Stephen Cummings
Encyclopedia
Stephen Donald Cummings (born 13 September 1954, Melbourne
, Australia) is an Australian rock
singer-songwriter
and writer. He was lead singer of Melbourne-based rock band, The Sports
, during 1976–1981, followed by a solo career which has met with critical acclaim but has had limited commercial success. He has written two novels, Wonderboy (1996) and Stay Away from Lightning Girl (1999), and a memoir, Will it Be Funny Tomorrow, Billy? (2009).
on saxophone
and vocals, Peter Lillie on guitar
and vocals, Johnny Topper on bass guitar
, Karl Wolfe on drums
and Chris Worral on guitar. They played "rock-abilly
, country swing
and R&B that recalled American outfits like Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen
and Dan Hicks and his Hot Licks
. Yet, the band's delivery presented a fiercely Australian outlook". Only existing for 18 months, they later included Ed Bates on guitar and Peter Martin on slide guitar
, their posthumous releases were The Notorious Pelaco Brothers Show a live
six-track Extended Play
on the Ralph label in June 1977 and three studio
tracks for the various artists release, The Autodrifters and The Relaxed Mechanics Meet The Fabulous Nudes and The Pelaco Bros, in June 1978 on Missing Link Records. The Pelaco Brothers disbanded in late 1975, Camilleri went on to form Jo Jo Zep & the Falcons
, Lillie formed Relaxed Mechanics, Topper formed The Fabulous Nudes, Lillie, Topper and Wolfe were all in The Autodrifters. Meanwhile Cummings and Bates formed The Sports
in 1976.
were a New Wave
band formed in 1976 by Cummings and ex-The Pelaco Brothers bandmate Ed Bates, with Robert Glover (ex-Myriad) on bass guitar
, Jim Niven on piano
(ex-The Captain Matchbox Whoopee Band
) and Paul Hitchins on drums
. Their early sets contained covers of Chuck Berry
, Billy Emerson, Don Covay
, Company Caine
and Graham Parker
. Original songs, mostly written by Cummings and Bates, completed their sets. The Sports' debut recording was the EP
, Fair Game in early 1977. A friend in London posted the record to the New Musical Express which declared it 'Record Of The Week'. Andrew Pendlebury (ex-Myriad) joined on guitar in August 1977 and assisted Cummings with songwriting. Cummings brought in Martin Armiger
on guitar, vocals and songwriting to replace Bates in August 1978. The Sports had top 30 hits on the Australian Kent Music Report
singles charts with, "Don't Throw Stones" (1979), "Strangers on a Train" (1980) and "How Come" (1981); and top 20 albums with, Don't Throw Stones (#9, 1979), Suddenly (#13, 1980) and Sondra (1981). "Who Listens to the Radio?", co-written by Cummings and Pendelbury, peaked at #35 on the Australian singles charts in 1978, and was their only hit on the United States Billboard
Pop Singles
chart, peaking at #45 in November 1979.
had disbanded in late 1981, Cummings spent 1982 co-writing tracks with Ian Stephen
(The Armchairs), and waiting out his contract. He released his debut solo single, "We all Make Mistakes" on Phantom Records
, in January 1983 and followed with "Stuck on Love" in September. Cummings' debut album, Senso, released by Regular Records in August 1984, was produced
by former bandmate Martin Armiger
, and recorded with session musicians including, Armiger, Joe Camilleri
and Andrew Pendelbury from his earlier bands. Senso spawned two dance pop singles, "Gymnasium" (July 1984) and "Another Kick in the Head" (October), with a non-album single "What am I Going to Do?" following in 1985.
His second album, This Wonderful Life released in September 1986, was a more personal and less busy recording, which was produced by Cummings and provided two singles, "Speak with Frankness" (July) and "Love is Crucial" (October). Cummings dueted with Pendelbury (by then ex-Slaughtermen
alongside Ian Stephen) on "She Set Fire to the House" with John McAll
on Piano released in September 1987. For his third album, Lovetown released in January 1988 on Rampant Releases, Cummings formed Stephen Cummings' Lovetown (aka Stephen Cummings and Lovetown) with Rebecca Barnard on backing vocals, Mick Girasole (also in The Black Sorrows
alongside Camilleri) on bass guitar, Peter Luscombe (also The Black Sorrows) on drums, Shane O'Mara on guitar and Pendlebury on guitar. It "was a very subtle, alluring, personal and mostly acoustic album [...] full of conversational, narrative vignettes". The album, produced by Mark Woods and Cummings, provided two singles, "Some Prayers Are Answered" in February and "My Willingness" in May.
