Beargarden (band)
Encyclopedia
Beargarden was a new wave
band from Melbourne
, Australia
which, though well regarded critically, failed to achieve widespread success. It evolved directly from the post-punk group 'The Ears' which disbanded in 1981 and reformed under the new name with Ross Farnell replacing Cathy McQuade on bass. The other members were Sam Sejavka
( vocals) Mick Lewis (guitar), Carl Manuell (drums) and Gus Till (keyboards). Lewis was replaced later that year by Shane Andalou.
Not long after Beargarden began performing live, manager/publisher Chris Murphy developed an interest in the band, having seen them at the Crystal Ballroom
, playing in support of INXS
who he managed at the time. INXS
members Michael Hutchence
and Andrew Farriss
also saw potential in Beargarden and expressed interest in producing a studio recording.
INXS
invited the band to support them on an eleven show tour through Sydney
and Chris Murphy signed them to his publishing company MMA. With a building industry vibe, the band also secured prominent support slots with Cold Chisel
, Divinyls
, Echo & The Bunnymen
, The Teardrop Explodes
and others. In February 1982, encouraged by Murphy, Beargarden signed a recording contract with RCA
.
Several months afterwards, riddled with internal strife, Beargarden disbanded. Sejavka occupied himself with a brief-lived band that did not see the outside of a rehearsal room, and wrote the play Planetarium, which was produced soon after. Keyboardist Gus Till joined the Models
for a number of Australian tours.
Around the beginning of 1983, urged by Till and again encouraged by Chris Murphy, Beargarden reformed. Ex-Models tour-manager Chris Melios became manager and the band signed with booking agency Nucleus. The band's music moved further towards the pop standard of the day, abandoning the last chaotic influences of their precursors 'The Ears'.
With the RCA contract annulled, Virgin Records Australia
chose Beargarden as their first Australian signing. A single "The Finer Things" was produced by Ross Cockle at AAV studios in South Melbourne and released in October 1984 with a film clip directed by John Hillcoat
and featuring a young Noah Taylor
.
Though the single made little impact on the charts, the band's fortunes continued to improve. Sebastian Chase, who had previously managed The Reels
and Dragon
, replaced Melios. Beargarden supported Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark
on their Australian tour, as well as, in Melbourne, Culture Club
, Simple Minds
and Eurythmics
.
In July 1985, Beargarden began recording their debut album, All That Fall
, at Albert Studios
in Sydney with producers Bruce Brown & Russel Dunlop. A second single "I Write the News" resulted from these sessions. The B-side, "Sixty Perfect Windows", had been recorded previously at Richmond Recorders, Melbourne, and was produced by Michael Hutchence and Andrew Farris (Hutchence provides backing vocals for the track). A film clip for "I Write The News" was directed by Paul Goldman (Australian Rules
, The Night They Called It a Day, The Ben Cousins Story). The single penetrated the lower reaches of the charts but despite heavy promotion and good airplay did not break through.
All That Fall
took a great many months to complete and during this time the band's inner turmoil again boiled to the surface. Bassist Ross Farnell was replaced by Simon Polinski, and Shaun Andersen (brother of guitarist Shane Andalou) was recruited as second guitar. These changes exacerbated the band's pre-existing instability and, after the release of a third single 'Drink Drink Drink', it folded. Paul Goldman directed a clip for 'Drink Drink Drink' but, given the suggestive nature of the song title and the mistaking of burning scarecrows for burning crucifixes by the producers of Countdown, it failed to air and the single made little impact.
Beargarden's disintegration was accompanied by acrimony and incidents of poor and/or outrageous behaviour on stage. Virgin quickly divested themselves of the product and All That Fall was ultimately released to little fanfare on Chase Records, accompanied by a fourth and final single "A Seaside Song".
Sam Sejavka embarked on a successful writing career, inadvertently becoming infamous as the template for Michael Hutchence's character in the cult movie Dogs in Space
. Gus Till joined Michael Hutchence
's project Max Q before forming Third Eye with Ollie Olsen
. He continues to record and produce music. Ross Farnell went on to play in Melbourne band, Crash Politics. Simon Polinski is now a sound engineer and music producer and has worked with major Australian artists such as The Church
, Paul Kelly
, Ollie Olsen
and Stephen Cummings
. His work with Yothu Yindi
earned him an Aria Award.
In 2010 the Beargarden albums, All That Fall and The Word That Refers to The Word That Refers to Walt Disney (a collection of b-sides and demos) became available for download on Bandcamp
.
