The Choirboys (band)
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The Choirboys are an Australian hard rock and pub rock band from Sydney formed as Choirboys in 1979 with mainstays Mark Gable on lead vocals, Ian Hulme on bass guitar, Brad Carr on lead guitar and Lindsay Tebbutt on drums. In preparation for their second album Big Bad Noise in 1988, the band changed their name to The Choirboys. The band line-up saw many changes from 1983 to 2007, while releasing 8 studio albums. Their 1987 single "Run to Paradise" remains their biggest commercial success.
Career
Early years
Choirboys formed in the Northern Beaches area of Sydney as a hard rock pub band in 1979.<ref name="McF"/> Original members were Brad Carr on lead guitar, Mark Gable on vocals, Ian Hulme on bass guitar and Lindsay Tebbutt on drums.<ref name="ARDb"/>
In 1983, after one of their demos was sent to Albert Productions record producer George Young (ex-The Easybeats, older brother of Angus and Malcolm Young of AC/DC) they signed to Albert Records. Jim Manzie produced their self-titled debut album, Choirboys, which was released in July.<ref name="ARDb"/> The first single, "Never Gonna Die" reached No. 30 on the Australian Kent Music Report Singles Chart.<ref name="Kent"/> Australian TV and music personality Ian "Molly" Meldrum claimed the album was "destined to become an Aussie classic". They toured as support to The Angels and Rose Tattoo and then Cold Chisel invited Choirboys to support them on their Last Stand Tour.<ref name="McF"/> However in November, Gable's vocal cords had ruptured and they were unable to join that tour – they spent 1984 and 1985 in hiatus waiting for him to recover.<ref name="McF"/><ref name="Macgregor"/>
1986–89: "Run to Paradise" and Big Bad Noise
Choirboys signed with Mushroom Records and released "Fireworks" in May 1986, they also opened for Deep Purple on their tour of Australia. Brad Carr left the group to be replaced on lead guitar by Brett Williams (ex-Brakes) as they supported Bon Jovi's tour in 1987.<ref name="McF"/> They recorded their second album Big Bad Noise with producers Peter Blyton (The Radiators, Machinations) and Brian McGee (The Rolling Stones, Cyndi Lauper).<ref name="ARDb"/> The next single "Run to Paradise" reached No. 3 in December 1987.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Released in the United States, it appeared on the Billboard Hot 100 and peaked at No. 33 on the Mainstream Rock chart in 1989.<ref name="RunParadise"/> Big Bad Noise peaked at No. 5 on the Kent Music Report Albums Chart in April 1988 and went double platinum.<ref name="McF"/><ref name="Kent"/> It was ranked No. 21 for the year in Australia.<ref name="ARIAEoY1988"/> Other singles from the album included "Boys Will Be Boys" and "Struggle Town" reaching No. 14 and No. 34 respectively.<ref name="Kent"/>
1990s: Midnight Sun to Yo-Yo
The Choirboys recorded Midnight Sun, in Los Angeles with producer Marc Tanner. The album didn't achieve the level of success of its predecessor – it peaked at No. 30.<ref name="Kent"/> Late in the year they released a live album, Dead Drunk Live Hangovers, recorded at a Melbourne show.<ref name="McF"/>
Brad Heaney (ex-The Screaming Jets) replaced Tebbutt on drums and Steve Williams (Wa Wa Nee) replaced Brett Williams on guitar by 1993.<ref name="McF"/> Their compilation album Decade 1983–1993 (1993) was followed by Dancing on the Grave of Rock n' Roll (1994), with Barton Price (Models) on drums, which was produced by Gable and Hulme.<ref name="ARDb"/>
The band recorded its next album Yo-Yo in Germany during 1996, with Blyton and Choirboys producing and Richard Lara (The Screaming Jets) replacing Brett Williams on guitar. The band supported Cheap Trick on their Australian tour in the same year with Tony Le Rhodes on drums.<ref name="McF"/>
2000–present
The Choirboys recorded the Evolver album in 2002 and 2003 in between going on an extensive tour of Australia and New Zealand. Former Icehouse drummer Paul Wheeler joined the band. The Evolver album was released in 2004 but due to low promotion for the album, it peaked at 174 in the Australian charts. The band returned to the Australian singles charts in Australia in July when dance producer Nick Skitz asked Gable to sing "Run to Paradise" on a dance reworking. The song, billed as "Nick Skitz vs. Choirboys", debuted in the top 20 of the Australian singles charts.<ref name="AusCharts"/>
In 2006, The Choirboys performed "Run To Paradise" on the Grand Final edition of The AFL Footy Show and released Big Bad and Acoustic with re-recorded versions of their earlier work. In 2007 they resurfaced to bring out their next studio album, So Easy, which contained cover versions of The Easybeats' songs. Gable said, "We thought it a worthwhile exercise to explore them in a more modern light. We could redo things with a greater technical capacity [...] we could put in backgrounds that two-track recording wouldn't allow. With Pretty Girl, for example, we spent quite a bit of time, adding about 80 backing vocals around the lead".<ref name="Harbour"/>
Gable hosted a radio show, Vega Sunday Session, on Vega 95.3 FM Sydney and Melbourne. The show featured local and international artists talking about their lives and their music. On 25 October, The Choirboys performed "Run to Paradise" at the Gold Coast SuperGP (formerly Indy Carnival). They released a second compilation, Never Gonna Die – The Very Best of Choirboys 30th Anniversary (2009), and followed with a national tour into 2010.<ref name="Metro"/> Gable as of 2012 hosts his own radio show The Awesome Eighties on 107.7 2GO (2GGO) FM Central Coast. The show which is aired 5 days a week consists of interviews and insight into the music and the artists of the 1980s.
