Dave Graney
Encyclopedia
David John "Dave" Graney (born 2 February 1959) is an Australian rock musician and singer-songwriter
from Mount Gambier
, South Australia
. Since 1979, Graney is generally accompanied by drummer, Clare Moore
(his wife and creative partner). The pair have fronted numerous bands including The Moodists
(1980 to 1987), The White Buffaloes (1989 to 1990), Coral Snakes (1987 to 1989, 1991 to 1997), The Dave Graney Show (1998 to 2003) and Dave Graney and Clare Moore featuring the Lurid Yellow Mist (2004 to current). He was awarded 'Best Male Vocalist' at the ARIA Music Awards of 1996
for his work on The Soft 'n' Sexy Sound, while "Feelin' Kinda Sporty" won 'Best Video' in 1997 and he has received seven other ARIA Award nominations.
. In 1978, he was a member of punk rock
band, The Slunks. In 1979, he relocated to Adelaide, and, as lead vocalist, he teamed with drummer, Clare Moore
(his future wife and creative partner), to form Sputniks with Liz Dealey on bass guitar, Phillip Costello on guitar and Steve Miller on guitar. Sputniks released one single, "Second Glance" on an independent label before moving to Melbourne in 1979 where they disbanded. Graney, Miller and Moore formed post-punk
group The Moodists
with Steve Carman on bass guitar in 1980. Carman was soon replaced by Chris Walsh (ex-Negatives, Fabulous Marquises) on bass guitar. In April 1983, Mick Turner (Sick Things, Fungus Brains) joined on guitar and they relocated to the United Kingdom in October. They released their debut studio album, Thirsty's Calling in 1984 on the Red Flame label with Victor Van Vugt
producing.
on bass guitar, Malcolm Ross
(ex-Orange Juice, The Moodists) on guitar and Louis Vause on piano and keyboards. In 1988, with Barry Adamson
(former member of Magazine
, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds
) producing, they recorded enough material for an extended play, At His Stone Beach released in September on the Fire label. The cover had ornate, Edwardian-lettering by Dave Western. By 1989, Graney and Moore were ordered out of the country by UK immigration authorities. The four tracks, "World Full of Daughters", "Listen to her Lovers Sing", "A Deal made for Somebody Else" and "The Greatest Show in Town", were later included on CD version of the Dave Graney with the White Buffaloes' album, My Life on the Plains.
Back in Melbourne, the couple formed Dave Graney with The White Buffaloes with Rod Hayward (ex-Little Murders) on guitar, Conway Savage
(Boy Kings) on keyboards and Walsh (The Moodists) on bass guitar. Martin Lubran (Hunters & Collectors
) soon joined on pedal steel guitar. Graney had adopted a cowboy image, wearing snake skin and brown suede, sporting a curled moustache and waxed goatee. The band released My Life on the Plains in 1989 with Phil Vinall producing. Vinall, a friend of Graney and Moore, later worked with The Auteurs
, Placebo
and Magic Dirt (among others). The album included tracks written by other artists, such as Gene Clarke, Fred Neil, Gram Parsons
and the traditional "Streets of Laredo
". In their live shows they included songs by Doug Sahm
, Lou Reed
, Buffy Sainte Marie and Tim Rose
. The title was from an autobiographical tome by George Armstrong Custer
in 1876, the year he died at Little Big Horn. The cover featured images of a young Jesse James
, Custer and ornate Edwardian lettering by London artist Dave Western, based on a Frederic Remington
cowboy painting. It reflected Graney's current persona and obsession with wild western myth and late 1960s psychedelic bands with similar tastes, The Charlatans
and Quicksilver Messenger Service
from San Francisco. No singles were released from the album, although a video was shot by Tony Mahony for "Robert Ford on the Stage". Savage left to join Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds and Lubran was replaced on pedal steel guitar by Graham Lee
(The Triffids
). This line-up recorded, Codine, a live in the studio four-track extended play
, which was issued late in the year. It was later added to the CD
version of the I was the Hunter... and I was The Prey album. "Codine" was written by Sainte-Marie and had been performed by The Charlatans in swaggering space cowboy style while the Dave Graney with the White Buffaloes cover version was "romantic, country-flavoured R&B". The EP sleeve was another Dave Western illustration.
During June 1990, Graney, Hayward and Moore travelled to London and recorded I Was the Hunter... and I Was the Prey with Blair on bass guitar, Ross on guitar, and Vause on piano. The album was produced by Vinall at a Croydon
home studio run by former Procol Harum
organist Matthew Fisher
. The cover by Western shows Graney with full 'Custer' curled moustache and velvet pomp. It was not issued until May 1992, due to problems with the label, under the name Dave Graney with the Coral Snakes. In mid-1991, the band had moved back to Melbourne with a line-up of Blair, Graney, Moore, and Hayward; with Robin Casinader
on keyboards (ex-The Wreckery, Hugo Race
). In July 1992, they released a live album, Lure of the Tropics on the Torn & Frayed label on Shock Records. It was recorded at St Kilda's Prince of Wales Hotel. A week earlier the group had performed their Little Big Horn Show and first presented the title track. The cover art was by Mahony, the album featured three other improvised tracks and was originally mixed by Phil McKellar
– it was re-released in 1997 with extra tracks and remixed by Tony Cohen
.
For their April 1993 album, Night of the Wolverine
, the band signed with PolyGram
, Andrew Picouleau (ex-Sacred Cowboys
) provided the bass guitar and Cohen co-produced. The album described as "a certified Australian rock classic. It captured Graney at the peak of his songwriting powers ... [tracks were] full of elegant and eccentric detail". Tex Perkins
(The Cruel Sea
) guested on lead vocals for "Night of the Wolverine II" with Amanda Mitchell on backing vocals. The title track and "You're Just Too Hip, Baby" reached No. 48 and No. 59 on Triple J's Hottest 100 for 1993
. Cover art was by Mahony who directed the video for "You're Just Too Hip, Baby". The band toured backing Hunters & Collectors, then The Cruel Sea
before heading their own tour. The album and tours had raised their profile with mainstream music critics. Night of the Wolverine earned an ARIA Award nomination for 'Best Alternative Release' at the 1994 ceremony
. It was released on the This Way Up label in the UK in 1996 and issued on Graney and Moore's own label, Cockaigne, in 2004 with extra tracks from later works.
The band's next album, You Wanna Be There But You Don't Wanna Travel
, which peaked at No. 10 on the Australian Recording Industry Association
(ARIA) Album Charts
, was released in June 1994. With Blair back on bass guitar, it was co-produced with Cohen. The singles from the album were, "I'm Gonna Release Your Soul" in April, and "You Wanna Be Loved" in August. Limited edition of the album included a bonus disc, Unbuttoned, with seven extra tracks. Promotional film clip for "I'm Gonna Release Your Soul", directed by Mahony, was nominated as 'Best Video' in 1995
.
The group's July 1995 album, The Soft 'n' Sexy Sound, was produced by Van Vugt. It reached the Top 40 and earned Graney the 'Best Male Artist' accolade at the ARIA Music Awards of 1996
. In his acceptance speech, Graney wore a hot pink, crushed velvet suit and a dandyish wig to declare himself, 'The King of Pop'. (a sly reference to an earlier , pop award which was presented by Go Set in the '70s).The album also received nominations as 'Best Cover Art' for Mahony and 'Producer of the Year' for Victor Vaughan
. "I'm not Afraid to Be Heavy" (June), "Rock 'n' Roll Is Where I Hide" (August) and "I'm Gonna Live in My Own Big World" (February 1996) were issued as singles. The limited edition album's bonus disc, Music for Colourful Racing Identities, featured seven live tracks. It was also accompanied by a media CD with an interview of Graney by HG Nelson
called A Word in Yer Shell, Like. It was released in the UK and Europe on the This Way Up label in 1996. Graney and Moore spent 6 months of the year recording and working in London.
The next album, The Devil Drives
, (May 1997), reached the Top 20. It was recorded in Melbourne and mixed in London at Maison Rouge studios and co-produced by Graney, Moore and David Ruffy. It spawned the single, "Feelin' Kinda Sporty". The single won 'Best Video' by Mahony in 1997
, the album was nominated for 'Best Cover Art' by Mahony and Graney received a nomination as 'Best Male Artist'. The second single was "A Man on the Make". The Devil Drives was the last studio album for the Coral Snakes and with Universal Music as Graney and Moore disbanded the band in December. Album also accompanied by a media CD with an interview with Dave Graney called Coffins Have no Pockets, which was part of a media booklet based on a Holden Monaro owner's manual. In 1997 Graney released his first book, It is Written, Baby, a collection of his lyrics interspersed with fragments of journalism, memoir and opinion, with photographs by Mahony.
