Diesel (musician)

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
For the Dutch pop/rock group, see Diesel (band). For John Coghlan's Diesel, see John Coghlan (drummer).

Diesel
Diesel
Diesel performing in 2006 at The Rocks Night Market
Background information
Birth nameMark Denis Lizotte
Also known as
  • Diesel
  • Johnny Diesel
  • Mark Lizotte
Born (1966-05-31) 31 May 1966 (age 58)
Fall River, Massachusetts, U.S.
OriginPerth, Western Australia, Australia
Genres
Occupations
  • Singer-songwriter
  • musician
Instruments
  • Vocals
  • guitar
Years active1982–present
Labels
Formerly of
Websitedieselmusic.com.au

Mark Denis Lizotte

birth name.[3][4] Two of his albums reached No. 1 on the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) Albums Charts, Hepfidelity in 1992 and The Lobbyist in 1993.[5]

Since 1987, Lizotte, has played on several albums by his brother-in law, Australian rock singer,

1995.[8]

Career

1966–1986: Early years and Innocent Bystanders

Main article: Innocent Bystanders

Diesel was born on 31 May 1966 in

Year 8 (c. 1979) at Scarborough Senior High School when he decided on a musical career: "I was trying to get my head around algebra [...] and suddenly I thought: 'Hang on, I don't have to do this. I can play music as a job!'".[9]

During his school days at Scarborough, he joined a newly formed band by Duncan Andrews named "Dark Spot". The band was Diesel's first. Andrews was on bass, with Bill Advic on electric rhythm guitar and Diesel on lead guitar. While the band was without a vocalist for some time, each tried out for the vocalist spot but it was thought that no one could sing well enough. In 1981, Dark Spot entered the battle of the band competition in Fremantle with an original song penned by Andrews with Andrews on vocals and bass. The band took home first place, largely due to the combination of Andrews' vocals and Diesel's guitar work.

In his mid-teens, Diesel (as Mark Lizotte) performed with The Kind and Close Action.

John 'Yak' Sherrit and Boyd Wilson.[6] Close Action included Diesel on guitar, Bernie Bremond on saxophone, John Heussenstamm on guitar and Sherrit on drums.[6][11] In 1983, he joined Innocent Bystanders, a Perth pub rock band,[3][4][6][12] and they released a single, "Lebanon", in 1984, with the line-up of Diesel, John "Tatt" Dalzell on bass guitar, Brett Keyser on vocals, Cliff Kinneen on keyboards and Sherrit on drums.[3][6][12] Innocent Bystanders travelled to Sydney to record their second single, "Dangerous", released in July 1986.[3] They had attracted the attention of hard rockers, The Angels, and went on to record another single and an album, Don't Go Looking Back, which was released later in 1986, however, Diesel had already left the band.[3][4]

1986–1991: Band: Johnny Diesel & the Injectors

By June 1986, Diesel was back in Perth and had split from Innocent Bystanders leaving fellow member Ross Watson but taking Bremond, Dalzell and Sherritt, and they formed Johnny Diesel & the Injectors with George Dalstrom as a second guitarist.

blues and Southern rock;[3] they developed a local following in Perth but decided to relocate to Sydney in September 1987.[3] Dalstrom left by the end of 1986.[3]

According to music journalist, Ed Nimmervoll, the name Johnny Diesel was either from Lizotte's days as a petrol dispenser or from a corruption of John Dalzell's name being misapplied to him as the lead singer.[4] As explained by Lizotte, the real story is that the band's name was never meant to be permanent; it came about as the result of a casual joke concerning the band's bass player, John Dalzell. "John had one kid and another on the way," Mark explains. "A friend of ours used to refer to them as 'Johnny Diesel and his little injectors'; I thought it was funny. Then I got a call from the woman from the [Perth] venue where we were playing one night a week... 'You're starting to draw a few people,' she said. 'I'm going to put an ad in the paper, does this nameless band have a name?' I told her we were 'Johnny Diesel and the Injectors'. It was just a joke. I wanted it to appear in the newspaper to amuse John Dalzell but the name stuck. When we got to Sydney, our Management said, 'Everyone will think you're Johnny Diesel. Are you going to go along with it?' I wasn't going to be stuck-in-the-mud, so I said, yeah. Whatever... fine".[14]

