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James Freud

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James Freud
Background information
Birth nameColin Joseph McGlinchey
Born(1959-06-29)29 June 1959
OriginMelbourne, Victoria, Australia
Died4 November 2010(2010-11-04) (aged 51)
GenresRock
Instrument(s)Vocals, bass guitar, guitar
Years active1976–2010
LabelsMushroom

James Randall Freud (born Colin Joseph McGlinchey, 29 June 1959 – 4 November 2010) was an Australian rock musician-songwriter. He was a member of Models during the 1980s and wrote their two most popular singles, "Barbados" and "Out of Mind, Out of Sight".

His autobiographies I am the Voice Left from Drinking (2002) and I am the Voice Left from Rehab (2007) detail his career in music entertainment and addictions. On 27 October 2010, Models were inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame by former member Wendy Matthews, Freud's absence from the ceremony was explained as being due to "another bicycle accident". Freud committed suicide on 4 November and is survived by his wife, Sally, and two sons, Jackson and Harrison.

Biography

Early life

Freud was born as Colin Joseph McGlinchey on 29 June 1959 to Joe and Hannah McGlinchey and grew up in Melbourne.[1][2] His interest in music began before he started school. "From the time I was five, I realised that was what I wanted to do. My uncle gave me all Frankie Avalon records and I just loved them. That was it, that was all I wanted to do". His father left the family when Freud was in his early teens.[2] He attended St Thomas Moore Catholic Boys College.[1]

Despite his passion and musical talent, Freud's mother, Hannah, was against the idea. He later changed his name to James Randall Freud.[3] At age 17, Freud left to pursue his career and did not contact her for over two years. "We didn't communicate in any way until I could validate myself as a musician".[4]

Early career (1976–1982)

Freud formed his first band, Sabre, at the age of 16, with high school friend and guitarist Sean Kelly and drummer Ian McFarlane. Their first performance was at his younger sister's slumber party. After hearing the Sex Pistols' song "God Save the Queen" in 1977, Freud formed The Spred with Kelly, and three other members. Formed late in 1977, Teenage Radio Stars was a glam-punk band with Freud on lead vocals and guitar and Kelly on guitar and vocals.[5] When the opportunity came to record a single, "I Wanna Be Your Baby", later covered by Uncanny X-Men, two members were fired. Mick Prague and Mark Harvey joined the band and performed "I Wanna Be Your Baby" on Countdown.

By early 1979, with ex-members of Colt, he formed James Freud & the Radio Stars with Murray Doherty on bass guitar, Roger Mason on keyboards, Glenn McGrath on drums and Bryan Thomas on guitar, and later Tony Harvey playing guitar and Mick Prague on bass. This line up plus various guest artists recorded the album Breaking Silence between July and November 1979, with Tony Lugton and Peter Cook contributing before the completion and release in 1980. The former Colt members, Murray Doherty, Glenn McGrath and Bryan Thomas went on to form local Melbourne band Mod Cons and added vocalist/guitarist Derek Beautyman in 1980.[5][6] Later, Tony Lugton (ex-Steeler) replaced Harvey on guitar and also provided keyboards.[5] Further changes by year's end resulted in Freud and Mason joined by Peter Cook on guitar and backing vocals and Tommy Hosie on drums.[5] They signed with Mushroom Records and their debut single, "Modern Girl," from Breaking Silence was released in May 1980, which peaked at No. 12 on the Australian Kent Music Report Singles Chart.[5][7] They supported British singer-keyboardist, Gary Numan on his Australian tour. James Freud & the Radio Stars' debut album Breaking Silence was released in June, it was produced by Tony Cohen.[5][6]

Breaking Silence impressed Numan such that he offered to produce an album for Freud in the UK. Because there was already a British band known as the Radio Stars, a name change occurred for Freud's backing band, who became known as James Freud & Berlin. In October, they released "Enemy Lines" from Breaking Silence.[5] "Automatic Crazy", produced by Numan, followed in March 1981.[6] However, neither Freud nor Numan were happy with the London-recorded album and it was not released. One month later Freud disbanded the group.[5]

