The Reels
The Reels | |
|---|---|
| Origin | Dubbo, New South Wales, Australia |
| Genres | Rock, indie pop, new wave |
| Years active | 1976–1991, 2007–present |
| Labels | Mercury, RCA, K-tel, Regular |
| Past members | Karen Ansel Craig Hooper Stefan Fidock Colin "Polly" Newham Dave Mason John Bliss Paul Abrahams |
The Reels was an Australian
Career
1976–1980: Early years
Native Sons, consisting of John Bliss on drums, Craig Hooper on lead guitar and synthesiser, and Dave Mason on vocals, formed in the regional centre of Dubbo, New South Wales in 1976.[3] Mason is the son of NSW parliamentarian, John Mason, who was the state's Liberal Party leader during 1978–1981. Colin (Polly) Newham (keyboards/brass) from Orange, N.S.W. joined in 1977.
Native Sons played in the Dubbo/Orange/Newcastle area for two years, with a repertoire of cover versions and original songs. After moving to
By 1979, the Brucelanders had secured a recording contract with the Australian branch of
In July 1980, the Reels added a sixth member, also a synthesiser player, Karen Ansel, a former member of Melbourne group the Romantics. This new line-up released a third single, "After the News". It marked a transition in the Reels' music – the group minimised guitars instead utilising synthesisers as its main instruments. The Reels were one of the first groups to use headsets instead of traditional microphones.
During late July, the group undertook the innovative Reels By Rail Tour, using rail transport to destinations in the eastern states. At the end of the year, returning to its covers band origins, The Reels released a five-track Christmas EP, Five Great Gift Ideas from The Reels, produced by Bruce Brown and Russell Dunlop, which included Jim Reeves' "According to My Heart" and Freda Payne's "Band of Gold".[1] "According to My Heart" was accompanied by a folksy music video filmed at a farm in New Zealand. The EP included one original, "The Bombs Dropped on Xmas", co-written by band members Mason, Newham and Ansel with Pamela Shalvey.[7]
1981: Quasimodo's Dream
In May 1981, The Reels released the single "Shout and Deliver" as a precursor to the album considered by many to be its best work, Quasimodo's Dream. Here The Reels displayed an impressive maturity in song writing, backed with strong performances, inventive arrangements and top-class production. It peaked at No. 27 in June. The album's title track was released as a single but, although widely considered to be one of the best Australian singles of that period, it failed to chart. The band undertook the Kitchen Man Tour, which saw the stage dressed as a fully equipped Australian kitchen.
The Reels' lack of top 10 mainstream commercial success was at odds with their strong live following, but it was due in part to the restrictive programming on commercial radio at that time, which gave little exposure to local "new wave" acts. The group's deteriorating relationship with Mercury was also a factor, as evidenced by the album's track listing: it included the earlier hit "According to My Heart", but a disclaimer printed on the sleeve noted that it had been included at the insistence of the record company (i.e. against the band's wishes).
Internal tensions were also a factor in the group's career vicissitudes. Bliss left just after the recording of the album, to be replaced by Stefan Fidock (who had played with Ansel in the Romantics). The new five-piece lineup promoted the album with the Kitchen Man Tour, after which Ansel, Newham then Abrahams left the band. Now reduced to a trio (Mason, Hooper and Fidock) The Reels continued performing by augmenting their live sound with taped backing tracks, and used the new Fairlight synthesiser for studio recordings.
1982–1985: Beautiful
In late 1982, having signed a new contract with the
In 1983, the band released a five-track EP of original songs, Pitt Street Farmers (the title is an old Sydney satirical expression referring to wealthy owners of rural land who never leave the city). This was followed by a new version of "Quasimodo's Dream" in December 1983, which also failed to chart on its second release. At this point Mason was forced to give up performing after contracting hepatitis, which effectively ended the group. Hooper joined the Church as keyboard player, and later joined the Mullanes, the original incarnation of Crowded House, and Fidock returned to Melbourne, joining the Sacred Cowboys.
By late 1985, Mason had recovered and the Reels was revived (with the line-up of Mason, Hooper, Bliss and Newham) and completed its commitments to RCA with a single, a cover version of Etta James's "It Must Be Love".
1986–1988: Later years
The band then signed with
In January 1987, their next single was a cover of the Edison Lighthouse hit "Love Grows (Where My Rosemary Goes)". During that year, they embarked on the popular "Reels By Request" tour, where the audience was allowed to call out for the songs they wanted to hear, chosen from long printed lists.[10] This was followed by an 'all Australian songs' version of the same concept, which led to The Reels' next studio album, Neighbors - the name of which excluded the 'u' which would normally be contained in the Australian English spelling. This LP contained their idiosyncratic versions of thirteen Australian rock classics,[11] including the singles "Are You Old Enough" (originally a hit for Dragon) and "Forever Now" (by Cold Chisel). Steve Prestwich, who wrote "Forever Now", played on the Reels' version. The album also featured a new version of the Reels' own song "Shout and Deliver".
