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Pseudo Echo

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Pseudo Echo
OriginMelbourne, Victoria, Australia
GenresNew wave, synthpop, electronic rock
Years active1982 (1982)–1990 (1990), 1998 (1998)–present
LabelsRCA Records, EMI
MembersBrian Canham
Darren Danielson
Ben Grayson
Simon Rayner
Past membersPierre Gigliotti
Tony Lugton
Anthony Argiro
James Leigh
Vince Leigh
Tony Featherstone
Matt Campbell

Pseudo Echo are an Australian new wave band that formed in 1982 in Melbourne. The original line-up consisted of Brian Canham (vocals, guitars and keyboards), born 3 July 1962, Pierre Gigliotti (as Pierre Pierre) (bass guitar, keyboards), Tony Lugton (guitars and keyboards) and Anthony Argiro (drums). A later line-up included James Leigh (keyboards) and his brother, Vince Leigh (drums). In the 1980s, Pseudo Echo had Australian top 20 hits with "Listening", "A Beat for You", "Don't Go", "Love an Adventure", "Living in a Dream" and their cover of "Funky Town" (from Lipps Inc.), which peaked at No. 1 in 1986. In 1987, it reached No. 1 in Canada and New Zealand, No. 6 in United States and No. 8 in United Kingdom.

They released their debut album, Autumnal Park in 1984 which peaked at No. 11 on the Australian Kent Music Report. Love an Adventure followed in 1985 and reached No. 14. Their third album, Race (1989) peaked at No. 18 and in 1990 the group disbanded. They reformed in 1998 and issued Teleporter in 2000. Rock music historian Ian McFarlane, stated they "combined flash clothes, blow-wave hairstyles, youthful exuberance and accessible synth-pop to arrive at a winning combination ... and found a ready-made audience among teenagers who fawned on the band's every move".

History

Formation

Pseudo Echo formed in Melbourne in 1982 by high school friends Brian Canham on vocals, guitars, and keyboards and Pierre Gigliotti (as Pierre Pierre) on bass and keyboards, they were joined by Tony Lugton (ex-James Freud & the Radio Stars) on guitars and keyboards.[1][2] The group were named for a sound effect available on their keyboards and were influenced by New Romantics bands, Duran Duran, Spandau Ballet and Ultravox.[1][3] Molly Meldrum, television presenter for the pop music series Countdown, saw the group at a gig and aired them on the show with a demo version of "Listening" in June 1983.[3][4] They were signed to EMI Records and "Listening" – produced by Peter Dawkins – was issued in November as their debut single, which peaked at No. 4 on the Australian Kent Music Report Singles Chart.[2][5]

Autumnal Park

Their first album Autumnal Park, produced by Dawkins and John Punter, was released in June 1984, which peaked at No. 11 on the Kent Music Report Albums Chart.[2][5] It was an Ultravox-influenced effort which, besides "Listening", yielded the singles "A Beat for You" (No. 12 in April), "Stranger in Me" (July) and "Dancing Until Midnight" (December).[1][5] "His Eyes", another album track, received overseas exposure when it was used in the film Friday the 13th: A New Beginning.

Love an Adventure

Pseudo Echo's Tony Lugton was replaced by James Leigh (aka James Dingli) in October 1984.[1] Tony Lugton left the band due to musical differences.[6] Lugton eventually joined synth rock band Talk That Walk. Another line-up change occurred just after the recording of the second album, Love an Adventure, with Argiro replaced by James's brother Vince Leigh (aka Vincent Dingli).[1][2] In November 1985, Canham joined a charity project for research on little penguins, as a guest vocalist with other Australian artists and backed by The Incredible Penguins. They covered the John Lennon and Yoko Ono hit "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)", which peaked at No. 10 in December.[5][7]

Their second album, issued in November, was produced by Mark S. Berry, and Brian Canham, which reached No. 14.[2][5] Three of its singles reached the Top 20 including "Don't Go" (No. 4 in October), "Love an Adventure" (No. 6 in January 1986), and "Living in a Dream" (No. 15 in May).[5] A fourth single, "Try" (August), peaked at No 60.[5]

In October 1986, Pseudo Echo released a rockier version of the Lipps, Inc. disco song "Funky Town", which spent seven weeks at number-one from December.[5] The album, Love an Adventure, was re-released the following year to include their remake of "Funky Town" which brought the group their biggest international success, the single reached No. 6 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States, and No. 8 on the UK Singles Chart in July 1987.[8]

The overseas release of Love an Adventure featured a different track listing and included re-recorded versions of three singles from Autumnal Park: "Listening", "A Beat for You", and "Destination Unknown". These were more rock-oriented, to better match the other album tracks. Canham re-recorded his vocals for a slicker sound for the rock remixes. The overseas version of Love an Adventure had the re-make of "Funky Town" replacing "Don't Go".