Cummings changed labels to True Tone Records
for his next album, A New Kind of Blue, which was released in March 1989 and produced by Cummings and O'Mara. It spawned three singles, "A Love is a Life" in October 1988, "Your House is Falling" in February 1989 and "When the Day is Done" in July. The album provided Cummings with his only Australian Recording Industry Association
(ARIA) Award
, winning "Best Adult Contemporary Album" in 1990
.
For his fifth solo album, Good Humour, Cummings returned to his earlier dance and funk sound from his Senso album, using a backing band of Barnard, O'Mara and Nick Smith (ex-Kevins) on backing vocals, with additional session musicians from Sydney jazz outfit The Necks
, and Robert Goodge (I'm Talking
) on guitar, drum programming and co-production (for two tracks). The album, produced by Cummings and O'Mara, peaked at #40 on the ARIA Album Charts
in March 1991. "Hell (You Put Me Through)", which peaked at #33 after its January release, was followed by a cover of Sly Stone
's "Family Affair
" and then "Stand Up (Love is the Greatest)". Cummings has supplemented his income by writing advertising jingles, he co-wrote Medibank Private
's theme "I Feel Better Now", with Goodge.
Cummings' next album, Unguided Tour, produced by Cummings and O'Mara for Polygram Records, was issued in 1992 and provided three singles. Steve Kilbey
of The Church
produced Falling Swinger, Cummings' seventh solo album released in August 1994. The single, "September 13" appeared in July and is titled for Cummings' birthday, which he shares with Kilbey. Later in 1994, the Toni Childs
and Cummings duet, "Fell from a Great Height", was released as a single, it later appeared on Childs' compilation album
, Best of Toni Childs in 1995. Kilbey also produced, Escapist in September 1996, which contained "countrified ballad `Everything Breaks Your Heart' to the psychedelic-tinged mantra `Sometimes'". Also in 1996, Cummings published his first novel, Wonderboy, which deals with relationships especially those between a father and son.
On 14 November 1998, Cummings and, a briefly reformed, The Sports performed at the Mushroom Records
25th anniversary concert
. His next solo album, Spiritual Bum, had Cummings as record producer and was issued in June 1999. He returned to an acoustic
, melancholic sound. Cummings also had his second novel, Stay Away from Lightning Girl, published in 1999, which described an aging musician and his band. In 2001, he released Skeleton Key followed by Firecracker in 2003, Close Ups in 2004, Love-O-Meter in 2005, Space Travel in 2007, and Happiest Man Alive in 2008. On 1 May 2009, his memoir, Will it Be Funny Tomorrow, Billy? : misadventures in music was printed, which his publishers described as a series of anecdotes from his childhood through thirty years of the music business and his family relationships. In October 2010, his 1988 album Lovetown was listed in the top 40 in the book, 100 Best Australian Albums
.
The Sports (1976–1981)
Solo (1983–present)
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
, Australia) is an Australian 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...
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...
and writer. He was lead singer of Melbourne-based rock band, The Sports
The Sports
The Sports were a popular Australian rock group that performed and recorded between 1976 and 1981.Based in Melbourne, Victoria, the group released a number of successful singles and albums. Their sound fitted well with both 1970s British pub rock bands and British New Wave...
, during 1976–1981, followed by a solo career which has met with critical acclaim but has had limited commercial success. He has written two novels, Wonderboy (1996) and Stay Away from Lightning Girl (1999), and a memoir, Will it Be Funny Tomorrow, Billy? (2009).
Early years
Stephen Cummings was born in 1954 in Melbourne, he was the vocalist for Ewe and the Merinos.The Pelaco Brothers
The Pelaco Brothers formed in 1974, with Cummings on vocals, Joe CamilleriJoe 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...
on saxophone
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...
and vocals, Peter Lillie on guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
and vocals, Johnny Topper on bass guitar
Bass guitar
The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
, Karl Wolfe on drums
Drum kit
A drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
and Chris Worral on guitar. They played "rock-abilly
Rockabilly
Rockabilly is one of the earliest styles of rock and roll music, dating to the early 1950s.The term rockabilly is a portmanteau of rock and hillbilly, the latter a reference to the country music that contributed strongly to the style's development...
