Johnny Diesel
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Johnny Diesel, (born Mark Lizotte on May 31, 1967 in America) is an Australian musician.
He moved with his family to Perth and settled in Western Australia. Mark grew up with many musical instruments, and it was the electric guitar that attracted him.
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[edit] Early career
Mark Lizotte performed with The Kind, The Innocent Bystanders and Close Action. The Innocent Bystanders recorded a debut album. He joined the band The Innocent Bystanders around 1983. He then left to form his own group in June 1986.
Diesel burst out of Perth in 1987 with the band Johnny Diesel and the Injectors.
[edit] Breakthrough
Johnny Diesel and the Injectors debuted in March 1989, and the album was recorded in Memphis with producer Terry Manning. It spawned the hits Don't Need Love, Soul Revival, Cry in Shame and Looking For Love. The band won ARIA awards for Best New Talent and Best Selling Album Of The Year (more than 280,000 sold).
Live In London EP followed,a mini-album. It was recorded live by BBC 1 for "The Tommy Vance Sessions" on Friday 14th May. "Johnny Diesel" pulled the pin on the Injectors at this point, resurfacing as Diesel with the single Love Junk in July 1991.
Hepfidelity, followed at the start of 1992. It contained the singles Come To Me, Tip Of My Tongue, Man Alive and One More Time, and sold more than 200,000 copies. Diesel won ARIA awards for Best Album and Best Male Artist in 1992.
The Lobbyist, was a mix of new songs, re-workings of some Hepfidelity tracks and a couple of covers; released in August 1993. It hit number one on the Australian Charts, and Diesel again won ARIA awards for Best Male Artist.
Solid State Rhyme in 1994 (featured All Come Together, Fifteen Feet Of Snow and Get It On), was another multi-platinum smash.
Short Cool Ones, an album of blues covers and one original (Diesel's Other Man), with Chris Wilson. After some production and writing work on Vika & Linda's Princess Tabu album, Diesel disappeared for a while. He returned with Rewind - The Best Of in October 1996.
At this point in his career, Diesel has sold over 800,000 records in Australia and won nine awards.
[edit] Comeback - As Mark Lizotte
He's an artist who's never been afraid of change. As an example, listen to Soul Lost Companion first single, 'Dig'. "So many times I've seen you looking for the bones," Mark sings. "Don't dig it up … Forget what we've learned/Let your mighty icons burn.". This album, released in 1999, signalled Diesel's comeback to Australian music.
Hear was his next release, in October 2002. It was described as "a new platter of certified elite musical craftsmanship".
Jimmy Barnes with Mark (Diesel) Lizotte appeared on Andrew Denton's ABC TV program Enough Rope, backed up by Barnes's children Eliza Jane, Jackie and Elly May in 10 October 2004.
Singled Out was released in 2004, and is a stripped-down recap of Diesel's, a document of an extraordinary talent supremely comfortable with his past.
[edit] Discography
- Johnny Diesel and The Injectors (1989)
- Live In London EP (1989)
- Hepfidelity (1992)
- The Lobbyist (1993)
- Solid State Rhyme (1994)
- Rewind - The Best Of (1996)
- Hear (2002)
- Singled Out (2004)
- Coathanger Antennae (2006)
'as Mark Lizotte':
- Soul Lost Companion (1999)
[edit] Video
- The First Fifteen '89-'04 Live (2005)