Long Plays 83-87 & Race

In 1987, the band re-released "Listening" for the movie North Shore starring Nia Peeples. In October they won the 1987 World Popular Song Festival (aka Yamaha Music Festival) with "Take on the World",[9] which provided a prize of US$10,000.[1] and released a compilation album Long Plays 83–87. It was released as Funky Town - The Album in New Zealand where it peaked at No.1. Their third album, Race (1989), produced by Julian Mendelsohn and Brian Canham, had a more mature rock sound.[1] It featured the Australian singles "Fooled Again", "Over Tomorrow", "Eye of the Storm", and "Don't You Forget". The album reached No. 18 on the Kent Music Report Albums Chart and No. 32 on the ARIA Albums Chart.[5] Pseudo Echo disbanded shortly after touring for Race in 1989.

Other projects

After Pseudo Echo disbanded Canham moved into record production including Chocolate Starfish's 1994 debut album, Chocolate Starfish, which peaked at No. 2 on the ARIA Albums Chart.[1][10] Gigliotti performed with a covers band, All the Young Dudes. The Leigh brothers formed Vertigo (later renamed as Invertigo) in 1996. In 1997, Canham formed Brill with Darren Danielson (ex-Chocolate Starfish) on drums.[citation needed] Andy McIvor added on bass guitar and Dave Stuart on Keyboards, they toured as Brill and issued an album titled Brill in August 1997. In 2002 Canham along with Ben Grayson and Matilda White formed dance outfit Origene. They achieved success with their song Suddenly Silently (originally written for Pseudo Echo), and followed up with the club hit Sanctuary which reached number 1 on the Billboard Club chart in the United States.

Reformation

Pseudo Echo reunited in March 1998, with Canham and Gigliotti joined by Danielson on drums and Tony Featherstone on keyboards (ex-The Badloves), they played sold-out venues across Australia reaffirming the band's popularity.[citation needed] In late 1999, Ben Grayson replaced Featherstone on keyboards. In 2000 they released an EP titled Funkytown Y2K: RMX, with six new remixes of Funky Town. In the same year they supported international artists Culture Club and Village People.[citation needed] Pseudo Echo issued a double-CD Teleporter (2000), produced by Canham.[citation needed] Disc one featured four new tracks and five re-mixed tracks. Disc two was a live performance, which featured all the tracks from Autumnal Park except From the Shore, some tracks from Love an Adventure and the rare B-side In Their Time.

In 2005 Pseudo Echo toured extensively with Idols of the 80s. In 2006 Canham performed at the Countdown Spectacular alongside an impressive gathering of Australian musicians. In 2007, to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Pseudo Echo, Canham and Gigliotti were joined by previous members James and Vince Leigh for a sold-out show at the Crown Casino, Melbourne. This was followed by a short Australian tour before Canham and Gigliotti were rejoined by Danielson and Grayson. In 2012 co-founder Gigliotti resigned from the band and was replaced by Simon Rayner (bass keys, backing vocals).

Ultraviolet

In July 2012, Pseudo Echo recorded and released their version of Suddenly Silently. It was their first new single release in over 20 years. This was followed by another single Fighting the Tide shortly after. 2014 saw them undertake a successful crowd-funding campaign which enabled them to release their 5th full length album Ultraviolet. With a sound reminiscent of their heyday, Ultraviolet captured the evolution of Canham's songwriting and the forward momentum of Pseudo Echo. They toured Ultraviolet extensively across Australia and to New Zealand.

Live at the Viper Room

Toward the end of 2014 Pseudo Echo undertook another successful crowd-funding campaign to enable them to travel to Hollywood, California to record a live album at the infamous Viper Room on Sunset Strip. They recorded their performance in January 2015 in front of a sold-out crowd. Their 6th album Pseudo Echo Live at the Viper Room was released in June 2015.

Influences

Pseudo Echo were originally influenced by Simple Minds, Ultravox, Japan and then later Duran Duran and The Human League.[11]

Discography

Studio albums

Live albums

  • Autumnal Park - Live (2005)
  • Live at the Viper Room (2015)

Compilation albums

Videos

  • Pseudo Flicks (1990)

