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Australian Crawl

Australian Crawl a Melbourne band founded by James Reyne (lead vocals/piano), Brad Robinson (rhythm guitar), Paul Williams (bass guitar), Simon Binks (lead guitar) and David Reyne (drums) in 1978. David Reyne soon left and was replaced by Bill McDonough (drums, percussion). They were later joined by his brother Guy McDonough (vocals, rhythm guitar). The band was named after the front crawl swimming style also known as the Australian crawl.

Australian Crawl were associated with surf music and sponsored a surfing competition in 1984. However, they also handled broader social issues such as shallow materialism, car accidents, and cautionary tales of romance.

After their 1980 debut album, The Boys Light Up reached #4, Australian Crawl had two #1 albums; 1981’s Sirocco and 1982’s Sons of Beaches. Their early singles reached the top 25 but none broke into the Top Ten; their best performing single was #1 hit “Reckless” which showed a more mature approach than earlier hits, and came from their 1983 Semantics EP.

Upheaval within the band occurred from 1983 onwards. First Bill McDonough left, then his brother Guy McDonough died in 1984, then various other members left. Their 1985 release Between a Rock and a Hard Place was expensive but sales were disappointing; and they disbanded early in 1986. The band’s status as an icon on the Australian music scene was acknowledged by induction into the 1996 Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) Hall of Fame. Founding guitarist Brad Robinson was unable to attend the Hall of Fame induction in person, as he was hospitalised with lymphoma and died two weeks later.
Edited Extracts from Wikipedia®

Aussie Crawl – Boys Light Up

‘Boys Light Up’ is from Australian Crawl’s debut album called ‘The Boys Light Up’ which was released in 1980. The album reached …

Aussie Crawl – Beautiful People

“Beautiful People” is the 1979 debut single released by Australian rock band Australian Crawl and later appeared on their debut album The …

Aussie Crawl – Errol

Australian Crawl’s hit song “Errol” is the second single taken from their 1981 album Sirocco. The song was written by James Reyne …

Aussie Crawl – Reckless

“Reckless” (aka “Reckless (Don’t Be So)”, “Reckless (Don’t You Be So)”, “She Don’t Like That”) was a 1983 song from the EP …

Aussie Crawl – Things Don’t Seem

Australian Crawl’s promo-video for the hit single ‘Things Don’t Seem’, taken from the 1981 album ‘Sirroco’. “Things Don’t Seem” made it to, …