Renée Geyer
Encyclopedia
Renée Rebecca Geyer is an Australian singer who has long been regarded as one of the finest exponents of jazz, soul
and R&B
idioms. She had commercial success as a solo artist in Australia, with "It's a Man's Man's World
", "Heading in the Right Direction" and "Stares and Whispers" in the 1970s and "Say I Love You" in the 1980s. Geyer has also been an internationally respected and sought-after backing vocalist, whose session credits include work with Sting, Chaka Khan
, Toni Childs
and Joe Cocker
.
In 2000, her autobiography
, Confessions of a Difficult Woman, co-written with music journalist
Ed Nimmervoll
, was published. In her candid book, Geyer detailed her drug addictions, sex life
and career in music. She described herself as "a white Hungarian Jew from Australia sounding like a 65-year-old black man from Alabama". She spent more than ten years based in the United States but had little chart success there. Geyer returned to Australia in the mid-1990s and her career has continued into the 21st century with her 2003 album, Tenderland, which peaked at #11 on the ARIA albums charts
.
Rock historian, Ian McFarlane described her as having a "rich, soulful, passionate and husky vocal delivery". Geyer's iconic status in the Australian music industry was recognised when she was inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame
on 14 July 2005, alongside The Easybeats
, Hunters & Collectors
, Smoky Dawson
, Split Enz
and Normie Rowe
. Geyer and fellow 1970s singer, Marcia Hines
, are the subjects of Australian academic, Jon Stratton
's 2008 Cultural Studies
article, "A Jew Singing Like a Black Woman in Australia: Race, Renée Geyer, and Marcia Hines".
, Australia, to a Hungarian Jewish father, Edward Geyer, and a Slovakia
n holocaust survivor mother, as the youngest of three children. Geyer was named Renée for another holocaust survivor who had helped her mother in Auschwitz after Josef Mengele
had assigned the rest of her mother's family to death. At a young age, the Geyers moved to Sydney
where her parents were managers of a migrant hostel. Geyer describes herself as a problem child, and her parents called her übermutig (German for reckless). She attended various schools and was expelled from a private school, Methodist Ladies College
, for petty stealing. Her first job was as a receptionist
for the Australian Law Society.
In 1970, at the age of 16, Geyer's singing career began as a vocalist with jazz-blues band Dry Red, for her audition she sang The Bee Gees
' hit "To Love Somebody
". She soon left Dry Red for other bands including the more accomplished jazz-rock
group Sun. Sun consisted of Geyer, George Almanza (piano
), Henry Correy (bass guitar
), Garry Nowell (drums), Keith Shadwick (sax
, flute
, clarinet
, vocals) and Chris Sonnenberg (guitar
). The group released one album, Sun 1972
in August 1972, Geyer had already departed in mid-1972 and later joined Mother Earth whose R&B/soul music
style was more in keeping with Geyer's idiom
. Mother Earth consisted of Geyer, Jim Kelly (guitar), David Lindsay (bass guitar), John Proud (drums) and Mark Punch (guitar, vocals).
RCA
, who had released Sun's album, then signed Geyer to a solo contract; however, when it came time to record her first solo album, Geyer, already showing signs of her self proclaimed "Difficult Woman" tag, insisted that Mother Earth back her on the album. Her first solo release in September 1973 was the eponymous Renée Geyer
, which mostly consisted of R&B/Soul cover version
s of overseas hits and was produced by Gus McNeil. Geyer left Mother Earth by the end of the year.
, produced by Tweed Harris (ex-The Groove
), was released in August 1974. It became her first charting album when it peaked at #28 in October on the Australian albums charts
. The studio band were, Harris (keyboards
), Geoff Cox
(drums
; Bootleg Family Band), Tim Gaze (guitar; Kahvas Jute, Tamam Shud
), Phil Manning
(guitar; Chain
), Steve Murphy (guitar; Blackfeather
), Tony Naylor (guitar; Bootleg Family Band/Avalanche) and Barry "Big Goose" Sullivan (bass guitar
; Chain). The title track, "It's a Man's Man's Man's World
", was a cover
of James Brown's hit from 1965, and became her first top 50 single.
Geyer then formed Sanctuary, to promote the album with the original line-up of, Billy Green (guitar; ex-Doug Parkinson In Focus
), Barry Harvey (drums; ex-Chain), Mal Logan (keyboards; ex-Healing Force, Chain) and Sullivan. At the time Geyer had become disenchanted with RCA and their refusal to let her record more original material, she was prepared to wait out her contract if necessary. Former Chain members convinced Geyer to contact their label, Mushroom Records
boss Michael Gudinski
and band manager Ray Evans to strike a deal where they would record her and RCA would release the albums and singles with a Mushroom logo stamped on the label.
The arrangement led to Geyer's next album, Ready to Deal
, which was recorded in August–September 1975, and by this stage Sanctuary line-up was, Logan, Sullivan, Mark Punch (guitar; ex-Mother Earth) and Greg Tell (drums). They co-wrote most of the material for the album with Geyer and Sanctuary was renamed as Renée Geyer Band; the album was produced by Renée Geyer Band and Ernie Rose, and released in November to reach #21. It spawned one of Geyer's signature songs "Heading in the Right Direction", written by guitarist Punch and Garry Paige (both ex-The Johnny Rocco Band), which reached the top 40 in 1976.
During this time, Geyer participated in the 1975 federal election
campaign for the Liberal Party
, singing their theme song "Turn on the Lights", the second most known Australian political song behind the 1972 Labor campaign theme song, "It's Time
". In recent years, Geyer has distanced herself from the Liberal Party and politics in general, stating she had only done their theme song to earn enough money to record an album in the United States, where she had signed a contract with Polydor Records
.
Before departing for the US, Mick Rogers (guitar; Manfred Mann's Earth Band
) replaced Punch and Renée Geyer Band recorded a live album
, Really Really Love You
, at their farewell concert in Melbourne's Dallas Brooks Hall on 11 April 1976. Really Really Love You was released in August and reach the top 50; "Shaky Ground", the related single, appeared in September but Geyer was already in the US.
in mid-1976 and her first US-based album, Moving Along
, was released in May 1977 on RCA
/Mushroom Records
and peaked at #11 in Australia. It used Motown Records
producer Frank Wilson
, with the album's Polydor Records
release for the US market titled Renée Geyer. Her backing musicians, Mal Logan (keyboards
) and Barry Sullivan (bass guitar
) were supplemented by members of Stevie Wonder
's band, as well as Ray Parker Jr.
and other US session musician
s. It provided Geyer biggest Australian hit single, at the time, with "Stares and Whispers" peaking at #17. In the US, radio stations began playing several of the album's tracks, in particular a re-recorded version of "Heading in the Right Direction" which was issued as her first US & UK single.
Polydor were aware her vocal style led listeners to incorrectly assume she was black and urged her to keep a low profile until her popularity had grown, thus they suggested her US album release should not include her photograph. Known for her uncompromising and direct personal manner, Geyer refused to allow this deception and insisted on marketing the album complete with a cover photograph of what she referred to as "my big pink huge face". After the album's release, interest in Geyer subsided in the US, which Geyer later blamed on her headstrong decision regarding her marketing. Geyer earned respect in the US recording industry and for several years worked in Los Angeles as a session vocalist
although she returned to Australia periodically. While in Australia in late 1977, Geyer released the single "Restless Years", the theme song for the Ten Network TV soapie
The Restless Years
, with its writer Mike Perjanik; "Restless Years" reached the top 40 in early 1978.
Geyer's second album with Wilson producing, Winner, was released in December 1978. The backing band were Punch, Tell and Tim Partridge (bass guitar; Kevin Borich Express
), together with session musicians. Geyer was unhappy with the mix and lack of support from Polydor, so she negotiated a release from her contract, brought the album tapes to Australia where it was remixed and released. Geyer herself, referred to the album as "a bit of a loser" as much of the material was not up to her usual standard. She toured Australia promoting it but neither the album nor its two singles achieved top 50 chart success.
Geyer's June 1979 release, Blues License
, is unique in her catalogue as she combined with Australian guitarist Kevin Borich
and his band Express to record an album of straight blues material. The added fire in her vocals was sparked by the harder edged backing from Kevin Borich Express, Logan, Punch, Tim Piper (guitar; ex-Chain, Blackfeather), and Kerrie Biddell (backing vocals; Brian Cadd band
), it reached the top 50, became a favourite of fans and remained in print.