Dave Graney 'n' the Coral Snakes released a compilation, The Baddest, in September 1999. It included an unreleased version of "The Sheriff of Hell" from The Devil Drives which was re-recorded and remixed with Andrew Duffield (ex-Models
) on keyboards, Phil Kenihan and Billy Miller (The Ferrets
) on guitar and vocals. (This same team had produced "Feelin' Kinda Sporty" the previous year). It also featured an unreleased cover version of the AC/DC
song "Show Business". Cover art was provided by Mahony.
) on bass guitar. The single, "Between Times", and The Dave Graney Show were released in November on Festival Records. Guest musicians included Duffield, Sean Kelly
(ex-Models) on backing vocals and Billy Miller. It was co-produced with Duffiled and Kenihan. In February 1999, "Your Masters Must Be Pleased with You" was released as a single and Billy Miller had permanently joined the line-up. The latter single's video was part of a twenty minute film shot and edited by Mahony called Smile and Wave. This album saw half of it recorded and played by only Graney and Moore, then the rest of the band was brought in to play the other half.
Graney and Moore continued to perform live around Australia and released material on their own Melbourne based label, Cockaigne. Initially with MGM, it was later distributed by Reverberation, a Sydney boutique label. Cockaigne's release was The Dave Graney Show's single, "Drugs are Wasted on the Young" in February 2000 ahead of the album, Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye in April. It was co-produced by Graney, Moore and Adam Rhodes. Other singles were "Out of the Loop" (with Mahony video) and "Have You Heard About the Melbourne Mafia?". All with cover art by Mahony. Graney described the album as "dark, blue, disco". It was released in the UK and Europe on Cooking Vinyl. A tour of Europe, with a line-up of Graney, Moore and Perera, supporting Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds followed in 2001. Moore released her first solo album, The Third Woman, on Chapter Music
in August.
In July 2002, the band released Heroic Blues, which was produced by Graney, Moore and Adam Rhodes. The single, "Are We Goin' Too Fast For Love?", was issued. The title track was recorded live at a sound check at the Tarwin Lower Pub earlier in the year. Graney improvised the vocal about a performer playing to an empty room. He called it a "folk soul" album.
Moore appeared with Melbourne band, The Sand Pebbles, on stage as well as on record. She contributed strings and keyboards to albums by Kim Salmon
as well as the Wagons. She played on Robert Forster's (Go Betweens) covers CD I Had a New York Girlfriend. She appears with Jane Dust and the Giant Hoopoes, the Dames and with jazz combination Henry Manetta and the Trip. Graney and Moore engineered and mixed the debut albums by the Darling Downs (Salmon and Ron Peno) and the Muddy Spurs. They both play in Salmon, the seven guitar, two drummer heavy rock orchestra devised and led by Kim Salmon.
In 2003, Graney and Moore briefly reformed The Moodists – with Turner, Steve Miller and Walsh – for a limited number of performances in Melbourne to promote the release of a double compilation album, Two Fisted Art (1980 -1986). The album was released on the W.Minc label – run by Steve Miller – in 2003 and contains nineteen of the band's studio tracks on the first disc and sixteen previously unreleased live recordings (recorded in Sydney (March 1983), Melbourne (December 1984) and London (July 1985)) on the second disc. As Dave Graney and Clare Moore, the couple worked on the soundtrack for the feature film, Bad Eggs
, and released Music from the Motion Picture – Bad Eggs in July. They received an ARIA nomination for 'Best Original Soundtrack Album' at the 2003 ceremony
.
The Brother Who Lived was released in 2003 by The Royal Dave Graney Show – with a line-up of Graney on vocals, harmonica, organ, and bass, acoustic and electric guitars; Moore on drums, vocals, keyboards, percussion; Billy Miller on acoustic and electric guitars, and vocals; Perera on vocals and electric guitar; and Pickvance on vocals, percussion and bass guitar. It was produced by Graney, Moore and J Walker. Singles issued were "Midnight to Dawn" and "All Our Friends Were Stars". The latter had a video shot and edited by Graney, Mahony made a video for "The Brother Who Lived". The main part of the album was recorded, after The Moodists reunion, in a day with the all the band in the studio together. Four other tracks were recorded and mixed by Graney and Moore at their Melbourne studio. Pickvance left the group and bass guitar was taken up by Stu Thomas (Kim Salmon and the Surrealists
, Kim Salmon and the Business, Salmon).
Graney contributed music to and played a small (musical) part in a stage production of the 1960s British play Stone in 2004. Graney and Moore released a double album , Hashish and Liquor, in 2005, with the first disc, Hashish performed by Graney and the second, Liquor by Moore.
In 2006, Graney's Point Blank, which he described as "a song cycle of a life as a heavy entertainer", for which he was accompanied by jazz musician Mark Fitzgibbon (The Moodists) on piano and Moore on vibraphone
. Concurrently, a touring trio of Graney (12-string, vocal), Moore (vibes, vocal) and Stu Thomas aka Stu D (baritone guitar
, vocal) was formed, performing extensively across Australia, in support of the 2006 CD, Keepin' it Unreal on Cockaigne. This trio appeared in Europe in 2008 as opening act for Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds.
In 2007 Graney and Moore joined with guitarist, Perera, pianist, Fitzgibbon and bass player, Thomas to form The Lurid Yellow Mist featuring Dave Graney and Clare Moore (or as Dave Graney and the Lurid Yellow Mist). The name of the band, according to Moore, was based on the strange miasmic cloud that the man in the 1957 science fiction film
, The Incredible Shrinking Man
drove his speedboat through just before he started his transformation. As a collective they worked on a batch of new songs before entering Sing Sing Studios in September where they laid down eight tracks in a day, virtually recording live. Graney and Moore then mixed it at their home studio, Ponderosa, finishing in November. The resultant album, We Wuz Curious was released on the Artists label on 14 June 2008. The first single, "I'm in the Future Now", was issued in November 2007, and a video was made for "Let's Kill God Again", which received some radio promotion. Fitzgibbon left in 2008 due to moving out of Melbourne. The band continued as a four-piece, with occasional guest jazz keyboardist, Adam Rudegeair.
In May 2009, Graney released his first album credited as a solo billing, Knock Yourself Out. It was released on Cockaigne with distribution by Fuse. Described by Graney as an "electro boogie" album. It was produced, recorded and mixed by Graney, with Moore co-writing some tracks, arranging and contributing instrumentation, with Thomas and Perera from The Lurid Yellow Mist as guest performers. A video was produced for the title track, "Knock Yourself Out", directed by Nick Cowan, it was shot in Hosier Lane and Smith Street, Melbourne.
A follow up show to the narrative performance Point Blank was performed at the Butterfly Club in 2009, which was called Live in Hell. It featured songs by Graney with other Hell-related tunes by Elvis Presley, Roxy Music, the Fall and the Doors. Mostly without any amplification, the line-up was Perera on acoustic guitar, Thomas on bass guitar, Moore on a small drum kit and Graney on vocals. In 2010 , a third narrative style show was performed at the Butterfly Club. MC Bits featured the duo of Graney accompanied by Fitzgibbon on piano.
2010 saw the release of Supermodified, a remix and remastering compilation project where Graney went back to the 2001 and 2003 albums Heroic Blues and The Brother Who Lived to sing, play extra guitars and add keyboards and percussion and remix the songs. Previously unreleased tracks were included in the package of 18 tracks, with a Mahony illustration on the cover.
2011 saw the release of Rock'n'Roll is Where I Hide, on Liberation. The album was recorded at Soundpark in Melbourne by Graney and the Lurid Yellow Mist and mixed by Van Vugt in New York. A collection of re-recordings with the Lurid Yellow Mist of songs from his back catalogue. It was released with Graney's second book, 1001 Australian Nights, by Affirm Press, which concentrates on his life as an artist and performer.
