The Incredible Penguins were an Australian supergroup

Supergroup (music)

In the late 1960s, the term supergroup was coined to describe "a rock music group whose performers are already famous from having performed individually or in other groups"....

 formed in 1985, which reached the top ten on the Australian Kent Music Report

Kent Music Report

The Kent Music Report was a weekly record chart of Australian music singles and albums which was compiled by music enthusiast David Kent from May 1974 through to 1998...

 Singles Chart with their cover

Cover version

In popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...

 of "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)

Happy Xmas (War Is Over)

"Happy Xmas " is a song written by John Lennon and Yoko Ono and released in 1971 as a single by John & Yoko/Plastic Ono Band with the Harlem Community Choir....

" in December. Contributors included Angry Anderson

Angry Anderson

Gary Stephen "Angry" Anderson AM is an Australian rock singer, television presenter/reporter, actor and conservative political activist. He is best known as the vocalist with the hard rock band Rose Tattoo since 1976 but he is also recognised for his acting roles and his charity work...

 (Rose Tattoo

Rose Tattoo

Rose Tattoo is an Australian rock and roll band, now led by Angry Anderson, that was formed in Sydney in 1976. Their sound is hard rock mixed with blues rock influences, with songs including "Bad Boy for Love", "Rock 'n' Roll Outlaw", "Nice Boys", "We Can't Be Beaten" and "Scarred for Life"...

), Bob Geldof

Bob Geldof

Robert Frederick Zenon "Bob" Geldof, KBE is an Irish singer, songwriter, author, occasional actor and political activist. He rose to prominence as the lead singer of the Irish rock band The Boomtown Rats in the late 1970s and early 1980s alongside the punk rock movement. The band had hits with his...

, Brian Mannix

Brian Mannix

Brian Mannix is an Australian rock music singer and actor.He guest-starred in several episodes of Australian soap Neighbours in 1993 as Conor Cleary, a love interest for Lauren Carpenter....

 (Uncanny X-Men

Uncanny X-Men (band)

Uncanny X-Men are a pop/rock band which formed in Melbourne in 1981, and temporarily disbanded in 1987. They are fronted by lead singer Brian Mannix and originally included Chuck Hargreaves on guitar, Steve Harrison on bass guitar, Nick Manthandos on drums and Ron Thiessen on guitar...

), Scott Carne (Kids in the Kitchen

Kids in the Kitchen

Kids in the Kitchen was a band from Melbourne, Australia that enjoyed considerable local success during the 1980s. The band stood squarely within the New Romantic movement that dominated mid-1980s pop, showing influences of "New-Rom" groups such as Ultravox in its use of synthesisers, its...

), Colleen Hewett

Colleen Hewett

Colleen Hewett is an Australian actress and popular singer. She is perhaps best known to international audiences for her 1984 guest role in the television series Prisoner as Sheila Brady.-Pop singer:...

, and John Farnham

John Farnham

John Peter Farnham, AO, formerly billed as Johnny Farnham , is an English-born Australian pop singer. He was a teen pop idol from 1964 to 1979, and has since forged a career as an adult contemporary singer. His career has mostly been as a solo artist although he briefly replaced Glenn Shorrock as...

. The charity project, for research on Fairy penguins

Little Penguin

The Little Penguin is the smallest species of penguin. The penguin, which usually grows to an average of in height and in length , is found on the coastlines of southern Australia and New Zealand, with possible records from Chile.Apart from Little Penguins, they have several common names...

, was organised and produced

Record producer

A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...

 by Countdown host, Ian Meldrum

Ian Meldrum

Ian Alexander "Molly" Meldrum AM is an Australian popular music critic, journalist, record producer , and musical entrepreneur...

.

History

After hosting Oz for Africa

Oz for Africa

Oz for Africa was an Australian concert held on 13 July 1985 at the Sydney Sports and Entertainment Centre. It was broadcast locally and internationally as part of the worldwide Live Aid performances to raise money for famine relief in Africa. The concert featured 17 bands performing some of their...

—the Australian leg of Live Aid

Live Aid

Live Aid was a dual-venue concert that was held on 13 July 1985. The event was organized by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure to raise funds for relief of the ongoing Ethiopian famine. Billed as the "global jukebox", the event was held simultaneously in Wembley Stadium in London, England, United Kingdom ...

—in mid-1985, Ian Meldrum

Ian Meldrum

Ian Alexander "Molly" Meldrum AM is an Australian popular music critic, journalist, record producer , and musical entrepreneur...

 decided to create a charity project for a local issue. Meldrum was talent coordinator and compere of national pop music

Pop music

Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...

 show, Countdown. Late in 1985, he used his industry contacts to organise a charity single for research on Fairy penguins

Little Penguin

The Little Penguin is the smallest species of penguin. The penguin, which usually grows to an average of in height and in length , is found on the coastlines of southern Australia and New Zealand, with possible records from Chile.Apart from Little Penguins, they have several common names...

