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The Whitlams

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The Whitlams is an Australian band famous for songs such as "No Aphrodisiac"and "Blow up the Pokies". The Whitlams sound can best be described as 'Piano rock' founded in 'lyrics of charming cynicism'. The band's name is a tribute to former Australian Prime Minister, Gough Whitlam.

Contents

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 (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 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, and they went on to record the album Eternal Nightcap. 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 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 and the Apples Eye" was released on 19th March 2006 in Australia. Several songs are receiving considerable airplay, including "I Was Alive."

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.

Discography

Studio albums

100px 1. Introducing The Whitlams 1993;

100px 2. Undeniably The Whitlams 1995;

100px 3. Eternal Nightcap 1997; AUS Platinum x4

100px 4. Love This City 1999; #3 AUS Platinum x2

100px 5. Torch The Moon 2002; #1 AUS Platinum

100px 6. Little Cloud 2006; #4 AUS Gold

International Re-release albums

100px Eternal Nightcap - New Zealand Release 1999;

100px Eternal Nightcap - Canadian Release 2000;

Reworked albums

100px Undeniably The Whitlams - Reworked 2001;

Live albums

100px Stupor Ego 1995;

Promo Releases (Cassette)

100px Learning to Love The Whitlams 1997;

100px The Whitlams - A Retrospective 1997;

DVD

100px The Whitlams Years 1993-2004 2004; Gold

Singles

From Undeniably The Whitlams: From Eternal Nightcap: FOW Exclusive Release: From Love This City: From Torch The Moon: From Little Cloud:

Awards and nominations

Awards

Nominations

External links

 

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