Festival on many occasions, as well as the Livid
festival and the Falls Festival
. He performed on the TV shows Recovery, Nomad, Smash Hits, Live and Sweaty, Denton, Midday with Kerry Anne, Jimeoin
, Shaun Micallef
's Micallef Tonight
, Mornings with Bert Newton
, AM with Denise Drysdale
, Sale of the Century
, The Games, RocKwiz
, Spicks and Specks, Australia's Dumbest Musician, Neighbours
(two-episode story), Review, Roy and HG
's Club Buggery
(1996–1997). He wrote a lyric book, It Is Written, Baby (1997). With Moore, he composed and performed the score of the movie Bad Eggs
(2003), for Mahony's short film Ray (2005). Graney contributed music to and played a small (musical) part in Stone (2004), a stage production of the 1960s British play.
Dave Graney with the White Buffaloes
Dave Graney 'n' the Coral Snakes (aka Dave Graney with the Coral Snakes)
The Dave Graney Show
Dave Graney and Clare Moore
The Lurid Yellow Mist featuring Dave Graney and Clare Moore
Dave Graney
Dave Graney 'n' the Coral Snakes (aka Dave Graney with the Coral Snakes)
Dave Graney with the White Buffaloes
The Moodists
Dave Graney 'n' the Coral Snakes (aka Dave Graney with the Coral Snakes)
The Dave Graney Show
The Lurid Yellow Mist featuring Dave Graney and Clare Moore
Mixing
are presented annually from 1987 by the Australian Recording Industry Association
(ARIA). Graney and Dave Graney 'n' the Coral Snakes have won two awards from nine nominations.
|-
| 1994
|| Night of the Wolverine
– Dave Graney & the Coral Snakes || Best Alternative Release ||
|-
| 1995
|| "I'm Gonna Release Your Soul" – Tony Mahony – Dave Graney & the Coral Snakes || Best Video ||
|-
|rowspan="3"| 1996
|| The Soft 'n' Sexy Sound – Dave Graney || Best Male Artist ||
|-
| The Soft 'n' Sexy Sound – Victor Van Vugt
– Dave Graney & the Coral Snakes' || Producer of the Year ||
|-
| The Soft 'n' Sexy Sound – Tony Mahony – Dave Graney & the Coral Snakes || Best Cover Art ||
|-
|rowspan="3"| 1997
|| The Devil Drives
– Dave Graney || Best Male Artist ||
|-
| "Feelin' Kinda Sporty" – Tony Mahony – Dave Graney & the Coral Snakes || Best Video ||
|-
| The Devil Drives – Tony Mahony – Dave Graney & the Coral Snakes || Best Cover Art ||
|-
| 2003
|| Music from the Motion Picture – Bad Eggs – Dave Graney and Clare Moore
|| Best Original Soundtrack Album ||
Singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriters are musicians who write, compose and sing their own musical material including lyrics and melodies. As opposed to contemporary popular music singers who write their own songs, the term singer-songwriter describes a distinct form of artistry, closely associated with the...
from Mount Gambier
Mount Gambier, South Australia
Mount Gambier is the largest regional city in South Australia located approximately 450 kilometres south of the capital Adelaide and just 17 kilometres from the Victorian border....
, South Australia
South Australia
South Australia is a state of Australia in the southern central part of the country. It covers some of the most arid parts of the continent; with a total land area of , it is the fourth largest of Australia's six states and two territories.South Australia shares borders with all of the mainland...
. Since 1979, Graney is generally accompanied by drummer, Clare Moore
Clare Moore
Clare Christina Moore is an Australian musician, songwriter, arranger, producer and performer whose principal instrument is the drums. She has also performed as a keyboard player, singer and vibraphone player...
(his wife and creative partner). The pair have fronted numerous bands including The Moodists
The Moodists
The Moodists were an Australian post-punk band that formed in 1980, when Dave Graney, Clare Moore and Steve Miller of punk group The Sputniks moved from Adelaide to Melbourne. They added bass player Chris Walsh and later added guitarist Mick Turner....
(1980 to 1987), The White Buffaloes (1989 to 1990), Coral Snakes (1987 to 1989, 1991 to 1997), The Dave Graney Show (1998 to 2003) and Dave Graney and Clare Moore featuring the Lurid Yellow Mist (2004 to current). He was awarded 'Best Male Vocalist' at the ARIA Music Awards of 1996
ARIA Music Awards of 1996
The 10th Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards was held on 30 September 1996 at the Sydney Convention & Exhibition Centre...
for his work on The Soft 'n' Sexy Sound, while "Feelin' Kinda Sporty" won 'Best Video' in 1997 and he has received seven other ARIA Award nominations.
Early years to The Moodists
David John Graney was born on 2 February 1959 and grew up in Mount Gambier, South AustraliaMount Gambier, South Australia
Mount Gambier is the largest regional city in South Australia located approximately 450 kilometres south of the capital Adelaide and just 17 kilometres from the Victorian border....
. In 1978, he was a member of punk rock
Punk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
band, The Slunks. In 1979, he relocated to Adelaide, and, as lead vocalist, he teamed with drummer, Clare Moore
Clare Moore
Clare Christina Moore is an Australian musician, songwriter, arranger, producer and performer whose principal instrument is the drums. She has also performed as a keyboard player, singer and vibraphone player...
(his future wife and creative partner), to form Sputniks with Liz Dealey on bass guitar, Phillip Costello on guitar and Steve Miller on guitar. Sputniks released one single, "Second Glance" on an independent label before moving to Melbourne in 1979 where they disbanded. Graney, Miller and Moore formed post-punk
Post-punk
Post-punk is a rock music movement with its roots in the late 1970s, following on the heels of the initial punk rock explosion of the mid-1970s. The genre retains its roots in the punk movement but is more introverted, complex and experimental...
group The Moodists
The Moodists
The Moodists were an Australian post-punk band that formed in 1980, when Dave Graney, Clare Moore and Steve Miller of punk group The Sputniks moved from Adelaide to Melbourne. They added bass player Chris Walsh and later added guitarist Mick Turner....
with Steve Carman on bass guitar in 1980. Carman was soon replaced by Chris Walsh (ex-Negatives, Fabulous Marquises) on bass guitar. In April 1983, Mick Turner (Sick Things, Fungus Brains) joined on guitar and they relocated to the United Kingdom in October. They released their debut studio album, Thirsty's Calling in 1984 on the Red Flame label with Victor Van Vugt
Victor Van Vugt
Victor Van Vugt is an award-winning music producer, mixer and engineer. An Australian based in New York, he has had a long association with the careers of Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds and Beth Orton. He has also worked with the likes of P.J...
producing.
The Coral Snakes and White Buffaloes
By mid-1986, Graney and Moore disbanded The Moodists, they formed Dave Graney 'n' the Coral Snakes (also seen as Dave Graney with the Coral Snakes) in late 1987 and played in London pubs and clubs. Other members were, Gordy BlairGordon Blair
Gordon Blair is a Northern Irish musician, usually known as Gordy Blair.Blair started off his musical career as bass guitarist for Highway Star, the band that was to become Stiff Little Fingers. In 1976 he joined Belfast punk band Rudi, with whom he stayed for three years...
on bass guitar, Malcolm Ross
Malcolm Ross (musician)
Malcolm Rosss musical career started when he played guitar in the Scottish band Josef K. They released a string of singles and an album, The Only Fun in Town, on Postcard Records in the early 1980s....
(ex-Orange Juice, The Moodists) on guitar and Louis Vause on piano and keyboards. In 1988, with Barry Adamson
Barry Adamson
Barry Adamson is a British rock musician who has worked with rock bands such as Magazine, Visage, The Birthday Party, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, and the electronic musicians Pan sonic and Depeche Mode. Adamson created the seven-minute opus "Useless " remix for the latter band in 1997...
(former member of Magazine
Magazine (band)
Magazine are an English post-punk group active from 1977 to 1981, then reformed in 2009. Their debut single, "Shot by Both Sides", is now acknowledged as a classic and their debut album, Real Life, is still widely admired as one of the greatest albums of all time...
, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds are an Australian alternative rock band, formed in Melbourne in 1983. The band is fronted by Nick Cave and has featured international personnel throughout their career.-Formation and early releases :...
) producing, they recorded enough material for an extended play, At His Stone Beach released in September on the Fire label. The cover had ornate, Edwardian-lettering by Dave Western. By 1989, Graney and Moore were ordered out of the country by UK immigration authorities. The four tracks, "World Full of Daughters", "Listen to her Lovers Sing", "A Deal made for Somebody Else" and "The Greatest Show in Town", were later included on CD version of the Dave Graney with the White Buffaloes' album, My Life on the Plains.