1989–2006: Breakup
In 1989, Mason appeared in the acclaimed Australian feature film
2007–present: Comeback
In May 2007, Dave Mason released his first solo album, Reelsville, an acoustic re-recording of Reels hits. In August 2007, Reel to Reel was also released, a compilation of the Reels classic tracks with new liner notes as written by Mason.
In May 2008, Dave Mason, John Bliss and Colin Newham reunited and played shows.
At a subsequent show (the Gaelic Club, Surry Hills; 27 September 2008), Mason announced that Newham was retiring from the band. Original bassist Abrahams then rejoined the band, after 23 years. Despite this, the Reels never got to reunite as a six-piece group.
After the Reels
 | This section needs additional citations for verification. (October 2021) |
Hooper was also a member of the Church, the Mullanes (the original incarnation of Crowded House), and also recorded with Rockmelons and Ross Wilson.
Karen Ansel retired from the music business and became a noted film and TV computer graphics specialist in the US.[12]
Paul Abrahams also played bass in a band with Newham called Company of Strangers and was also a member of Peter Blakeley's band, The Resurrection. In addition, he played bass for Wendy Matthews, plus drums for Ya Ya Choral, Rat Tat Tat (Peter Blakeley and Jeff Stapleton) and The Bonerattlers who were regular buskers at Paddington Markets.
Fidock joined the Sacred Cowboys in 1987. Around 2008, he established his company Fidock Drums, creating handcrafted snares and drumkits.[13] He died from cancer in April 2020.[14]
John Bliss co-authored the book The A to Zen of Lawn Bowls with John Salter in 1997.
David Mason appeared in the Countdown Spectacular 2 concert series in Australia between late-August and early-September 2007 as a solo performer. He sang only one song, "Quasimodo's Dream".[15]
In 2007, Mason released a new album, Reelsville on Liberation Blue. He performed one gig to launch the album at The Basement in Sydney on 16 May 2007. A further gig was booked for the Factory Enmore Theatre in Sydney on 24 May 2008. This show became a local cause celebre when police with sniffer dogs arrested two 60-year-old punters for smoking illegal drugs.
On 26 March 2011, Mason appeared on episode 114 of RocKwiz on SBS TV. He performed "Quasimodo's Dream" and ended the show in a duet with Sally Seltmann performing the Conway Twitty song "As Soon as I Hang Up the Phone".
Mason, who now suffers from bipolar disorder, continues to play occasionally in three separate shows, an acoustic duo with Brendan Gallagher from Karma County and an electronic (one man show) 'Dark' with visuals by artist Libby Blainey, music by Scott Saunders from Dig; both these shows are mostly interpretations of Reels songs. 2017 saw the formation of the group Sandy Shores with Mason, Gallagher, Blainey together with Lindy Morrison and Amanda Brown from the Go-Betweens playing hits from past bands but mostly new original material.