, country swing
Western swing
Western swing music is a subgenre of American country music that originated in the late 1920s in the West and South among the region's Western string bands...
and R&B that recalled American outfits like Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen
Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen
Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen is an American country rock band founded in 1967. Core members included founder George Frayne, John Tichy, Billy C. Farlow, Bill Kirchen, Andy Stein, Paul "Buffalo" Bruce Barlow, Lance Dickerson, and Bobby Black....
and Dan Hicks and his Hot Licks
Dan Hicks
Dan Hicks is the name of:*Dan Hicks , singer and musician*Dan Hicks , sportscaster*Dan Hicks , British historical archaeologist/anthropologist*Dan Hicks , American actor...
. Yet, the band's delivery presented a fiercely Australian outlook". Only existing for 18 months, they later included Ed Bates on guitar and Peter Martin on slide guitar
Slide guitar
Slide guitar or bottleneck guitar is a particular method or technique for playing the guitar. The term slide refers to the motion of the slide against the strings, while bottleneck refers to the original material of choice for such slides: the necks of glass bottles...
, their posthumous releases were The Notorious Pelaco Brothers Show a live
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...
six-track Extended Play
Extended play
An EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...
on the Ralph label in June 1977 and three studio
Studio album
A studio album is an album made up of tracks recorded in the controlled environment of a recording studio. A studio album contains newly written and recorded or previously unreleased or remixed material, distinguishing itself from a compilation or reissue album of previously recorded material, or...
tracks for the various artists release, The Autodrifters and The Relaxed Mechanics Meet The Fabulous Nudes and The Pelaco Bros, in June 1978 on Missing Link Records. The Pelaco Brothers disbanded in late 1975, Camilleri went on to form 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"...
, Lillie formed Relaxed Mechanics, Topper formed The Fabulous Nudes, Lillie, Topper and Wolfe were all in The Autodrifters. Meanwhile Cummings and Bates formed The Sports
The Sports
The Sports were a popular Australian rock group that performed and recorded between 1976 and 1981.Based in Melbourne, Victoria, the group released a number of successful singles and albums. Their sound fitted well with both 1970s British pub rock bands and British New Wave...
in 1976.
The Sports
The SportsThe Sports
The Sports were a popular Australian rock group that performed and recorded between 1976 and 1981.Based in Melbourne, Victoria, the group released a number of successful singles and albums. Their sound fitted well with both 1970s British pub rock bands and British New Wave...
were a New Wave
New Wave music
New Wave is a subgenre of :rock music that emerged in the mid to late 1970s alongside punk rock. The term at first generally was synonymous with punk rock before being considered a genre in its own right that incorporated aspects of electronic and experimental music, mod subculture, disco and 1960s...
band formed in 1976 by Cummings and ex-The Pelaco Brothers bandmate Ed Bates, with Robert Glover (ex-Myriad) on bass guitar
Bass guitar
The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
, Jim Niven on 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...
(ex-The Captain Matchbox Whoopee Band
The Captain Matchbox Whoopee Band
The Captain Matchbox Whoopee Band was an Australian band, active throughout the 1970s. It was based in Melbourne and centred around singer and multi-instrumentalist Mic Conway and his brother Jim Conway, who is widely regarded as one of Australia's finest exponents of the blues harmonica.Inspired...
) and Paul Hitchins on drums
Drum kit
A drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
. Their early sets contained covers of Chuck Berry
Chuck Berry
Charles Edward Anderson "Chuck" Berry is an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter, and one of the pioneers of rock and roll music. With songs such as "Maybellene" , "Roll Over Beethoven" , "Rock and Roll Music" and "Johnny B...
, Billy Emerson, Don Covay
Don Covay
Don Covay is an American R&B/rock and roll/soul music singer and songwriter most active in the 1950s and 1960s, who received a Pioneer Award from the Rhythm and Blues Foundation in 1994...
, Company Caine
Company Caine
Company Caine, also known as Co. Caine and Company Kane, is an Australian progressive rock band of the 1970s. The band was formed in Melbourne in 1970 with member as follows:* Gulliver Smith * Russell Smith * Jeremy Noone 1970-71, 1975...
and Graham Parker
Graham Parker
Graham Parker is a British rock singer and songwriter, who is best known as the lead singer of the popular British band Graham Parker & the Rumour.-Early career :...
. Original songs, mostly written by Cummings and Bates, completed their sets. The Sports' debut recording was the EP
Extended play
An EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...