New Wave music
New Wave is a subgenre of :rock music that emerged in the mid to late 1970s alongside punk rock. The term at first generally was synonymous with punk rock before being considered a genre in its own right that incorporated aspects of electronic and experimental music, mod subculture, disco and 1960s...
band from Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
which, though well regarded critically, failed to achieve widespread success. It evolved directly from the post-punk group 'The Ears' which disbanded in 1981 and reformed under the new name with Ross Farnell replacing Cathy McQuade on bass. The other members were Sam Sejavka
Sam Sejavka
Samuel Marcus Sejavka Samuel Marcus Sejavka Samuel Marcus Sejavka (born 2 April 1960 in Melbourne, Australia, is a writer, actor and musician.Sejavka grew up in Mt Waverley and attended Holy Family Primary School, a Catholic school in Mt Waverley....
( vocals) Mick Lewis (guitar), Carl Manuell (drums) and Gus Till (keyboards). Lewis was replaced later that year by Shane Andalou.
Not long after Beargarden began performing live, manager/publisher Chris Murphy developed an interest in the band, having seen them at the Crystal Ballroom
Crystal Ballroom (Melbourne)
The Crystal Ballroom was a prominent alternative rock venue within the Seaview Hotel located in Fitzroy Street St.Kilda . It was run by a succession of Melbourne Rock promoters from 1978 to 1987 starting with Dolores San Miguel The Crystal Ballroom (AKA The Ballroom / Seaview Ballroom) was a...
, playing in support of INXS
INXS
INXS are an Australian rock band, formed as The Farriss Brothers in 1977 in Sydney, New South Wales. Mainstays are Garry Gary Beers on bass guitar, Andrew Farriss on guitar/keyboards, Jon Farriss on drums, Tim Farriss on lead guitar and Kirk Pengilly on guitar/sax...
who he managed at the time. INXS
INXS
INXS are an Australian rock band, formed as The Farriss Brothers in 1977 in Sydney, New South Wales. Mainstays are Garry Gary Beers on bass guitar, Andrew Farriss on guitar/keyboards, Jon Farriss on drums, Tim Farriss on lead guitar and Kirk Pengilly on guitar/sax...
members Michael Hutchence
Michael Hutchence
Michael Kelland John Hutchence was an Australian musician and actor. He was the founding lead singer-songwriter of rock band :INXS from 1977 to his death in 1997, a period of twenty years. Hutchence was a member of short-lived pop rock group Max Q and recorded solo material which was released...
and Andrew Farriss
Andrew Farriss
Andrew Charles Farriss is a rock musician , best known as the keyboardist and main composer for the Australian band INXS.-Career:...
also saw potential in Beargarden and expressed interest in producing a studio recording.
INXS
INXS
INXS are an Australian rock band, formed as The Farriss Brothers in 1977 in Sydney, New South Wales. Mainstays are Garry Gary Beers on bass guitar, Andrew Farriss on guitar/keyboards, Jon Farriss on drums, Tim Farriss on lead guitar and Kirk Pengilly on guitar/sax...
invited the band to support them on an eleven show tour through Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
and Chris Murphy signed them to his publishing company MMA. With a building industry vibe, the band also secured prominent support slots with Cold Chisel
Cold Chisel
Cold Chisel is a rock band that originated in Adelaide, Australia. It is one of the most acclaimed Australian rock bands of all time, with a string of hits throughout the 1970s and 1980s and huge sales that continue to this day, although its success and acclaim was almost completely restricted to...
, Divinyls
Divinyls
Divinyls were an Australian rock band formed in Sydney in 1980 and featuring vocalist Christina Amphlett and guitarist Mark McEntee. As the focal point, Amphlett performed on stage wearing a school uniform and fishnet stockings, often using an illuminated neon tube as a prop and displaying...
, Echo & The Bunnymen
Echo & the Bunnymen
Echo & the Bunnymen are an English post-punk band, formed in Liverpool in 1978. The original line-up consisted of vocalist Ian McCulloch, guitarist Will Sergeant and bass player Les Pattinson, supplemented by a drum machine. By 1980, Pete de Freitas had joined as the band's drummer, and their debut...
, The Teardrop Explodes
The Teardrop Explodes
The Teardrop Explodes were an English post-punk/neo-psychedelic band formed in Liverpool in 1978. Best known for their Top Ten UK single "Reward" the group originated as a key band in the emerging Liverpool post-punk scene of the late 1970s, the group also launched the career of group frontman...
and others. In February 1982, encouraged by Murphy, Beargarden signed a recording contract with RCA
RCA Records
RCA Records is one of the flagship labels of Sony Music Entertainment. The RCA initials stand for Radio Corporation of America , which was the parent corporation from 1929 to 1985 and a partner from 1985 to 1986.RCA's Canadian unit is Sony's oldest label...
.