. They released her next album So Lucky
in December 1981, with international release by Portrait Records
as Renée Geyer by Renée Geyer and the Bump Band in 1982. Mushroom subsequently re-issued her previous albums. Helmed by Rob Fraboni
(The Beach Boys
, Bob Dylan
, The Band
) and Ricky Fataar
(Beach Boys), the new album was recorded in the US with musical backing from Ian McLaglan and the Bump Band, who also supported Bonnie Raitt
on her albums. With a mutual love of black blues and R&B performers, Geyer and Raitt formed a friendship that continues to this day. The album moved Geyer from the soul style she had been identified with and added a tougher, rootsy rock
/R&B style, while incorporating salsa
and reggae
. The single "Say I Love You" became her biggest hit when it reached #5 on the Australian charts. So Lucky spawned two further singles, "Do You Know What I Mean?" released in December 1981 attained the top 30 in February 1982, and "I Can Feel the Fire" released in February 1982, which had no top 50 chart success.
Geyer was at the peak of her Australian popularity with "Say I Love You" and performed in Mushroom's 10th anniversary celebration, the Mushroom Evolution Concert on Australia Day
(26 January) long week-end in 1982 at the Myer Music Bowl. The following year she released a second live album Renée Live
in May, which showcased her dynamic performance and provided a duet with Glenn Shorrock
(singer; Little River Band
) on a cover version
of Dusty Springfield
's 1966 single "Goin' Back". Geyer followed with a compilation album
, Faves
in January 1984, after which she returned to the US to live.
, Sing to Me was released in June 1985, which peaked in the top 40; its accompanying first single "All My Love" reached #28 in Australia, but was not given a US release. None of the follow-up singles reached the top 50, so Geyer and WEA parted company thereafter.
Geyer visited Australia and performed three songs on 13 March 1985 for the Oz for Africa
concert (part of the global Live Aid
program) - "Put a Little Love in Your Heart", "All My Love", "Telling it Like it Is" . It was broadcast in Australia (on both Seven Network
and Nine Network
) and on MTV
in the US.
Back in the US, Renee as lead vocalist, joined Easy Pieces, with Hamish Stuart
(guitar
, and vocals) and Steve Ferrone
(drummer
), both ex-The Average White Band
and Anthony Jackson (bass guitar
). They signed to A&M Records
and the band's self-titled album, Easy Pieces was released in 1988 to excellent reviews, but the label changed distributors just as it was released and music stores couldn't order copies, so the album sank without a trace.
Geyer continued as an in-demand session vocalist, which she had also done in Australia. Geyer was on Sting's 1987 double-album, …Nothing Like the Sun (although misspelled as René Gayer on the album credits) including the single, "We'll Be Together
". Geyer performed a duet with Joe Cocker
on his 1987 album, Unchain My Heart
and, following the album's release, toured Europe with him as a backing vocalist. She was audible on Toni Childs
hit "Don't Walk Away" from the 1988 album, Union, among a trio of big-voiced backing singers - Geyer features as the lower-pitched ad-libber. Other sessions included working with Neil Diamond
, Julio Iglesias
, Buddy Guy
and her old mate Bonnie Raitt
. Geyer also recorded "Is it Hot in Here" for the soundtrack of the 1988 film Mystic Pizza
. Geyer described her backing vocals as supplying, "The old Alabama black man wailing on the end of a record so they hire the white Jewish girl from Australia to do it."
mini series The Seven Deadly Sins, Geyer sang alongside Vika Bull
, Deborah Conway
and Paul Kelly
for the 13 tracks. She then teamed with Kelly, one of Australia's most respected singer-songwriter
s, who offered to produce and help write some tracks for her 1994 album, Difficult Woman which was released on Larrikin Records
. It was her first solo studio album in 9 years, and although not a hit, the renewed respect and exposure it brought Geyer encouraged her to move back home where the album has become a cult favourite. In 2000, Geyer named her autobiography
, Confessions of a Difficult Woman, after the album. The album contained "Foggy Highway" (later recorded by its writer Kelly on his 2005 bluegrass
album, Foggy Highway
), a stripped-back piano version of the Beach Boys' "God Only Knows
", Rodgers and Hart
's "He Was Too Good to Me
", Kelly's "Difficult Woman", written about Geyer herself, and "Sweet Guy" which alludes to male violence in romantic relationships - a theme which re-emerges in Geyer's recent albums - tangentially in "Killer Lover", and more directly in "Nasty Streak" (written by Kelly's nephew Dan Kelly
).
Following the release of Difficult Woman, Geyer spent time re-establishing herself on the live circuit. These performances showed her more relaxed on stage than at her peak when her innate shyness was often cleverly disguised. Now a confident, mature woman she showed off a hitherto hidden wicked sense of humour, often at her own expense, but nobody was safe. She then re-signed with Mushroom Records
for a new single, "I’m the Woman Who Loves You", which was included on the retrospective
The Best of Renee Geyer 1973–1998. The album introduced Geyer to a new, younger audience due to a bonus disc included with initial copies, whicj featured earlier tracks, remixed by up and coming DJs. The compilation led to the recording of a full length album, Sweet Life released in 1999, which appeared in the Australian Recording Industry Association
(ARIA) top 50 album charts
. Geyer was surrounded by the cream of Australian musicians, who reportedly queued up to offer songs and record with the diva. Production was by Kelly and Joe Camilleri
(Jo Jo Zep & the Falcons
, The Black Sorrows
), the album demonstrated her extensive vocal range (certain songs like "You Broke a Beautiful Thing", "Cake and Candle" and "Killer Lover" showcase her rarely-used upper range). The album contained original Geyer-cowrites. However it was to be her last for Mushroom as label owner Michael Gudinski
sold the company soon after.
produced by Geyer, which peaked at #11 on the ARIA albums charts. This was followed by another live album, Live at the Athenaeum in 2004, then two more studio albums Tonight in 2005 and Dedicated in 2007.
Geyer's iconic status in the Australian music industry was recognised when she was inducted by Gudinski into the ARIA Hall of Fame
on 14 July 2005, alongside The Easybeats
, Hunters & Collectors
, Smoky Dawson
, Split Enz
and Normie Rowe
. At the ceremony, contemporary R&B
singer Jade MacRae
performed a Geyer medley
, then Geyer sang "It's a Man's Man's World".
Geyer and fellow 1970s singer, Marcia Hines
, are the subjects of Australian academic, Jon Stratton
's 2008 Cultural Studies
article, "A Jew Singing Like a Black Woman in Australia: Race, Renée Geyer, and Marcia Hines". Geyer delivered a two-hour master class on 3 December 2008 to illustrate her annoyance of vocal gymnastics used by singers such as, Mariah Carey
, Christina Aguilera
and contestants on Australian Idol
. Geyer was approached to be a judge on Australian Idol and The X Factor
but declined, she criticised Hines for being "so neutral, I don't hear an opinion" and Kyle Sandilands
for his comments that are hurtful. After having signed with Liberation Blue Records
which teams her with former Mushroom boss, Gudinski, Geyer released the compilation, Renéesance in May 2009.
Geyer has ventured into further areas of the performing arts, with a lead role in Sleeping Beauty in July 2007. In 2008/9 she also provided a voice in the award winning claymation Mary & Max
by Adam Elliot
.
In June 2009, Geyer was diagnosed with breast cancer
and following surgery was told that the cancer had been detected early and a full recovery was expected.
In August 2011 she was fined for careless driving over two incidents one in Elwood, Victoria in 2010 and St Kilda, Victoria in 2011, when she crashed into parked cars, a tree and a shop front.
Her lawyer had blamed the crashes on a drug she was taking to treat breast cancer which he said led to a loss of concentration.
She was fined $500 that was ordered to be paid to the Cancer Council.
Soul music
Soul music is a music genre originating in the United States combining elements of gospel music and rhythm and blues. According to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, soul is "music that arose out of the black experience in America through the transmutation of gospel and rhythm & blues into a form of...
and R&B
Contemporary R&B
Contemporary R&B is a music genre that combines elements of hip hop, soul, R&B and funk.Although the abbreviation “R&B” originates from traditional rhythm and blues music, today the term R&B is most often used to describe a style of African American music originating after the demise of disco in...
idioms. She had commercial success as a solo artist in Australia, with "It's a Man's Man's World
It's a Man's Man's World
It's a Man's Man's World is the second solo album by Australian soul/R & B singer Renée Geyer, and the one that set her on the road to major success over the next 30+ years...
", "Heading in the Right Direction" and "Stares and Whispers" in the 1970s and "Say I Love You" in the 1980s. Geyer has also been an internationally respected and sought-after backing vocalist, whose session credits include work with Sting, Chaka Khan
Chaka Khan
Chaka Khan , frequently known as the Queen of Funk, is a 10-time Grammy Award winning American singer-songwriter who gained fame in the 1970s as the frontwoman and focal point of the funk band Rufus. While still a member of the group in 1978, Khan embarked on a successful solo career...