, Fair Game in early 1977. A friend in London posted the record to the New Musical Express which declared it 'Record Of The Week'. Andrew Pendlebury (ex-Myriad) joined on guitar in August 1977 and assisted Cummings with songwriting. Cummings brought in Martin Armiger
Martin Armiger
John Martin Armiger is an Australian musician, record producer and film/TV composer. He was singer-songwriter and guitarist with Melbourne-based rock band, The Sports during 1978–1981, which had Top 30 hits on the Kent Music Report Singles Chart with, "Don't Throw Stones" , "Strangers on a...
on guitar, vocals and songwriting to replace Bates in August 1978. The Sports had top 30 hits on the Australian Kent Music Report
Kent Music Report
The Kent Music Report was a weekly record chart of Australian music singles and albums which was compiled by music enthusiast David Kent from May 1974 through to 1998...
singles charts with, "Don't Throw Stones" (1979), "Strangers on a Train" (1980) and "How Come" (1981); and top 20 albums with, Don't Throw Stones (#9, 1979), Suddenly (#13, 1980) and Sondra (1981). "Who Listens to the Radio?", co-written by Cummings and Pendelbury, peaked at #35 on the Australian singles charts in 1978, and was their only hit on the United States Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
Pop Singles
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
chart, peaking at #45 in November 1979.
Solo career
After The SportsThe Sports
The Sports were a popular Australian rock group that performed and recorded between 1976 and 1981.Based in Melbourne, Victoria, the group released a number of successful singles and albums. Their sound fitted well with both 1970s British pub rock bands and British New Wave...
had disbanded in late 1981, Cummings spent 1982 co-writing tracks with Ian Stephen
Ian Stephen
Ian Stephen , is an Australian musician living in the USA.In 1984, with bass player Mark Ferrie, guitarists Terry Doolan and Andrew Pendlebury, and drummer Des Hefner, he formed the Slaughtermen in Melbourne, a mid eighties post-punk alternative Southern gospel group Ian Stephen (born in Armadale,...
(The Armchairs), and waiting out his contract. He released his debut solo single, "We all Make Mistakes" on Phantom Records
Phantom Records
Phantom Records was an Australian independent record label established by Dare Jennings Phantom Records was an Australian independent record label established by Dare Jennings Phantom Records was an Australian independent record label established by Dare Jennings (founder of Mambo (Clothing) and...
, in January 1983 and followed with "Stuck on Love" in September. Cummings' debut album, Senso, released by Regular Records in August 1984, was produced
Record producer
A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
by former bandmate Martin Armiger
Martin Armiger
John Martin Armiger is an Australian musician, record producer and film/TV composer. He was singer-songwriter and guitarist with Melbourne-based rock band, The Sports during 1978–1981, which had Top 30 hits on the Kent Music Report Singles Chart with, "Don't Throw Stones" , "Strangers on a...
, and recorded with session musicians including, Armiger, 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...
and Andrew Pendelbury from his earlier bands. Senso spawned two dance pop singles, "Gymnasium" (July 1984) and "Another Kick in the Head" (October), with a non-album single "What am I Going to Do?" following in 1985.
His second album, This Wonderful Life released in September 1986, was a more personal and less busy recording, which was produced by Cummings and provided two singles, "Speak with Frankness" (July) and "Love is Crucial" (October). Cummings dueted with Pendelbury (by then ex-Slaughtermen
Slaughtermen (band)
The Slaughtermen are an Australian post-punk alternative southern gospel group, formed in Melbourne in 1984.-History:Founder members of The Slaughtermen were Rob Eastcott , Mark Ferrie , Jans Friedenfelds , Pierre Jaquinot , Peter Linden and Ian Stephen...
alongside Ian Stephen) on "She Set Fire to the House" with John McAll
John McAll
John McAll is a pianist, composer, arranger and producer with experience ranging from jazz, pop, blues, contemporary classical, afrobeat and theatre....
on Piano released in September 1987. For his third album, Lovetown released in January 1988 on Rampant Releases, Cummings formed Stephen Cummings' Lovetown (aka Stephen Cummings and Lovetown) with Rebecca Barnard on backing vocals, Mick Girasole (also in 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...
alongside Camilleri) on bass guitar, Peter Luscombe (also The Black Sorrows) on drums, Shane O'Mara on guitar and Pendlebury on guitar. It "was a very subtle, alluring, personal and mostly acoustic album [...] full of conversational, narrative vignettes". The album, produced by Mark Woods and Cummings, provided two singles, "Some Prayers Are Answered" in February and "My Willingness" in May.
