Merril Bainbridge
Merril Bainbridge |
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Merril Bainbridge (born June 2 1968) is an Australian singer of pop music based in Melbourne. She is best remembered for her 1996 hit, "Mouth," from her album The Garden, (Universal Records) which reached #4 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Early career
After six years of performing in a variety of bands in Australia, and doing backup vocal work in exchange for studio time, Bainbridge began a solo career under the tutelage of producer Siew. She also worked a day job before quitting to concentrate solely on music.
Music Career
The Garden: 1994-1997
In 1994 Bainbridge was signed to Ross Fraser and John Farnham's newly-formed Gotham Records label. Fraser first heard Bainbridge when he received a tape in the mail and was taken interest by the combination of voice and guitar. "Mouth" was Bainbridge's debut release and the first song released from her debut album The Garden by Gotham Records. "Mouth" was released in Australia on November 1994 but was lost in the Christmas shuffle. It was reissued in February 1995 where it became to be the biggest song of Bainbridge's career, peaking at number one in Australia for six consecutive weeks becoming the fourth highest selling single in Australia for 1995. The second song released from The Garden was "Under the Water" wich is a song about a lover who drowned, released in Australia in June 1996. The song was not as big as "Mouth" but was still succsesful peaking at number four in Australia and accrediting platinum by ARIA. The Garden was released in Australia in July 1995, were it debuted at its peak position at number five on the Australian ARIA Albums Chart and certifiying two times platinum selling 140,000 copies around Australia. On October 1995 the third song off the album was released titled "Power of One" wich was not as big but still charted in Australia at number twenty-one. The fourth and final song "Sleeping Dogs" was released in Australia in February 1996 and featured Bee Gees song "I Started a Joke" wich was used for the bridge of the track. The song only peaked at number fifty-five in Australia.
Bainbridge signed herself to Universal Music record label in the United States by 1996. "Mouth" was released in the United States on August 20, 1996 and debut on the Billboard Hot 100 at number sixty-seven. After eight weeks in the chart it moved up into the top ten and four weeks after it peaked at number four wich was its peak position. It spent a total of thirty weeks in the charts selling 80,000 copies. The album was released on September 24, 1996 and debut on the Billboard 200 at number one hundred and sixty-one and after six weeks just missing the top one hundred it peaked at its peak position of one hundred and one. "Mouth" was the only release that Bainbridge released in the United Kingdom. It was released in November 1996 but did not show great success peaking at number fifty-one and spending eight weeks in the top two hundred. "Under the Water" was released in the United States on February 18, 1997 and at first debut at number one hundred and seven on the Billboard Bubbling Under Hot 100 chart and after two weeks it broke into the Billboard Hot 100 at number ninty-seven. It took the song four weeks to reach its peak position of number ninty-one and fell out of the chart from then on spending six weeks in the Hot 100.
Between the Days
Bainbridge had another chance to release material and did so in 1998, with the album Between the Days. This spawned the single Lonely which received wide radio airplay on FOX FM upon its release but only managed a peak of fourty on the charts.
Later that year, she released a cover of "I Got You Babe" featuring a small contribution from Shaggy (which appeared on the soundtrack for the movie Welcome to Woop Woop). The song only reached no. 62 on the charts.
After her last two singles from Between the Days failed to chart (the title track and "Walk on Fire"), Bainbridge was dropped from her label.
Post-success (1999-present)
Bainbridge attempted a comeback in 2002 with the song "Girl Next Door" which was again unsuccessful. She is often mentioned in "Where are they Now?" lists on television. She has been working backstage as a composer for other Australian pop artists. It remains unknown if she will return to make her own music.
Discography
Albums
| Year | Title | Chart positions | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AUS | US | |||
| 1995 | The Garden | 5 | 101 | |
| 1998 | Between the Days | 58 | — | |
Singles
| Year | Song | Australia | United States | United Kingdom | Album |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | "Mouth" | 1 | 4 | 51 | The Garden |
| "Under the Water" | 4 | 91 | — | The Garden | |
| "Power of One" | 21 | — | — | The Garden | |
| 1996 | "Sleeping Dogs" | 55 | — | — | The Garden |
| 1998 | "Lonely" | 40 | 118 | — | Between the Days |
| "I Got You Babe" (featuring Shaggy) |
62 | — | — | Between the Days | |
| "Between the Days" | — | — | — | Between the Days | |
| 1999 | "Walk on Fire" | — | — | — | Between the Days |
| 2002 | "Girl Next Door" | — | — | — |
Awards and recognition
| Year | Award-giving Body | Award | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | ARIA Award | Single of the Year (Mouth) | Nominated |
| 1995 | ARIA Award | Best Female Artist (Mouth) | Nominated |
| 1995 | ARIA Award | Best New Talent (Mouth) | Nominated |
| 1995 | ARIA Award | Breakthrough Artist - Single (Mouth) | Nominated |
| 1995 | ARIA Award | Best Pop Release (Mouth) | Nominated |
| 1996 | ARIA Award | Highest Selling Album (The Garden) | Nominated |
| 1996 | ARIA Award | Highest Selling Single (Under the Water) | Nominated |
| 1996 | ARIA Award | Breakthrough Artist - Album (The Garden) | Nominated |
External links
References
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