, he produced

Record producer

A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...

 the recording of a cover

Cover version

In popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...

 of John Lennon

John Lennon

John Winston Lennon, MBE was an English musician and singer-songwriter who rose to worldwide fame as one of the founding members of The Beatles, one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music...

, Yoko Ono

Yoko Ono

is a Japanese artist, musician, author and peace activist, known for her work in avant-garde art, music and filmmaking as well as her marriage to John Lennon...

 and Plastic Ono Band's 1971 hit, "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)

Happy Xmas (War Is Over)

"Happy Xmas " is a song written by John Lennon and Yoko Ono and released in 1971 as a single by John & Yoko/Plastic Ono Band with the Harlem Community Choir....

".

The Incredible Penguins were a briefly existing covers band, with members: Steve Donald (Wendy & the Rocketts) on percussion

Percussion instrument

A percussion instrument is any object which produces a sound when hit with an implement or when it is shaken, rubbed, scraped, or otherwise acted upon in a way that sets the object into vibration...

, Craig Johnston (ex-Mother Goose

Mother Goose (band)

Mother Goose was a 1970s New Zealand band formed in Dunedin, in 1975.Only eighteen months after forming, Mother Goose had smashed attendance records for gigs in every city in Australia and New Zealand...

) on vocals, Wayne Matthews (ex-The Masters Apprentices

The Masters Apprentices

The Masters Apprentices were an Australian rock band fronted by mainstay Jim Keays on lead vocals, which formed in 1965 in Adelaide, South Australia, relocated to Melbourne in February 1967 and attempted to break into the United Kingdom market from 1970, before disbanding in 1972...

) on bass guitar

Bass guitar

The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....

, John Moon (ex-Keays

Jim Keays

James "Jim" Keays is an Australian musician who fronted rock band The Masters Apprentices as singer-songwriter, guitarist and harmonica-player during 1965–1972, and subsequently had a solo career including leading Jim Keays' Southern Cross...

, W.H.Y.) on guitar

Guitar

The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...

, Pat Polo on guitar, and Marcel Rodeka (ex-Mother Goose) on drums

Drum kit

A drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....

.

In late October 1985, The Incredible Penguins entered the Flagstaff Studios in Melbourne

Melbourne

Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...

 with Meldrum and guest musicians: Angry Anderson

Angry Anderson

Gary Stephen "Angry" Anderson AM is an Australian rock singer, television presenter/reporter, actor and conservative political activist. He is best known as the vocalist with the hard rock band Rose Tattoo since 1976 but he is also recognised for his acting roles and his charity work...

 (Rose Tattoo

Rose Tattoo

Rose Tattoo is an Australian rock and roll band, now led by Angry Anderson, that was formed in Sydney in 1976. Their sound is hard rock mixed with blues rock influences, with songs including "Bad Boy for Love", "Rock 'n' Roll Outlaw", "Nice Boys", "We Can't Be Beaten" and "Scarred for Life"...

), Brian Canham (Pseudo Echo

Pseudo Echo

Pseudo Echo are an Australian New Wave band formed in 1982 in Melbourne. The original line-up consisted of Brian Canham , Pierre Gigliotti , Tony Lugton and Anthony Argiro . A later line-up included James Leigh and his brother, Vince Leigh...

), Scott Carne (Kids in the Kitchen

Kids in the Kitchen

Kids in the Kitchen was a band from Melbourne, Australia that enjoyed considerable local success during the 1980s. The band stood squarely within the New Romantic movement that dominated mid-1980s pop, showing influences of "New-Rom" groups such as Ultravox in its use of synthesisers, its...

), John Farnham

John Farnham

John Peter Farnham, AO, formerly billed as Johnny Farnham , is an English-born Australian pop singer. He was a teen pop idol from 1964 to 1979, and has since forged a career as an adult contemporary singer. His career has mostly been as a solo artist although he briefly replaced Glenn Shorrock as...

, Venetta Fields

Venetta Fields

Venetta Fields is an American singer best known as session musician for leading rock and pop acts of the 1970s including Pink Floyd, Barbra Streisand, Steely Dan and the Rolling Stones...

, Bob Geldof

Bob Geldof

Robert Frederick Zenon "Bob" Geldof, KBE is an Irish singer, songwriter, author, occasional actor and political activist. He rose to prominence as the lead singer of the Irish rock band The Boomtown Rats in the late 1970s and early 1980s alongside the punk rock movement. The band had hits with his...

, Steve Gilpin

Steve Gilpin

Steve Gilpin was a New Zealand-born vocalist best known for his work in the rock band Mi-Sex.Born in Wellington, New Zealand, Gilpin began his career as a cabaret singer in hotels. His star rose in 1972 when he was the winner of television talent show New Faces. After releasing a string of singles...

