Jump to content

Hoodoo Gurus

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Dan arndt (talk | contribs) at 05:54, 10 July 2007. The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.
Hoodoo Gurus

Hoodoo Gurus are an Australian rock band, formed in Sydney in 1981. Three of the four original members, Dave Faulkner, Roddy Radalj and James Baker were originally from Perth. ARIA announced on 6 May 2007 that the Hoodoo Gurus be inducted to the 2007 ARIA Hall of Fame.[1]

Formation

The band had its origins in Perth protopunk and punk bands. Faulkner and Baker were also members of The Victims in 1977-79. Both Baker and Radalj were original members of The Scientists.

The original lineup band was notable for having three guitars and no bass player, creating a distinctive, layered sound, which was captured on their first single, "Leilani", which told the story of a maiden sacrificed to the gods and an erupting volcano while her true love looked on helplessly. Their original name was Le Hoodoo Gurus, but they soon dropped the "Le".

The band gave their first ever performance on a segment of the kids' TV program 'Simon Townshend's Wonderworld', they then backed a man and his singing dog on the national Don Lane TV show.

The fourth founding member, Kimble Rendall (formerly of XL Capris) left in 1982, just prior to the release of their first single, and went on to become a noted music video director; he was effectively replaced by Clyde Bramley.

Radalj was not happy with this outcome and left the band to be replaced by ex-Fun Things guitarist Brad Shepherd, who had been in Bramley's previous band. Radalj went on to perform with a number of other acts, including The Johnnys and Love Rodeo.

This new line-up recorded the band's first album, Stoneage Romeos. The title came from a Three Stooges short. The album was dedicated to characters from 'Get Smart', 'F-Troop' and 'Petticoat Junction'.

Music

With a repertoire of strong original compositions by Faulkner, their sound combined elements of sixties power-pop, bubblegum pop, Beatle-esque harmonies, psychedelia and grungy garage rock, highlighted by the impressive guitar work of Shepherd. Hoodoo Gurus were their best on their string of widely acclaimed pop-rock singles including "Tojo", "My Girl", "Leilani", "Like Wow, Wipeout", "Bittersweet" and "What's My Scene?"

Band history

Initially a cult inner-city act, their popularity rapidly expanded thanks to regular airplay on Triple J and particularly after their distinctively quirky music video clips began to air on the nationwide pop show 'Countdown'.

Original drummer James Baker was replaced in 1985 by Mark Kingsmill. (Kingsmill's brother Richard Kingsmill is an on-air presenter for the Triple J network). Hoodoo Gurus went into the studio with Kingsmill and recorded another album, Mars Needs Guitars!. This time the title was a twist on a B Grade Sci Fi movie title.

The sacking of Baker upset some die-hard fans and critics who felt that the group was losing touch with its "indie" roots, and Faulkner is said to have written the song "Poison Pen" in response to some of the critical articles in the music press written about Baker's departure. Baker subsequently joined The Beasts of Bourbon.

The peak of their popularity was in the mid-to-late 1980s with the albums Mars Needs Guitars!, Blow Your Cool, and Magnum Cum Louder, although they continued producing music through the mid to late 1990s. They toured America extensively several times, gained a solid following in the U.S. through regular exposure on US college radio (and later MTV's 120 Minutes) and even developed a big fan base in Brazil. The third album Blow Your Cool let go of some of the peripheral quirkiness and just concentrated on the band's pop power. Members of their international peer group The Bangles and Dream Syndicate contributed backing vocals to several songs. Then, Hoodoo Gurus decided to opt out of its record contract, tying the group up in legal wranglings for more than a year. In 1987 Rick Grossman (ex Matt Finish, Divinyls) replaced Clyde Bramley on bass. This is the line-up which saw the Hoodoo Gurus from 1987 to the end in 1998.

After two albums under their new contract - Magnum Cum Louder and Crank - the band released two compilations at once, Electric Soup contained the band's hits and Gorilla Biscuit was made up of B-sides and rarities. In 1996 the band moved to Mushroom Records for the release of their next album, Blue Cave.

Hoodoo Gurus officially split in 1998, but have reformed occasionally for concerts with the career-spanning compilation Ampology issued in 2000. In 2002, members Faulkner, Shepherd, and Kingsmill joined with bassist Kendall James and recorded an EP entitled Mr. Tripper under the name Persian Rugs. Persian Rugs later went on to record the album Turkish Delight in 2003, presumably setting the stage for an eventual reunion of Hoodoo Gurus.

'The Persian Rugs was me doing a complete ‘60s revival sort of thing. Also, in a funny way, it was my own sort of version of retaliating at all the critics who always harped on the Gurus’ ‘60s influences: ‘You want to hear what I do when I do ‘60s? Here it is!’ But I also had a whole lot of songs after the Gurus broke up, and though I rehearsed them with different musicians, they just couldn’t seem to get the flavor of what I was trying to do. It became obvious to me that there was only one band that could play these songs the way I wanted to hear them. So Mach Schau, far from us coming back and being ‘middle aged’ and writing for an older fan base, we just wanted to make a hard rocking record that out-did anything we’d ever done. We really blew a gasket on that one—it’s our Presence, like Led Zeppelin.' - Dave Faulkner [2]

In 2004, reunited with Grossman on bass, the Hoodoo Gurus released a new album, Mach Schau and started touring again. Following the release of Mach Schau, in 2005 the Australian division of EMI Records reissued expanded/remastered editions of all the Hoodoo Gurus albums; also released was Tunnel Vision, a two-DVD set compiling every Gurus video, never-before-seen live material and a retrospective documentary, "Be My Guru". In 2005 the band co-headlined the annual Big Day Out festival with Metallica and the Strokes.

The song Come Anytime is the theme song to Australian TV show Thank God You're Here. They also reworked "What's My Scene?" as "That's My Team", the current promotional theme for the National Rugby League. (The original film clip of "What's My Scene" included shots of band members in Wests and Cronulla jumpers.) They also performed live in the pre-match ceremony to the 2006 NRL Grand Final.

Hoodoo Gurus are currently touring in 2007 including several US dates, kicking off at the South By Southwest Music Festival in Austin, TX. According to the band's official website, the band is recording material for a 2007 studio release [3].

Discography

Albums

Compilations

DVDs

  • Tunnel Vision EMI (2005)

Video

  • Electric Soup (1992)
  • More Electric Soup Mushroom Records (1996)
  • Electric Soup - The Complete Video Collection Mushroom Records (1999)
  • Best of The Cutting Edge Vol. 1 MTV/Rhino (1987)

Nominations/Awards

  • 1993 ARIA Award - 'Best Cover Art' - Electric Soup/Gorilla Biscuit
  • 1996 ARIA Award nominee - 'Best Video' - "Waking Up Tired"
  • 1996 ARIA Award nominee - 'Best Pop Release' - Blue Cave
  • 1997 ARIA Award - 'Producer of the Year' - Down on Me
  • 2005 ARIA Award nominee - 'Best Music DVD' - Tunnel Vision

References

  1. ^ ARIA press release: http://www.amcos.com.au/news/industry/news/070507_ARIA-HallofFame.pdf (PDF)
  2. ^ Harp Magazine (February 2007)
  3. ^ Hoodoo Gurus website
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Hoodoo_Gurus&oldid=143669177"