The Reels
The Reels 1988
Background information
Origin	Dubbo, New South Wales, Australia
Genre(s)	Indie Rock
Years active	1979 - 1991
Label(s)	Mercury Records RCA Records K-tel Regular Records

The Reels was an Australian rock music group which performed and recorded between 1978 and 1991. Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Aerial image of Dubbo viewed from the southeast For the seat in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly, see Electoral district of Dubbo. ... Capital Sydney Government Constitutional monarchy Governor Professor Marie Bashir Premier Morris Iemma (ALP) Federal representation  - House seats 50  - Senate seats 12 Gross State Product (2004-05)  - Product ($m)  $305,437 (1st)  - Product per capita  $45,153/person (4th) Population (End of March 2006)  - Population  6,817,100 (1st)  - Density  8. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... Indie rock is a subgenre of rock music often used to refer to bands that are on small independent record labels or that arent on labels at all. ... See also: Musical groups established in 1979 Record labels established in 1979 1979 in music (UK) 1970s in music // Stevie Wonder uses digital audio recording technology in recording his album Journey through the Secret Life of Plants. ... See also: 1991 in music (UK) Musical groups established in 1991 Record labels established in 1991 // 1991 was the year that grunge music made its popular breakthrough. ... This does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... Mercury Records was a record label founded in Chicago, Illinois in 1945 by Irving Green, Berle Adams and Arthur Talmadge. ... RCA Records is one of the flagship labels of Sony BMG Music Entertainment. ... K-tel International is an As-Seen-On-TV company, which is most noted for their compilation music albums such as The Super Hits series, The Dynamic Hits series and The Number One Hits series. ... For other uses, see Rock music (disambiguation). ... Year 1978 (MCMLXXVIII) was a common year starting on Sunday (link displays the 1978 Gregorian calendar). ... Year 1991 (MCMXCI) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the 1991 Gregorian calendar). ...

Biography

Early Days

The Reels originated with the group Native Son (Mason, Hooper, Bliss and Newham), which was formed in the country town of Dubbo, New South Wales and played in the area for about three years, mainly playing cover versions of current and classic hits. After moving to Sydney in 1978 they added Abrahams and changed the band's name to The Brucelanders. They gradually developed an original repertoire of fast-paced, quirky pop and ska music, and their energetic performances gained them a strong following on the thriving east coast live music scene at that time. They were also given enormous support in Sydney by the ABC's rock radio station Double J (which moved to the FM band and became Triple J in 1980). Aerial image of Dubbo viewed from the southeast For the seat in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly, see Electoral district of Dubbo. ... The Sydney Opera House on Sydney Harbour Sydney (pronounced ) is the most populous city in Australia, with a metropolitan area population of approximately 4. ... The Australian Broadcasting Corporation or ABC is Australias national non-profit public broadcaster. ... Triple J (JJJ) is a nationally-networked, government-funded Australian radio station (a division of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation), mainly aimed at youth (defined as those between 12 and 25). ... The abbreviations FM, Fm, and fm may refer to: Electrical engineering Frequency modulation (FM) and its most common applications: FM broadcasting, used primarily to broadcast music and speech at VHF frequencies FM synthesis, a sound-generation technique popularized by early digital synthesizers Science Femtometre (fm), an SI measure of length... For other uses, see JJJ. Triple J is a nationally-networked, government-funded Australian radio station (a division of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation), mainly aimed at youth (defined as those between 12 and 25). ...

In 1979 they secured a recording contract with the Australian branch of the Mercury Records label, changed their name to The Reels and released their debut single, "Love Will Find A Way". This, and its follow-up "Prefab Heart", combined with the band's distinctive image, gained increasing attention with their music videos featured on the influential national TV pop show Countdown. These were followed by their self-titled debut album with producer Mark Opitz (The Angels, Cold Chisel). Mercury Records was a record label founded in Chicago, Illinois in 1945 by Irving Green, Berle Adams and Arthur Talmadge. ... A music video is a short film or video that accompanies a complete piece of music, most commonly a song. ... Countdown was a long-running popular weekly Australian music television show broadcast by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation from late 1974 until July 19, 1987. ... The Angels were an American girl group, best-known for their 1963 hit My Boyfriends Back. // Barbara Allbut and Phyllis Jiggs Allbut and Linda Jansen (soon replaced with Peggy Santiglia) had their first hit in 1961, with Till, followed by a lesser success called Cry Baby Cry. Both songs... This article is about the Australian pub rock band. ...

