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*[http://www.dragtheband.com] - Dragtheband.com, The Official Site (doesn't mean it's good) for Middleton's side project, Drag
*[http://www.dragtheband.com] - Dragtheband.com, The Official Site (doesn't mean it's good) for Middleton's side project, Drag
*[http://www.bernardfanning.com] - Bernard Fanning, The Official Site for Bernard Fanning
*[http://www.bernardfanning.com] - Bernard Fanning, The Official Site for Bernard Fanning
*[http://www.nakeddwarf.com.au/nd/bands/australian/p/powderfinger Powderfinger at Naked Dwarf]


[[Category:Australian musical groups]]
[[Category:Australian musical groups]]

Revision as of 13:06, 15 November 2005

File:Powderfinger.jpg
Powderfinger

Powderfinger is a successful Australian rock band. The band formed in 1989 in Brisbane, with the present lineup of Bernard Fanning (Vocals, Guitar, Keyboards, Harmonica), John Collins (Bass Guitar), Ian Haug (Guitar, Backing Vocals), Darren Middleton (Guitar, Keyboards, Backing Vocals) and Jon Coghill (Drums, Percussion) settling in 1992.

Formation and rise to prominence

The original members of Powderfinger, of which formed in the boy's earlier years, were Ian Haug (Vocals, Guitar), John Collins (Bass) and Steven Bishop (Drums). The band were looking for another guitarist and decided to recruit a young chap called Bernard Fanning (of which Haug met in his university economics class). After hearing this man sing, Haug gladly passed the vocal duties onto him. Bishop later left the band, to be replaced with Jon Coghill of whom the 'Finger guys remembered from an earlier rehearsal, slam dancing. The final line-up was almost complete, but they needed another guitarist considering Fanning wasn't too confident with his guitar playing skills. Guitarist from the band 'Pirate', Darren Middleton joined the band. Middleton was known for his unique stage behaviour - running onto and into tables with his wireless guitar just causing trouble. Finally, in year 1992 the final 'Finger line-up was complete.

Powderfinger initially performed mainly covers of other artists, gradually developing their own material.

After one independent EP, they were signed to Polydor and in 1994 released their first album, Parables for Wooden Ears, which charted modestly, and began to give the band a national profile.

Two more EP's followed until their second album, Double Allergic in 1996, which was a big success, going "double platinum" (which implies selling over 70,000 copies in Australia), with two singles, "Pick You Up" and "DAF" receiving much radio airplay. Their subsequent albums, 1998's Internationalist, and 2000's Odyssey Number 5 were more successful still, both reaching #1, with Internationalist selling over 330,000 copies, most in Australia but also in the UK and Europe, and over 5 times platinum (350,000 copies) domestically.

Both albums featured much melodic rock, with lead singer's soulful voice often compared to the band's declared inspiration, Neil Young (in fact, Powderfinger is named after one of Young's songs). Many of their singles featured instantly memorable choruses.

Local success and recognition

During this period they were a highly successful live act, but probably not rated as highly for this as several other Australian rock bands of the period such as You Am I, with a more laid back onstage presence.

2003's Vulture Street (named after a prominent Brisbane street) headed off in a slightly more aggressive direction, though still with their trademark ballads. It debuted at #1 and has sold over 350,000 copies to date.

Powderfinger have won most of the Australian pop music industry's awards, including ARIAs for their albums and singles. The tracks "These Days" and "My Happiness" were voted #1 in the Triple J Hottest 100 poll in 1999 and 2000 respectively. They are so far the only group to have topped the poll twice. In 2003 they gained five tracks in the top 100, and three in the top ten. Most notably, in 2003 they won an ARIA for Best Band of 2003.

Powderfinger have had some international success in the UK and Europe, but like many successful Australian acts have not captured the imagination of the United States.

In 2004, they have released 2 albums, a live album called These Days - Live In Concert, and also a best of album, Fingerprints: Best Of 1994 - 2000. Both of these reached #2 in the charts.