, Toni Childs
Toni Childs
Toni Childs is an American singer-songwriter from Orange, California. She has released four studio albums and is best known for her songs "Don't Walk Away" , "I've Got To Go Now", a Top 5 hit in Australia in 1991, and the Emmy-winning "Because You're Beautiful" Toni Childs (born October 29, 1957)...
and Joe Cocker
Joe Cocker
John Robert "Joe" Cocker, OBE is an English rock and blues musician, composer and actor, who came to popularity in the 1960s, and is most known for his gritty voice, his idiosyncratic arm movements while performing, and his cover versions of popular songs, particularly those of The Beatles...
.
In 2000, her autobiography
Autobiography
An autobiography is a book about the life of a person, written by that person.-Origin of the term:...
, Confessions of a Difficult Woman, co-written with music journalist
Music journalism
Music journalism is criticism and reportage about music. It began in the eighteenth century as comment on what is now thought of as 'classical music'. This aspect of music journalism, today often referred to as music criticism , comprises the study, discussion, evaluation, and interpretation of...
Ed Nimmervoll
Ed Nimmervoll
Edward Francis "Ed" Nimmervoll is an Australian rock music journalist, author and historian. He worked on rock magazines Go-Set and Juke both as a journalist and as an editor...
, was published. In her candid book, Geyer detailed her drug addictions, sex life
Human sexual behavior
Human sexual activities or human sexual practices or human sexual behavior refers to the manner in which humans experience and express their sexuality. People engage in a variety of sexual acts from time to time, and for a wide variety of reasons...
and career in music. She described herself as "a white Hungarian Jew from Australia sounding like a 65-year-old black man from Alabama". She spent more than ten years based in the United States but had little chart success there. Geyer returned to Australia in the mid-1990s and her career has continued into the 21st century with her 2003 album, Tenderland, which peaked at #11 on the ARIA albums 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...
.
Rock historian, Ian McFarlane described her as having a "rich, soulful, passionate and husky vocal delivery". Geyer's iconic status in the Australian music industry was recognised when she was inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame
ARIA Hall of Fame
Since 1988 the Australian Recording Industry Association has inducted artists into its ARIA Hall of Fame. While most have been recognised at the annual ARIA Music Awards, in 2005 ARIA sought to create a separate standalone "ARIA Icons: Hall of Fame" event as only one or two acts could be inducted...
on 14 July 2005, alongside The Easybeats
The Easybeats
The Easybeats were an Australian rock and roll band. They formed in Sydney in late 1964 and broke up at the end of 1969. They are regarded as the greatest Australian pop band of the 1960s, and were the first Australian rock and roll act to score an international pop hit with their 1966 single...
, 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...
, Smoky Dawson
Smoky Dawson
Smoky Dawson, MBE , born Herbert Henry Dawson, was an Australian country music performer. He was widely touted as Australia's first singing cowboy.-Biography:...
, Split Enz
Split Enz
Split Enz were a New Zealand band of the 1970s and early 1980s featuring Phil Judd and brothers Tim Finn and Neil Finn. They achieved chart success in New Zealand, Australia, and Canada during the early 1980s ‒ most notably with the single "I Got You", and built a cult following elsewhere...
and Normie Rowe
Normie Rowe
Norman John "Normie" Rowe AM was a major male solo performer of Australian pop music in the 1960s. Known for his bright and edgy tenor voice and dynamic stage presence, many of Rowe's most successful recordings were produced by Pat Aulton, house producer for the Sunshine Records, Spin Records and...
. Geyer and fellow 1970s singer, Marcia Hines
Marcia Hines
Marcia Elaine Hines, AM is a vocalist, actress and TV personality who achieved success in her adopted homeland of Australia. Hines made her debut, at the age of sixteen, in the Australian version of the stage musical Hair and followed with the role of Mary Magdalene in Jesus Christ Superstar...
, are the subjects of Australian academic, Jon Stratton
Jon Stratton
Jonathon, or Jonathan, Stratton is an Australian academic currently serving as Professor of Cultural Studies at Curtin University in Perth, Western Australia....
's 2008 Cultural Studies
Cultural studies
Cultural studies is an academic field grounded in critical theory and literary criticism. It generally concerns the political nature of contemporary culture, as well as its historical foundations, conflicts, and defining traits. It is, to this extent, largely distinguished from cultural...
article, "A Jew Singing Like a Black Woman in Australia: Race, Renée Geyer, and Marcia Hines".
Early years
Renée Geyer was born in 1953 in MelbourneMelbourne
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...
, Australia, to a Hungarian Jewish father, Edward Geyer, and a Slovakia
Slovakia
The Slovak Republic is a landlocked state in Central Europe. It has a population of over five million and an area of about . Slovakia is bordered by the Czech Republic and Austria to the west, Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east and Hungary to the south...
n holocaust survivor mother, as the youngest of three children. Geyer was named Renée for another holocaust survivor who had helped her mother in Auschwitz after Josef Mengele
Josef Mengele
Josef Rudolf Mengele , also known as the Angel of Death was a German SS officer and a physician in the Nazi concentration camp Auschwitz-Birkenau. He earned doctorates in anthropology from Munich University and in medicine from Frankfurt University...
had assigned the rest of her mother's family to death. At a young age, the Geyers moved to Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
where her parents were managers of a migrant hostel. Geyer describes herself as a problem child, and her parents called her übermutig (German for reckless). She attended various schools and was expelled from a private school, Methodist Ladies College
MLC School
MLC School is an independent day school for girls, located in Burwood, Sydney. Founded in 1886, MLC admits students from pre-kinder age through to Year 12, and is a Uniting Church of Australia school.- History :...
, for petty stealing. Her first job was as a receptionist
Receptionist
A receptionist is an employee taking an office/administrative support position. The work is usually performed in a waiting area such as a lobby or front office desk of an organization or business...
for the Australian Law Society.
In 1970, at the age of 16, Geyer's singing career began as a vocalist with jazz-blues band Dry Red, for her audition she sang The Bee Gees
Bee Gees
The Bee Gees are a musical group that originally comprised three brothers: Barry, Robin, and Maurice Gibb. The trio was successful for most of their 40-plus years of recording music, but they had two distinct periods of exceptional success: as a pop act in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and as a...
' hit "To Love Somebody
To Love Somebody
To Love Somebody may refer to:*"To Love Somebody" , by The Bee Gees*To Love Somebody , by Nina Simone...
". She soon left Dry Red for other bands including the more accomplished jazz-rock
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
group Sun. Sun consisted of Geyer, George Almanza (piano
Piano
The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
), Henry Correy (bass guitar
Bass guitar
The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
), Garry Nowell (drums), Keith Shadwick (sax
Saxophone
The saxophone is a conical-bore transposing musical instrument that is a member of the woodwind family. Saxophones are usually made of brass and played with a single-reed mouthpiece similar to that of the clarinet. The saxophone was invented by the Belgian instrument maker Adolphe Sax in 1846...
, flute
Flute
The flute is a musical instrument of the woodwind family. Unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is an aerophone or reedless wind instrument that produces its sound from the flow of air across an opening...
, clarinet
Clarinet
The clarinet is a musical instrument of woodwind type. The name derives from adding the suffix -et to the Italian word clarino , as the first clarinets had a strident tone similar to that of a trumpet. The instrument has an approximately cylindrical bore, and uses a single reed...
, vocals) and Chris Sonnenberg (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...
). The group released one album, Sun 1972
Sun 1972
Originally from Wollongong, a town on the South Coast of NSW Keith Shadwick, Gary Norwell, Henry Correy, Ian Smith and blues guitarist Allan Vander Linden formed a blues band called King Biscuit which play the universities and nightclub circuit in Sydney in 1968-71...
in August 1972, Geyer had already departed in mid-1972 and later joined Mother Earth whose R&B/soul music
Soul music
Soul music is a music genre originating in the United States combining elements of gospel music and rhythm and blues. According to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, soul is "music that arose out of the black experience in America through the transmutation of gospel and rhythm & blues into a form of...
style was more in keeping with Geyer's idiom
Music genre
A music genre is a categorical and typological construct that identifies musical sounds as belonging to a particular category and type of music that can be distinguished from other types of music...
. Mother Earth consisted of Geyer, Jim Kelly (guitar), David Lindsay (bass guitar), John Proud (drums) and Mark Punch (guitar, vocals).
RCA
RCA
RCA Corporation, founded as the Radio Corporation of America, was an American electronics company in existence from 1919 to 1986. The RCA trademark is currently owned by the French conglomerate Technicolor SA through RCA Trademark Management S.A., a company owned by Technicolor...
, who had released Sun's album, then signed Geyer to a solo contract; however, when it came time to record her first solo album, Geyer, already showing signs of her self proclaimed "Difficult Woman" tag, insisted that Mother Earth back her on the album. Her first solo release in September 1973 was the eponymous Renée Geyer
Renée Geyer (album)
Renee Geyer is the first solo album by Australian soul/R&B singer Renée Geyer. She is backed by her then current band Mother Earth, though they receive only a small credit on the back of the LP sleeve.- Track listing :...
