Savage Garden

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For the eponymous debut album, see Savage Garden (album).
For the album by The 69 Eyes, see Savage Garden (69 Eyes album).
Savage Garden
Darren Hayes (left) and Daniel Jones
Background information
Origin Flag of Australia Brisbane, Australia
Genre(s) Pop
Soft rock
Years active 1994–2001
Label(s) Roadshow
Columbia
Website Official website
Former members
Darren Hayes
Daniel Jones

Savage Garden was an Australian pop duo that enjoyed major international success between 1997 and 2000. The band was composed of Darren Hayes (vocals) and Daniel Jones (keyboards, sequencing, and guitar). They had a string of hits in the late nineties, and are best remembered today for their ballads "Truly Madly Deeply", which is considered their signature song, and songs "I Knew I Loved You" and "I Want You".

Contents

[edit] History

[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 was studying at a university in Brisbane at the time, 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 was 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 album

Daniel Jones & Darren Hayes
Daniel Jones & Darren Hayes

In July 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 US 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 #1 in January of the following year.

"I Want You" was released in the United States in February 1997, where it peaked at #4 and quickly achieved gold status. "Truly Madly Deeply", the band's third Australian single, was released in March and reached #1 just before "I Want You" was released across Europe in April. The duo's debut album, Savage Garden, entered the Australian charts at #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 US radio.

In June, a fourth single, "Break Me Shake Me" was released in Australia as the band's debut album sat at #3 on the US charts and was certified gold by RIAA. By the end of August, the album had gone 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 US 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, Hayes and Jones 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 US 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 twelve-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
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 US, largely due to the success of the single "I Knew I Loved You," which hit #1 on the charts, eventually going platinum and becoming the most-played single on US 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 of any single on that chart. It would finally drop off the chart after 123 weeks.

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".

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

[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 – with a US release following in early 2006 – and included a new single by Darren Hayes entitled "So Beautiful". The collection contained the hits from both studio albums, alongside five B-Sides and two new songs by Darren Hayes. Several variations of the release also included a bonus DVD featuring several music video clips, as well as the Parallel Lives documentary, which was earlier released as a bonus feature of the Superstars and Cannonballs DVD/VHS.

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 at the turn of the last century.

[edit] Tours

[edit] The Future of Earthly Delites

The Future of Earthly Delites tour was called the To the Moon and Back Tour in the US. Some footage from this tour can be seen in the international music video for "Break Me Shake Me", as well as the music video for "Tears of Pearls".

[edit] Affirmation World Tour

The international music video for the song "Affirmation", as well as the music videos for "Chained to You" and "The Best Thing", were filmed during the Affirmation World Tour. During the Australian leg of the tour, a camera crew also filmed both on-stage and backstage for what would later be the Superstars and Cannonballs DVD/VHS.

[edit] Discography

[edit] Albums

  • Savage Garden (1997) #3 USA, #2 UK, #1 Australia.
    • 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.
  • Affirmation (1999) #6 USA, #7 UK, #1 Australia.
    • 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.
  • Affirmation + Declaration Live Bonus Disc (2 CD) (2000)

[edit] Singles

  • "I Want You" (1996) #4 USA, #11 UK, #4 Australia, #1 Canada, #21 Switzerland, #14 Austria, #15 France, #11 Sweden
  • "To the Moon and Back" (1996) #24 USA, #3 UK, #1 Australia, #16 Switzerland, #11 France, #11 Sweden
  • "Truly Madly Deeply" (1997) #1 (2 weeks) USA, #4 UK, #1 (8 weeks) Australia, #1 Canada, #7 Switzerland, #2 Austria, #9 France, #2 Sweden, #13 Finland
  • "Break Me Shake Me" (1997) #7 Australia, #39 Sweden
  • "Universe" (1997) #26 Australia
  • "Tears of Pearls" (1998) #32 Sweden
  • "Santa Monica" (1998)[citation needed]
  • "I Want You '98" (1998) #12 UK
  • "The Animal Song" (1999) #19 USA, #16 UK, #3 Australia, #3 Sweden
  • "I Knew I Loved You" (1999) #1 (4 weeks) USA, #10 UK, #4 Australia, #34 Switzerland, #36 Austria, #43 France, #3 Sweden
  • "Affirmation" (2000) #8 UK, #16 Australia
  • "Crash and Burn" (2000) #24 USA, #14 UK, #16 Australia, #28 Sweden
  • "Chained to You" (2000) #21 Australia
  • "Hold Me" (2000) #16 UK, #51 Australia
  • "The Best Thing" (2001) #35 UK

[edit] Videos and DVDs

  • Savage Garden: The Video Collection (1998)
  • The Story So Far (1999)
  • Superstars and Cannonballs (featuring the documentary Parallel Lives) (2001)

[edit] Soundtrack contributions

[edit] Awards and 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 ten Top 40 chart singles in the UK. Of these, nine charted Top 20 and four went Top 10.
  • Performed "Affirmation" as part of the 2000 Sydney Olympic Closing Ceremony.
  • On average, Savage Garden have sold 12.5 million copies per album. This is more than any other Australian act ever.
  • In the Guinness Book of World Records for winning an unprecedented number (10) of Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards in one year (1997).

[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 of which were consecutive), having peaked at #2 after its release in March 1998.

[edit] Affirmation

  • Debuted at #1 on the Australian ARIA album chart where it stayed for 6 weeks.
  • Spent 158 weeks in the UK Top 200 albums chart (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"

  • Reached #1 in Australia, where it stayed for 8 weeks and went double platinum.
  • 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.
  • Is the only one-sided single ever to spend a full year in the Top 30 of the US Billboard Hot 100 chart.
  • Hit the #1 spot in the UK and stayed 5 weeks at the top spot, 13 weeks in the Top 10, and 27 weeks in the Top 20.

[edit] Awards

[edit] 1997

  • Channel V Awards (India)
    • Best International Debut Single ("I Want You")
  • 11th Annual ARIA Music Awards (Australia) - record 10 wins:
    • Album of the Year (Savage Garden)
    • Single of the Year ("Truly Madly Deeply")
    • Song of the Year ("To the Moon and 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 Music 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

  • Billboard Music Awards (USA)
    • Adult Contemporary Single of the Year ("Truly Madly Deeply")
    • Hot 100 Singles Airplay of the Year ("Truly Madly Deeply")
  • 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")
  • Billboard Music Awards (USA)
    • 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 ("The 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] Recognitions

[edit] Trivia

  • The Savage Garden fanclub – The Official Savage Garden Fanzine – was run by Daniel Jones' family members and 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

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