Members
- Dave Mason – production, design, lead vocals (founding member Native Sons)
- Keith Greig – keyboards (founding member Native Sons)
- Tony Martin – bass (founding member Native Sons)
- Colin 'Polly' Newham – keyboards, vocoder, brass, production, songwriter, vocal
- Craig Hooper – guitars, keyboards, sax, production, songwriter, vocals (founding member Native Sons)
- Paul Abrahams – bass, vocal
- John Bliss – drums (founding member Native Sons)
- Karen Ansel – keyboards, design, costumes, vocals
- Stefan Fidock – drums, vocals (deceased 26 April 2020)
Timeline
Discography
Studio albums
| Title | Album details | Peak chart positions |
|---|---|---|
| AUS [16][17] | ||
| The Reels |
|
81 |
| Quasimodo's Dream |
|
27 |
| Beautiful |
|
32 |
| Neighbors |
|
92 |
| Reelsville |
|
— |
Compilations
| Title | Album details | Peak chart positions |
|---|---|---|
| AUS [17] | ||
| Unreel |
|
— |
| Requiem |
|
131 |
| Reel to Reel: 1978–1992 |
|
— |
EPs
| Title | EP details | Peak chart positions |
|---|---|---|
| AUS [16] | ||
| Five Great Gift Ideas from The Reels |
|
12 |
| Pitt Street Farmers |
|
— |
| The Reels 1979 EP |
|
— |
| 6 Great Gift Ideas |
|
— |
Singles
| Year | Title | Peak chart positions |
Album |
|---|---|---|---|
| AUS [16] | |||
| 1979 | "Love Will Find a Way" / "Spot the Ridge" | 39 | The Reels |
| 1980 | "Prefab Heart" / "Misused Abused" | 52 | |
| "After the News" / "Media Themes" | 65 | Quasimodo's Dream | |
| "According to My Heart" / "Love Will Find a Way" | —[A] | ||
| 1981 | "Shout and Deliver" / "Depression" | 43 | |
| "Quasimodo's Dream" / "(Love Is) Here Today" | — | ||
| "No.3" / "1, 2, 3" / "Haunted" | 93 | Non-album single | |
| 1982 | "This Guy's in Love with You" / "Cry" | 7 | Beautiful |
| 1983 | "(Last Night) I Didn't Get to Sleep at All" / "Science Is Golden" | — | |
| "Happiness" / "Comedy" | — | Pitt Street Farmers | |
| 1985 | "It Must Be Love" / "My Family" | — | Non-album singles |
| 1986 | " Bad Moon Rising " / "World's End"
|
11 | |
| 1987 | "Love Grows (Where My Rosemary Goes)" / "Media Themes II" | 70 | |
| 1988 | "Forever Now" | — | Neighbors |
| 1989 | "Are You Old Enough?" / "What's My Scene?" | — | |
| 1991 | "I Don't Love You Anymore" | 125 | Requiem |
| 1992 | "Bad Moon Rising" | — |
Notes
- ^ "According to My Heart" sales counted towards the sale of the EP 5 Great Ideas
Awards and nominations
Countdown Music Awards
| Year | Nominee / work | Award | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1982 | "This Guy's in Love with You" | Best Australian Single | Nominated |
Legacy
The song "Quasimodo's Dream" is regarded as an Australian rock classic and has been covered by
References
- General
- ISBN 1-86508-072-1. Archived from the originalon 5 April 2004. Retrieved 27 February 2010. Note: Archived [on-line] copy has limited functionality.
- Spencer, Chris; Zbig Nowara; Paul McHenry (2002) [1987]. The Who's Who of Australian Rock. ISBN 1-86503-891-1.[20] Note: [on-line] version established at White Room Electronic Publishing Pty Ltdin 2007 and was expanded from the 2002 edition.
- Specific
- ^ a b c McFarlane 'The Reels' entry. Retrieved 27 February 2010.
- ^ [1][permanent dead link]
- ^ [2] [permanent dead link]
- ^ [3] [permanent dead link]
- ISBN 0-646-11917-6. NOTE: Used for Australian Singles and Albums charting from 1974 until ARIA created their own chartsin mid-1988. In 1992, Kent back calculated chart positions for 1970–1974.
- ^ [4][permanent dead link]
- ^ 'The Bombs Dropped on Xmas', apraamcos.com.au, Work ID GW01458866
- ^ The Reels - Beautiful, 9 May 1982, retrieved 18 August 2023
- ^ "National Top 100 Singles for 1982". Kent Music Report. 3 January 1983. Retrieved 22 January 2023 – via Imgur.
- ^ Stuart Coupe (24 August 1986). "Reels: The most unlikely pop stars". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 23 October 2013.
- ^ Geoff Winestock (22 December 1989). "Reels put their own touch on cover songs". The Age. Retrieved 23 October 2013.
- ^ "Karen Ansel". IMDb.com. Retrieved 6 October 2021.
- ^ "Fidock Drums" (PDF). Modern Drummer. May 2008. Retrieved 6 October 2021.
- ^ "Archived copy". themusic.com.au. Archived from the original on 3 October 2021. Retrieved 17 January 2022.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ Peter Lalor (24 May 2007). "From the Reels to real-life depression". The Australian. Retrieved 23 October 2013.
- ^ ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
- ^ a b "Bubbling Down Under Week Commencing 12 August 1991". Retrieved 12 August 2022.
- Portable document format (PDF)). Countdown Magazine. Australian Broadcasting Corporation(ABC). March 1987. Retrieved 16 December 2010.
- ^ "Final episode of Countdown". 1970scountdown. Retrieved 23 October 2020.
- )
External links
- Official website
- Entry on HowlSpace
- 1982 Trade Union Club (Sydney) playlist by "NoNightSweats"
- The Reels - Memorable TV
- The Reels - Nostalgia Central
- Liberation Blue
| International | |
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| National | |
| Artists | |