, which mostly consisted of R&B/Soul cover version
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...
s of overseas hits and was produced by Gus McNeil. Geyer left Mother Earth by the end of the year.
1974–1976: It's a Man's Man's World
Geyer's next album, It's a Man's Man's WorldIt's a Man's Man's World
It's a Man's Man's World is the second solo album by Australian soul/R & B singer Renée Geyer, and the one that set her on the road to major success over the next 30+ years...
, produced by Tweed Harris (ex-The Groove
The Groove (band)
Formed in mid 1967, The Groove are considered to be Australia's first "supergroup" in that all members had considerable experience behind them in a number of successful bands...
), was released in August 1974. It became her first charting album when it peaked at #28 in October on the Australian albums charts
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...
. The studio band were, Harris (keyboards
Keyboard instrument
A keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments...
), Geoff Cox
Geoff Cox
Geoff Cox is an Australian musician and media personality. He is often referred to as Coxy.He is most notable for having played drums with the Little River Band. More recently he became a light entertainment presenter on the Seven Network. Currently he hosts Coxy's Big Break.Cox has been an...
(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 ....
; Bootleg Family Band), Tim Gaze (guitar; Kahvas Jute, Tamam Shud
Tamam Shud
Tamam Shud were an Australian psychedelic and progressive rock band, formed in Sydney in 1967, which released two albums, Evolution and Goolutionites and the Real People before disbanding in 1972...
), Phil Manning
Phil Manning (musician)
Philip John "Phil" Manning is an Australian blues singer-songwriter and guitarist. Manning has been a member of various groups including Chain and has had a solo career. As a member of Chain, Manning co-wrote their January 1971 single "Black and Blue", which became their only top 20 hit...
(guitar; Chain
Chain (band)
Chain are an Australian blues band formed in Melbourne as The Chain in late 1968 with a lineup including guitarist, vocalist Phil Manning; they are sometimes known as Matt Taylor's Chain after lead singer-songwriter and harmonica player, Matt Taylor...
), Steve Murphy (guitar; Blackfeather
Blackfeather
Blackfeather was an Australian rock group in the 1970s. The group had many members and went through two major incarnations - the earlier heavy rock version of the group, which recorded the album At The Mountains of Madness and the hit single "Seasons of Change", and the later piano-based lineup...
), Tony Naylor (guitar; Bootleg Family Band/Avalanche) and Barry "Big Goose" Sullivan (bass guitar
Bass guitar
The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
; Chain). The title track, "It's a Man's Man's Man's World
It's a Man's Man's Man's World
"It's a Man's Man's Man's World" is a song by James Brown and Betty Jean Newsome. Brown recorded it on February 16, 1966 in a New York studio and released it as a single later that year. It reached #1 on the Billboard Top R&B Singles charts and #8 in the Billboard Hot 100...
", was 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 James Brown's hit from 1965, and became her first top 50 single.
Geyer then formed Sanctuary, to promote the album with the original line-up of, Billy Green (guitar; ex-Doug Parkinson In Focus
Doug Parkinson
Douglas "Doug" Parkinson is an Australian singer who first came to fame with his band, Doug Parkinson In Focus, in 1969. He has had numerous hits on the Australian Top 40 charts.-Career:...
), Barry Harvey (drums; ex-Chain), Mal Logan (keyboards; ex-Healing Force, Chain) and Sullivan. At the time Geyer had become disenchanted with RCA and their refusal to let her record more original material, she was prepared to wait out her contract if necessary. Former Chain members convinced Geyer to contact their label, 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...
boss Michael Gudinski
Michael Gudinski
Michael Solomon Gudinski, AM is an Australian entrepreneur and businessman currently based in Melbourne who is a leading figure in the Australian music industry...
and band manager Ray Evans to strike a deal where they would record her and RCA would release the albums and singles with a Mushroom logo stamped on the label.
The arrangement led to Geyer's next album, Ready to Deal
Ready to Deal
Ready to Deal is the third solo album by Australian singer Renée Geyer and her Renée Geyer Band. Geyer had formed a touring outfit with session musicians...
, which was recorded in August–September 1975, and by this stage Sanctuary line-up was, Logan, Sullivan, Mark Punch (guitar; ex-Mother Earth) and Greg Tell (drums). They co-wrote most of the material for the album with Geyer and Sanctuary was renamed as Renée Geyer Band; the album was produced by Renée Geyer Band and Ernie Rose, and released in November to reach #21. It spawned one of Geyer's signature songs "Heading in the Right Direction", written by guitarist Punch and Garry Paige (both ex-The Johnny Rocco Band), which reached the top 40 in 1976.
During this time, Geyer participated in the 1975 federal election
Australian federal election, 1975
Federal elections were held in Australia on 13 December 1975. All 127 seats in the House of Representatives, and all 64 seats in the Senate were up for election following a double dissolution of both Houses....
campaign for the Liberal Party
Liberal Party of Australia
The Liberal Party of Australia is an Australian political party.Founded a year after the 1943 federal election to replace the United Australia Party, the centre-right Liberal Party typically competes with the centre-left Australian Labor Party for political office...
, singing their theme song "Turn on the Lights", the second most known Australian political song behind the 1972 Labor campaign theme song, "It's Time
It's Time
It's Time was a successful political campaign run by the Australian Labor Party under Gough Whitlam at the 1972 election in Australia. Campaigning on the perceived need for change after 23 years of conservative government, Labor put forward a raft of major policy proposals, accompanied by a...
". In recent years, Geyer has distanced herself from the Liberal Party and politics in general, stating she had only done their theme song to earn enough money to record an album in the United States, where she had signed a contract with Polydor Records
Polydor Records
Polydor is a record label owned by Universal Music Group, headquartered in the United Kingdom.-Beginnings:Polydor was originally an independent branch of the Deutsche Grammophon Gesellschaft. Its name was first used as an export label in 1924, the British and German branches of the Gramophone...
.
Before departing for the US, Mick Rogers (guitar; Manfred Mann's Earth Band
Manfred Mann's Earth Band
Manfred Mann's Earth Band is a British progressive rock group formed in 1971 by Manfred Mann.-Formation:Having started in the 1960s with a British band that had such hits as "Do Wah Diddy Diddy" and "The Mighty Quinn", then moving on to Jazz Fusion with Manfred Mann's Chapter Three, Manfred's third...
) replaced Punch and Renée Geyer Band recorded a live album
Live album
A live album is a recording consisting of material recorded during stage performances using remote recording techniques, commonly contrasted with a studio album...
, Really Really Love You
Really Really Love You: Live at the Dallas Brooks Hall
Really Really Love You: Live At The Dallas Brooks Hall is Renée Geyer's foutth solo and first live album, again credited to the Renée Geyer Band. This was her farewell concert prior to leaving for the U.S...
, at their farewell concert in Melbourne's Dallas Brooks Hall on 11 April 1976. Really Really Love You was released in August and reach the top 50; "Shaky Ground", the related single, appeared in September but Geyer was already in the US.
1976–1979: "Stares and Whispers"
Geyer relocated to Los AngelesLos Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
in mid-1976 and her first US-based album, Moving Along
Moving Along
Moving Along is the fifth solo album by Australian soul/R&B singer Renée Geyer, and her first to be recorded in the US and released internationally. It was produced by famed Motown musician Frank Wilson who assembled the cream of US session players to back Geyer...
, was released in May 1977 on RCA
RCA
RCA Corporation, founded as the Radio Corporation of America, was an American electronics company in existence from 1919 to 1986. The RCA trademark is currently owned by the French conglomerate Technicolor SA through RCA Trademark Management S.A., a company owned by Technicolor...
/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 #11 in Australia. It used Motown Records
Motown Records
Motown is a record label originally founded by Berry Gordy, Jr. and incorporated as Motown Record Corporation in Detroit, Michigan, United States, on April 14, 1960. The name, a portmanteau of motor and town, is also a nickname for Detroit...
producer Frank Wilson
Frank Wilson (musician)
Frank Wilson is an African American former songwriter and record producer for Motown Records.-Biography:He was born to James Wilson and Samantha Gibbs...
, with the album's Polydor Records
Polydor Records
Polydor is a record label owned by Universal Music Group, headquartered in the United Kingdom.-Beginnings:Polydor was originally an independent branch of the Deutsche Grammophon Gesellschaft. Its name was first used as an export label in 1924, the British and German branches of the Gramophone...
release for the US market titled Renée Geyer. Her backing musicians, Mal Logan (keyboards
Keyboard instrument
A keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments...
) and Barry Sullivan (bass guitar
Bass guitar
The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
) were supplemented by members of Stevie Wonder
Stevie Wonder
Stevland Hardaway Morris , better known by his stage name Stevie Wonder, is an American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer and activist...
's band, as well as Ray Parker Jr.
Ray Parker Jr.