In 1980 the Reels added second keyboardist Karen Ansell and released their third single, 'After The News'. It marked an important transition in their music -- their songs began to take on a more serious lyrical tone, and (like DEVO) they dispensed with guitars, began using synthesizers as their main instruments, and were one of the first groups to use wireless headsets instead of traditional microphones. Karen Ansell was an influential member of Australian band The Reels. ...

In mid-1980 the group undertook the innovative "Reels By Rail" tour, which saw them using rail transport to travel to all the destinations on their tour. At the end of the year, returning to their roots as a covers band, they released a five track Christmas EP, Five Great Gift Ideas From The Reels, produced by Bruce Brown and Russell Dunlop, which included versions of Jim Reeves' "According To My Heart", and Freda Payne's "Band Of Gold". "According To My Heart" was very successful and featured a folksy music video filmed at the ranch of Australian country music star Smokey Dawson. This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Freda Charcelia Payne (born on September 19, 1942 in Detroit, Michigan) is an African-American singer and actress. ... This article includes a list of works cited but its sources remain unclear because it lacks in-text citations. ... Smoky Dawson MBE (born 19 March 1913) is an Australian country music performer. ...

Quasimodo's Dream

In early 1981 they released the album considered by many to be their best work, Quasimodo's Dream, which saw the band displaying an impressive maturity in songwriting, backed with strong performances, inventive arrangements and top-class production. The LP's classic title track was released as a single, and although widely considered to be among the best Australian singles and albums of that period, neither it nor the album was a major commercial or chart success, although it did succeed in reaching #31 in June that year. The band undertook the "Kitchen Man Tour", which saw the stage dressed as a fully-equipped Australian kitchen.

The Reels' lack of mainstream commercial success was at odds with their strong live following, but it was due in part to the restrictive programming on commercial radio at that time, which gave little exposure to local "new wave" acts. The group's deteriorating relationship with Mercury was also a factor, as evidenced by the LP's track listing -- it included the earlier hit "According To My Heart", but a disclaimer printed on the LP sleeve noted that the track had been included at the insistence of the record company (i.e against the band's wishes).

Bliss left just after the recording of the album, and Newham had also quit by the time the LP was released. The new five-piece lineup (with Fidock) cut a new single, "No.3", which was not successful; soon after this, both Abrahams and Ansell left. Now reduced to a trio (Mason, Hooper and Fidock) they continued performing by augmenting their live sound with taped backing tracks, and used the new Fairlight synthesizer for studio recordings. The Fairlight CMI (Computer Musical Instrument) was the first digital sampling synthesizer. ...

K-Tel

In late 1982, having signed a new contract with the RCA Records label, The Reels scored an unexpected hit with a wry cover of the Burt Bacharach-Hal David classic "This Guy's In Love With You", which reached #7. They followed this with a highly unusual tactic -- they recorded a one-off album for the K-tel company, which was best known for its licenced pop hit compilations and budget 'golden oldie' LPs. Although the tracks on Beautiful walked a fine line between sincere tribute and gentle parody, it proved to be the biggest success of their career, selling in excess of 40,000 copies and reaching #29 in the LP chart - this chart position would presumably have been much higher if the album had been sold through chart return shops. The album was later released through RCA. RCA Records is one of the flagship labels of Sony BMG Music Entertainment. ... This biographical article needs additional references for verification. ... Hal David (born May 25, 1921 in New York City, New York) is an American lyricist and songwriterFicticiousbyMichaelAlfredMontalbano. ... This Guys in Love with You is a song written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David and recorded by Herb Alpert. ... K-tel International is an As-Seen-On-TV company, which is most noted for their compilation music albums such as The Super Hits series, The Dynamic Hits series and The Number One Hits series. ...

In 1983 saw the band travel to the United States and Britain, released another five track EP, Pitt Street Farmers (the title is an old Australian satirical expression referring to wealthy rural landowners who never leave the city). This was followed by a new version of "Quasimodo's Dream" in December 1983, which demonstrated the band's faith in the song, although it failed to chart on its second release.