In 2018, The Choirboys released the instrumental album, 1965, Life's a Beach.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
In 2019, the Choirboys released a series of cover EPs, titled 6 Pack of the Hits.<ref name="6pack">Template:Cite web</ref>
In 2021, The Choirboys released the singles "Feels Good", "Sorry" and "Rendezvous" followed by Feels Good. Feels Good is a compilation of live streams songs, released on vinyl on 29 October 2021.<ref name="Feels Good Vinyl">Template:Cite web</ref>
On 17 December 2021 the band announced through their social media pages that drummer Lindsay Tebbutt had died from mesothelioma.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Members
Template:Col-begin Template:Col-2
- Current members
- Mark Gable – lead vocals (1979–present), rhythm guitar (1979–1993, 1999–2002, 2003–2007, 2007–present), lead guitar (1993–1999, 2002–2010)
- Ian Hulme – bass, backing vocals (1979–present)
- Brett Williams – lead guitar, backing vocals (1987–1992, 2010–present)
- Former members
- Lindsay Tebbutt – drums, backing vocals (1979–1992, 2010–2021; died 2021)
- Brad Carr – lead guitar (1979–1987)
- Bob Spencer – lead guitar (1992–2004)
- Brad Heaney – drums (1993–1994)
- Steve Williams – rhythm guitar (1993–1995)
- Barton Price – drums (1994–1996)
- Richard Lara – rhythm guitar (1995–1999)
- Tony Le Rhodes – drums (1996–1997)
- Richard Coleman – drums (1997–2003)
- Johnny Ghiselli – rhythm guitar (2002–2003)
- Rohan Cannon – rhythm guitar (2007)
- Paul Wheeler – drums, backing vocals (2003–2009)
- Mick O'Shea – drums, backing vocals (2009–2010)
Timeline
<timeline> ImageSize = width:800 height:400 PlotArea = left:110 bottom:120 top:0 right:30 Alignbars = justify DateFormat = dd/mm/yyyy Period = from:01/01/1979 till:05/07/2025 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal format:yyyy
Colors =
id:lvocals value:red legend:Lead_vocals id:bvocals value:pink legend:Backing_vocals id:lead value:teal legend:Lead guitar id:rhythm value:green legend:Rhythm guitar id:bass value:blue legend:Bass id:drums value:orange legend:Drums id:lines value:black legend:Studio albums
Legend = orientation:vertical position:bottom columns:2
ScaleMajor = increment:5 start:1979 ScaleMinor = increment:1 start:1979
LineData =
at:01/01/1983 color:black layer:back at:01/01/1988 color:black layer:back at:01/01/1991 color:black layer:back at:01/01/1994 color:black layer:back at:01/01/1996 color:black layer:back at:01/01/2004 color:black layer:back at:01/01/2006 color:black layer:back at:01/01/2007 color:black layer:back
BarData =
bar:Gable text:"Mark Gable" bar:Hulme text:"Ian Hulme" bar:Carr text:"Brad Carr" bar:Williams text:"Brett Williams" bar:Spencer text:"Bob Spencer" bar:SWilliams text:"Steve Williams" bar:Lara text:"Richard Lara" bar:Ghiselli text:"Johnny Ghiselli" bar:Cannon text:"Rohan Cannon" bar:Tebbutt text:"Lindsay Tebbutt" bar:Heaney text:"Brad Heaney" bar:Price text:"Barton Price" bar:Rhodes text:"Tony Le Rhodes" bar:Coleman text:"Richard Coleman" bar:Wheeler text:"Paul Wheeler" bar:O'Shea text:"Mick O'Shea"
PlotData=