Ray Erskine Parker, Jr. , is an American guitarist, songwriter, producer and recording artist. Parker is known for writing and performing the theme song to the motion picture Ghostbusters, for his solo hits, and performing with his band Raydio as well as the late Barry White.-Early life and...
and other US session musician
Session musician
Session musicians are instrumental and vocal performers, musicians, who are available to work with others at live performances or recording sessions. Usually such musicians are not permanent members of a musical ensemble and often do not achieve fame in their own right as soloists or bandleaders...
s. It provided Geyer biggest Australian hit single, at the time, with "Stares and Whispers" peaking at #17. In the US, radio stations began playing several of the album's tracks, in particular a re-recorded version of "Heading in the Right Direction" which was issued as her first US & UK single.
Polydor were aware her vocal style led listeners to incorrectly assume she was black and urged her to keep a low profile until her popularity had grown, thus they suggested her US album release should not include her photograph. Known for her uncompromising and direct personal manner, Geyer refused to allow this deception and insisted on marketing the album complete with a cover photograph of what she referred to as "my big pink huge face". After the album's release, interest in Geyer subsided in the US, which Geyer later blamed on her headstrong decision regarding her marketing. Geyer earned respect in the US recording industry and for several years worked in Los Angeles as a session vocalist
Session musician
Session musicians are instrumental and vocal performers, musicians, who are available to work with others at live performances or recording sessions. Usually such musicians are not permanent members of a musical ensemble and often do not achieve fame in their own right as soloists or bandleaders...
although she returned to Australia periodically. While in Australia in late 1977, Geyer released the single "Restless Years", the theme song for the Ten Network TV soapie
Soap opera
A soap opera, sometimes called "soap" for short, is an ongoing, episodic work of dramatic fiction presented in serial format on radio or as television programming. The name soap opera stems from the original dramatic serials broadcast on radio that had soap manufacturers, such as Procter & Gamble,...
The Restless Years
The Restless Years
The Restless Years is an Australian soap opera which followed the lives of several Sydney school-leavers and young adults. It was produced by the Reg Grundy Organisation for Network Ten. It debuted December 1977 and ran until late 1981. It was not renewed by the network due to declining ratings...
, with its writer Mike Perjanik; "Restless Years" reached the top 40 in early 1978.
Geyer's second album with Wilson producing, Winner, was released in December 1978. The backing band were Punch, Tell and Tim Partridge (bass guitar; Kevin Borich Express
Kevin Borich
Kevin Nicholas Borich is a New Zealand-born Australian guitarist and singer-songwriter...
), together with session musicians. Geyer was unhappy with the mix and lack of support from Polydor, so she negotiated a release from her contract, brought the album tapes to Australia where it was remixed and released. Geyer herself, referred to the album as "a bit of a loser" as much of the material was not up to her usual standard. She toured Australia promoting it but neither the album nor its two singles achieved top 50 chart success.
Geyer's June 1979 release, Blues License
Blues License
Blues License is Renée Geyer's eighth solo album release and is unique in her soul/R&B catalogue in that this is a straightforward blues/rock album...
, is unique in her catalogue as she combined with Australian guitarist Kevin Borich
Kevin Borich
Kevin Nicholas Borich is a New Zealand-born Australian guitarist and singer-songwriter...
and his band Express to record an album of straight blues material. The added fire in her vocals was sparked by the harder edged backing from Kevin Borich Express, Logan, Punch, Tim Piper (guitar; ex-Chain, Blackfeather), and Kerrie Biddell (backing vocals; Brian Cadd band
Brian Cadd
Brian George Cadd is an Australian singer-songwriter, keyboardist and producer who has performed as a member of The Groop, Axiom, Flying Burrito Brothers and solo...
), it reached the top 50, became a favourite of fans and remained in print.
1980–1984: "Say I Love You"
In 1980, Geyer was free of her original RCA contract, she returned to Australia and signed directly with Mushroom RecordsMushroom 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...
. They released her next album So Lucky
So Lucky
So Lucky is Renée Geyer's ninth solo album and the second to be issued in the United States where it was released on the Portrait label. Like its American predecessor on Polydor, it was retitled Renee Geyer for the international market...
in December 1981, with international release by Portrait Records
Portrait Records
Portrait Records was a sister label of Epic Records and later of Columbia Records. Cyndi Lauper and Sade signed with Portrait, but their contracts were absorbed by Epic after that incarnation of the label was shuttered....
as Renée Geyer by Renée Geyer and the Bump Band in 1982. Mushroom subsequently re-issued her previous albums. Helmed by Rob Fraboni
Rob Fraboni
Rob Fraboni is a California-born record producer and audio engineer well-known for his work with Bob Dylan, The Band, Eric Clapton, The Rolling Stones, Tim Hardin, The Beach Boys, Joe Cocker, and Bonnie Raitt, and as Vice President at Island Records where he remastered the entire Bob Marley catalog...
(The Beach Boys
The Beach Boys
The Beach Boys are an American rock band, formed in 1961 in Hawthorne, California. The group was initially composed of brothers Brian, Dennis and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love, and friend Al Jardine. Managed by the Wilsons' father Murry, The Beach Boys signed to Capitol Records in 1962...
, Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
, The Band
The Band
The Band was an acclaimed and influential roots rock group. The original group consisted of Rick Danko , Garth Hudson , Richard Manuel , and Robbie Robertson , and Levon Helm...
) and Ricky Fataar
Ricky Fataar
Ricky Fataar is a South African multi-instrumentalist of Malay descent, who has performed as both a drummer, and a guitarist. He gained fame as an actor in the comedic television movie, The Rutles: All You Need Is Cash, a spoof on the actual history of The Beatles, and for his performance as a...
(Beach Boys), the new album was recorded in the US with musical backing from Ian McLaglan and the Bump Band, who also supported Bonnie Raitt
Bonnie Raitt
Bonnie Lynn Raitt is an American blues singer-songwriter and a renowned slide guitar player. During the 1970s, Raitt released a series of acclaimed roots-influenced albums which incorporated elements of blues, rock, folk and country, but she is perhaps best known for her more commercially...
on her albums. With a mutual love of black blues and R&B performers, Geyer and Raitt formed a friendship that continues to this day. The album moved Geyer from the soul style she had been identified with and added a tougher, rootsy rock
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
/R&B style, while incorporating salsa
Salsa music
Salsa music is a genre of music, generally defined as a modern style of playing Cuban Son, Son Montuno, and Guaracha with touches from other genres of music...
and reggae
Reggae
Reggae is a music genre first developed in Jamaica in the late 1960s. While sometimes used in a broader sense to refer to most types of Jamaican music, the term reggae more properly denotes a particular music style that originated following on the development of ska and rocksteady.Reggae is based...
. The single "Say I Love You" became her biggest hit when it reached #5 on the Australian charts. So Lucky spawned two further singles, "Do You Know What I Mean?" released in December 1981 attained the top 30 in February 1982, and "I Can Feel the Fire" released in February 1982, which had no top 50 chart success.
Geyer was at the peak of her Australian popularity with "Say I Love You" and performed in Mushroom's 10th anniversary celebration, the Mushroom Evolution Concert on Australia Day
Australia Day
Australia Day is the official national day of Australia...
(26 January) long week-end in 1982 at the Myer Music Bowl. The following year she released a second live album Renée Live
Renée Live
Renée Live is Renée Geyer's tenth solo and second live album. Having recently enjoyed her biggest hit, her confidence shows in the extra power her vocals had gained in the ensuing years. This is shown to best effect on her duet with Vanetta Fields on Sam & Dave's 1968 hit "You Don't Know What You...
in May, which showcased her dynamic performance and provided a duet with Glenn Shorrock
Glenn Shorrock
Glenn Barrie Shorrock is an English-born Australian singer-songwriter. He was a founding member of pop groups The Twilights, Axiom and Little River Band as well as being a solo performer....
(singer; Little River Band
Little River Band
Little River Band is an Australian rock band, formed in Melbourne in early 1975.The group chose the name after passing a road sign leading to the Victorian township of Little River, near Geelong, on the way to a performance. Little River Band enjoyed sustained commercial success in not only...
) on a cover version
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 Dusty Springfield
Dusty Springfield
Mary Isobel Catherine Bernadette O'BrienSources use both Isabel and Isobel as the spelling of her second name. OBE , known professionally as Dusty Springfield and dubbed The White Queen of Soul, was a British pop singer whose career extended from the late 1950s to the 1990s...
's 1966 single "Goin' Back". Geyer followed with a compilation album
Compilation album
A compilation album is an album featuring tracks from one or more performers, often culled from a variety of sources The tracks are usually collected according to a common characteristic, such as popularity, genre, source or subject matter...
, Faves
Faves
Faves is Renée Geyer's eleventh solo album and second greatest hits collection, covering her entire ten years with Mushroom Records. This rounded out her contract and for the next ten years Geyer pursued her career in Los Angeles, California, the home of the soul/R&B that she loved...
in January 1984, after which she returned to the US to live.
