The Whitlams

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The Whitlams
Origin Sydney, Australia
Genre(s) Indie rock
Years active 1992 – present
Label(s) Black Yak Records
Website Official website
Members
Tim Freedman
Jak Housden
Warwick Hornby
Terepai Richmond
Former members
Stevie Plunder (deceased)
Andy Lewis (deceased)
Ben Fink
Stuart Eadie
Michael Vidale
Louis Burdett
Hanuman Daas
Michael Richards
Tim Hall
Oscar Briz
Bill Heckenburg
Chris Abrahams
Cottco Lovett
Alex Hewitson
Mike Gubb
Thierry Fossemalle

The Whitlams are an Australian band, best known for their songs "No Aphrodisiac" and "Blow Up the Pokies", "You Sound Like Louis Burdett" and "I Make Hamburgers". The Whitlams sound can best be described as 'Piano rock' founded in 'lyrics of charming cynicism[citation needed]'. The band's name is a tribute to former Australian Prime Minister Gough Whitlam. Early in their career, they performed a small number of shows under the pseudonym The Moody Jews[1].

Contents

[edit] History

The Whitlams were formed in late 1992 when a former Penguin on Safari and a former Plunderer crossed paths at the annual independent music festival the Big Day Out. While missing Nirvana perform inside the arena, the two musicians lamented the local music scene and decided to form a musical alliance, and The Whitlams were born. The initial band members were Tim Freedman, Stevie Plunder and Andy Lewis. Being without a drummer, the band developed their songs acoustically on Saturday afternoons at the Sandringham Hotel in King Street, Newtown, a suburb in the inner west of Sydney, Australia.

At the same time that the band was enjoying the success of their single "I Make Hamburgers" (1996) founding member Stevie Plunder was found dead on Australia Day, 1996, from what was believed to be an act of suicide. After a break of several months, Tim Freedman reformed the band with several new members. After several more months, there was another lineup change and this is when the process of starting to record the album Eternal Nightcap began. This album sold over 200,000 units and in 1998 won the band ARIA awards for Best Independent Album, Song of the Year and Best Group. This last award was presented by the band's namesake Gough Whitlam. "No Aphrodisiac", a single from this album, made it to number one in the 1997 Triple J Hottest 100.

Several of the band's songs were played during the 2000 Sydney Olympics as examples of Australian pop culture (for example, "Sydney 2000 Olympic Theme", a b-side from the "I Make Hamburgers" single that was reworked as "You Gotta Love This City" on Love This City -- an ironic choice, as the song's protagonist commits suicide by jumping in the Harbour at the end of the song, disgusted at the city's crass pursuit of money: It dawns on him / The horror / We got the Olympic Games).

During the band's Canadian tour in April 2000 supporting Blue Rodeo, the band received word that founding member, Andy Lewis, had committed suicide back in Australia. Andy had been battling gambling addiction for a long time prior to his death.

"Blow Up the Pokies" had been co-written by Tim as a statement on the destruction he saw in Andy's life due to his gambling not long before Andy's death, and was awaiting release as a single at the time. Tim soon after wrote "The Curse Stops Here", a heartrending piece describing being the 'last one' from the original line-up of the band, and voicing his determination to survive. "The Curse Stops Here" was included as a B-side track on the "Blow Up the Pokies" single.

A month after Andy's death a benefit concert was held at the Metro club in Sydney to raise money for his wife and child. The event was hosted by Paul McDermott, Mikey Robbins and Steve Abbott (The Sandman), and performers included Max Sharam, and The Gadflys (another band Andy performed with).

Torch The Moon (2002), their next album, received moderate success, with the singles "Fall For You" (AUS#21), "Best Work" (AUS#35), "Royal in the Afternoon" and "Don't Believe Anymore". Another song from the album which received a fair amount of airplay was "I Will Not Go Quietly (Duffy's Song)", which was used on the Australian TV series Love Is A Four Letter Word (2001).

The latest release, a double-album titled Little Cloud (loosely referred to also as Little Cloud and The Apples Eye) was released on 19 March 2006 in Australia. Several songs are receiving considerable airplay, including "I Was Alive." Three of the songs on the album have been released as radio-only singles, with a fourth, "Beautiful as You", released as a CD single. The album was followed up with almost non-stop touring around Australia, including performances at political and university events.

Tim Freedman hinted at a recent concert that he may spend some time in Berlin next year, and while there he will write The Whitlam's next album. This would be similar to the time he spent in New York during 2005 writing Little Cloud.