Singles

Year Title Peak chart positions Album
AUS
[5] 		AUT
[14] 		BEL
[15] 		CAN
[16] 		GER
[17] 		NZ
[18] 		SWE
[19] 		SWI
[20] 		UK
[21] 		US
[22]
1983 "Listening" 4 — — — — — — — — — Non-album single
"Listening" (re-release) — — — — — 37 — — — — Autumnal Park
1984 "A Beat For You" 12 — — — — 6 — — — —
"Dancing Until Midnight" 53 — — — — — — — — —
"Stranger in Me" 58 — — — — — — — — —
"Stranger in Me: New York Dance Mix" — — — — — — — — — — Non-album single
1985 "Don't Go" 4 — — — — 28 — — — — Love an Adventure
"Love an Adventure" 6 — — — — 50 — — — —
1986 "Living in a Dream" 15 — — — — — — — — 57
"Try" 60 — — — — — — — — —
"Funky Town" 1 13 30 1 16 1 9 11 8 6 Long Plays 83–87 /
Love an Adventure (US version)
1987 "Listening" (re-release) — — — — — — — — — — North Shore soundtrack
1988 "Fooled Again" 33 — — — — — — — — — Race
1989 "Over Tomorrow" 40 — — — — — — — — —
"Eye of the Storm" — — — — — — — — — —
1999 "Funkytown Y2K: RMX" — — — — — — — — — — Teleporter
2012 "Suddenly Silently" — — — — — — — — — — Ultraviolet
2013 "Fighting the Tide" — — — — — — — — — — Ultraviolet
"—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory.

References

General
  • McFarlane, Ian (1999). "Whammo Homepage". Encyclopedia of Australian Rock and Pop. St Leonards, NSW: Allen & Unwin. ISBN 1-86508-072-1. Archived from the original on 5 April 2004. Retrieved 9 April 2011. Note: Archived [on-line] copy has limited functionality.
  • Spencer, Chris; Zbig Nowara; Paul McHenry (2002) [1987]. The Who's Who of Australian Rock. Noble Park, Vic: Five Mile Press. ISBN 1-86503-891-1.[23] Note: [on-line] version of The Who's Who of Australian Rock was established at White Room Electronic Publishing Pty Ltd in 2007 and was expanded from the 2002 edition. As from, September 2010 the [on-line] version shows an 'Internal Service Error' and was no longer available.
Specific
  1. ^ a b c d e f g h McFarlane, 'Pseudo Echo' entry. Archived from the original on 18 February 2004. Retrieved 21 May 2011.
  2. ^ a b c d e Holmgren, Magnus; Warnqvist, Stefan; McAlister, Karen. "Pseudo Echo". passagen.se. Australian Rock Database (Magnus Holmgren). Archived from the original on 8 October 2012. Retrieved 28 May 2014.
  3. ^ a b Warner, Dave (June 2006). Countdown: The Wonder Years 1974–1987. Sydney, NSW: ABC Books (Australian Broadcasting Corporation). pp. 61, 78. ISBN 0-7333-1401-5.
  4. ^ Jenkins, Jeff; Meldrum, Ian (2007). Molly Meldrum Presents 50 Years of Rock in Australia. Melbourne, Vic: Wilkinson Publishing. p. 130. ISBN 978-1-921332-11-1.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Australian chart peaks:
  6. ^ Grech, Jason (29 April 2006). "An Interview with Brian Canham by Jason". Exclusive Interviews. Countdown Memories. Retrieved 21 May 2011.
  7. ^ Spencer et al, (2007), Incredible Penguins entry.
  8. ^ Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 441. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
  9. ^ "WPSF 1987". World Popular Song Festival. Telenet. Retrieved 22 May 2011.
  10. ^ "Discography Chocolate Starfish". Australian Charts Portal. Hung Medien. Retrieved 22 May 2011.
  11. ^ "Pseudo Echo – Interview – Brian Canham Pseudo Echo". Music Interviews. Femail.com.au. Retrieved 22 May 2011. Simple minds, Ultravox, Japan and then later Durran Durran (sic) and Human League. I didn't realize how much we were influenced until now. It's quite obvious when I actually listen to our music and draw comparisons.
  12. ^ 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 Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) created their own charts in mid-1988. In 1992, Kent back calculated chart positions for 1970–1974.
  13. ^ "PSEUDO ECHO - FUNKY TOWN (ALBUM)". Charts.org.nz. Retrieved 29 November 2013.
  14. ^ "PSEUDO ECHO - FUNKY TOWN (SONG)". Austriancharts.at. Retrieved 29 November 2013.
  15. ^ "Top 30". Radio 2. Retrieved 29 November 2013.
  16. ^ "Top Singles vol 46". Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 29 November 2013.
  17. ^ "Funky Town". Charts.de. Retrieved 29 November 2013.
  18. ^ "PSEUDO ECHO IN NEW ZEALAND CHARTS". Charts.org.nz. Retrieved 29 November 2013.
  19. ^ "PSEUDO ECHO - FUNKY TOWN (SONG)". Swedishcharts.com. Retrieved 29 November 2013.
  20. ^ "PSEUDO ECHO - FUNKY TOWN". Hitparade.ch. Retrieved 29 November 2013.
  21. ^ "PSEUDO ECHO". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 29 November 2013.
  22. ^ "Pseudo Echo". Billboard. Retrieved 29 November 2013.
  23. ^ "Who's Who of Australian Rock / Compiled by Chris Spencer, Zbig Nowara & Paul McHenry". catalogue. National Library of Australia. Retrieved 21 May 2011.
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