Savage Garden

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

You have new messages (last change).
For the eponymous debut album, see Savage Garden (album).
For the album by The 69 Eyes, see Savage Garden (69 Eyes album).
Savage Garden

Background information
Origin Australia Australia
Genre(s) Soft Rock, Alternative Rock, Pop Rock
Years active 1994–2001
Label(s) Roadshow Music
Columbia
Website SavageGarden.com
Former members
Darren Hayes
Daniel Jones

Savage Garden was an Australian pop duo that enjoyed international success over the course of several years. The band was comprised of Darren Hayes (vocals) and Daniel Jones (keyboards, sequencing, and guitar).

Contents

[edit] Formation

In 1993, multi-instrumentalist and producer Daniel Jones placed an advertisement in Brisbane newspaper Time Off seeking a vocalist for his five-piece band Red Edge. Darren Hayes, who had previously been a kindergarten teacher, responded and was asked to join immediately after his first audition.

In June 1994, Darren and Daniel left Red Edge to pursue a career together. The new duo was named “Savage Garden”—a name taken from The Vampire Chronicles by Anne Rice ("The mind of each man is a Savage Garden...") of which Darren is a fan.

By the end of that year, the pair had penned enough songs for a demo tape, which they sent to various record companies around the world. In 1995, they entered the studio to work on their eponymous debut album.

[edit] Debut

Daniel Jones & Darren Hayes
Enlarge
Daniel Jones & Darren Hayes

In July of 1996, under Roadshow Music, the duo released their debut single "I Want You." The single was a hit in Australia and became the highest-selling single by an Australian artist of the year. The success of the single garnered much interest from many U.S. record labels, and in September, Columbia Records won the bidding war to sign the band. In November, a second single, "To The Moon And Back," was released and was another chart hit—reaching No. 1 in January of the following year.

"I Want You" was released in the United States in February 1997, where it peaked at No. 4 and quickly achieved gold status. "Truly Madly Deeply," the band's third Australian single, was released in March and reached No. 1 just before "I Want You" was released across Europe in April. The duo's debut album, Savage Garden, entered the Australian charts at No. 1 in March and remained at that peak for 17 weeks—it was released around the world two weeks later. At the end of May, "To The Moon And Back" was the most played song on U.S. radio.

In June, a fourth single, "Break Me, Shake Me" was released in Australia as the band's debut album sat at No. 3 on the U.S. charts and was certified gold by the RIAA. By the end of August, the album was seven-times platinum in Australia, triple-platinum in Canada, and double-platinum in New Zealand and Singapore. At the end of August, Savage Garden was nominated for a record 13 ARIA Awards. The 10 ARIAs won by them in September was also a record, and one that still stands today. Riding this massive wave of popularity was the release of their fifth Australian single, "Universe."

In November, "Truly Madly Deeply" became their third U.S. release, shooting up the charts to blow Elton John's "Candle In The Wind 1997" out of its 14-week run at the number-one spot. By the end of 1997, Darren and Daniel had become international stars.

In January 1998, "All Around Me," a sixth single, was released just as the band kicked off their worldwide tour in Cairns, Australia. By the end of the year, "Truly Madly Deeply" was the most-played song on U.S. radio and the only one-sided single to spend a full year in the Top 30 of the Billboard Hot 100.

As of 2005, the band's debut album had been certified 12-times platinum in Australia, six-times platinum in the United States, and double-platinum in the United Kingdom.

[edit] Affirmation

Savage Garden during the Affirmation era
Enlarge
Savage Garden during the Affirmation era

In February 1999, "The Animal Song" (featured in the Disney film "The Other Sister") became a hit in Australia and the US. That September saw the release of a new single previewing their forthcoming album, the smooth, romantic ballad, "I Knew I Loved You."

In November of that year, the duo's second album, Affirmation, was released around the world. It took a month for it to go platinum in the U.S., largely due to the success of the single "I Knew I Loved You," which hit No. 1 on the charts, eventually going platinum, and becoming the most-played single on U.S. radio for the year.

Affirmation saw a new turn for Savage Garden: their looks had more similarities to that of mainstream pop and some of their new songs possessed a more Adult Contemporary sound.

The group finished out the year by winning two Billboard Music Awards: Adult Contemporary Single of the Year and Hot 100 Singles Airplay of the Year.

In February 2000, as "Crash And Burn" became the third single from their sophomore album, 1997's "Truly Madly Deeply" was amazingly still on the Monitor/Billboard Adult Contemporary Airplay Chart, breaking the record for length of time for any single on that chart. (It would finally drop off the chart after 123 weeks.)

