Models (Australian rock band)

Models (also sometimes known as The Models) are an Australian rock band formed in Melbourne, Victoria, in August 1978. They went into hiatus in 1988, but re-formed in 2000, 2006 and 2008 to perform reunion concerts. The band began regularly performing again from 2010 onwards. "Out of Mind, Out of Sight", their only No. 1 hit, appeared on the Australian singles charts in July 1985. The related album, Out of Mind, Out of Sight, peaked at No. 3 on the Australian albums charts after its release in August. Out of Mind, Out of Sight appeared on the Billboard 200 albums chart, with the single, "Out of Mind, Out of Sight", peaking at No. 37 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart. An earlier song from the same album, "Barbados", had peaked at No. 2 on the Australian singles chart. Models' early line-up included Andrew Duffield on keyboards, Mark Ferrie on bass guitar, Janis Freidenfelds (a.k.a. Johnny Crash) on drums and percussion, and Sean Kelly on vocals and lead guitar. A later line-up was mainstay Kelly on guitar, James Freud on vocals and bass, Roger Mason on keyboards, Barton Price on drums, and James Valentine on saxophone. Backing singers in the group included Zan Abeyratne and Kate Ceberano (both from I'm Talking) and Canadian-born Wendy Matthews. In early 1989, Duffield, Kelly, Matthews and Valentine were members of Absent Friends. On 27 October 2010, Models were inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame by Matthews. In 1977 Melbourne school friends Sean Kelly and James Freud formed their first band, Spread, which was soon renamed Teenage Radio Stars. They recorded two tracks for Suicide records' Lethal Weapons compilation album (1978) as well as a single, 'Wanna Be Ya Baby'. Singer and guitarist Sean Kelly left in 1978 to form Models with bass guitarist Peter Sutcliffe (a.k.a. Pierre Voltaire and Pierre Sutcliffe, who won $503,000 in May 2014, on Australian TV quiz show Million Dollar Minute) and Ash Wednesday (formerly of JAB on keyboards, and Janis Friedenfelds (a.k.a. Johnny Crash) on drums and percussion. Models were more pop influenced than the earlier punk bands and had a wider appeal. The initial version of the group did not stay together for long as, after six months, Sutcliffe was replaced on bass by Mark Ferrie (ex-Myriad). In August 1979, Wednesday was replaced by Andrew Duffield from Whirlywirld on keyboards. The line-up of the band with Ferrie and Wednesday recorded demos which make up eight tracks of the 2001 album Melbourne. Their first release in October 1979 was a give-away, split single, "Early Morning Brain (It's Not Quite the Same as Sobriety)" backed with The Boys Next Door's "Scatterbrain". Friction within the band led to their decision to break up in November 1978. However they reformed at the end of December when ex-The Easybeats members, Harry Vanda and George Young, who were now record producers and songwriters, offered to cut some demos for them – Their second single, "Owe You Nothing" appeared in August 1980. Both singles were released independently and did not chart on the Top 40 Australian singles chart according to the Kent Music Report. Models performed extensively both locally and interstate, supporting the Ramones, The B-52's, XTC, The Vapors and Midnight Oil on national tours. Although they attracted significant record label interest, the group financed the recording of their first album Alphabravocharliedeltaechofoxtrotgolf. to guarantee creative control. Under manager Adrian Barker, they signed to Mushroom Records which released the album and, as a sign of its respect for the band, agreed not to release any singles from the album, which peaked at No. 43 on the Australian Kent Music Report Albums Chart. The group intended to record completely new material for their studio albums. Much of their earlier work was unreleased until 2002, when Models Melbourne, a compilation album of live and demo recordings, was released. Models' early style was a spiky, distinctive blend of new wave, glam rock, dub and pop: it included Kelly's strangled singing voice, Duffield's virtuoso synthesiser performances (he used the EMS Synthi AKS), and the band's cryptic, slightly gruesome, lyrics (e.g., "Hans Stand: A War Record" from Alphabravocharliedeltaechofoxtrotgolf), which were mostly written or co-written by Kelly. Early in 1981, following a support slot for The Police, the group signed an international deal with A&M Records. Friedenfelds was replaced on drums by Mark Hough (a.k.a. Buster Stiggs) from New Zealand band The Swingers before recording commenced on their international label release. Friedenfields went on to play with Sacred Cowboys, Beasts of Bourbon, The Slaughterman and Tombstone Hands. The band went to England to record with producer, Stephen Tayler producing. at Farmyard Studios, these tracks becoming the album Local and/or General. In June, demo sessions recorded earlier in Australia so impressed the band that they were released as a 10" mini album, Cut Lunch (July 1981), which was produced by Tony Cohen and Models except one track produced by Split Enz keyboard player Eddie Rayner. Cut Lunch peaked at No. 37 on the albums chart and at No. 38 on the singles chart. It included the whimsical pop tune, "Two Cabs to the Toucan". In October, their second full-length album Local &/or General, was released. Local and/or General peaked at No. 30 and provided the single, "Local &/or General" in November, which did not chart. Both albums helped widen their audience nationally, thanks to regular radio exposure on Triple J in Sydney and on community stations in other cities, as well as national TV exposure through their innovative music videos on programs such as the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC-TV) pop music show Countdown. During 1982, further line-up changes occurred with Ferrie and Hough leaving early in the year. Ferrie went on to form Sacred Cowboys with Garry Gray and Terry Doolan. He later (as of November 2010) became bass player in the RocKwiz house band on SBS TV. Hough became a graphic artist, art director and designer. James Freud (ex-Teenage Radio Stars, James Freud & Berlin) joined the band on bass and vocals, with John Rowell on guitar and Graham Scott on drums (both ex-Curse). Kelly and Freud had been in high school bands which developed into Teenage Radio Stars. As part of James Freud and the Radio Stars, Freud had released a single, "Modern Girl", which peaked at No. 12 in 1980. Rowell and Scott left Models in May 1982, with Duffield following. New Zealand drummer, Barton Price (ex-Crocodiles, Sardine v) joined. They recorded a single, "On", produced by veteran rocker, Lobby Loyde, and released in August. It had no mainstream chart success, but peaked at No. 1 on the independent charts. Gus Till (ex-Beargarden) briefly joined on keyboards until Duffield rejoined in December. A 1982 film, Pop Movie, which featured animation and live footage of the Alphabravocharliedeltaechofoxtrotgolf era of the band, was screened on TV rock show, Nightmoves, as well as at a few cinemas. Models' line-up of Duffield, Freud, Kelly and Price issued the highly regarded The Pleasure of Your Company in October 1983, produced by Nick Launay. Its big drum sound and dance-ability reflected Launay's influence, and Freud's more radio-friendly voice made the album more accessible than previous releases. The album was critically acclaimed and peaked at No. 12, with the single "I Hear Motion" becoming a No. 16 hit. Duffield later explained that the song's distinctive keyboard part had been inspired by a riff from Stevie Wonder's hit "Superstition". "I Hear Motion" was used on the soundtrack for the Yahoo Serious film Young Einstein (1988). The band released two other singles, "God Bless America" and "No Shoulders, No Head", but neither charted in the Top 50. The band supported David Bowie for the Australian leg of his Serious Moonlight Tour in November. Kelly and Duffield were invited to sing backing vocals on the INXS album, The