Models (1982–1988)

Main article: Models (band)
James Freud in San Francisco, California on tour with Models 1986

In 1982, Freud joined Models as bass guitarist after the departure of Mark Ferrie, reuniting with old collaborator Kelly.[8] Freud shared lead vocalist duties on some songs, beginning with one of his compositions, "Facing The North Pole in August" from The Pleasure of Your Company, recorded in 1983. In 1985, Two Freud-penned hits, "Barbados" (co-written with Andrew Duffield) and "Out of Mind, Out of Sight", took Models to No. 2 and No. 1 on the Australian singles chart, respectively. He remained in the band until they split in 1988.

Post-Models solo career (1989–2010)

In 1989, Freud went solo again, releasing Step into the Heat,[6] the most expensive album released by Mushroom Records up to that point. However, it was not successful. In his 2002 autobiography Freud blamed the low quality of the songs. After performing on pop music show, Countdown Revolution he criticised the show's format to music commentator, Ian Meldrum (creator and presenter on the earlier Countdown). Meldrum dismissed Freud with, "You're nothing but a fucking has-been. Look around you. See the new hosts of the show. They are the future of Australian music. You're on your way out now".[4][9]

Freud teamed with vocalist and guitarist Martin Plaza of Mental as Anything as the dance group Beatfish, releasing an eponymous record in 1992. In 1995, Freud canned his next proposed solo album, BigMouth, but some material was used on the Hawaiian surf-themed Postcard to Hawaii album released in 1996 by his next band, Moondog. Freud was the lead vocalist with Plaza and Phil Ceberano on guitar and backing vocals. In 1999, he performed "One Tony Lockett", an ode to the footballer Tony Lockett, at the Sydney Cricket Ground, and released Today's Legends of AFL Football as James Freud & the Reserves.

In 1996, Freud went on to compose, sing and write the lyrics for the main title theme to the Australian children's television series Swinging for ABC TV.

Freud published his first autobiography in 2002, I Am the Voice Left from Drinking where he detailed his alcoholism and described how he nearly died on 24 March 2001 from alcohol poisoning and massive blood loss, "I was standing upon the wreckage of my youth; I probably wouldn't make it through the night and as I lay there, I couldn't help but wonder, 'How did I end up like this?'".[4][10]

In 2007 to 2009 Freud performed with Melbourne tribute band 80s Enuff at Melbourne's Crown Casino. In 2008, he released See You in Hell, which was to prove his last solo studio album. Prior to his death, Freud was manager for his sons' band, Attack of the Mannequins, and assisted them with the development of their debut album, Rage of the World.

Personal life

Freud married Sally Clifton in 1984. Sally has written four books including Thank You, Goodnight: A Backstage Pass to Australian Rock'n'roll (1997) on the music industry.[11][12] Together they had two sons, Jackson (born 1989) and Harrison Freud (born 1988).[2] The brothers formed their own rock band, Sonic Dogma, in 2005, which later became Attack of the Mannequins; the band was managed by Freud. His two autobiographies' titles, I am the Voice Left from Drinking (2002) and I am the Voice Left from Rehab (2007) refer to a lyric in the hit song "Barbados".[2] The books chronicle his descent into alcoholism and his subsequent recovery attempts. His widow and two children reside in Melbourne, Australia.[4]

Death

On 4 November 2010, Freud was found dead at his home in Hawthorn, Melbourne.[13] A week earlier, on 27 October, Models were inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame without Freud attending the ceremony. His absence was explained publicly as due to commitments to managing his sons' band. Privately, organisers were told that Freud would not attend because he could not be anywhere near alcohol. During the ceremony, Kelly explained the absence by saying Freud had "another bicycle accident".[14]