Truly Madly Completely: The Best Of Savage Garden is Savage Garden's greatest hits compilation
Enlarge
Truly Madly Completely: The Best Of Savage Garden is Savage Garden's greatest hits compilation

In June, Darren Hayes performed "O Sole Mio" at Italian tenor Luciano Pavarotti’s annual charitable benefit concert Pavarotti and Friends. Savage Garden's great success was reflected once again at the Billboard Music Awards, where they won Best Adult Contemporary Video and No. 1 Adult Contemporary Song of the Year, for "I Knew I Loved You," and No. 1 Adult Contemporary Artist of the Year. "I Knew I Loved You" stayed on the Monitor/Billboard Adult Contemporary Airplay Chart for 124 weeks—overtaking the duo’s own record previously set by "Truly Madly Deeply."

[edit] The split

In October 2001, Savage Garden officially announced their breakup and the duo went their separate ways. Darren began work on his first solo album. The first single, "Insatiable", was released in 2002 and the album, Spin was released the same year. Spin spawned several UK Top 40 singles, including "I Miss You", "Strange Relationship", and "Crush (1980 Me)".

Darren’s second solo album, The Tension And The Spark, was released in 2004, its first single "Pop!ular" becoming a dance hit. Despite a follow-up single, "Darkness", the second album failed to repeat the success of his debut solo album.

[edit] Truly Madly Completely

The greatest hits package Truly Madly Completely: The Best Of Savage Garden was released on November 7, 2005 and early 2006 in the US, with a new single by Darren Hayes entitled "So Beautiful". The collection contains the hits from both studio albums, alongside five B-Sides and two new songs by Darren Hayes. Several variations of the release also feature a bonus DVD featuring several music video clips, as well as the Parallel Lives documentary video.

Although the two were together for only a short span of time, Darren and Daniel sold over 23 million records around the world and made Savage Garden one of the most successful music duos of the late 1990s.

[edit] Discography

[edit] Albums

  • Platinum sales: Australia (x12), Canada (x9), New Zealand (x8), USA (x7), India (x6), Singapore (x6), UK (x4), Philippines (x4), Sweden (x3), Malaysia (x3), Taiwan (x3), Czech Republic (x2), Denmark (x2), Finland (x2), Indonesia (x2), Mexico (x2), Hong Kong (x2), Thailand (x2), Germany, Greece, Italy, Norway, Portugal, Poland, South Africa, Switzerland, Korea, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Japan.
  • Gold sales: France (x2), Austria, Netherlands, Spain, Turkey, Chile, Peru, Venezuela.
  • Platinum sales: Australia (x8), USA (x6), Sweden (x4), Canada (x4), India (x3), Indonesia (x3), Philippines (x3), UK (x3), New Zealand (x3), Denmark (x2), Malaysia (x2), Singapore, Taiwan (x2), Thailand (x2), Mexico (x2), Finland, Portugal, Korea, South Africa, Costa Rica, Japan.
  • Gold sales: Germany, Greece, Italy, Norway, Switzerland, Hong Kong, Brazil, Chile, Peru, Venezuela.

[edit] Singles

  • "I Want You" (1996) #4 US, #11 UK, #4 Australia, #1 Canada
  • "To the Moon and Back" (1996) #24 US, #3 UK, #1 Australia
  • "Truly Madly Deeply" (1997) #1 (2 weeks) US, #4 UK, #1 (8 weeks) Australia, #1 Canada
  • "Break Me Shake Me" (1997) #7 Australia
  • "Universe" (1997) #26 Australia
  • "Tears of Pearls" (1998)
  • "Santa Monica" (1998)
  • "I Want You '98" (1998) #12 UK
  • "The Animal Song" (1999) #19 US, #16 UK, #3 Australia
  • "I Knew I Loved You" (1999) #1 (4 weeks) US, #10 UK, #4 Australia
  • "Affirmation" (2000) #8 UK, #16 Australia
  • "Crash And Burn" (2000) #24 US, #14 UK, #16 Australia
  • "Chained To You" (2000) #21 Australia
  • "Hold Me" (2000) #16 UK, #51 Australia
  • "The Best Thing" (2001) #35 UK

[edit] Videos/DVDs

[edit] Soundtrack Contributions

[edit] Achievements

  • Sold over 25 million albums around the world.
  • Sold more than 15 million singles around the world.
  • Spent five years in the UK album charts despite only two albums released.
  • Had 10 Top 40 chart singles in the UK. Of these, nine charted Top 20 and four went Top 10.
  • Performed "Affirmation" as part of the Sydney 2000 Olympic Closing Ceremony.
  • On average Savage Garden have sold 12.5 million copies per album. This is more than any other Australian act ever.