Back in Melbourne, the couple formed Dave Graney with The White Buffaloes with Rod Hayward (ex-Little Murders) on guitar, Conway Savage
Conway Savage
Conway Savage is an Australian rock musician best known as pianist/organist/backing vocalist for Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds....
(Boy Kings) on keyboards and Walsh (The Moodists) on bass guitar. Martin Lubran (Hunters & Collectors
Hunters & Collectors
Hunters & Collectors were an Australian rock music band formed in Melbourne in 1981, fronted by singer-songwriter and guitarist Mark Seymour, they developed a blend of pub rock and art-funk...
) soon joined on pedal steel guitar. Graney had adopted a cowboy image, wearing snake skin and brown suede, sporting a curled moustache and waxed goatee. The band released My Life on the Plains in 1989 with Phil Vinall producing. Vinall, a friend of Graney and Moore, later worked with The Auteurs
The Auteurs
The Auteurs were a British alternative rock band of the 1990s, and a vehicle for the songwriting talents of Luke Haines .-Career:...
, Placebo
Placebo (band)
Placebo are a British rock band from London, England, formed in 1994 by singer and guitarist Brian Molko and bass guitarist Stefan Olsdal. The band was joined by drummer Robert Schultzberg, who was later replaced by Steve Hewitt after conflicts with Molko. Hewitt left the band in October 2007 and...
and Magic Dirt (among others). The album included tracks written by other artists, such as Gene Clarke, Fred Neil, Gram Parsons
Gram Parsons
Gram Parsons was an American singer, songwriter, guitarist and pianist. Parsons is best known for his work within the country genre; he also mixed blues, folk, and rock to create what he called "Cosmic American Music"...
and the traditional "Streets of Laredo
Streets of Laredo (song)
"Streets of Laredo" , also known as the "Cowboy's Lament", is a famous American cowboy ballad in which a dying cowboy tells his story to a living one. Derived from the English folk song "The Unfortunate Lad", it has become a folk music standard, and as such has been performed, recorded and adapted...
". In their live shows they included songs by Doug Sahm
Doug Sahm
Douglas Wayne Sahm , was an American musician from Texas. Born in San Antonio, Texas, he was a child prodigy in country music, but became a significant figure in blues rock and other genres. Today Sahm is considered one of the most important figures in what is identified as Tejano music...
, Lou Reed
Lou Reed
Lewis Allan "Lou" Reed is an American rock musician, songwriter, and photographer. He is best known as guitarist, vocalist, and principal songwriter of The Velvet Underground, and for his successful solo career, which has spanned several decades...
, Buffy Sainte Marie and Tim Rose
Tim Rose
Timothy Alan Patrick Rose , best known professionally as Tim Rose, was an American singer-songwriter, who spent much of his life in London, England and had more success in Europe than in his native country...
. The title was from an autobiographical tome by George Armstrong Custer
George Armstrong Custer
George Armstrong Custer was a United States Army officer and cavalry commander in the American Civil War and the Indian Wars. Raised in Michigan and Ohio, Custer was admitted to West Point in 1858, where he graduated last in his class...
in 1876, the year he died at Little Big Horn. The cover featured images of a young Jesse James
Jesse James
Jesse Woodson James was an American outlaw, gang leader, bank robber, train robber, and murderer from the state of Missouri and the most famous member of the James-Younger Gang. He also faked his own death and was known as J.M James. Already a celebrity when he was alive, he became a legendary...
, Custer and ornate Edwardian lettering by London artist Dave Western, based on a Frederic Remington
Frederic Remington
Frederic Sackrider Remington was an American painter, illustrator, sculptor, and writer who specialized in depictions of the Old American West, specifically concentrating on the last quarter of the 19th century American West and images of cowboys, American Indians, and the U. S...
cowboy painting. It reflected Graney's current persona and obsession with wild western myth and late 1960s psychedelic bands with similar tastes, The Charlatans
The Charlatans (U.S. band)
The Charlatans were an influential psychedelic rock band that played a role in the development of the San Francisco music scene during the 1960s and are often cited by critics as being the first group to play in the style that became known as the San Francisco Sound...
and Quicksilver Messenger Service
Quicksilver Messenger Service
Quicksilver Messenger Service is an American psychedelic rock band, formed in 1965 in San Francisco.-Introduction:Quicksilver Messenger Service gained wide popularity in the Bay Area and, through their recordings, with psychedelic rock enthusiasts around the globe and several of their albums ranked...
from San Francisco. No singles were released from the album, although a video was shot by Tony Mahony for "Robert Ford on the Stage". Savage left to join Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds and Lubran was replaced on pedal steel guitar by Graham Lee
Graham Lee (Australian musician)
Graham Lee is an Australian rock musician and record producer, best known as the steel guitar player of the 1980s band The Triffids, where he was nicknamed 'Evil Graham Lee'....
(The Triffids
The Triffids
The Triffids were a seminal Australian alternative rock and pop band formed in Perth, Western Australia, in May 1978 with charismatic, David McComb as singer-songwriter, guitarist, bass guitarist and keyboardist. They achieved negligible success in Australia, but greater success in the U.K...
). This line-up recorded, Codine, a live in the studio four-track extended play
Extended play
An EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...
, which was issued late in the year. It was later added to the CD
Compact Disc
The Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store and playback sound recordings exclusively, but later expanded to encompass data storage , write-once audio and data storage , rewritable media , Video Compact Discs , Super Video Compact Discs ,...
version of the I was the Hunter... and I was The Prey album. "Codine" was written by Sainte-Marie and had been performed by The Charlatans in swaggering space cowboy style while the Dave Graney with the White Buffaloes cover version was "romantic, country-flavoured R&B". The EP sleeve was another Dave Western illustration.
During June 1990, Graney, Hayward and Moore travelled to London and recorded I Was the Hunter... and I Was the Prey with Blair on bass guitar, Ross on guitar, and Vause on piano. The album was produced by Vinall at a Croydon
Croydon
Croydon is a town in South London, England, located within the London Borough of Croydon to which it gives its name. It is situated south of Charing Cross...
home studio run by former Procol Harum
Procol Harum
Procol Harum are a British rock band, formed in 1967, which contributed to the development of progressive rock, and by extension, symphonic rock. Their best-known recording is their 1967 single "A Whiter Shade of Pale"...
organist Matthew Fisher
Matthew Fisher
Matthew Fisher is an English organist and singer-songwriter, and was responsible for the organ sound on the 1967 single, "A Whiter Shade of Pale" by Procol Harum.-Biography:...
. The cover by Western shows Graney with full 'Custer' curled moustache and velvet pomp. It was not issued until May 1992, due to problems with the label, under the name Dave Graney with the Coral Snakes. In mid-1991, the band had moved back to Melbourne with a line-up of Blair, Graney, Moore, and Hayward; with Robin Casinader
Robin Casinader
Robin Romesh Casinader is an Australian composer, arranger, and multi-instrumentalist.He has been a member of many bands including Plays With Marionettes with Hugo Race, The Wreckery with Hugo Race and Nick Barker, and Dave Graney And The Coral Snakes...
on keyboards (ex-The Wreckery, Hugo Race
Hugo Race
Hugo Race is an Australian rock musician and record producer who has been based in Europe since 1989. He was a member of Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, before forming The Wreckery with Nick Barker and Robin Casinader in the 1980s. He is currently a member of Hugo Race and the True Spirit.Race is...
). In July 1992, they released a live album, Lure of the Tropics on the Torn & Frayed label on Shock Records. It was recorded at St Kilda's Prince of Wales Hotel. A week earlier the group had performed their Little Big Horn Show and first presented the title track. The cover art was by Mahony, the album featured three other improvised tracks and was originally mixed by Phil McKellar
Phil McKellar
Phil McKellar is an Australian record producer known for his work with many top Australian rock bands including The Butterfly Effect, You Am I, The Cruel Sea, Grinspoon, Dirty Three, The Mark Of Cain, Frenzal Rhomb, Spiderbait, Silverchair, Kisschasy, Ash, The Sunpilots, Tumbleweed, Nitocris, One...
– it was re-released in 1997 with extra tracks and remixed by Tony Cohen
Tony Cohen
Tony Cohen is an acclaimed Australian record producer and sound engineer based in Melbourne, best known for his work with The Birthday Party and Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds in the 1980s...