Johnny Diesel & the Injectors moved to Sydney in September after taking up

management by Brent Eccles, drummer for The Angels.[3] The group began playing support shows for The Choirboys and The Radiators.[15] They came to the attention of Jane Barnes, wife of hard rocker, Jimmy Barnes (ex-Cold Chisel), and through her recommendation, Diesel was hired to work on Barnes' third solo album, Freight Train Heart.[6][15] When Barnes took to the road to tour the album in November, Diesel was retained as lead guitarist, while Johnny Diesel & the Injectors were the opening act.[15] It was the beginning of a long and ongoing relationship between Diesel and Barnes. The relationship would later become personal as well as professional, with Diesel and Barnes becoming brothers-in-law after Diesel married Jep (Jane Barnes' sister) in 1989.[15][16]

Diesel's band signed with

Cry In Shame" also peaked at No. 10 in May.[5] In all, five singles were released from Johnny Diesel & the Injectors, while "Looking for Love" was also a Top 40 hit, the final single "Since I Fell for You" was a chart failure as it peaked only at No. 83.[5]

While touring United Kingdom in mid-1989, they broadcast a live performance on 14 May by BBC Radio 1 for the Tommy Vance Sessions, produced by Tony Wilson. The recording was released as a four-track EP, Live in London,[3] in August and appeared in the ARIA top 30.[5]

At the

1990, Johnny Diesel & the Injectors won the award for 'Highest Selling Album'[8][17] (with more than 280,000 copies sold).[3] Diesel appeared on Barnes' live album, Barnestorming in 1989 and worked with Barnes on his studio album, Two Fires, during 1990.[6] In the meantime, the only recording from Johnny Diesel & the Injectors for the year was a cover of Percy Mayfield's "Please Send Me Someone to Love" for the soundtrack to the Kylie Minogue film The Delinquents. The single reached No. 11 on the ARIA singles chart[5] Diesel decided to go solo and disbanded the group in early 1991.[3][4]

1991–1997: Commercial success

In August 1991, as Johnny Diesel, his solo career was launched with the single "Love Junk", which peaked in the top 20.[3][5] Diesel toured Australia with Barnes during the second half of the year.[3] He had signed with EMI Music Australia and his second single, "Come to Me", was released in November under the epithet Diesel—subsequent releases saw him billed as Diesel until 1998—which reached No. 8 on the singles charts.[5] November also saw the release of Barnes' next album, Soul Deep, with Diesel on guitar and also duetting on the Sam Cooke cover "Bring It On Home to Me". Diesel left his management team of Eccles and John Woodruff.[3] He undertook his solo Rock 'n' Soul Tour, early in 1992, with Yak Sherrit on drums, Leslie Barlow on backing vocals, Matthew Branton on bass guitar, Jim Hilbun on rhythm guitar (ex-The Angels) and Roger Mason on keyboards (Models).[6][18]

His next release, "

1993 from four nominations.[8][19]

1994.[8][21] The album spawned three singles: "Never Miss Your Water" in July peaked at #12, "Masterplan" in October and "I've Been Loving You Too Long" in January 1994.[3][5]

In May 1994, the

1995—for the third consecutive time.[8][22]

Early in 1996, Diesel recorded the album

Rewind – The Best Of also appeared in October. By year's end, he had moved to New York City, with his young family.[3]

To this point in his career, Diesel has sold over 800,000 records in Australia and won nine awards.