Their most recent line up consists of Tim Freedman on piano and main vocals, Jak Housden on guitar, Warwick Hornby on bass guitar and Terepai Richmond on drums.

The band made the news in 2006 when they refused to perform to troops in Iraq for political reasons.[1]

The band performed a short orchestral tour in late 2007, performing shows with the Sydney Symphony, Adelaide Symphony Orchestra, West Australian Symphony Orchestra and the The Queensland Orchestra [2].

On June 1, 2008 The Whitlams released a free CD in The Sunday Telegraph of their live performance with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra.

Tim Freedman has said that The Whitlams plan to release a greatest hits album in August 2008.

[edit] Discography

[edit] Studio albums

  1. Introducing the Whitlams (1993)
  2. Undeniably the Whitlams (1995)
  3. Eternal Nightcap (1997); #14 AUS Platinum x4
  4. Love This City (1999); #3 AUS Platinum x2
  5. Torch the Moon (2002); #1 AUS Platinum
  6. Little Cloud (2006); #4 AUS Gold

[edit] International Re-release albums

  1. Eternal Nightcap - New Zealand Release (1999)
  2. Eternal Nightcap - Canadian Release (2000)

[edit] Reworked albums

  1. Undeniably the Whitlams - Reworked (2001)

[edit] Live albums

  1. Stupor Ego (1995)
  2. The Whitlams & The Sydney Symphony Live in Concert (2008)

[edit] Promo Releases (Cassette)

  1. Learning to Love the Whitlams (1997)
  2. The Whitlams - A Retrospective (1997)

[edit] DVD

  1. The Whitlams Years 1993-2004 (2004); Gold

[edit] Singles

From Undeniably the Whitlams:

  • "Met My Match/Following My Own Tracks" (1995)
  • "I Make Hamburgers" (1995)

From Eternal Nightcap:

FOW Exclusive Release:

  • "Women in Uniform/High Ground/1999" (1999)

From Love This City:

From Torch the Moon:

  • "Fall for You" (2002) AUS #21
  • "Best Work" (2002) AUS #35
  • "Royal in the Afternoon" (2003) AUS #66
  • "Don't Believe Anymore" (2003) AUS #47

From Little Cloud:

  • "I Was Alive" (Radio Only) (2006)
  • "Fondness Makes the Heart Grow Absent" (Radio Only) (2006)
  • "Beauty in Me" (Radio Only) (2006)
  • "Beautiful as You" (2007) AUS #40

[edit] Awards and nominations

[edit] Awards

[edit] Nominations

  • 2006 ARIA Awards, Best Adult Contemporary Album for Little Cloud
  • 2002 ARIA Awards, Best Pop Release for Torch The Moon
  • 2002 ARIA Awards, Producer of the Year for Torch The Moon
  • 2002 ARIA Awards, Engineer of the Year for Torch The Moon
  • 2002 ARIA Awards, Best Cover Art for Torch The Moon
  • 2000 ARIA Awards, Producer of the Year for Love This City
  • 1998 ARIA Awards, Album of the Year for Eternal Nightcap
  • 1998 ARIA Awards, Single of the Year for No Aphrodisiac
  • 1998 ARIA Awards, Best Pop Release for Eternal Nightcap
  • 1998 ARIA Awards, Producer of the Year for Eternal Nightcap
  • 1998 ARIA Awards, Engineer of the Year for Eternal Nightcap

[edit] Band Members

[edit] Current Members

  • Tim Freedman - piano, vocals (1991-present)
  • Warwick Hornby - bass (1999-present)
  • Terepai Richmond - drums (1999-present)
  • Jak Housden - guitar (2001-present)

[edit] Former Members

  • Stevie Plunder - guitar, vocals (1991-1996)
  • Andy Lewis - bass (1991-1994, 1996)
  • Stu Eadie - drums (1993-1994)
  • Michael Vidale - bass (1994-1996, 1996-1997)
  • Louis Burdett - drums (1994-1995)
  • Hanuman Daas - drums (1995)
  • Michael Richards - drums (1995-1996)
  • Oscar Briz - guitar (1996)
  • Tim Hall - guitar (1996-1997)
  • Bill Heckenberg - drums (1996-1999)
  • Chris Abrahams - organ (1996-1998)
  • Ben Fink - guitar (1997-2001)
  • Cottco Lovett - bass (1997-1998)
  • Clayton Doley - organ (1998-1999)
  • Alex Hewitson - bass (1999)
  • Mike Gubb - organ (1999-2002)

[edit] Notes and references

  1. ^ From the Timeline off the "The Whitlams Years 1993-2004" DVD.

[edit] External links

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