.
For their April 1993 album, Night of the Wolverine
Night of the Wolverine
Night of the Wolverine is the third album by Dave Graney 'n' the Coral Snakes . The album was released in April 1993 on Mercury Records...
, the band signed with PolyGram
PolyGram
PolyGram was the name of the major label recording company started by Philips from as a holding company for its music interests in 1945. In 1999 it was sold to Seagram and merged into Universal Music Group.-Hollandsche Decca Distributie , 1929-1950:...
, Andrew Picouleau (ex-Sacred Cowboys
Sacred Cowboys
Sacred Cowboys are an Australian post-punk rock band based in Melbourne and active in 1982-85, 1987-97 and since 2006.The band's lead singer and lyricist is Garry Gray. The current line-up includes: Spencer P. Jones ; Penny Ikinger ; Nick Rischbieth and; Stephan Fiddock . A special guest for shows...
) provided the bass guitar and Cohen co-produced. The album described as "a certified Australian rock classic. It captured Graney at the peak of his songwriting powers ... [tracks were] full of elegant and eccentric detail". Tex Perkins
Tex Perkins
Tex Perkins is an Australian singer-songwriter, who is widely known for fronting the popular Australian rock-band The Cruel Sea, but has also performed with the Beasts of Bourbon, Thug, James Baker Experience, The Butcher Shop, Salamander Jim, and Tex, Don and Charlie. He has also released many...
(The Cruel Sea
The Cruel Sea (band)
The Cruel Sea are an Australian indie rock band from Sydney formed in late 1987. Originally an instrumental-only band, they became more popular when fronted by vocalist Tex Perkins in addition to Jim Elliott on drums, Ken Gormly on bass guitar, Dan Rumour on guitar and James Cruickshank on guitar...
) guested on lead vocals for "Night of the Wolverine II" with Amanda Mitchell on backing vocals. The title track and "You're Just Too Hip, Baby" reached No. 48 and No. 59 on Triple J's Hottest 100 for 1993
Triple J Hottest 100, 1993
The 1993 Triple J Hottest 100, counted down in January 1994, was the first countdown of the most popular songs of the year, according to listeners of the Australian radio station Triple J...
. Cover art was by Mahony who directed the video for "You're Just Too Hip, Baby". The band toured backing Hunters & Collectors, then The Cruel Sea
The Cruel Sea
The Cruel Sea or Cruel Sea may refer to:*The Cruel Sea , a 1951 novel by Nicholas Monsarrat*The Cruel Sea , a 1953 film made of the above book, starring Jack Hawkins...
before heading their own tour. The album and tours had raised their profile with mainstream music critics. Night of the Wolverine earned an ARIA Award nomination for 'Best Alternative Release' at the 1994 ceremony
ARIA Music Awards of 1994
The Eighth Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards was held on 30 March 1994 at the State Theatre in Sydney...
. It was released on the This Way Up label in the UK in 1996 and issued on Graney and Moore's own label, Cockaigne, in 2004 with extra tracks from later works.
The band's next album, You Wanna Be There But You Don't Wanna Travel
You Wanna Be There But You Don't Wanna Travel
You Wanna Be There But You Don't Wanna Travel is the fourth album by Dave Graney 'n' the Coral Snakes . With Graney on vocals, the Coral Snakes line-up included his wife Clare Moore on drums and percussion; Robin Casinader on keyboards, violin and mandolin; Rob Hayward on lead guitar; and early...
, which peaked at No. 10 on the Australian Recording Industry Association
Australian Recording Industry Association
The Australian Recording Industry Association is a trade group representing the Australian recording industry which was established in 1983 by six major record companies, EMI, Festival, CBS, RCA, WEA and Universal replacing the Association of Australian Record Manufacturers which was formed in 1956...
(ARIA) Album Charts
ARIA Charts
The ARIA charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling singles and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA commenced compiling its own charts in-house from the week ending 26 June...
, was released in June 1994. With Blair back on bass guitar, it was co-produced with Cohen. The singles from the album were, "I'm Gonna Release Your Soul" in April, and "You Wanna Be Loved" in August. Limited edition of the album included a bonus disc, Unbuttoned, with seven extra tracks. Promotional film clip for "I'm Gonna Release Your Soul", directed by Mahony, was nominated as 'Best Video' in 1995
ARIA Music Awards of 1995
The Ninth Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards was held on 20 October 1995 at the Sydney Convention & Exhibition Centre. There had been a 19-month gap since the previous award ceremony which was moved to be "closer to the business end of the music industry's year"...
.
The group's July 1995 album, The Soft 'n' Sexy Sound, was produced by Van Vugt. It reached the Top 40 and earned Graney the 'Best Male Artist' accolade at the ARIA Music Awards of 1996
ARIA Music Awards of 1996
The 10th Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards was held on 30 September 1996 at the Sydney Convention & Exhibition Centre...
. In his acceptance speech, Graney wore a hot pink, crushed velvet suit and a dandyish wig to declare himself, 'The King of Pop'. (a sly reference to an earlier , pop award which was presented by Go Set in the '70s).The album also received nominations as 'Best Cover Art' for Mahony and 'Producer of the Year' for Victor Vaughan
Victor Van Vugt
Victor Van Vugt is an award-winning music producer, mixer and engineer. An Australian based in New York, he has had a long association with the careers of Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds and Beth Orton. He has also worked with the likes of P.J...
. "I'm not Afraid to Be Heavy" (June), "Rock 'n' Roll Is Where I Hide" (August) and "I'm Gonna Live in My Own Big World" (February 1996) were issued as singles. The limited edition album's bonus disc, Music for Colourful Racing Identities, featured seven live tracks. It was also accompanied by a media CD with an interview of Graney by HG Nelson
Greig Pickhaver
alt=Greig Pickhaver|thumb|In May 2010Greig Pickhaver AM is an actor, comedian and writer, who forms one half of the Australian sports comedy duo Roy and HG...
called A Word in Yer Shell, Like. It was released in the UK and Europe on the This Way Up label in 1996. Graney and Moore spent 6 months of the year recording and working in London.
The next album, The Devil Drives
The Devil Drives
The Devil Drives is the sixth album by Dave Graney 'n' The Coral Snakes. It was released in May 1997 on Mercury Records. The album peaked at No. 18 on the Australian Recording Industry Association Album Charts. It was also produced by Dave Graney, Clare Moore and David Ruffy...
, (May 1997), reached the Top 20. It was recorded in Melbourne and mixed in London at Maison Rouge studios and co-produced by Graney, Moore and David Ruffy. It spawned the single, "Feelin' Kinda Sporty". The single won 'Best Video' by Mahony in 1997
ARIA Music Awards of 1997
The eleventh Annual Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards were held on 22 September 1997 at the Capitol Theatre in Sydney. The event was hosted by Australian actor–comedian Paul McDermott, with presenters Elle McFeast, Kylie Minogue, Ben Folds and The Presidents of the United...
, the album was nominated for 'Best Cover Art' by Mahony and Graney received a nomination as 'Best Male Artist'. The second single was "A Man on the Make". The Devil Drives was the last studio album for the Coral Snakes and with Universal Music as Graney and Moore disbanded the band in December. Album also accompanied by a media CD with an interview with Dave Graney called Coffins Have no Pockets, which was part of a media booklet based on a Holden Monaro owner's manual. In 1997 Graney released his first book, It is Written, Baby, a collection of his lyrics interspersed with fragments of journalism, memoir and opinion, with photographs by Mahony.
Dave Graney 'n' the Coral Snakes released a compilation, The Baddest, in September 1999. It included an unreleased version of "The Sheriff of Hell" from The Devil Drives which was re-recorded and remixed with Andrew Duffield (ex-Models
Models (band)
Models were an alternative rock group formed in Melbourne, Australia, in August 1978 and went into hiatus in 1988. They are often incorrectly referred to as The Models. They re-formed in 2000, 2006 and 2008 to perform reunion concerts. "Out of Mind, Out of Sight", their only No. 1 hit,...
) on keyboards, Phil Kenihan and Billy Miller (The Ferrets
The Ferrets (band)
The Ferrets were an Australian pop / rock band from Melbourne and Sydney, which formed in 1975 and disbanded in 1979. Their second single, "Don’t Fall in Love", was released in 1977 and peaked at No. 2 on the Australian Kent Music Report Singles Chart...