1998–2010: Mark Lizotte and continued success

In June 1998, Diesel signed with

moniker, in October.[citation needed
]

In March 2004 Diesel filmed his performance at Sydney's Metro Theatre and released his first DVD titled The First Fifteen '89–'04 Live . It went on to reach gold status.[24]

On 10 October 2004, Andrew Denton interviewed Barnes on the ABC TV program Enough Rope, Diesel then performed with Barnes and his children, Eliza Jane, Jackie and Elly-May. Around the same time, Diesel released Singled Out. An entirely acoustic overview of his career, it earned an ARIA nomination. Over the same period, he also worked with Barnes on his Double Happiness album, including a duet on the track "Got You as a Friend" and providing musical backing including guitar, drums, bass guitar, percussion and keyboards on various tracks.[citation needed]

In 2006, Diesel released Coathanger Antennae, an album recorded in two months. Of it, he said "We approached it like the Stones or The Beatles used to do where we'd just put down a few takes live and then picked the ones that we all felt good about", emphasising the focus on live recording rather than studio polishing.[25]

Diesel made guest appearances on the Australian leg of Dweezil Zappa's 2009 Zappa Plays Zappa Tour, playing guitar and vocals after Ray White's departure from Zappa's group.[26]

The year 2008 saw the release of the studio album "Days Like These". The album peaked at number 17 in Australia.[citation needed]

3 July 2009 saw the release of Project Blues: Saturday Suffering Fools, a blues album featuring a horn section made up of ex-Injector Bernie Bremond and family members Hank (Father) and brothers Michael and Brian Lizotte. Brian owned a theatre bar (under the name "Lizotte's") in the Newcastle suburb of Lambton, at which Diesel has played. Brian sold the theatre in 2023.[27]

2011–2020: 30 years and Sunset Suburbia

4 July 2011 saw the release of "Under the Influence" – a collection of Diesel's favourite and influential guitar music featuring tracks by Jimi Hendrix, Link Wray, Albert King, Neil Young and The Sonics. "I was doing these shows called 'Under the Influence' just for fun" says Diesel. "One night it would be Jimi Hendrix or Al Green and then another night I'd do the three Kings (Albert, Freddie and B.B)" he adds. "I thought it would be good to make a record like that."

A "hand-picked" retrospective album spanning 20 years of recordings titled You Get There from Here was released on 1 June 2012.

Diesel made his scoring debut in 2012 with six-part series Bikies Wars: Brothers in Arms, contributing the theme track "Highway Mind" and over 140 original score pieces. The first episode aired on Tuesday 15 May 2012. Diesel's real name Mark Lizotte is listed in the credits.

Diesel's eleventh album

Let It Fly
was released on 9 August 2013. "It's all of my life's work so far brought to fruition, in many ways. It's pretty encompassing," he said. "There's a lot of stuff I've never tried before either – like, there are folk elements that are quite different for me ... I guess when you start using mandolin and fiddle, it’s gonna happen!"

In 2016, Diesel commenced the "Pieces of Americana" tour and released

ARIA chart
.

In 2018, Diesel celebrated 30 years in the industry with the release of a 30-track compilation album, 30: The Greatest Hits as well as national tour titled Give Me Saturday Night.[28]

In mid-2019 Diesel announced the release of a Sunset Suburbia trilogy. It consisted of two EPs, leading to a studio album in 2020. Two singles lifted from the two EPs were released in 2019, and the album was released in August 2020.[29]

2021–present: Alone with Blues

In May 2021, Diesel released "Six Steel Strings", the lead single from his album,

Jet, Baby Animals, Hunters & Collectors, the Angels, Diesel, Rose Tattoo, Jimmy Barnes, Eurogliders, Archie Roach, Icehouse, Troy Cassar-Daley and Cold Chisel.[31][32]

Discography

Main article: Diesel discography

Awards and nominations

ARIA Music Awards

The

Australian music
, which began in 1987.