A statement by Michael Gudinski, whose Mushroom Records launched Freud's solo career and that of Models, said:

James' battle with alcoholism has been well chronicled. His two books on his recovery and five years' sobriety were best-sellers and gave a lot of people who were suffering the same affliction comfort and hope. Unfortunately, James has succumbed to his disease and taken his own life this morning.[14]

Discography

Albums

Solo

  • Breaking Silence – Mushroom (June 1980)
  • Step into the Heat – Mushroom (1989)
  • Gates of Hell – Independent (2002)
  • See You in Hell – Independent (February 2008)

with Models

with Berlin

  • "Automatic Crazy" – Mushroom (1981)

with Beatfish

  • Beatfish – RCA (November 1991)

with Moondog

  • Postcard to Hawaii (1995)

with James Freud and the Reserves

  • Today's Legends of AFL Football – Sony Music (1999)

Bibliography

Freud has written the following:[15]

  • Freud, James (2002). I am the Voice Left from Drinking : the Models – from the 'Burbs to 'Barbados' and Beyond. Pymble, NSW: Harper Collins. ISBN 0-7322-7440-0.
  • Freud, James (2007). I am the Voice Left from Rehab. North Sydney, NSW: Random House. ISBN 978-1-74166-556-7.

References

  1. ^ a b Keenan, Catherine (31 August 2002). "Out of mind, out of sight". The Sydney Morning Herald. Fairfax Media. Retrieved 6 March 2009.
  2. ^ a b c d Dow, Steve (23 March 2007). "Freudian Slip". Steve Dow. Retrieved 5 November 2010.
  3. ^ ""I Hear Motion" ASCAP search result". American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP). Retrieved 5 March 2009.
  4. ^ a b c d Halliday, Claire (27 August 2002). "How James Freud survived rock and roll". The Sydney Morning Herald. Fairfax Media. Retrieved 4 March 2009.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h McFarlane, Ian (1999). "Encyclopedia entry for 'James Freud'". Encyclopedia of Australian Rock and Pop. St Leonards, NSW: Allen & Unwin. ISBN 1-86448-768-2. {{cite book}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help); External link in |chapterurl= (help); Unknown parameter |chapterurl= ignored (|chapter-url= suggested) (help) Note: Archived [on-line] version has limited functionality.
  6. ^ a b c d "James Freud". Australian Rock Database. Passagen.se (Magnus Holmgren). Archived from the original on 28 September 2012. Retrieved 12 February 2014.
  7. ^ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992. St Ives, NSW: Australian Chart Book Ltd. ISBN 0-646-11917-6. Note: Used for Australian singles and albums charting from 1974 until ARIA created their own charts in mid-1988. In 1992, Kent back calculated chart positions for 1970–1974.
  8. ^ McFarlane, Ian (1999). "Encyclopedia entry for 'Models'". Encyclopedia of Australian Rock and Pop. St Leonards, NSW: Allen & Unwin. ISBN 1-86448-768-2. {{cite book}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help); External link in |chapterurl= (help); Unknown parameter |chapterurl= ignored (|chapter-url= suggested) (help) Note: Archived [on-line] version has limited functionality.
  9. ^ Freud (2002). p 230.
  10. ^ Freud (2002). p 15.
  11. ^ "Sally Freud". Booked Out Speakers Agency Pty Ltd. Retrieved 5 November 2010.
  12. ^ "Search results – author:"Freud, Sally"". catalogue. National Library of Australia. Retrieved 5 November 2010.
  13. ^ "Models Singer James Freud Takes His Life". Undercover. Retrieved 4 November 2010.
  14. ^ a b Pepper, Daile; Murfett, Andrew (4 November 2010). "Models' frontman tragedy: James Freud takes own life". The Sydney Morning Herald. Fairfax Media. Retrieved 4 November 2010.
  15. ^ "Search results – author:"Freud, James"". catalogue. National Library of Australia. Retrieved 2 November 2010.
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