1984–1993: Living in the USA
Having enjoyed a career peak at home in Australia, Geyer returned to live in Los Angeles in 1984 to concentrate on breaking into the musical scene there. She continued to record and perform as a solo artist over the next decade though with less chart success in her own country due to lack of profile. Her only album for WEAWarner Music Group
Warner Music Group is the third largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry, making it one of the big four record companies...
, Sing to Me was released in June 1985, which peaked in the top 40; its accompanying first single "All My Love" reached #28 in Australia, but was not given a US release. None of the follow-up singles reached the top 50, so Geyer and WEA parted company thereafter.
Geyer visited Australia and performed three songs on 13 March 1985 for the 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...
concert (part of the global 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 ...
program) - "Put a Little Love in Your Heart", "All My Love", "Telling it Like it Is" . It was broadcast in Australia (on both Seven Network
Seven Network
The Seven Network is an Australian television network owned by Seven West Media Limited. It dates back to 4 November 1956, when the first stations on the VHF7 frequency were established in Melbourne and Sydney.It is currently the second largest network in the country in terms of population reach...
and Nine Network
Nine Network
The Nine Network , is an Australian television network with headquarters based in Willoughby, a suburb located on the North Shore of Sydney. For 50 years since television's inception in Australia, between 1956 and 2006, it was the most watched television network in Australia...
) and on MTV
MTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
in the US.
Back in the US, Renee as lead vocalist, joined Easy Pieces, with Hamish Stuart
Hamish Stuart
Hamish Stuart is a guitarist, bassist, singer, composer and record producer.- Biography :Stuart had recorded a couple of singles with his first band, the Dream Police, before he was invited to join the recently formed Average White Band in June 1972.A member of AWB from 1972 to 1982, he went on to...
(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...
, and vocals) and Steve Ferrone
Steve Ferrone
Steven "Steve" Ferrone is a British drummer.He was a member of the Average White Band, and has recorded and performed with numerous other high-profile acts, including Slash, Chaka Khan, Eric Clapton, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers and Scritti Politti...
(drummer
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 ....
), both ex-The Average White Band
The Average White Band
Average White Band is a Scottish funk and R&B band, who had a series of soul and disco hits between 1974 and 1980. They are best known for their million selling song, "Pick Up the Pieces". The band name was initially proposed by Bonnie Bramlett...
and Anthony Jackson (bass guitar
Bass guitar
The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
). They signed to A&M Records
A&M Records
A&M Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group that operates under the mantle of its Interscope-Geffen-A&M division.-Beginnings:...
and the band's self-titled album, Easy Pieces was released in 1988 to excellent reviews, but the label changed distributors just as it was released and music stores couldn't order copies, so the album sank without a trace.
Geyer continued as an in-demand session vocalist, which she had also done in Australia. Geyer was on Sting's 1987 double-album, …Nothing Like the Sun (although misspelled as René Gayer on the album credits) including the single, "We'll Be Together
We'll Be Together (Sting song)
"We'll Be Together" is a song performed by Sting on his 1987 album Nothing Like the Sun. The song was also released as a single, and reached #7 and #41 on the U.S. and UK singles charts, respectively...
". Geyer performed a duet with Joe Cocker
Joe Cocker
John Robert "Joe" Cocker, OBE is an English rock and blues musician, composer and actor, who came to popularity in the 1960s, and is most known for his gritty voice, his idiosyncratic arm movements while performing, and his cover versions of popular songs, particularly those of The Beatles...
on his 1987 album, Unchain My Heart
Unchain My Heart (album)
Unchain My Heart is the eleventh studio album by Joe Cocker, released in 1987.Miller Lite used Joe Cocker's "Unchain My Heart" for their Dalmatian campaign as the dog jumps from the Budweiser Clydesdale horse-drawn carriage to the Miller Lite truck....
and, following the album's release, toured Europe with him as a backing vocalist. She was audible on Toni Childs
Toni Childs
Toni Childs is an American singer-songwriter from Orange, California. She has released four studio albums and is best known for her songs "Don't Walk Away" , "I've Got To Go Now", a Top 5 hit in Australia in 1991, and the Emmy-winning "Because You're Beautiful" Toni Childs (born October 29, 1957)...
hit "Don't Walk Away" from the 1988 album, Union, among a trio of big-voiced backing singers - Geyer features as the lower-pitched ad-libber. Other sessions included working with Neil Diamond
Neil Diamond
Neil Leslie Diamond is an American singer-songwriter with a career spanning over five decades from the 1960s until the present....
, Julio Iglesias
Julio Iglesias
Julio José Iglesias de la Cueva , better known simply as Julio Iglesias, is a Spanish singer who has sold over 300 million records worldwide in 14 languages and released 77 albums. According to Sony Music Entertainment, he is one of the top 15 best selling music artists in history,...
, Buddy Guy
Buddy Guy
George "Buddy" Guy is an American blues and jazz guitarist and singer. He is a critically acclaimed artist who has established himself as a pioneer of the Chicago blues sound, and has served as an influence to some of the most notable musicians of his generation...
and her old mate Bonnie Raitt
Bonnie Raitt
Bonnie Lynn Raitt is an American blues singer-songwriter and a renowned slide guitar player. During the 1970s, Raitt released a series of acclaimed roots-influenced albums which incorporated elements of blues, rock, folk and country, but she is perhaps best known for her more commercially...
. Geyer also recorded "Is it Hot in Here" for the soundtrack of the 1988 film Mystic Pizza
Mystic Pizza
Mystic Pizza is a 1988 American coming of age film directed by Donald Petrie and starring Annabeth Gish, Julia Roberts, and Lili Taylor.The title of the film was based on a pizza shop that caught the eye of Hollywood screen writer, Amy Holden Jones...
. Geyer described her backing vocals as supplying, "The old Alabama black man wailing on the end of a record so they hire the white Jewish girl from Australia to do it."
1994–2000: "Foggy Highway" to Difficult Woman
Geyer visited Australia in 1993 to record songs, including "Foggy Highway", for the ABC-TVAmerican Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
mini series The Seven Deadly Sins, Geyer sang alongside Vika Bull
Vika and Linda
Vika and Linda Bull are a sister vocal duo who came to prominence after being asked to sing backing vocals in Joe Camilleri's band The Black Sorrows.-Biography:...
, Deborah Conway
Deborah Conway
Deborah Ann Conway, is an Australian rock singer-songwriter and guitarist, and had a career as a model and actor. She was a founding member of the 1980s rock band Do-Ré-Mi with their surprise top 5 hit "Man Overboard"....
and Paul Kelly
Paul Kelly (musician)
Paul Maurice Kelly is an Australian rock music singer-songwriter, guitarist, and harmonica player. He has performed solo, and has led numerous groups, including the Dots, the Coloured Girls, and the Messengers. He has worked with other artists and groups, including associated projects Professor...
for the 13 tracks. She then teamed with Kelly, one of Australia's most respected singer-songwriter
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...
s, who offered to produce and help write some tracks for her 1994 album, Difficult Woman which was released on Larrikin Records
Larrikin Records
Larrikin Records is a record company founded in 1974 by Warren Fahey. Larrikin started as an independent label and was sold in 1995 to Festival Records....
. It was her first solo studio album in 9 years, and although not a hit, the renewed respect and exposure it brought Geyer encouraged her to move back home where the album has become a cult favourite. In 2000, Geyer named her autobiography
Autobiography
An autobiography is a book about the life of a person, written by that person.-Origin of the term:...
, Confessions of a Difficult Woman, after the album. The album contained "Foggy Highway" (later recorded by its writer Kelly on his 2005 bluegrass
Bluegrass music
Bluegrass music is a form of American roots music, and a sub-genre of country music. It has mixed roots in Scottish, English, Welsh and Irish traditional music...
album, Foggy Highway
Foggy Highway
Foggy Highway is an album recorded by Paul Kelly and the Stormwater Boys and originally released in May 2005 on EMI in Australia and Capitol Records in the US. It peaked at #6 on the Australian Recording Industry Association End of Year - 2005 Country chart. On 18 October 2005 it was re-released...
), a stripped-back piano version of the Beach Boys' "God Only Knows
God Only Knows
"God Only Knows" is a song by American rock band The Beach Boys. It is the eighth track on the group's 11th studio album, Pet Sounds , and one of their most widely recognized songs. "God Only Knows" was composed and produced by Brian Wilson with lyrics by Tony Asher and lead vocal by Carl...
", Rodgers and Hart
Rodgers and Hart
Rodgers and Hart were an American songwriting partnership of composer Richard Rodgers and the lyricist Lorenz Hart...