Year Category Nominated work Result Ref.
1989
 Breakthrough Artist – Single "Don't Need Love" Nominated [33]
Best New Talent Won
1990
 Breakthrough Artist – Album Johnny Diesel and the Injectors Nominated [17]
Highest Selling Album
 Won
Best Group Nominated
1993
 Album of the Year Hepfidelity Won [19]
Best Cover Art Nominated
Best Male Artist Won
Highest Selling Album Nominated
Single of the Year "Tip of my Tongue" Nominated
Song of the Year Nominated
1994
 Best Male Artist The Lobbyist Won [21][34]
Album of the Year Nominated
Single of the Year "Never Miss Your Water" Nominated
Song of the Year Nominated
Producer of the Year Nominated
1995
 Best Male Artist Solid State Rhyme Won [22]
1996
 Best Male Artist Short Cool Ones Nominated [35]
2003
 Best Independent Release Hear Nominated [36]
2004
 Best Adult Contemporary Album Singled Out Nominated [37]

APRA Awards

The

Australasian Performing Right Association
to recognise songwriting skills, sales and airplay performance by its members annually.

Year Nominee / work Award Result Ref.
1994 "Never Miss Your Water" Most Performed Australian Work Won [38]
2020 "By the Scars" Song of the Year Shortlisted [39]
2023 "Around in Circles" (Jimmy Barnes, Jane Barnes & Mark Lizotte) Most Performed Rock Work Nominated [40]