) on guitar and vocals. (This same team had produced "Feelin' Kinda Sporty" the previous year). It also featured an unreleased cover version of the AC/DC
AC/DC
AC/DC are an Australian rock band, formed in 1973 by brothers Malcolm and Angus Young. Commonly classified as hard rock, they are considered pioneers of heavy metal, though they themselves have always classified their music as simply "rock and roll"...
song "Show Business". Cover art was provided by Mahony.
The Dave Graney Show & the Lurid Yellow Mist
Graney and Moore's next band was The Dave Graney Show (elaborated in 2003 to The Royal Dave Graney Show), which formed in early 1998 with Stuart Perera on guitar and Adele Pickvance (Robert Forster BandRobert Forster (musician)
Robert Forster is an Australian singer-songwriter, best known for his work with songwriting partner Grant McLennan, with whom he co-founded The Go-Betweens.Forster grew up in Brisbane, Australia attending Brisbane Grammar School...
) on bass guitar. The single, "Between Times", and The Dave Graney Show were released in November on Festival Records. Guest musicians included Duffield, Sean Kelly
Sean Kelly (Australian musician)
Sean Patrick Kelly Born 9 November 1958, is an Australian singer, guitarist and song writer best known as a founding member of the bands Models, Absent Friends and The Dukes.-Biography:...
(ex-Models) on backing vocals and Billy Miller. It was co-produced with Duffiled and Kenihan. In February 1999, "Your Masters Must Be Pleased with You" was released as a single and Billy Miller had permanently joined the line-up. The latter single's video was part of a twenty minute film shot and edited by Mahony called Smile and Wave. This album saw half of it recorded and played by only Graney and Moore, then the rest of the band was brought in to play the other half.
Graney and Moore continued to perform live around Australia and released material on their own Melbourne based label, Cockaigne. Initially with MGM, it was later distributed by Reverberation, a Sydney boutique label. Cockaigne's release was The Dave Graney Show's single, "Drugs are Wasted on the Young" in February 2000 ahead of the album, Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye in April. It was co-produced by Graney, Moore and Adam Rhodes. Other singles were "Out of the Loop" (with Mahony video) and "Have You Heard About the Melbourne Mafia?". All with cover art by Mahony. Graney described the album as "dark, blue, disco". It was released in the UK and Europe on Cooking Vinyl. A tour of Europe, with a line-up of Graney, Moore and Perera, supporting Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds followed in 2001. Moore released her first solo album, The Third Woman, on Chapter Music
Chapter Music
Chapter Music is one of Australia's longest-running independent record labels. It was founded by Guy Blackman in Perth in June 1992, after a few issues of a Syd Barrett inspired fanzine called Chapter 24, that Blackman started in October 1990, when he was seventeen...
in August.
In July 2002, the band released Heroic Blues, which was produced by Graney, Moore and Adam Rhodes. The single, "Are We Goin' Too Fast For Love?", was issued. The title track was recorded live at a sound check at the Tarwin Lower Pub earlier in the year. Graney improvised the vocal about a performer playing to an empty room. He called it a "folk soul" album.
Moore appeared with Melbourne band, The Sand Pebbles, on stage as well as on record. She contributed strings and keyboards to albums by Kim Salmon
Kim Salmon
Kim Leith Salmon is an Australian indie rock musician and songwriter, who attained fame in June 2004, when he was inducted into the West Australian Music Industry Association Hall of Fame....
as well as the Wagons. She played on Robert Forster's (Go Betweens) covers CD I Had a New York Girlfriend. She appears with Jane Dust and the Giant Hoopoes, the Dames and with jazz combination Henry Manetta and the Trip. Graney and Moore engineered and mixed the debut albums by the Darling Downs (Salmon and Ron Peno) and the Muddy Spurs. They both play in Salmon, the seven guitar, two drummer heavy rock orchestra devised and led by Kim Salmon.
In 2003, Graney and Moore briefly reformed The Moodists – with Turner, Steve Miller and Walsh – for a limited number of performances in Melbourne to promote the release of a double compilation album, Two Fisted Art (1980 -1986). The album was released on the W.Minc label – run by Steve Miller – in 2003 and contains nineteen of the band's studio tracks on the first disc and sixteen previously unreleased live recordings (recorded in Sydney (March 1983), Melbourne (December 1984) and London (July 1985)) on the second disc. As Dave Graney and Clare Moore, the couple worked on the soundtrack for the feature film, Bad Eggs
Bad Eggs
Bad Eggs is a 2003 Australian comedy movie, written and directed by Tony Martin. It stars Mick Molloy, Bob Franklin and Judith Lucy, with Alan Brough, Bill Hunter, Marshall Napier, Nicholas Bell, Steven Vidler, Shaun Micallef, Robyn Nevin, Brett Swain, Denis Moore and Pete Smith having supporting...
, and released Music from the Motion Picture – Bad Eggs in July. They received an ARIA nomination for 'Best Original Soundtrack Album' at the 2003 ceremony
ARIA Music Awards of 2003
The 17th Annual Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards were held on 21 October 2003 at the Sydney Superdome.-ARIA Awards:*Album of the Year**Powderfinger – Vulture Street...
.
The Brother Who Lived was released in 2003 by The Royal Dave Graney Show – with a line-up of Graney on vocals, harmonica, organ, and bass, acoustic and electric guitars; Moore on drums, vocals, keyboards, percussion; Billy Miller on acoustic and electric guitars, and vocals; Perera on vocals and electric guitar; and Pickvance on vocals, percussion and bass guitar. It was produced by Graney, Moore and J Walker. Singles issued were "Midnight to Dawn" and "All Our Friends Were Stars". The latter had a video shot and edited by Graney, Mahony made a video for "The Brother Who Lived". The main part of the album was recorded, after The Moodists reunion, in a day with the all the band in the studio together. Four other tracks were recorded and mixed by Graney and Moore at their Melbourne studio. Pickvance left the group and bass guitar was taken up by Stu Thomas (Kim Salmon and the Surrealists
Kim Salmon and the Surrealists
Kim Salmon and the Surrealists were an Australian indie rock band formed by Kim Salmon in 1987 when he was living in Perth between the final two tours by The Scientists...
, Kim Salmon and the Business, Salmon).
Graney contributed music to and played a small (musical) part in a stage production of the 1960s British play Stone in 2004. Graney and Moore released a double album , Hashish and Liquor, in 2005, with the first disc, Hashish performed by Graney and the second, Liquor by Moore.
In 2006, Graney's Point Blank, which he described as "a song cycle of a life as a heavy entertainer", for which he was accompanied by jazz musician Mark Fitzgibbon (The Moodists) on piano and Moore on vibraphone
Vibraphone
The vibraphone, sometimes called the vibraharp or simply the vibes, is a musical instrument in the struck idiophone subfamily of the percussion family....
. Concurrently, a touring trio of Graney (12-string, vocal), Moore (vibes, vocal) and Stu Thomas aka Stu D (baritone guitar
Baritone guitar
The baritone guitar is a variation on the standard guitar, with a longer scale length that allows it to be tuned to a lower range. It first appeared in the classical music realm...
, vocal) was formed, performing extensively across Australia, in support of the 2006 CD, Keepin' it Unreal on Cockaigne. This trio appeared in Europe in 2008 as opening act for Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds.
In 2007 Graney and Moore joined with guitarist, Perera, pianist, Fitzgibbon and bass player, Thomas to form The Lurid Yellow Mist featuring Dave Graney and Clare Moore (or as Dave Graney and the Lurid Yellow Mist). The name of the band, according to Moore, was based on the strange miasmic cloud that the man in the 1957 science fiction film
Science fiction film
Science fiction film is a film genre that uses science fiction: speculative, science-based depictions of phenomena that are not necessarily accepted by mainstream science, such as extraterrestrial life forms, alien worlds, extrasensory perception, and time travel, often along with futuristic...
, The Incredible Shrinking Man
The Incredible Shrinking Man
The Incredible Shrinking Man is a 1957 science fiction film directed by Jack Arnold and adapted for the screen by Richard Matheson from his novel The Shrinking Man ....
drove his speedboat through just before he started his transformation. As a collective they worked on a batch of new songs before entering Sing Sing Studios in September where they laid down eight tracks in a day, virtually recording live. Graney and Moore then mixed it at their home studio, Ponderosa, finishing in November. The resultant album, We Wuz Curious was released on the Artists label on 14 June 2008. The first single, "I'm in the Future Now", was issued in November 2007, and a video was made for "Let's Kill God Again", which received some radio promotion. Fitzgibbon left in 2008 due to moving out of Melbourne. The band continued as a four-piece, with occasional guest jazz keyboardist, Adam Rudegeair.