 (ex-Mi-Sex

Mi-Sex

Mi-Sex was a New Zealand new wave rock band active from 1978 to 1984. Led by Steve Gilpin as vocalist, they were best known for their singles "Computer Games" in 1979 and "People" in 1980.-History:...

), Hare Krishna Chorus, Colin Hay

Colin Hay

Colin James Hay is a Scottish-Australian musician, who made his mark during the 1980s as lead vocalist of the Australian band Men at Work, and later as a solo artist.- Early life and Men at Work :...

 (Men at Work

Men at Work

Men at Work are an Australian rock band who achieved international success in the 1980s. They are the only Australian artists to have a simultaneous #1 album and #1 single in the United States . They achieved the same distinction of a simultaneous #1 album and #1 single in the United Kingdom...

), Colleen Hewett

Colleen Hewett

Colleen Hewett is an Australian actress and popular singer. She is perhaps best known to international audiences for her 1984 guest role in the television series Prisoner as Sheila Brady.-Pop singer:...

, Jim Keays

Jim Keays

James "Jim" Keays is an Australian musician who fronted rock band The Masters Apprentices as singer-songwriter, guitarist and harmonica-player during 1965–1972, and subsequently had a solo career including leading Jim Keays' Southern Cross...

 (ex-The Masters Apprentices), Brian Mannix

Brian Mannix

Brian Mannix is an Australian rock music singer and actor.He guest-starred in several episodes of Australian soap Neighbours in 1993 as Conor Cleary, a love interest for Lauren Carpenter....

 (Uncanny X-Men

Uncanny X-Men (band)

Uncanny X-Men are a pop/rock band which formed in Melbourne in 1981, and temporarily disbanded in 1987. They are fronted by lead singer Brian Mannix and originally included Chuck Hargreaves on guitar, Steve Harrison on bass guitar, Nick Manthandos on drums and Ron Thiessen on guitar...

), Wendy Stapleton

Wendy Stapleton

Wendy Anne-Marie Stapleton is an Australian pop/rock singer-songwriter, and musical theatre and television actress. Stapleton has performed as a backing singer, session musician and a solo artist; she fronted various Melbourne-based groups including Wendy Stapleton Band and Wendy & the Rocketts ...

 (Wendy & the Rocketts) and Chris Stockley (ex-Axiom

Axiom (Australian band)

Axiom were a rock band formed in Melbourne, Australia in 1969 and included musicians Glenn Shorrock and Brian Cadd.-Biography:Axiom's formation was a by-product of the annual Hoadley's Battle of the Sounds in which the top Australian bands of the day performed in front of judges for the prize of a...

, The Dingoes

The Dingoes

The Dingoes are an Australian country rock band initially active from 1973 to 1979, formed in Melbourne they relocated to the United States from 1976. Most stable line-up was John Bois on bass guitar, John Lee on drums, Broderick Smith on vocals and harmonica, Chris Stockley on guitar and Kerryn...

).

A three-track single, "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)" was released by Mushroom Records

Mushroom Records

Mushroom Records is an Australian recoJrd company formed by Michael Gudinski and Ray Evans in Melbourne in 1972. After its sale in 1998, it merged into Festival Mushroom Records. From 2005 to 2009, it is one of the record labels operated by Warner Bros...

 and peaked at #10 on the Australian Kent Music Report

Kent Music Report

The Kent Music Report was a weekly record chart of Australian music singles and albums which was compiled by music enthusiast David Kent from May 1974 through to 1998...

 Singles Chart in December.

Discography

• "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)
  Happy Xmas (War Is Over)
  "Happy Xmas " is a song written by John Lennon and Yoko Ono and released in 1971 as a single by John & Yoko/Plastic Ono Band with the Harlem Community Choir....
  
  " (December 1985, Mushroom Records
  Mushroom Records
  Mushroom Records is an Australian recoJrd company formed by Michael Gudinski and Ray Evans in Melbourne in 1972. After its sale in 1998, it merged into Festival Mushroom Records. From 2005 to 2009, it is one of the record labels operated by Warner Bros...
  
   X13232) AUS
  Kent Music Report
  The Kent Music Report was a weekly record chart of Australian music singles and albums which was compiled by music enthusiast David Kent from May 1974 through to 1998...
  
  : #10 (Dec 1985)
  • "Happy Xmas (War Is Over) Extended Version" (John Lennon
    John Lennon
    John Winston Lennon, MBE was an English musician and singer-songwriter who rose to worldwide fame as one of the founding members of The Beatles, one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music...
    
    , Yoko Ono
    Yoko Ono
    is a Japanese artist, musician, author and peace activist, known for her work in avant-garde art, music and filmmaking as well as her marriage to John Lennon...
    
    ) – 5:42
  • "Happy Xmas (War Is Over) Radio Mix" (Lennon, Ono) – 3:44
  • "Happy Xmas (War Is Over) Penguin Instrumental Mix" (Lennon, Ono) – 5:11

External links

• Incredible Penguins, photo in studio, November 1985.