Recently, Fanning was a guest vocalist on part two of supergroup The Wrights' cover of Stevie Wright's (lead singer of The Easybeats) "Evie" (now a trilogy). The first part was first performed at the 2004 ARIA awards. The supergroup features members of many other Australian rock bands.

Discography

Studio Albums

File:Parables for Wooden Ears.jpg 1. Parables for Wooden Ears (Polydor 522570-2, 18 July 1994)

2. Double Allergic (Polydor 533153-2, 2 September 1996) AUS #4

3. Internationalist (Polydor 559201-2, 7 September 1998) AUS #1

4. Odyssey Number Five (Grudge/Universal 549092-2, 4 September 2000) AUS #1

5. Vulture Street (Grudge/Universal 038353-2, 2003) AUS #1

Live Albums

File:Live powderfinger.jpg These Days - Live In Concert AUS #2

Greatest Hits Albums

Fingerprints: Best Of 1994 - 2000 AUS #2

Singles

From Parables for Wooden Ears:

  • "Tail" (1993)
  • "Grave Concern" (1994)
  • "Save Your Skin" (1994)

From Double Allergic:

  • "Pick You Up" (1996) AUS #23
  • "d.a.f." (1996) AUS #39
  • "Living Type" (1997) AUS #42
  • "Takes Me In" (1997)

From Internationalist:

  • "The Day You Come" (1998) AUS #25
  • "Already Gone" (1998)
  • "Don't wanna be left out / Good-Day Ray" (1998)
  • "Passenger" (1999) AUS #30

From Odyssey Number Five:

  • "My Happiness" (2000) AUS #4
  • "Like A Dog" (2000) AUS #40
  • "The Metre" (2001); AUS #31

From Vulture Street:

  • "On My Mind" (2003); AUS #9
  • "Love Your Way" (2003); AUS #37
  • "Sunsets" (2004); AUS #11, NZL #38
  • "Since You've Been Gone" (2004)

From Fingerprints: Best Of 1994 - 2000:

  • "Bless My Soul" (2004)

EPs

  • "Powderfinger" (Blue EP) (MDS FINGER1, 1st April 1993) — Take a Light/Sacrifice (Blackjack)/Freedom/If I Tried/Save Your Skin/Lighten My Load/It's No Crime
  • "Transfusion" (Polydor 859727-2, 1993) — Reap What You Sow/Change the Tide/Blind To Reason/Mama Harry/Rise Up
  • "Mr Kneebone" (Polydor 579679-2, 24th July 1995) — Swollen Tongue/Stitches/Drongo/My Urn/I'm Splittin' Terry
  • "Passenger" (Grudge/Universal 563939-2, 9th August 1999) — Passenger (Album Version)/These Days/Passenger (Live)/Pick You Up (Live)/Maxwells' Great Mistake/That Ol' Track

DVDs

  • Sunsets DVD

-Includes "Sunsets" film clip, "Sunsets" acoustic studio performance, "Rita" audio/video, "On My Mind" film clip, "Love Your Way" film clip

Awards and nominations

Awards

Nominations

2005 - The Year Of Side Projects

The band decided to take a well earned break in 2005, but for members Darren Middleton and Bernard Fanning, 2005 was barely a break.

Darren Middleton and his side project Drag released their debut album, a follow-up to their 2002 EP Gas Food Lodging. The debut album is called The Way Out and was released on July the 10th.

Bernard Fanning released his solo album, Tea and Sympathy, on October 30 2005, reaching the top of the Australian charts.

  • Powderfinger - Lyrics Analysis of Neil Young song
  • [1] - Hindley Site, A Powderfinger Fansite
  • [2] - Powderfinger Central, A Powderfinger Fansite
  • [3] - Dragtheband.com, The Official Site (doesn't mean it's good) for Middleton's side project, Drag
  • [4] - Bernard Fanning, The Official Site for Bernard Fanning
  • Powderfinger at Naked Dwarf
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