Overview

Purple Avengers first formed at the beginning of the 1990s having been four school friends from Brisbane

Brisbane

Brisbane is the capital and most populous city in the Australian state of Queensland and the third most populous city in Australia. Brisbane's metropolitan area has a population of over 2 million, and the South East Queensland urban conurbation, centred around Brisbane, encompasses a population of...

, 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...

. The band released two albums, with the first album "Starlights Journey Home" being re-released when the band was signed by Sydney based label Phantom Records

Phantom Records

Phantom Records was an Australian independent record label established by Dare Jennings Phantom Records was an Australian independent record label established by Dare Jennings Phantom Records was an Australian independent record label established by Dare Jennings (founder of Mambo (Clothing) and...

. The band released two more EPs through Phantom Records through the 90s (Emma Peel Sessions, Dragonfly). Prior to these recordings the Purple Avengers also released an independently recorded and pressed 7" single ("When Will the World Stop Spinning Blues").

The first EP, Emma Peel Sessions, got its name from a clever amalgam of the 60's TV icon Emma Peel

Emma Peel

Emma Peel was a fictional spy played by Diana Rigg in the British 1960s adventure television series The Avengers. She was born Emma Knight, the daughter of an industrialist, Sir John Knight.-Casting:...

 from The Avengers and influential British music broadcaster John Peel

John Peel

John Robert Parker Ravenscroft, OBE , known professionally as John Peel, was an English disc jockey, radio presenter, record producer and journalist. He was the longest-serving of the original BBC Radio 1 DJs, broadcasting regularly from 1967 until his death in 2004...

 and his long running John Peel Sessions radio show.

The line up consisted of electric guitar

Electric guitar

An electric guitar is a guitar that uses the principle of direct electromagnetic induction to convert vibrations of its metal strings into electric audio signals. The signal generated by an electric guitar is too weak to drive a loudspeaker, so it is amplified before sending it to a loudspeaker...

, electronic organ

Electronic organ

An electronic organ is an electronic keyboard instrument which was derived from the harmonium, pipe organ and theatre organ. Originally, it was designed to imitate the sound of pipe organs, theatre organs, band sounds, or orchestral sounds....

, electric bass

Electric Bass

Electric bass can mean:*Electric upright bass, the electric version of a double bass*Electric bass guitar*Bass synthesizer*Big Mouth Billy Bass, a battery-powered singing fish...

 and drums. The band was strongly influenced by Psychedelic rock

Psychedelic rock

Psychedelic rock is a style of rock music that is inspired or influenced by psychedelic culture and attempts to replicate and enhance the mind-altering experiences of psychedelic drugs. It emerged during the mid 1960s among folk rock and blues rock bands in United States and the United Kingdom...

 and heavy rock sounds, being known for playing long and complex songs in their early performing days in Brisbane. This was balanced by grunge influenced songs of more conventional length as the band developed through the 90s as it gigged and toured the Australia.

The band's song "Another World" was featured on the compilation album, Behind the Banana Curtain

Behind the Banana Curtain

Behind the Banana Curtain is a compilation album released by 4ZZZ. It is a 2 disc set that documents 25 years of 4ZZZ broadcasting and their contribution to the Australian city of Brisbane's music scene-Track listing:Disc One...

 by radio station 4ZZZ

4ZZZ

4ZZZ is an independent community radio station operating in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, at the frequency 102.1 FM. As a community radio station, 4ZZZ is a member of the Community Broadcasting Association of Australia...

.

The band reformed in 2010 to play at a one-off show to celebrate BUMS (Brisbane Underground Music Scene) 20 Year Anniversary gig.

Albums

• Starlights Hourney Home (1992) - independent release by the band
• Starlights Hourney Home (1995) - Phantom Records reissue
• Kool Ray (1998)

External links

• Purple Avengers Website ("Purple Avengers H.Q.". http://purpleavengers.com/) - features detailed overview of the career of the band.