's "He Was Too Good to Me
He Was Too Good to Me
"He Was Too Good to Me" is a song with music by Richard Rodgers and lyrics by Lorenz Hart. It was introduced in the tryouts of their 1930 Broadway musical Simple Simon, but was dropped before the show's New York opening...
", Kelly's "Difficult Woman", written about Geyer herself, and "Sweet Guy" which alludes to male violence in romantic relationships - a theme which re-emerges in Geyer's recent albums - tangentially in "Killer Lover", and more directly in "Nasty Streak" (written by Kelly's nephew Dan Kelly
Dan Kelly (musician)
Daniel "Dan" Kelly is an Australian singer-songwriter and guitarist. He is the second oldest of six children and the nephew of Paul Kelly. He grew up in Queensland and learnt the guitar at thirteen, studying Environmental Science at University, in Brisbane, in 1990...
).
Following the release of Difficult Woman, Geyer spent time re-establishing herself on the live circuit. These performances showed her more relaxed on stage than at her peak when her innate shyness was often cleverly disguised. Now a confident, mature woman she showed off a hitherto hidden wicked sense of humour, often at her own expense, but nobody was safe. She then re-signed with 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...
for a new single, "I’m the Woman Who Loves You", which was included on the retrospective
Compilation album
A compilation album is an album featuring tracks from one or more performers, often culled from a variety of sources The tracks are usually collected according to a common characteristic, such as popularity, genre, source or subject matter...
The Best of Renee Geyer 1973–1998. The album introduced Geyer to a new, younger audience due to a bonus disc included with initial copies, whicj featured earlier tracks, remixed by up and coming DJs. The compilation led to the recording of a full length album, Sweet Life released in 1999, which appeared in 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) top 50 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...
. Geyer was surrounded by the cream of Australian musicians, who reportedly queued up to offer songs and record with the diva. Production was by Kelly and Joe Camilleri
Joe Camilleri
Joseph Vincent "Joe" Camilleri, aka Jo Jo Zep or Joey Vincent, is an Australian vocalist, songwriter and saxophonist. Camilleri has recorded as a solo artist and as a member of Jo Jo Zep & The Falcons and The Black Sorrows...
(Jo Jo Zep & the Falcons
Jo Jo Zep & The Falcons
Jo Jo Zep and the Falcons were an Australian blues and rock music band which featured singer, songwriter and saxophonist, Joe Camilleri . The band was active in the late 1970s and early 1980s, and had several Australian chart hits, including "Hit and Run", "Shape I'm In" and "All I Wanna Do"...
, The Black Sorrows
The Black Sorrows
The Black Sorrows are an Australian band founded by Joe Camilleri, the group's only constant member. Founded in 1983, The Black Sorrows are still active today, and are best remembered for their top 40 Australian hits of the late 1980s and early 1990s, including "Hold On To Me", "Chained To The...
), the album demonstrated her extensive vocal range (certain songs like "You Broke a Beautiful Thing", "Cake and Candle" and "Killer Lover" showcase her rarely-used upper range). The album contained original Geyer-cowrites. However it was to be her last for Mushroom as label owner Michael Gudinski
Michael Gudinski
Michael Solomon Gudinski, AM is an Australian entrepreneur and businessman currently based in Melbourne who is a leading figure in the Australian music industry...
sold the company soon after.
2001–current
In 2003 Geyer released the album Tenderland on ABC RecordsABC Records
ABC Records was an American record label, founded in New York City in 1955 as ABC-Paramount Records. It originated as the main popular music label operated the Am-Par Record Corporation, the music subsidiary of the American Broadcasting Company . ABC-Paramount Records' first president was Samuel H....
produced by Geyer, which peaked at #11 on the ARIA albums charts. This was followed by another live album, Live at the Athenaeum in 2004, then two more studio albums Tonight in 2005 and Dedicated in 2007.
Geyer's iconic status in the Australian music industry was recognised when she was inducted by Gudinski into the ARIA Hall of Fame
ARIA Hall of Fame
Since 1988 the Australian Recording Industry Association has inducted artists into its ARIA Hall of Fame. While most have been recognised at the annual ARIA Music Awards, in 2005 ARIA sought to create a separate standalone "ARIA Icons: Hall of Fame" event as only one or two acts could be inducted...
on 14 July 2005, alongside The Easybeats
The Easybeats
The Easybeats were an Australian rock and roll band. They formed in Sydney in late 1964 and broke up at the end of 1969. They are regarded as the greatest Australian pop band of the 1960s, and were the first Australian rock and roll act to score an international pop hit with their 1966 single...
, 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...
, Smoky Dawson
Smoky Dawson
Smoky Dawson, MBE , born Herbert Henry Dawson, was an Australian country music performer. He was widely touted as Australia's first singing cowboy.-Biography:...
, Split Enz
Split Enz
Split Enz were a New Zealand band of the 1970s and early 1980s featuring Phil Judd and brothers Tim Finn and Neil Finn. They achieved chart success in New Zealand, Australia, and Canada during the early 1980s ‒ most notably with the single "I Got You", and built a cult following elsewhere...
and Normie Rowe
Normie Rowe
Norman John "Normie" Rowe AM was a major male solo performer of Australian pop music in the 1960s. Known for his bright and edgy tenor voice and dynamic stage presence, many of Rowe's most successful recordings were produced by Pat Aulton, house producer for the Sunshine Records, Spin Records and...
. At the ceremony, contemporary R&B
Contemporary R&B
Contemporary R&B is a music genre that combines elements of hip hop, soul, R&B and funk.Although the abbreviation “R&B” originates from traditional rhythm and blues music, today the term R&B is most often used to describe a style of African American music originating after the demise of disco in...
singer Jade MacRae
Jade MacRae
Jade MacRae is an Australian R&B/Soul singer and the daughter of two professional New Zealand musicians living in the UK. Her debut single "You Make Me Weak" debuted in the top 50 of the Australian singles charts in November 2004...
performed a Geyer medley
Medley (music)
In music, a medley is a piece composed from parts of existing pieces, usually three, played one after another, sometimes overlapping. They are common in popular music, and most medleys are songs rather than instrumental. A medley which is a remixed series is called a megamix, often done with tracks...
, then Geyer sang "It's a Man's Man's World".
Geyer and fellow 1970s singer, Marcia Hines
Marcia Hines
Marcia Elaine Hines, AM is a vocalist, actress and TV personality who achieved success in her adopted homeland of Australia. Hines made her debut, at the age of sixteen, in the Australian version of the stage musical Hair and followed with the role of Mary Magdalene in Jesus Christ Superstar...
, are the subjects of Australian academic, Jon Stratton
Jon Stratton
Jonathon, or Jonathan, Stratton is an Australian academic currently serving as Professor of Cultural Studies at Curtin University in Perth, Western Australia....
's 2008 Cultural Studies
Cultural studies
Cultural studies is an academic field grounded in critical theory and literary criticism. It generally concerns the political nature of contemporary culture, as well as its historical foundations, conflicts, and defining traits. It is, to this extent, largely distinguished from cultural...
article, "A Jew Singing Like a Black Woman in Australia: Race, Renée Geyer, and Marcia Hines". Geyer delivered a two-hour master class on 3 December 2008 to illustrate her annoyance of vocal gymnastics used by singers such as, Mariah Carey
Mariah Carey
Mariah Carey is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, and actress. She made her recording debut with the release of her eponymous studio album in 1990, under the guidance of Columbia Records executive Tommy Mottola, whom she later married in 1993...
, Christina Aguilera
Christina Aguilera
Christina María Aguilera is an American recording artist and actress. Aguilera first appeared on national television in 1990 as a contestant on the Star Search program, and went on to star in Disney Channel's television series The Mickey Mouse Club from 1993–1994...
and contestants on Australian Idol
Australian Idol
Australian Idol is a Logie Award-winning Australian singing competition, which began its first season on July 2003 and ended its run in November 2009. As part of the Idol franchise, Australian Idol originated from the reality program Pop Idol, which was created by British entertainment executive...
. Geyer was approached to be a judge on Australian Idol and The X Factor
The X Factor (Australian TV series)
The X Factor is an Australian television reality music competition, adapted from the original UK series to find new singing talent. The first season began in 2005 and was originally broadcast on Network Ten, until the show got cancelled due to poor ratings...
but declined, she criticised Hines for being "so neutral, I don't hear an opinion" and Kyle Sandilands
Kyle Sandilands
Kyle Dalton Sandilands is an Australian radio and TV personality. He is currently the host with Jacqueline Henderson, better known as Jackie O, on the weekday morning radio program The Kyle and Jackie O Show on Sydney radio station 2Day FM, The Kyle and Jackie O Hour of Power which airs on...
for his comments that are hurtful. After having signed with Liberation Blue Records
Liberation Music
Liberation Music is a boutique, independent Australasian record company, started in 1999 by Michael Gudinski and Warren Costello. Its stated aim is to find, nurture and then to develop new talent for a world market while remaining independent in the process...
which teams her with former Mushroom boss, Gudinski, Geyer released the compilation, Renéesance in May 2009.
