Girl Overboard

Girl Overboard was a pop rock band from Sydney, Australia, formed in 1987. They are known for their hit singles "I Can't Believe" and "The Love We Make". They released two albums: Paint a Picture , which reached number 18 on the Australian charts in 1990,^[1] and Go in 1993. The group split up in 1993.

Biography

In 1983 Lisa Schouw auditioned as a vocalist for Melbourne band "Pointz". It was in this band that she met Robin Gist for the first time. Over a period of two years the band changed its name to Short Story, played around Melbourne, and almost secured a publishing and recording deal with Wheatley Records. However, the band fell apart before this could happen. Lisa went back to New Zealand for about six months, but decided to return to Australia, and met up with Robin to begin writing songs.

After auditioning various players they settled on keyboard player Brett McNaughton and together the three formed Separate Tables in 1987. The line-up was augmented by Lee Davidson on drums and Jenny Milroy on backing vocals and percussion. The band released an independent single, "Long Dark Night" backed with "Wrap Your Arms Around Me". After a year of writing and gigging, the band secured a recording deal with RCA/BMG, a gig as the support act for John Farnham's "Jack's Back" tour, and a management contract with the Neil Clugston Organisation. Separate Tables spent months on the road promoting the single "When the Word Came Down", playing entertainment centres, concert halls and pubs around Australia.

Their next single "Change My Sex" was largely ignored by radio. John Favaro joined the band on bass guitar and another single, "Wrap Your Arms Around Me" was released. The band began recording their debut album Paint a Picture with producer Ross Fraser at Metropolis Studios in Melbourne. The name change to Girl Overboard came with the release of the next single, "I Can't Believe". Four singles were released from this album including the Australian top 30 hit "The Love We Make".^[1] The band toured extensively to promote Paint a Picture, culminating in a trip overseas to write material for the next album.

Armed with more than enough songs, the band began pre-production for their second album Go with veteran producer Charles Fisher, who gave the collection of songs an overall sense of cohesion while new drummer Tony Day settled into the line-up. Spawning the singles "Your Love", "Chain of Fools", and "Jackie", Go was less commercially successful than their debut album, and some band members became disillusioned. The band finally broke up in 1993.

Discography

Albums

• Paint a Picture (1990) – AUS #18^[1]
• Go (1993) – AUS #91^[1]

Singles

as Separate Tables

• "When the World Came Down" (1987) – AUS #82^[1]
• "Change My Sex" (1988)
• "Wrap Your Arms Around Me" (1989) – AUS #71^[1]

as Girl Overboard

• "I Can't Believe" (1989) – AUS #43^[1]
• "The Love We Make" (1990) – AUS #23^[1]
• "Permanent Friend / Some Things Never Change" (1990) – AUS #85^[1]
• "In the Evening" (1990)
• "Who'll Stop the Rain" (1991) – AUS #59^[1]
• "Your Love" (1992) – AUS #70^[1]
• "Chain of Fools" (1992) – AUS #138^[1]
• "Jackie" (1993) – AUS #72^[1]
• "If You're Going to Leave Tonight" (1993) – AUS #218^[1]

Members

• Lisa Schouw – vocals
• Robin Gist – guitar
• Brett McNaughton – keyboards
• Lee Davidson - drums
• Jenny Milroy - backing vocals, percussion
• John Favaro - bass guitar
• Tony Day - drums

References