Several months afterwards, riddled with internal strife, Beargarden disbanded. Sejavka occupied himself with a brief-lived band that did not see the outside of a rehearsal room, and wrote the play Planetarium, which was produced soon after. Keyboardist Gus Till joined the Models
Models (band)
Models were an alternative rock group formed in Melbourne, Australia, in August 1978 and went into hiatus in 1988. They are often incorrectly referred to as The Models. They re-formed in 2000, 2006 and 2008 to perform reunion concerts. "Out of Mind, Out of Sight", their only No. 1 hit,...
for a number of Australian tours.
Around the beginning of 1983, urged by Till and again encouraged by Chris Murphy, Beargarden reformed. Ex-Models tour-manager Chris Melios became manager and the band signed with booking agency Nucleus. The band's music moved further towards the pop standard of the day, abandoning the last chaotic influences of their precursors 'The Ears'.
With the RCA contract annulled, Virgin Records Australia
Virgin Records
Virgin Records is a British record label founded by English entrepreneur Richard Branson, Simon Draper, and Nik Powell in 1972. The company grew to be a worldwide music phenomenon, with platinum performers such as Roy Orbison, Devo, Genesis, Keith Richards, Janet Jackson, Culture Club, Lenny...
chose Beargarden as their first Australian signing. A single "The Finer Things" was produced by Ross Cockle at AAV studios in South Melbourne and released in October 1984 with a film clip directed by John Hillcoat
John Hillcoat
John Hillcoat is an Australian screenwriter and film director.Hillcoat was born in Queensland, Australia, and was raised in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. As a child, his paintings were featured in the Art Gallery of Hamilton. He has repeatedly worked with Nick Cave and also the band Depeche Mode...
and featuring a young Noah Taylor
Noah Taylor
Noah George Taylor is an English-born Australian actor.-Early life:Taylor, elder of two boys, was born in London, England, the son of Maggie, a journalist and book editor, and Paul Taylor, a copywriter and journalist. Taylor's Australian parents returned to Australia when he was five, and he grew...
.
Though the single made little impact on the charts, the band's fortunes continued to improve. Sebastian Chase, who had previously managed The Reels
The Reels
The Reels is an Australian rock/indie pop group which formed in Dubbo, New South Wales in 1976 and initially disbanded in 1991, they eventually reformed in 2007. Their 1981 song, "Quasimodo's Dream", was voted one of the Top 10 Australian songs of all time by a 100-member panel from Australasian...
and Dragon
Dragon (band)
Dragon is a popular New Zealand rock band, they were formed in Auckland, New Zealand in January 1972 and relocated to Sydney, Australia in May 1975. They were previously led by singer Marc Hunter and are currently led by his brother bass player Todd Hunter...
, replaced Melios. Beargarden supported Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark
Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark
Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark are a synthpop group whose founding members are originally from the Wirral Peninsula, England...
on their Australian tour, as well as, in Melbourne, Culture Club
Culture Club
Culture Club are a British rock band who were part of the 1980s New Romantic movement. The original band consisted of Boy George , Mikey Craig , Roy Hay and Jon Moss...
, Simple Minds
Simple Minds
Simple Minds are a Scottish rock band who achieved worldwide popularity from the mid-1980s to the early 1990s. The band produced a handful of critically acclaimed albums in the early 1980s and best known for their #1 US, Canada and Netherlands hit single "Don't You ", from the soundtrack of the...
and Eurythmics
Eurythmics
Eurythmics were a British pop rock duo, formed in 1980, currently disbanded, but known to reunite from time to time. Consisting of members Annie Lennox and David A...
.
In July 1985, Beargarden began recording their debut album, All That Fall
All That Fall (Beargarden album)
All That Fall is the debut album by Australian New Wave group Beargarden. It was released in 1986 on Chase Records.Beargarden were selected by Virgin Records Australia as their first Australian signing...
, at Albert Studios
Albert Productions
Albert Productions, a division of music publishing and recording company Albert Music, is one of Australia's longest established independent Australian record label to specialise in rock and roll music. The label was founded in 1964 by Ted Albert, whose family owned and operated the Australian...
in Sydney with producers Bruce Brown & Russel Dunlop. A second single "I Write the News" resulted from these sessions. The B-side, "Sixty Perfect Windows", had been recorded previously at Richmond Recorders, Melbourne, and was produced by Michael Hutchence and Andrew Farris (Hutchence provides backing vocals for the track). A film clip for "I Write The News" was directed by Paul Goldman (Australian Rules
Australian Rules (film)
Australian Rules, is a 2002 Australian film directed by Paul Goldman. The film was adapted from the novel Deadly, Unna? by Phillip Gwynne. It stars Nathan Phillips, Luke Carroll, Tom Budge, Brian Torry and Lisa Flanagan...
, The Night They Called It a Day, The Ben Cousins Story). The single penetrated the lower reaches of the charts but despite heavy promotion and good airplay did not break through.
