television miniseries '' Return To Eden '', which was screened in September, 1983. Reyne appeared in the role of playboy Tennis professional Greg Marsden, and later declared he was not very good in the part, declining many acting offers since. During breaks in filming, the singer accepted an offer from Paul Christie and Kevin Borich to join their part-time band The Party Boys with Harvey James from Sherbet and Graham Bidstrup from The Angels . The group played a short run of shows around Sydney venues and played covers exclusively. The resultant album, ''Live at Several 21sts'', peaked at No. 9 on the national chart''The Australian Encyclopedia of Rock and Pop'' Noel McGrath. 1984. 1983 - Semantics/Phalanx Soon afterwards Bill McDonough left due to tensions within the band. The remaining members then recorded the EP '' Semantics '' with Bidstrup on drums. The EP contained what would become possibly their best-known song, "Reckless", that went to No. 1 on the Australian singles chart on 28 November . John Watson ( Kevin Borich Express ) then came in as a permanent replacement for McDonough. The live mini-album '' Phalanx '' was something of a stop-gap measure between studio albums, but it reached #4 during December nevertheless. The band's biggest overseas break came when Duran Duran took the band as support on a UK tour. In early 1984, US label Geffen Records signed Australian Crawl and issued '' Semantics '' as an album (with the songs from the EP together with a compilation of tracks from the band's past records) for the American market. In 1984 the band was forced off the road when Guy McDonough was admitted to hospital in Melbourne . He died soon after of viral Pneumonia secondary to Endocarditis due to intravenous Amphetamine use. Prior to his death, he had recorded demos with brother Bill, Sean Higgins ( Synthesiser s), Nigel Spencer (bass, synthesisers), Mick Hauser ( Saxophone ) and Michael Bright ( Guitar ). Bill McDonough assembled the tapes and Wheatley Records issued Guy's album, ''My Place'', in April, 1985, and the singles "My Place" / "Things Don't Seem" and "What's In It For Me" / "Hook, Line And Sinker" in honour of his memory. 1984/86 - Rock and a Hard Place/Final Wave The band regrouped with Mark Greig on guitar (Runners) for a series of live performances in late 1984. Binks was then replaced by Simon Hussey and in 1985 Australian Crawl recorded their final studio album, '' Between A Rock And A Hard Place '', with English producer Adam Kidron. The album, which cost $40,000 to record, was a mishmash of styles and a commercial disaster (it peaked at #12 in August, 1985 but slipped out of the Top 40 two weeks later). Harry Brus (Kevin Borich Express) replaced long-standing bass player Paul Williams in May 1985. When the album virtually failed to chart, the band was ready to split but had to go out on tour for the next year to pay off its debts. The band performed its final concert on 27 January 1986 . The concert was recorded and released under the title ''The Final Wave''. In seven years, Australian Crawl had sold over a million records in Australia, with all four of its albums and EPs reaching the Australian Top 50 Album Charts, three of which had been No. 1 hits. Post 1986 - After the split After the group disbanded, Reyne went on to solo career. His first few singles failed to chart but 1987 's "Fall of Rome" and the self titled album that followed were the beginning of a string of hits that lasted until the early 1990s. In 1992 he and James Blundell had a hit with a cover of The Dingoes ' "Way Out West" and he (along with Hussey) also formed Company of Strangers that year with former Sherbert lead singer Daryl Braithwaite . This project produced the hit "Motor City (I Get Lost)". In 1993 he appeared as Tina Turner 's manager Roger Davies in '' What's Love Got To Do With It? ''. Robinson moved into a career in television (with Network Ten 's '' Page One '') and as a co-producer of documentaries. In the 1990s he became the manager for the Reyne brothers and worked as an agent for the Advantage Sports Management Group. 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 ARIA Hall of Fame , 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. DISCOGRAPHY Albums:
Singles/EPs:
TRIVIA Prior to the formation of the band in 1978 (circa. 1976) Reyne and Binks played in a band, Spiff Roach, 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:
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