In May 2009, Graney released his first album credited as a solo billing, Knock Yourself Out. It was released on Cockaigne with distribution by Fuse. Described by Graney as an "electro boogie" album. It was produced, recorded and mixed by Graney, with Moore co-writing some tracks, arranging and contributing instrumentation, with Thomas and Perera from The Lurid Yellow Mist as guest performers. A video was produced for the title track, "Knock Yourself Out", directed by Nick Cowan, it was shot in Hosier Lane and Smith Street, Melbourne.
A follow up show to the narrative performance Point Blank was performed at the Butterfly Club in 2009, which was called Live in Hell. It featured songs by Graney with other Hell-related tunes by Elvis Presley, Roxy Music, the Fall and the Doors. Mostly without any amplification, the line-up was Perera on acoustic guitar, Thomas on bass guitar, Moore on a small drum kit and Graney on vocals. In 2010 , a third narrative style show was performed at the Butterfly Club. MC Bits featured the duo of Graney accompanied by Fitzgibbon on piano.
2010 saw the release of Supermodified, a remix and remastering compilation project where Graney went back to the 2001 and 2003 albums Heroic Blues and The Brother Who Lived to sing, play extra guitars and add keyboards and percussion and remix the songs. Previously unreleased tracks were included in the package of 18 tracks, with a Mahony illustration on the cover.
2011 saw the release of Rock'n'Roll is Where I Hide, on Liberation. The album was recorded at Soundpark in Melbourne by Graney and the Lurid Yellow Mist and mixed by Van Vugt in New York. A collection of re-recordings with the Lurid Yellow Mist of songs from his back catalogue. It was released with Graney's second book, 1001 Australian Nights, by Affirm Press, which concentrates on his life as an artist and performer.
Other Performances
Graney has played at the Big Day OutBig Day Out
The Big Day Out is an annual music festival held in several cities in Australia and New Zealand in late January. It started in Sydney in 1992, spread to Adelaide, Melbourne and Perth by 1993, with the Gold Coast and Auckland joining in 1994...
Festival on many occasions, as well as the Livid
Livid
Livid was an Australian alternative rock music festival held annually from 1989 to 2003. Masterminded by Peter Walsh and Natalie Jeremijenko, the original idea of showcasing both the arts and music in the one event was standardised as late as October/early November from 1991 until 2003...
festival and the Falls Festival
Falls Festival
The Falls Festival is a New Year's Eve music festival, held annually in Lorne, Victoria and Marion Bay, Tasmania Australia since 1993.It lasts four days, from 29 December to 1 January each year. The headline acts play mostly over two evenings, 30 December and 31 December...
. He performed on the TV shows Recovery, Nomad, Smash Hits, Live and Sweaty, Denton, Midday with Kerry Anne, Jimeoin
Jimeoin
Jimeoin McKeown, who performs under the name Jimeoin , is a stand-up comedian and actor from Northern Ireland. He came to public attention between 2005 and 2008 while performing an "over the top" comedy tour Australia's outback and major cities, which was filmed for the BBC Northern Ireland...
, Shaun Micallef
Shaun Micallef
Shaun Patrick Micallef is an Australian actor, comedian and writer. After ten years of working in insurance law as a solicitor in Adelaide, Micallef moved to Melbourne to pursue a full-time comedy career in 1993...
's Micallef Tonight
Micallef Tonight
Micallef Tonight is a short-lived Aria Award–winning Australian variety show that aired on the Nine Network in 2003. It was hosted by comedian Shaun Micallef and also featured the talents of Francis Greenslade, Jason Geary, Livinia Nixon and Pete Smith....
, Mornings with Bert Newton
Bert Newton
Albert Watson "Bert" Newton, AM, MBE is an Australian television personality, known for hosting television series such as In Melbourne Tonight, Good Morning Australia and 20 to 1. Newton has also hosted the Logie Awards on numerous occasions through his career.-Early life:Newton was born in...
, AM with Denise Drysdale
Denise Drysdale
Denise Anne Christina Drysdale, is an Australian television personality and comedian. She is often affectionately called Ding-Dong.-Childhood:...
, Sale of the Century
Sale of the Century
Sale of the Century is a television game show format that has been screened in several countries in various incarnations since 1969. The show found its biggest success in Australia, where it aired weeknights from 1980 to 2001...
, The Games, RocKwiz
RocKwiz
RocKwiz is an Australian television quiz show series, focused on rock music, and broadcast on SBS One. It premiered in 2005.-Summary:The forty minute program airs on Saturday at 9:20 pm, and is hosted by Julia Zemiro. It is shot in The Gershwin Room at St Kilda's Esplanade Hotel, commonly...
, Spicks and Specks, Australia's Dumbest Musician, Neighbours
Neighbours
Neighbours is an Australian television soap opera first broadcast on the Seven Network on 18 March 1985. It was created by TV executive Reg Watson, who proposed the idea of making a show that focused on realistic stories and portrayed adults and teenagers who talk openly and solve their problems...
(two-episode story), Review, Roy and HG
Roy and HG
Roy & HG is an Australian comedy duo, comprising Greig Pickhaver in the role of "H [Harry] G Nelson" and John Doyle as "'Rampaging' Roy Slaven". Their act is an affectionate but irreverent parody of Australia's obsession with sport. Their characters based on archetypes in sports journalism: Nelson...
's Club Buggery
Club Buggery
Club Buggery is the title of an Australian television series of the 1990s. It was created and performed by Australian comedy duo Roy and HG and broadcast on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation network in 1996 and 1997.-Development:The series was an offshoot the duo's long-running,...
(1996–1997). He wrote a lyric book, It Is Written, Baby (1997). With Moore, he composed and performed the score of the movie Bad Eggs
Bad Eggs
Bad Eggs is a 2003 Australian comedy movie, written and directed by Tony Martin. It stars Mick Molloy, Bob Franklin and Judith Lucy, with Alan Brough, Bill Hunter, Marshall Napier, Nicholas Bell, Steven Vidler, Shaun Micallef, Robyn Nevin, Brett Swain, Denis Moore and Pete Smith having supporting...
(2003), for Mahony's short film Ray (2005). Graney contributed music to and played a small (musical) part in Stone (2004), a stage production of the 1960s British play.
Albums
The Moodists- Thirsty's Calling – Red Flame (206 308) (April 1984)
- Double Life – Red Flame (RFM 44) (1985)
- Two Fisted Art (1980 -1986) – W. Minc (WMINCD027) (2003)
Dave Graney with the White Buffaloes
- My Life on the Plains – Fire Records (FIREUS3-1) (1989)
Dave Graney 'n' the Coral Snakes (aka Dave Graney with the Coral Snakes)
- I Was the Hunter... and I Was the Prey – Fire Records (FIRE11029, FIRE 33029) (May 1992)
- The Lure of the Tropics – Torn & Frayed Records (TORN CD!) (July 1992)
- Night of the WolverineNight of the WolverineNight of the Wolverine is the third album by Dave Graney 'n' the Coral Snakes . The album was released in April 1993 on Mercury Records...
– Mercury Records (5321292) (April 1993) - You Wanna Be There But You Don't Wanna TravelYou Wanna Be There But You Don't Wanna TravelYou Wanna Be There But You Don't Wanna Travel is the fourth album by Dave Graney 'n' the Coral Snakes . With Graney on vocals, the Coral Snakes line-up included his wife Clare Moore on drums and percussion; Robin Casinader on keyboards, violin and mandolin; Rob Hayward on lead guitar; and early...
– Mercury Records (5223812) (June 1994) AUS No. 10 - The Soft 'n' Sexy Sound – Mercury Records (5284162) (17 July 1995) AUS No. 36
- The Devil DrivesThe Devil DrivesThe Devil Drives is the sixth album by Dave Graney 'n' The Coral Snakes. It was released in May 1997 on Mercury Records. The album peaked at No. 18 on the Australian Recording Industry Association Album Charts. It was also produced by Dave Graney, Clare Moore and David Ruffy...