All That Fall
All That Fall (Beargarden album)
All That Fall is the debut album by Australian New Wave group Beargarden. It was released in 1986 on Chase Records.Beargarden were selected by Virgin Records Australia as their first Australian signing...
took a great many months to complete and during this time the band's inner turmoil again boiled to the surface. Bassist Ross Farnell was replaced by Simon Polinski, and Shaun Andersen (brother of guitarist Shane Andalou) was recruited as second guitar. These changes exacerbated the band's pre-existing instability and, after the release of a third single 'Drink Drink Drink', it folded. Paul Goldman directed a clip for 'Drink Drink Drink' but, given the suggestive nature of the song title and the mistaking of burning scarecrows for burning crucifixes by the producers of Countdown, it failed to air and the single made little impact.
Beargarden's disintegration was accompanied by acrimony and incidents of poor and/or outrageous behaviour on stage. Virgin quickly divested themselves of the product and All That Fall was ultimately released to little fanfare on Chase Records, accompanied by a fourth and final single "A Seaside Song".
Sam Sejavka embarked on a successful writing career, inadvertently becoming infamous as the template for Michael Hutchence's character in the cult movie Dogs in Space
Dogs in Space
Dogs in Space is a 1986 Australian film set in the "little band scene" in Melbourne in 1978. It was directed by Richard Lowenstein and starred Michael Hutchence as Sam, the drug-addled frontman of the fictitious band from which the film takes its name....
. Gus Till joined Michael Hutchence
Michael Hutchence
Michael Kelland John Hutchence was an Australian musician and actor. He was the founding lead singer-songwriter of rock band :INXS from 1977 to his death in 1997, a period of twenty years. Hutchence was a member of short-lived pop rock group Max Q and recorded solo material which was released...
's project Max Q before forming Third Eye with Ollie Olsen
Ollie Olsen
Ollie Olsen 1958, Melbourne, Australia) is an Australian composer, synthesist and sound designer who has been producing and performing rock, electronic and experimental music for the past thirty years...
. He continues to record and produce music. Ross Farnell went on to play in Melbourne band, Crash Politics. Simon Polinski is now a sound engineer and music producer and has worked with major Australian artists such as The Church
The Church (band)
The Church is an Australian rock band formed in Sydney in 1980. Initially associated with new wave and the neo-psychedelic sound of the mid 1980s, their music later became more reminiscent of progressive rock, featuring long instrumental jams and complex guitar interplay...
, Paul Kelly
Paul Kelly (musician)
Paul Maurice Kelly is an Australian rock music singer-songwriter, guitarist, and harmonica player. He has performed solo, and has led numerous groups, including the Dots, the Coloured Girls, and the Messengers. He has worked with other artists and groups, including associated projects Professor...
, Ollie Olsen
Ollie Olsen
Ollie Olsen 1958, Melbourne, Australia) is an Australian composer, synthesist and sound designer who has been producing and performing rock, electronic and experimental music for the past thirty years...
and Stephen Cummings
Stephen Cummings
Stephen Donald Cummings is an Australian rock singer-songwriter and writer. He was lead singer of Melbourne-based rock band, The Sports, during 1976–1981, followed by a solo career which has met with critical acclaim but has had limited commercial success...
. His work with Yothu Yindi
Yothu Yindi
Yothu Yindi are an Australian band with Aboriginal and balanda members formed in 1986. Aboriginal members come from Yolngu homelands near Yirrkala on the Gove Peninsula in Northern Territory's Arnhem Land...
earned him an Aria Award.
In 2010 the Beargarden albums, All That Fall and The Word That Refers to The Word That Refers to Walt Disney (a collection of b-sides and demos) became available for download on Bandcamp
Bandcamp
Bandcamp is an online music store, as well as a platform for artist promotion, that caters mainly for independent artists. Artists on Bandcamp have a customizable microsite with the albums they upload. All tracks can be played for free on the website and some artists offer free music downloads...
.
Albums/EPs
- All That FallAll That Fall (Beargarden album)All That Fall is the debut album by Australian New Wave group Beargarden. It was released in 1986 on Chase Records.Beargarden were selected by Virgin Records Australia as their first Australian signing...
- VirginVirgin RecordsVirgin Records is a British record label founded by English entrepreneur Richard Branson, Simon Draper, and Nik Powell in 1972. The company grew to be a worldwide music phenomenon, with platinum performers such as Roy Orbison, Devo, Genesis, Keith Richards, Janet Jackson, Culture Club, Lenny...
(1986) - The Word That Refers To The Word That Refers to Walt Disney (2010)
Singles
- "The Finer Things" - Virgin VOZ 001 (1984)
- "I Write the News" - Virgin VOZ 004 (1985)
- "Drink Drink Drink" - Virgin VOZ 007 (1985)
- "A Seaside Song" - Chase (1986)