At this point Mason was forced to give up performing after contracting hepatitis, and this effectively ended the group. Hooper joined The Church as keyboard player, and then joined The Mullanes, which was the first incarnation of Crowded House. Hepatitis (plural hepatitides) implies injury to liver characterised by presence of inflammatory cells in the liver tissue. ... The Church are an Australian rock band formed in Sydney in 1980. ... The Mullanes was the first incarnation of Australasian rock group Crowded House; the name was taken from the maiden name of the mother of the groups leader, Neil Finn, Mullane is also Finns middle name. ... Crowded House is a rock group formed in Melbourne, Australia, and led by New Zealand musician and singer-songwriter Neil Finn. ...

By late 1985 Mason had recovered and The Reels was revived (with the original lineup of Mason, Hooper, Bliss and Newham) and completed their commitments to RCA with a single, an unsuccessful cover version of Etta James's "It Must Be Love". RCA Records is one of the flagship labels of Sony BMG Music Entertainment. ... Etta James (born Jamesetta Hawkins on January 25, 1938) is an American blues, soul, R&B, and jazz singer and songwriter. ... It Must Be Love is a song originally written and recorded in 1971 by Labi Siffre. ...

Neighbors

They then signed with Regular Records and released a radically slowed-down, synthesiser-driven version of Creedence Clearwater Revival's "Bad Moon Rising". It proved to be another surprise hit, reaching #11 (October 1986); the arrangement featuring prominent use of the Vocoder voice synthesiser, which the band also used extensively on stage to augment Mason's vocals. Bliss left the band again at the end of 1986. This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Bad Moon Rising is a 1969 song by Creedence Clearwater Revival. ... A vocoder (name derived from voice encoder, formerly also called voder) is a speech analyzer and synthesizer. ...

Their next single (Jan. 1987) was a cover of the old Edison Lighthouse hit "Love Grows (Where My Rosemary Goes)" . During the year they embarked on the popular "Reels By Request" tour, where the audience was allowed to call out for the songs they wanted to hear. This was followed by an 'all Australian songs' version of the same concept, and this in turn led to the Reels' next studio album, Neighbors - the name of which, for reasons best known to the band, excluded the 'u' which would normally be contained in the Australian English spelling. This LP contained their idiosyncratic versions of thirteen Australian rock classics, including the singles "Are You Old Enough" (originally a hit for Dragon) and "Forever Now" (by Cold Chisel). Steve Prestwich, who wrote "Forever Now", played on The Reels' version. The British pop group Edison Lighthouse was primarily the vehicle of session vocalist Tony Burrows; the groups lone top 40 hit Love Grows (Where My Rosemary Goes) from 1970, was one of four near contemporaneous UK Top Ten hit singles by Burrows under different names. ... Love Grows (Where My Rosemary Goes), by Edison Lighthouse, was the one-hit wonder to bring success to the band during the year 1970. ... Dragon was the name of a popular New Zealand rock band, led by lead singer Marc Hunter and his brother Todd Hunter. ... This article is about the Australian pub rock band. ...

The End...

In 1989 Mason appeared in the acclaimed Australian feature film Ghosts... of the Civil Dead, in which he co-starred with Nick Cave. In September 1991 the Reels issued their first original single in five years, "I Don't Love You Anymore", followed by what proved to be their last single, a remix by Filthy Lucre of "Bad Moon Rising" . The group officially disbanded to coincide with the release of the compilation CD Requiem. Ghosts. ... Nicholas Edward Cave (born September 22, 1957) is an Australian musician, songwriter, author, screenwriter, and occasional actor. ... Filthy Lucre were a band featuring Phil Lewis on lead vocals and guitar, Steve Dior on guitar, Jim Writ on bass, and MC Bones on drums. ...

