Over christmas we were discussing who was the first band we ever saw. An episode of Rockwiz was on I think..
I thought it was the Sunnboys, circa 1982/3. Alas, I remembered it could well have been Elton John or slightly better maybe KC and the Sunshine band.
The Sunnyboys were very good live, better than their recorded sounds. Jeremy Oxley was the main singer/songwriter guitarist and was backed by an insanely tight rythm section consisting of his brother Peter Oxley on bass, Bill Bilson on drums and Richard Burgman on guitar.
Bilson and the Oxley's hailed from Kingscliff on the southern end of the Gold Coast, so to youngsters growing up on the Coast they were proudly ours. The Oxley's were also talented surfers, J Oxley was a state junior champion or the like, and members of Snapper Board Riders.
Rob Younger was in the mix to be the original vocalist but was replaced by J Oxley. Apparently they were pulling large crowds to gigs as soon as they started, INXS and Midnight Oil were their openers in those days. The self titled debut album was a success straight away. Remarkably, a lot of the songs were written by J Oxley when he was around 16-17. Sadly, J Oxley suffered from a debilitating illness and the band made a couple of more albums but never quite regained their original standing. They certainly remain one of the great bands of that era and one of my personal favourites of all time.
Interview with P Oxley:
http://www.fasterlouder.com.au/features/1064/
Interview with R Burgman:
http://www.i94bar.com/ints/richardburgman.html
J Oxley's website:
http://www.sunnyboys.com.au/
Happy Man:
http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=D3drdluoYiE&feature=PlayList&p=7A4FF450BF87A8B5&playnext=1&index=25
Regards
TheBagwan
edit:
After a bit more reading found a far better interview with P Oxley:
http://brella.org/sandpebbles/sunnyboys.htm
Apparently Joe Penhall's play "Some Voices" was written about his friendship with J Oxley:
http://www.theage.com.au/news/entertainment/beyond-the-sunny-side/2006/01/02/1136050387137.html
(Yer Joe that's why its known as "spiv city" up this way. Nice place to visit, fulla dickheads though)
The definitive collection:
http://www.feelpresents.com/thelabel/600/releases/sunnyboys/index.html
I thought it was the Sunnboys, circa 1982/3. Alas, I remembered it could well have been Elton John or slightly better maybe KC and the Sunshine band.
The Sunnyboys were very good live, better than their recorded sounds. Jeremy Oxley was the main singer/songwriter guitarist and was backed by an insanely tight rythm section consisting of his brother Peter Oxley on bass, Bill Bilson on drums and Richard Burgman on guitar.
Bilson and the Oxley's hailed from Kingscliff on the southern end of the Gold Coast, so to youngsters growing up on the Coast they were proudly ours. The Oxley's were also talented surfers, J Oxley was a state junior champion or the like, and members of Snapper Board Riders.
Rob Younger was in the mix to be the original vocalist but was replaced by J Oxley. Apparently they were pulling large crowds to gigs as soon as they started, INXS and Midnight Oil were their openers in those days. The self titled debut album was a success straight away. Remarkably, a lot of the songs were written by J Oxley when he was around 16-17. Sadly, J Oxley suffered from a debilitating illness and the band made a couple of more albums but never quite regained their original standing. They certainly remain one of the great bands of that era and one of my personal favourites of all time.
Interview with P Oxley:
http://www.fasterlouder.com.au/features/1064/
Interview with R Burgman:
http://www.i94bar.com/ints/richardburgman.html
J Oxley's website:
http://www.sunnyboys.com.au/
Happy Man:
http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=D3drdluoYiE&feature=PlayList&p=7A4FF450BF87A8B5&playnext=1&index=25
Regards
TheBagwan
edit:
After a bit more reading found a far better interview with P Oxley:
http://brella.org/sandpebbles/sunnyboys.htm
Apparently Joe Penhall's play "Some Voices" was written about his friendship with J Oxley:
http://www.theage.com.au/news/entertainment/beyond-the-sunny-side/2006/01/02/1136050387137.html
(Yer Joe that's why its known as "spiv city" up this way. Nice place to visit, fulla dickheads though)
The definitive collection:
http://www.feelpresents.com/thelabel/600/releases/sunnyboys/index.html
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