Goanna

The Goanna Band was formed as an Australian folk rock group by singer-songwriter and guitarist Shane Howard in Geelong, in 1977. Alongside Howard, the original line-up was Mike Biscan (guitar), Richard Griffiths (bass guitar) and Rod Hoe (drums). During their early years the line-up changed numerous times, with only Howard as the mainstay. In 1979, the group consisted of Howard, keyboardist & vocalist Rose Bygrave, lead guitarist & vocalist Warwick Harwood, bass guitarist Carl Smith, drummer Gary Crothall and vocalist & harmonica player Ian Morrison. They recorded the independent 12″ EP, Livin’ on the Razor’s Edge as The Goanna Band. The four track EP was produced by Broderick Smith, ex-The Dingoes, and released on the EMI subsidiary label Custom Press. By 1981 the band was now Shane Howard, Rose Bygrave, Warrick Harwood, Peter ‘Brolga’ Coughlan on bass guitar, Marcia Howard vocalist & synth player, Graham Davidge electric guitar and Robbie Ross on drums.They had shortened the name to Goanna and with their increasing popularity they attracted the interest of major record companies.

They supported James Taylor on the Australian leg of his 1981 tour with Rose, Marcia & Shane invited to sing backing vocals in part of Taylor’s set. It was here where they met Billy Payne (Taylor’s keyboard player) who would later become the producer of their second album. In February 1982, they signed to WEA Australia, and also established their own music publishing company Uluru Music headed by Helene Faiman. The band released its single, “Solid Rock” in October. According to Howard, the inspiration came on a ten day camping trip to Uluru (also known as Ayers Rock) during 1980 where he had a “spiritual awakening” which brought “the fire in the belly” to the surface over injustices to Australia’s indigenous peoples.

I realised that this country that I grew up in, that I thought was my country, wasn’t. I had to reassess my whole relationship with the land and the landscape, and understand that we had come from somewhere else, and we had dis-empowered a whole race of people when we arrived.—Shane Howard.
Edited Extracts from Wikipedia®