David Mason is the son of mid-1970s NSW state Liberal Party leader John Mason. Hooper was also a member of The Church, The Mullanes (the original incarnation of Crowded House), and also recorded with The Rockmelons and Ross Wilson. Karen Ansell (now Ansel), went on to become a noted film and TV computer graphics specialist in the United States (IMDb). The 1970s decade refers to the years from 1970 to 1979, also called The Seventies. ... This article needs additional references or sources for verification. ... The Church are an Australian rock band formed in Sydney in 1980. ... The Mullanes was the first incarnation of Australasian rock group Crowded House; the name was taken from the maiden name of the mother of the groups leader, Neil Finn, Mullane is also Finns middle name. ... Crowded House is a rock group formed in Melbourne, Australia, and led by New Zealand musician and singer-songwriter Neil Finn. ... Ross Wilson (born November 18, 1947) is an Australian musician, singer, songwriter, guitarist and producer who is best known for fronting the groups Daddy Cool and Mondo Rock, and for his production of albums by the Australian band Skyhooks. ... Karen Ansell was an influential member of Australian band The Reels. ... For the journal by ACM SIGGRAPH, see Computer Graphics (Publication). ...

Other info

David Mason appeared in the Countdown Spectacular 2 concert series in Australia between late-August and early-September 2007 as a solo performer. He sang the song "Quasimodo's Dream" only. The Countdown Spectacular is a series of concerts reviving the nostalgia of the Australian music television series Countdown. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era. ...

Personnel

The major figures in the group were:

• David Mason (lead vocals, keyboards)
• Craig Hooper (guitars, keyboards, vocals)
• Colin 'Polly' Newham (keyboards)
• John Bliss (drums)
• Paul Abrahams (bass)
• Karen Ansell (keyboards, vocals)
• Stefan Fidock (drums)

Craig Hooper is an Australian musician who was a core member of influential band The Reels as well as playing and recording with other Australian artists such as The Mullanes (the initial incarnation of Crowded House), The Church, The Rockmelons, The Crystal Set, Ross Wilson and The Port-of-Call... Karen Ansell was an influential member of Australian band The Reels. ...

Discography

Albums

The Reels (1979)

Quasimodo's Dream (May 1981)

Beautiful (October, 1982)

Neighbors (November, 1988)

Image File history File links Metadata No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links Metadata No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links Metadata No higher resolution available. ...

Compilations

Unreel (October, 1983)

Requiem, (Best of...) (1995)

Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links Metadata No higher resolution available. ...

EPs

Five Great Gift Ideas From The Reels (November, 1980)

Pitt Street Farmers (September, 1983)

Image File history File links Metadata No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ...

Singles

• "Love Will Find a Way" / "Spot the Ridge" (1979)
• "According to My Heart" / "Love Will Find a Way" (1980)
• "Prefab Hearts" / "Misused Abused" (1980)
• "After The News" (1980)
• "Shout and Deliver" / "Depression" (1981)
• "Quasimodo's Dream" / "(Love Is) Here Today" (1981)
• "No.3" / "1, 2, 3" / "Haunted" (1981)
• "This Guy's in Love With You" / "Cry" (1982)
• "Last Night (I Didn't Get to Sleep at All)" / "Silence Is Golden" (1983)
• "Happiness" / "Comedy" (1983)
• "It Must Be Love" / "My Family" (1985)
• "Bad Moon Rising" / "World's End " (1986)
• "Love Grows (Where My Rosemary Goes)" / "Media Themes II" (1987)
• "Forever Now" (1988)
• "I Don't Love You Anymore" (1991)

Trivia

• The song Quasimodo's Dream is regarded as an Australian rock classic and has been covered by Kate Ceberano, Rob Snarski, Mick Harvey and Jimmy Little. In 2001 it was voted one of the Top 10 Australian songs of all time by APRA.
• Dave Mason's father, John, was leader of the NSW Liberal Party in the late 1970s, at the same time The Reels' career began.
• John Bliss has become an expert on lawn bowls.

Kate Ceberano, born 17 November 1966, is an award winning Australian pop vocalist entertainer, and Scientologist. ... Michael John Harvey (born 29 September 1958 in Rochester, Victoria, Australia), is an Australian rock musician, composer, arranger and record producer. ... Note: James Jimmy Doolittle bombed Tokyo in WW2. ... APRA could refer to the: American Popular Revolutionary Alliance, a Peruvian political party Australian Prudential Regulation Authority Australasian Performing Rights Association This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ...

External links

• Entry on HowlSpace
• Entry in the Encyclopedia of Australian Rock & Pop
• 1982 Trade Union Club (Sydney) playlist by "NoNightSweats"
• The Reels - Memorable TV
• Nostaglia Central website - The Reels profile