[edit] Savage Garden

  • Debuted at #1 on the Australian ARIA album chart where it spent 7 weeks.
  • Spent 102 weeks on the UK Top 200 albums chart (96 weeks were consecutive), having peaked at #2 after its release in March 1998.

[edit] Affirmation

  • Debuted at #1 in Australia, where it stayed for 6 weeks.
  • Spent 158 weeks in the Top 200 albums chart in the UK (99 of which were consecutive). Of those, 9 consecutive weeks were in the Top 10 and 13 in the Top 20.

[edit] "Truly Madly Deeply"

  • Released in Australia in March 1997 and hit the #1 slot.
  • Stayed there for 8 weeks and went 2x Platinum.
  • Released in USA in November 1997. Peaked at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and remained in the US Top 10 for a total of 26 weeks.
  • Hit the #1 spot on the Eurochart Hot 100 Singles Chart.
  • Was the only one-sided single to spend a full year in the Top 30 of the US Billboard Hot 100 chart.
  • Hit the #1 spot in the Uk and enjoyed 5 weeks at the top spot, enjoyed 13 weeks in the Top 10, And 27 weeks in the top 20.

[edit] Awards

[edit] 1997

  • Best International Debut Single ("I Want You")
  • Album of the Year (Savage Garden)
  • Single of the Year ("Truly, Madly, Deeply")
  • Song of the Year ("To The Moon & Back")
  • Highest Selling Single ("Truly, Madly, Deeply")
  • Best Group
  • Breakthrough Artist – Album (Savage Garden)
  • Best Pop Release ("To The Moon and Back")
  • Best Independent Release (Savage Garden)
  • Producer of the Year (Charles Fisher, Savage Garden)
  • Engineer of the Year

[edit] 1998

  • IFPI Platinum Europe Award in recognition of European sales in excess of 1,000,000 (1998)
  • 12th Annual ARIA Awards (Australia):
  • Highest Selling Album (Savage Garden)
  • Outstanding Achievement Award
  • APRA Music Awards (Australasian Performing Right Association)
  • Songwriters of the Year
  • Most Performed Australian Work Overseas ("I Want You")

[edit] 1999

  • Adult Contemporary Single of the Year ("Truly Madly Deeply")
  • Hot 100 Singles Airplay of the Year ("Truly Madly Deeply")
  • Best Pop Release ("The Animal Song")
  • Top 10 on 7 different year-end charts in Billboard Magazine in 1999, based on sales and radio airplay in the US:
  • Top Pop Artists (#3)
  • Hot 100 Singles Artists Duo/Group (#3)
  • Hot 100 Singles (#4 - "Truly Madly Deeply")
  • Top 200 Album Artists Duo/Group (#4)
  • Top 200 Albums (#9 - Savage Garden)
  • Top 200 Album Artists (#10)
  • APRA Music Awards (Australasian Performing Right Association)
  • Most Performed Australian Work Overseas ("Truly Madly Deeply")

[edit] 2000

  • Most Played Song on American Radio (‘I Knew I Loved You’)
  • World Music Awards, Monaco
  • "World’s Bestselling Australian Group"
  • Highest Selling Album (Affirmation)
  • Best AC Video ("I Knew I Loved You")
  • AC Song of the Year ("I Knew I Loved You")
  • AC Artist of the Year
  • BRMB Music Radio Award
  • Best International Group
  • APRA Music Awards (Australasian Performing Right Association)
  • Most Performed Australian Work ("Animal Song")
  • Most Performed Australian Work Overseas ("Truly Madly Deeply")

[edit] 2001

  • 18th Annual ASCAP Pop Music Awards (American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers)
  • Song of the Year (2001)
  • APRA Music Awards (Australasian Performing Right Association)
  • Most Performed Australian Work Overseas ("I Knew I Loved You")

[edit] 2002

  • APRA Music Awards (Australasian Performing Right Association)
  • Most Performed Australian Work ("Hold Me")
  • Most Performed Australian Work Overseas ("Crash And Burn")

[edit] 2003

  • APRA Music Awards (Australasian Performing Right Association)
  • Most Performed Australian Work Overseas ("I Knew I Loved You")

[edit] 2004

  • APRA Music Awards (Australasian Performing Right Association)
  • Most Performed Australian Work Overseas ("I Knew I Loved You")

[edit] Trivia

  • The Savage Garden fanclub was run by Daniel Jones' family members and family friends. Membership (which was a yearly subscription to the Savage Garden fanzine) and merchandise were available from the fanclub website, and it was possible for non-members to buy certain items without the membership discount.

[edit] External links

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org../../../s/a/v/Savage_Garden_2fc8.html"