Cummings changed labels to True Tone Records
True Tone Records
True Tone Records was a United States based record label producing 78 disc records of Dixieland jazz in the 1950s. The label was headquartered in New Orleans, Louisiana....
for his next album, A New Kind of Blue, which was released in March 1989 and produced by Cummings and O'Mara. It spawned three singles, "A Love is a Life" in October 1988, "Your House is Falling" in February 1989 and "When the Day is Done" in July. The album provided Cummings with his only 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) Award
ARIA Music Awards
The Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards is an annual series of awards nights celebrating the Australian music industry, put on by the Australian Recording Industry Association...
, winning "Best Adult Contemporary Album" in 1990
ARIA Music Awards of 1990
The Fourth Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards was held on 26 March 1990 at the Darling Harbour Convention Centre in Sydney. Australian host Glenn Shorrock of Little River Band was assisted by presenter Quincy Jones to distribute 24 awards...
.
For his fifth solo album, Good Humour, Cummings returned to his earlier dance and funk sound from his Senso album, using a backing band of Barnard, O'Mara and Nick Smith (ex-Kevins) on backing vocals, with additional session musicians from Sydney jazz outfit The Necks
The Necks
The Necks are an experimental jazz trio from Sydney, Australia, comprising Chris Abrahams on piano and Hammond organ, Tony Buck on drums, percussion and electric guitar and Lloyd Swanton on bass guitar and double bass...
, and Robert Goodge (I'm Talking
I'm Talking
I'm Talking was a 1980s Australian funk-pop rock band, which featured vocalists Kate Ceberano and Zan Abeyratne. They formed in 1983 in Melbourne and provided top ten hit singles "Trust Me", "Do You Wanna Be?" and "Holy Word" and a top fifteen album, Bear Witness, before disbanding in...
) on guitar, drum programming and co-production (for two tracks). The album, produced by Cummings and O'Mara, peaked at #40 on the ARIA 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...
in March 1991. "Hell (You Put Me Through)", which peaked at #33 after its January release, was followed by a cover of Sly Stone
Sly Stone
Sly Stone is an American musician, songwriter, and record producer, most famous for his role as frontman for Sly & the Family Stone, a band which played a critical role in the development of soul, funk and psychedelia in the 1960s and 1970s. In 1993, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of...
's "Family Affair
Family Affair (Sly & the Family Stone song)
"Family Affair" is a 1971 number-one hit single recorded by Sly & the Family Stone for the Epic Records label. Their first new material since the double a-sided single "Thank You "/ "Everybody is a Star" nearly two years prior, "Family Affair" became the fourth and final number-one pop hit for the...
" and then "Stand Up (Love is the Greatest)". Cummings has supplemented his income by writing advertising jingles, he co-wrote Medibank Private
Medibank Private
Medibank is an Australian government-owned private health insurer, established under the Fraser government in 1976 through the Health Insurance Commission . It is Australia's largest health insurance provider with 3.6 million members under two brands, and the only health insurer present in every...
's theme "I Feel Better Now", with Goodge.
Cummings' next album, Unguided Tour, produced by Cummings and O'Mara for Polygram Records, was issued in 1992 and provided three singles. Steve Kilbey
Steve Kilbey
Steven John Kilbey is the lead singer-songwriter and bass guitarist for The Church, an Australian rock band. He is also a music producer, poet, and painter....
of The Church
The Church (band)
The Church is an Australian rock band formed in Sydney in 1980. Initially associated with new wave and the neo-psychedelic sound of the mid 1980s, their music later became more reminiscent of progressive rock, featuring long instrumental jams and complex guitar interplay...
produced Falling Swinger, Cummings' seventh solo album released in August 1994. The single, "September 13" appeared in July and is titled for Cummings' birthday, which he shares with Kilbey. Later in 1994, the 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 Cummings duet, "Fell from a Great Height", was released as a single, it later appeared on Childs' 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...
, Best of Toni Childs in 1995. Kilbey also produced, Escapist in September 1996, which contained "countrified ballad `Everything Breaks Your Heart' to the psychedelic-tinged mantra `Sometimes'". Also in 1996, Cummings published his first novel, Wonderboy, which deals with relationships especially those between a father and son.
On 14 November 1998, Cummings and, a briefly reformed, The Sports performed at the 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...
25th anniversary concert
Mushroom 25 Live
Mushroom 25 Live is a live album, video and DVD by various Australian musicians and was recorded at the Mushroom 25 Concert held on Saturday 14 November 1998, at the Melbourne Cricket Ground...