Geyer has ventured into further areas of the performing arts, with a lead role in Sleeping Beauty in July 2007. In 2008/9 she also provided a voice in the award winning claymation Mary & Max
Mary and Max
Mary and Max is a 2009 Australian clay-animated black comedy-drama film written and directed by Adam Elliot and produced by Melanie Coombs. The voice cast included Philip Seymour Hoffman, Toni Collette, Eric Bana, Bethany Whitmore, with narration by Barry Humphries. The film premiered on the...
by Adam Elliot
Adam Elliot
Adam Elliot is an independent stop-motion animation writer and director based in Melbourne, Australia. His five films have collectively participated in over six-hundred film festivals and have received over one hundred awards, including an Oscar for Harvie Krumpet and the Annecy Cristal for Mary...
.
In June 2009, Geyer was diagnosed with breast cancer
Breast cancer
Breast cancer is cancer originating from breast tissue, most commonly from the inner lining of milk ducts or the lobules that supply the ducts with milk. Cancers originating from ducts are known as ductal carcinomas; those originating from lobules are known as lobular carcinomas...
and following surgery was told that the cancer had been detected early and a full recovery was expected.
In August 2011 she was fined for careless driving over two incidents one in Elwood, Victoria in 2010 and St Kilda, Victoria in 2011, when she crashed into parked cars, a tree and a shop front.
Her lawyer had blamed the crashes on a drug she was taking to treat breast cancer which he said led to a loss of concentration.
She was fined $500 that was ordered to be paid to the Cancer Council.
Album discography
- Sun 1972Sun 1972Originally from Wollongong, a town on the South Coast of NSW Keith Shadwick, Gary Norwell, Henry Correy, Ian Smith and blues guitarist Allan Vander Linden formed a blues band called King Biscuit which play the universities and nightclub circuit in Sydney in 1968-71...
(1972, RCARCARCA Corporation, founded as the Radio Corporation of America, was an American electronics company in existence from 1919 to 1986. The RCA trademark is currently owned by the French conglomerate Technicolor SA through RCA Trademark Management S.A., a company owned by Technicolor...
) (as a member of Sun) - Renée GeyerRenée Geyer (album)Renee Geyer is the first solo album by Australian soul/R&B singer Renée Geyer. She is backed by her then current band Mother Earth, though they receive only a small credit on the back of the LP sleeve.- Track listing :...
(1973, RCA) - It's a Man's Man's WorldIt's a Man's Man's WorldIt's a Man's Man's World is the second solo album by Australian soul/R & B singer Renée Geyer, and the one that set her on the road to major success over the next 30+ years...
(1974, RCA AustraliaRCARCA Corporation, founded as the Radio Corporation of America, was an American electronics company in existence from 1919 to 1986. The RCA trademark is currently owned by the French conglomerate Technicolor SA through RCA Trademark Management S.A., a company owned by Technicolor...
) - Ready to DealReady to DealReady to Deal is the third solo album by Australian singer Renée Geyer and her Renée Geyer Band. Geyer had formed a touring outfit with session musicians...
(1975, RCA/Mushroom RecordsMushroom RecordsMushroom 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...
) - Really Really Love You: Live at the Dallas Brooks HallReally Really Love You: Live at the Dallas Brooks HallReally Really Love You: Live At The Dallas Brooks Hall is Renée Geyer's foutth solo and first live album, again credited to the Renée Geyer Band. This was her farewell concert prior to leaving for the U.S...
(1976, RCA/Mushroom) - Moving AlongMoving AlongMoving Along is the fifth solo album by Australian soul/R&B singer Renée Geyer, and her first to be recorded in the US and released internationally. It was produced by famed Motown musician Frank Wilson who assembled the cream of US session players to back Geyer...
aka Renee Geyer (1977, RCA/Mushroom/Polydor)Polydor RecordsPolydor is a record label owned by Universal Music Group, headquartered in the United Kingdom.-Beginnings:Polydor was originally an independent branch of the Deutsche Grammophon Gesellschaft. Its name was first used as an export label in 1924, the British and German branches of the Gramophone...
US/UK) - Renée Geyer at Her Very BestRenée Geyer at Her Very BestRenée Geyer At Her Very Best is the sixth solo album by Australian soul/R&B singer Renée Geyer and her first greatest hits collection, covering the first four years of her career...
(1977, RCA/Mushroom) - Winner (1978, RCA/Mushroom)
- Blues LicenseBlues LicenseBlues License is Renée Geyer's eighth solo album release and is unique in her soul/R&B catalogue in that this is a straightforward blues/rock album...
(1979) (RCA/Mushroom) - So LuckySo LuckySo Lucky is Renée Geyer's ninth solo album and the second to be issued in the United States where it was released on the Portrait label. Like its American predecessor on Polydor, it was retitled Renee Geyer for the international market...
aka Renee Geyer (1981) (Mushroom) / (PortraitPortrait RecordsPortrait Records was a sister label of Epic Records and later of Columbia Records. Cyndi Lauper and Sade signed with Portrait, but their contracts were absorbed by Epic after that incarnation of the label was shuttered....
) (US/UK) - Renée LiveRenée LiveRenée Live is Renée Geyer's tenth solo and second live album. Having recently enjoyed her biggest hit, her confidence shows in the extra power her vocals had gained in the ensuing years. This is shown to best effect on her duet with Vanetta Fields on Sam & Dave's 1968 hit "You Don't Know What You...
(1983) (Mushroom) - FavesFavesFaves is Renée Geyer's eleventh solo album and second greatest hits collection, covering her entire ten years with Mushroom Records. This rounded out her contract and for the next ten years Geyer pursued her career in Los Angeles, California, the home of the soul/R&B that she loved...
(1984) (Mushroom) - Sing to Me (1985) (WEAWarner Music GroupWarner Music Group is the third largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry, making it one of the big four record companies...
) - Renée Live at the Basement (1986) (ABC RecordsABC RecordsABC Records was an American record label, founded in New York City in 1955 as ABC-Paramount Records. It originated as the main popular music label operated the Am-Par Record Corporation, the music subsidiary of the American Broadcasting Company . ABC-Paramount Records' first president was Samuel H....
) - Easy Pieces (1988) (A&M RecordsA&M RecordsA&M Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group that operates under the mantle of its Interscope-Geffen-A&M division.-Beginnings:...
) - Seven Deadly Sins (1993) (soundtrackSoundtrackA soundtrack can be recorded music accompanying and synchronized to the images of a motion picture, book, television program or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack of a film or TV show; or the physical area of a film that contains the...
, ABC RecordsABC RecordsABC Records was an American record label, founded in New York City in 1955 as ABC-Paramount Records. It originated as the main popular music label operated the Am-Par Record Corporation, the music subsidiary of the American Broadcasting Company . ABC-Paramount Records' first president was Samuel H....
) shared with Paul KellyPaul Kelly (musician)Paul Maurice Kelly is an Australian rock music singer-songwriter, guitarist, and harmonica player. He has performed solo, and has led numerous groups, including the Dots, the Coloured Girls, and the Messengers. He has worked with other artists and groups, including associated projects Professor...
, Deborah ConwayDeborah ConwayDeborah Ann Conway, is an Australian rock singer-songwriter and guitarist, and had a career as a model and actor. She was a founding member of the 1980s rock band Do-Ré-Mi with their surprise top 5 hit "Man Overboard"....
& Vika Bull of Vika and LindaVika and LindaVika and Linda Bull are a sister vocal duo who came to prominence after being asked to sing backing vocals in Joe Camilleri's band The Black Sorrows.-Biography:... - Difficult Woman (1994) (Larrikin RecordsLarrikin RecordsLarrikin Records is a record company founded in 1974 by Warren Fahey. Larrikin started as an independent label and was sold in 1995 to Festival Records....
) - The Best of Renée Geyer - 1973-1998 (1998) (Mushroom)
- Sweet Life (1999) (Mushroom) #50 AUS
- Classic Collection (3CD Box Set) (2001) (Rajon)
- Tenderland (2003) (ABC Records/First Edition) #11 AUS
- Live at the Athenaeum (2004) (ABC Records/First Edition)
- Tonight (2005) (ABC Records/First Edition)
- Dedicated (2007) (EMIEMIThe EMI Group, also known as EMI Music or simply EMI, is a multinational music company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the fourth-largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry and one of the "big four" record companies. EMI Group also has a major...
) - Renéesance (2009) (Liberation Blue RecordsLiberation MusicLiberation Music is a boutique, independent Australasian record company, started in 1999 by Michael Gudinski and Warren Costello. Its stated aim is to find, nurture and then to develop new talent for a world market while remaining independent in the process...
)