width:11 textcolor:black align:left anchor:from shift:(10,-4) bar:Gable from:01/01/1979 till:01/01/1993 color:rhythm width:3 bar:Gable from:01/01/1993 till:01/01/1999 color:lead width:3 bar:Gable from:01/01/1999 till:01/01/2002 color:rhythm width:3 bar:Gable from:01/01/2002 till:01/01/2003 color:lead width:3 bar:Gable from:01/01/2003 till:01/01/2007 color:rhythm width:3 bar:Gable from:01/01/2003 till:01/01/2007 color:lead width:7 bar:Gable from:01/01/2007 till:31/12/2007 color:lead width:3 bar:Gable from:31/12/2007 till:01/06/2010 color:lead width:7 bar:Gable from:31/12/2007 till:end color:rhythm width:3 bar:Carr from:01/01/1979 till:01/01/1987 color:lead bar:Gable from:01/01/1979 till:end color:lvocals bar:Hulme from:01/01/1979 till:end color:bass bar:Hulme from:01/01/1979 till:end color:bvocals width:3 bar:Tebbutt from:01/01/1979 till:01/01/1992 color:drums bar:Tebbutt from:01/01/1979 till:01/01/1992 color:bvocals width:3 bar:Tebbutt from:01/06/2010 till:17/12/2021 color:drums bar:Tebbutt from:01/06/2010 till:17/12/2021 color:bvocals width:3 bar:Williams from:01/01/1987 till:01/01/1992 color:lead bar:Williams from:01/01/1987 till:01/01/1992 color:bvocals width:3 bar:Williams from:01/06/2010 till:end color:lead bar:Williams from:01/06/2010 till:end color:bvocals width:3 bar:Spencer from:01/01/1992 till:10/10/1992 color:lead bar:Heaney from:01/01/1993 till:01/01/1994 color:drums bar:SWilliams from:01/01/1993 till:01/01/1995 color:rhythm bar:Price from:01/01/1994 till:01/01/1996 color:drums bar:Lara from:01/01/1995 till:01/01/1999 color:rhythm bar:Rhodes from:01/01/1996 till:01/01/1997 color:drums bar:Coleman from:01/01/1997 till:01/01/2003 color:drums bar:Ghiselli from:01/01/2002 till:01/01/2003 color:rhythm bar:Cannon from:01/01/2007 till:31/12/2007 color:rhythm bar:Wheeler from:01/01/2003 till:01/06/2009 color:drums bar:Wheeler from:01/01/2003 till:01/06/2009 color:bvocals width:3 bar:O'Shea from:01/06/2009 till:01/06/2010 color:drums bar:O'Shea from:01/06/2009 till:01/06/2010 color:bvocals width:3
</timeline>
Discography
Studio albums
| Title | Album details | Peak chart positions |
|---|---|---|
| AUS <ref name="Kent"/><ref name="ARIA Chart">Template:Cite web N.B. The High Point number in the NAT column represents the release's peak on the national chart.</ref> | ||
| Choirboys | 26 | |
| Big Bad Noise |
|
5 |
| Midnight Sun |
|
30 |
| Dancing on the Grave of Rock n' Roll |
|
- |
| Yo-Yo |
|
179 |
| Evolver |
|
- |
| Big Bad and Acoustic |
|
- |
| So Easy |
|
- |
| 1965, Life's a Beach |
|
- |
Live albums
| Title | Album details |
|---|---|
| Dead Drunk Live Hangovers |
|
| Pub Rock Live |
|
Compilation albums
| Title | Album details | Peak chart positions |
|---|---|---|
| AUS <ref name="ARIA Chart"/> | ||
| Decade 1983-1993 |
|
117 |
| Never Gonna Die – The Very Best of Choirboys 30th Anniversary |
|
- |
| This Is Paradise: Greatest Hits |
|
- |
| Feels Good |
|
- |
Extended plays
| Title | Details |
|---|---|
| 6 Pack of Creedence Clearwater Revival |
|
| 6 Pack of Tom |
|
| 6 Pack of Bruce Springsteen |
|
Singles
References
- General
- Template:Cite encyclopedia Note: Archived [on-line] copy has limited functionality.
- Specific
Template:Refend Template:Reflist