– Mercury Records (5348032) (May 1997) AUS No. 18 - The Baddest – Grudge Records (1537542) (1999)
The Dave Graney Show
- The Dave Graney Show – Festival (November 1998)
- Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye – Cockaigne (COCK002) (April 2000)/Cooking Vinyl (COOKCD206) (May 2000)
- Heroic Blues – Cockaigne (COCK005) (2002)
- The Brother Who Lived – Cockaigne (COCK008) (October 2003)
Dave Graney and Clare Moore
- Music from the Motion Picture – Bad EggsBad EggsBad Eggs is a 2003 Australian comedy movie, written and directed by Tony Martin. It stars Mick Molloy, Bob Franklin and Judith Lucy, with Alan Brough, Bill Hunter, Marshall Napier, Nicholas Bell, Steven Vidler, Shaun Micallef, Robyn Nevin, Brett Swain, Denis Moore and Pete Smith having supporting...
– Liberation Music (LIBCD5077.2) (4 July 2003) - Hashish and Liquor – Reverberation (REV018) (2005)
- Keepin' It Unreal – Reverberation (REV029) (2006)
The Lurid Yellow Mist featuring Dave Graney and Clare Moore
- We Wuz Curious – Illustrious Artists (IARLP204) (14 June 2008)
- Supermodified – Cockaigne (COCK018) (21 August 2010)
Dave Graney
- Knock Yourself Out – Cockaigne (COCK017) (30 May 2009)
- Rock 'n' Roll is Where I Hide - Liberation Music (April 2011)
Extended plays
The Moodists- Engine Shudder – Au-Go-Go (ANDA 026) (January 1983)
- Justice and Money Too – Creation (August 1985)
- Take the Red Carpet Out of Town – Abstract (October 1985)
- The Moodists – Abstract (February 1986)
- Something's Got to Give – (1987)
Dave Graney 'n' the Coral Snakes (aka Dave Graney with the Coral Snakes)
- At His Stone Beach – Fire Records (Blaze 32T, UK release only) (September 1988)
- The Confessions of Serge Gainsbourg
Dave Graney with the White Buffaloes
- Codine: Recorded Live in Melbourne – Fire Records (Blaze 45T) (1990)
Singles
Sputniks- "Second Glance"/"Our Boys" – (1979)
The Moodists
- "Where the Trees Walk Downhill"/"I Should Have Been Here" – Au-Go-Go (ANDA015) (October 1981)
- "Gone Dead"/"Chad's Car" – Au-Go-Go (ANDA 018) (June 1982)
- "The Disciples Know"/"She Cackles" – Red Flame (RFB21) (1983)
- "Runaway"/"Chevrolet Rise" – Red Flame (RFB39) (April 1984)
- "Enough Legs to Live On"/"Can't Lose Her" – Red Flame (RFB41) (October 1984)
Dave Graney 'n' the Coral Snakes (aka Dave Graney with the Coral Snakes)
- "I'm Gonna Release Your Soul" – (April 1994)
- "You Wanna Be Loved" – Mercury (8561212) (August 1994)
- "I'm Going to Live in My Own Big World" – Mercury (8527042) (1995)
- "I'm Not Afraid to be Heavy" – Mercury (8520452) (1995)
- "Rock'n'Roll is Where I Hide" – Mercury (8523192) (1995)
- "You're Just Too Hip, Baby" – This Way Up (WAY4833) (1996)
- "Three Dead Passengers" – This Way Up (WAY5133) (1996)
- "Feelin' Kinda Sporty" – Mercury (5743162) (April 1997)
- "A Man on the Make" – Mercury (5747252) (September 1997)
The Dave Graney Show
- "Your Masters Must Be Pleased With You" – Festival (February 1999)
- "Drugs are Wasted on the Young" – Cockaigne (COCK001) (February 2000)
- "Out of the Loop" – Cockaigne (COCK003) (12 June 2000)
- "Have You Heard About the Melbourne Mafia?" – Cockaigne (COCK004) (25 September 2000)
- "Are We Going Too Fast For Love?" – Cockaigne (COCK006) (2002)
- "Midnight to Dawn" – Cockaigne (COCK007) (August 2003)
- "All Our Friends Were Stars" – Cockaigne (COCK009) (2004)
The Lurid Yellow Mist featuring Dave Graney and Clare Moore
- "68 Babe (name, Rank and Rock Scene)" - Re-action Recordings (29 October 2007)
- "I'm in the Future Now" - Independent (8 November 2007)
Studio production work
Recording and mixing- The Darling Downs
- How Can I Forget This Heart of Mine? (2005)
- From One to Another (2007)
- Jane Dust
- A Spray of Red From the Deep (2008)
Mixing
- Kaye Louise Patterson
- International Travel (2007)
ARIA Awards
The ARIA Music AwardsARIA Music Awards
The Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards is an annual series of awards nights celebrating the Australian music industry, put on by the Australian Recording Industry Association...
are presented annually from 1987 by the Australian Recording Industry Association
Australian Recording Industry Association
The Australian Recording Industry Association is a trade group representing the Australian recording industry which was established in 1983 by six major record companies, EMI, Festival, CBS, RCA, WEA and Universal replacing the Association of Australian Record Manufacturers which was formed in 1956...
(ARIA). Graney and Dave Graney 'n' the Coral Snakes have won two awards from nine nominations.
|-
| 1994
ARIA Music Awards of 1994
The Eighth Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards was held on 30 March 1994 at the State Theatre in Sydney...
|| Night of the Wolverine
Night of the Wolverine
Night of the Wolverine is the third album by Dave Graney 'n' the Coral Snakes . The album was released in April 1993 on Mercury Records...
– Dave Graney & the Coral Snakes || Best Alternative Release ||
|-
| 1995
ARIA Music Awards of 1995
The Ninth Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards was held on 20 October 1995 at the Sydney Convention & Exhibition Centre. There had been a 19-month gap since the previous award ceremony which was moved to be "closer to the business end of the music industry's year"...
|| "I'm Gonna Release Your Soul" – Tony Mahony – Dave Graney & the Coral Snakes || Best Video ||
|-
|rowspan="3"| 1996
ARIA Music Awards of 1996
The 10th Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards was held on 30 September 1996 at the Sydney Convention & Exhibition Centre...
|| The Soft 'n' Sexy Sound – Dave Graney || Best Male Artist ||
|-
| The Soft 'n' Sexy Sound – Victor Van Vugt
Victor Van Vugt
Victor Van Vugt is an award-winning music producer, mixer and engineer. An Australian based in New York, he has had a long association with the careers of Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds and Beth Orton. He has also worked with the likes of P.J...
– Dave Graney & the Coral Snakes' || Producer of the Year ||
|-
| The Soft 'n' Sexy Sound – Tony Mahony – Dave Graney & the Coral Snakes || Best Cover Art ||
|-
|rowspan="3"| 1997
ARIA Music Awards of 1997
The eleventh Annual Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards were held on 22 September 1997 at the Capitol Theatre in Sydney. The event was hosted by Australian actor–comedian Paul McDermott, with presenters Elle McFeast, Kylie Minogue, Ben Folds and The Presidents of the United...
|| The Devil Drives
The Devil Drives
The Devil Drives is the sixth album by Dave Graney 'n' The Coral Snakes. It was released in May 1997 on Mercury Records. The album peaked at No. 18 on the Australian Recording Industry Association Album Charts. It was also produced by Dave Graney, Clare Moore and David Ruffy...
– Dave Graney || Best Male Artist ||
|-
| "Feelin' Kinda Sporty" – Tony Mahony – Dave Graney & the Coral Snakes || Best Video ||
|-
| The Devil Drives – Tony Mahony – Dave Graney & the Coral Snakes || Best Cover Art ||
|-
| 2003
ARIA Music Awards of 2003
The 17th Annual Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards were held on 21 October 2003 at the Sydney Superdome.-ARIA Awards:*Album of the Year**Powderfinger – Vulture Street...
|| Music from the Motion Picture – Bad Eggs – Dave Graney and Clare Moore
Clare Moore
Clare Christina Moore is an Australian musician, songwriter, arranger, producer and performer whose principal instrument is the drums. She has also performed as a keyboard player, singer and vibraphone player...
|| Best Original Soundtrack Album ||
- "Tracks" surfing magazine voted Graney, "brother from another scene" in 1993. The earliest citing of Graney outside the inner city Australian rock scene and the award he is said to have enjoyed being bestowed with the most.