. His next solo album, Spiritual Bum, had Cummings as record producer and was issued in June 1999. He returned to an acoustic
Acoustic music
Acoustic music comprises music that solely or primarily uses instruments which produce sound through entirely acoustic means, as opposed to electric or electronic means...
, melancholic sound. Cummings also had his second novel, Stay Away from Lightning Girl, published in 1999, which described an aging musician and his band. In 2001, he released Skeleton Key followed by Firecracker in 2003, Close Ups in 2004, Love-O-Meter in 2005, Space Travel in 2007, and Happiest Man Alive in 2008. On 1 May 2009, his memoir, Will it Be Funny Tomorrow, Billy? : misadventures in music was printed, which his publishers described as a series of anecdotes from his childhood through thirty years of the music business and his family relationships. In October 2010, his 1988 album Lovetown was listed in the top 40 in the book, 100 Best Australian Albums
100 Best Australian Albums
100 Best Australian Albums is a compendium of rock and pop albums of the past 50 years as compiled by music journalists Toby Creswell, Craig Mathieson and John O'Donnell. The book was published on 25 October 2010 by Hardie Grant Books...
.
Media reviews
Discography
The Pelaco Brothers (1974–1976)- The Pelaco Brothers (EPExtended playAn EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...
) — Ralph Records RR001 E (1976) - The Notorious Pelaco Brothers Show (liveLive albumA live album is a recording consisting of material recorded during stage performances using remote recording techniques, commonly contrasted with a studio album...
EP) — Ralph Records (1977) - The Autodrifters and The Relaxed Mechanics Meet The Fabulous Nudes and The Pelaco Bros by various artists contains three studioStudio albumA studio album is an album made up of tracks recorded in the controlled environment of a recording studio. A studio album contains newly written and recorded or previously unreleased or remixed material, distinguishing itself from a compilation or reissue album of previously recorded material, or...
tracks by The Pelaco Brothers — Missing Link Records MLP-1 (June 1978)
The Sports (1976–1981)
Solo (1983–present)
Albums
- Senso — Regular Records RRLP 1208 (August 1984)#46 AUS
- This Wonderful Life — Centre Records 829 725-1 (1986)#69 AUS
- Lovetown — Rampant Releases RR052 (January 1988)#61 AUS
- A New Kind of Blue — True Tone RecordsTrue Tone RecordsTrue Tone Records was a United States based record label producing 78 disc records of Dixieland jazz in the 1950s. The label was headquartered in New Orleans, Louisiana....
TLP 791309 (March 1989) - Good Humour — True Tone Records 847625-2 (1991)#40 AUS
- Unguided Tour — Polydor RecordsPolydor 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...
513 852 2 (1992) - Rollercoaster (compilationCompilation albumA 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...
) — Polydor Records 521 149 4 (1993) - Falling Swinger — Polydor Records 523355 2 (1994)
- Escapist — Polydor Records 5318402 (1996)
- Puppet, Pauper, Pirate, Poet, Pawn and King (compilation) — Polydor Records 537883-2 (6 October 1997)
- Spiritual Bum — Festival Records D24112 (26 July 1999)
- Skeleton Key — W. Minc Productions WMINCD021 (3 October 2001)
- Firecracker — W. Minc Productions WMINCD028 (3 February 2003)
- Live at the Big Room — (April 2003) originally released as Live 2002 as a bonus disc to pre-orders of Firecracker re-released as Live at the Big Room in June 2005.
- Close Ups (unplugged) — Liberation MusicLiberation 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...
BLUE069.2 (16 August 2004) - Love-O-Meter — Liberation Music LIBCD7181.5 (10 October 2005)
- Space Travel — Liberation Music LIBCD92435 (25 August 2007)
- That's My Cave Man (compilation) — (January 2008)
- Happiest Man Alive — Head Records HEAD099 (6 September 2008)
- Tickety Boo — Head Records HEAD123 (2 November 2009)
Singles
External links
- Stephen Cummings fan site
- MySpace website
- Stephen Cummings Filmography @ IMDb
- Stephen cummings Discography @ MusicBrainzMusicBrainzMusicBrainz is a project that aims to create an open content music database. Similar to the freedb project, it was founded in response to the restrictions placed on the CDDB...
- Stephen Cummings Discography @ Australian Rock DatabaseAustralian Rock DatabaseAustralian Rock Database is a website with a searchable online database that lists details of Australian rock music artists, albums, bands, producers and record labels. It was established in 2000 by Swedish national, Magnus Holmgren, who had developed an interest in Australian music when visiting...