References

General
  • Spencer, Chris; Paul McHenry and Zbig Nowara (2007) [1989]. The Who's Who of Australian Rock. Moonlight Publishing.
    ISBN 978-1-86503-891-9. Archived from the original
    on 29 February 2012. Retrieved 4 December 2009.     Note: [on-line] version was expanded from the 2002 edition.
Specific
  1. Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA). Retrieved 4 November 2009.[permanent dead link
    ‍]
  2. ^ a b c d "Primary description of item 7737900". National Archives of Australia. Retrieved 4 December 2009.[permanent dead link‍]
  3. ^
    ISBN 1-86508-072-1. Archived from the original
    on 3 August 2004. Retrieved 4 December 2009.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i Nimmervoll, Ed. "Diesel". Howlspace – The Living History of Our Music (Ed Nimmervoll). White Room Electronic Publishing Pty Ltd. Archived from the original on 26 July 2012. Retrieved 24 January 2014.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r "Discography Diesel". australian-charts.com. Retrieved 4 December 2009.
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Magnus Holmgren (ed.). "Diesel". Australian Rock Database. Magnus Holmgren. Archived from the original on 29 September 2013. Retrieved 4 December 2009.
  7. ^ "Jimmy Barnes". Enough Rope. ABC net. 11 October 2004. Archived from the original on 5 September 2017.
  8. ^ a b c d e "ARIA Awards 2009 : History: Winners by Artist: Diesel". Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA). Retrieved 5 December 2009.[permanent dead link‍]
  9. ^ Marx, Jack (13 December 2006). "Diesel – Gig Previews and Reviews". The Age. Fairfax Media. Retrieved 4 December 2009.
  10. ^ Spencer et al., (2007) Lizotte, Mark[permanent dead link‍] entry. Retrieved 4 December 2009.
  11. ^ a b Spencer et al, (2007) CLOSE ACTION[permanent dead link‍] entry. Retrieved 4 December 2009.
  12. ^ a b Spencer et al, (2007) INNOCENT BYSTANDERS[permanent dead link‍] entry. Retrieved 4 December 2009.
  13. ^ Spencer et al., (2007) JOHNNY DIESEL AND THE INJECTORS Archived 16 December 2014 at the Wayback Machine entry. Retrieved 4 December 2009.
  14. ^ Diesel Bio 2013
  15. ^
    ISBN 0-09-182818-X
    .
  16. ^ Murfett, Andrew (15 July 2009). "One from the clan with a lot on his plate". The Age. Fairfax Media. Retrieved 4 December 2009.
  17. ^ a b "Winners by Year 1990". Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA). Archived from the original on 27 September 2011. Retrieved 6 September 2020. Note: display of nominees at non-archived website is obscured: to see nominees hover pointer over winners.
  18. ^ Spencer et al., (2007) DIESEL Archived 18 October 2014 at the Wayback Machine entry. Retrieved 5 December 2009.
  19. ^ a b "Winners by Year 1993". Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA). Archived from the original on 14 December 2007. Retrieved 6 September 2020.
  20. ^ "ARIA Chart - New Releases 9 August 1993". www.ariacharts.com.au. Retrieved 17 April 2016.
  21. ^ a b "Winners by Year 1994". Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA). Archived from the original on 9 January 2012.
  22. ^ a b "ARIA Awards – History: Winners by Year 1995: 8th Annual ARIA Awards". Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA). Archived from the original on 26 September 2007. Retrieved 5 December 2009.
  23. ^ a b Spencer et al., (2007) WILSON DIESEL Archived 16 December 2014 at the Wayback Machine entry. Retrieved 5 December 2009.
  24. ^ "ARIA Accreditations". www.aria.com.au. 2006. Archived from the original on 5 July 2009. Retrieved 16 April 2016.
  25. ^ Liberation Music profile, accessed 19 December 2006 Archived 13 October 2006 at the Wayback Machine
  26. ^ "Zappa Plays Zappa > ZPZ Blog". Archived from the original on 8 May 2009. Retrieved 1 May 2009. – Dweezil Zappa's Tour Blog
  27. ^ Varvaris, Mary. "Lizotte's Welcomes New Owners". The Music. Retrieved 5 June 2024.
  28. ^ "New Album 'Diesel 30 – The Greatest Hits' + 'Give Me Saturday Night' National Tour". Diesel Music. 25 May 2018. Retrieved 8 June 2018.
  29. ^ "Diesel Sets Release Date for Sunset Suburbia Album". Noise11. 4 May 2020. Retrieved 5 May 2020.
  30. ^ "Diesel's New Song "Six Steel Strings" Is A Ross Wilson Song". noise11. 19 May 2021. Retrieved 25 May 2021.
  31. ^ "Days Like These with Diesel (2022) – The Screen Guide". Screen Australia. Archived from the original on 21 August 2022. Retrieved 14 November 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
  32. ^ Kelly, Vivienne (3 May 2022). "Days Like These with Diesel Doco to Screen on ABC". Variety Australia. Retrieved 14 November 2022.
  33. ^ "ARIA Awards – History: Winners by Year: 1989". Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA). Archived from the original on 10 February 2012. Retrieved 26 October 2020.
  34. ^ "17th Annual ARIA Awards". Australian Recording Industry Association. Archived from the original on 22 February 2004. Retrieved 6 December 2013. Note: User may be required to access archived information by selecting 'The History', then 'By Award', 'Producer of the Year' and 'Option Show Nominations'. Note: as from September 2020 the content at the archive site is no longer accessible.
  35. ^ "Winners by Year 1996". Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA). Archived from the original on 14 December 2007. Retrieved 26 October 2020.
  36. ^ "ARIA Awards – History: Winners by Year 2004: 18th Annual ARIA Awards". Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA). Archived from the original on 4 March 2008. Retrieved 26 October 2020.
  37. ^ "ARIA Awards – History: Winners by Year 2004: 17th Annual ARIA Awards". Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA). Archived from the original on 26 September 2007. Retrieved 26 October 2020.
  38. Australasian Mechanical Copyright Owners Society (AMCOS). Archived from the original
    on 22 June 2015. Retrieved 14 July 2019.
  39. ^ "APRA Has Revealed The 2020 Song Of The Year Finalists". The Music. 6 February 2020. Retrieved 26 April 2022.
  40. ^ "Nominees revealed for the 2023 APRA Music Awards". APRA Awards. 30 March 2023. Retrieved 31 March 2023.
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