Bachelor Girl are an Australian pop duo, formed in 1992 by Tania Doko as vocalist and James Roche as musician, producer and arranger. Their 1998 debut single, "

Buses and Trains "Buses and Trains" is the debut single of Australian pop band Bachelor Girl. Released on 18 June 1998 as the first single from the band's debut album, '' Waiting for the Day'' (1998), the song peaked at number four on the ARIA Singles Chart and r ...

", was a top-10 hit in Australia and New Zealand; it peaked in the top 30 in Sweden and charted in the UK. The follow up single, " Treat Me Good", reached the top 40 in Australia and New Zealand. Their debut studio album, ''

Waiting for the Day ''Waiting for the Day'' is the debut studio album by Australian band Bachelor Girl. The album was released in Australia through Gotham Records on 9 November 1998 (see 1998 in music). The album charted in the top twenty on the Australian ARIA Album ...

'', was released in 1998 and reached the top 20 on the

ARIA Albums Chart 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 songs and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA became the offici ...

and achieved platinum certification. Worldwide, Bachelor Girl has sold a total of more than 500,000 albums and singles.

History

1992–1997: Formation

Bachelor Girl formed in December 1992 when songwriter and record producer, James Roche, met vocalist Tania Doko. Roche had previously worked, on keyboards or producing, with

Tommy Emmanuel William Thomas Emmanuel (born 31 May 1955) is an Australian guitarist. Regarded as one of the greatest acoustic guitarists of all time, he is known for his complex fingerstyle technique, energetic performances and use of percussive effects on ...

John Farnham John Peter Farnham Officer of the Order of Australia, AO (born 1 July 1949) is a British born Australian singer. Farnham was a Teen idol, teen pop idol from 1967 until 1979, billed then as Johnny Farnham, but has since forged a career as an Adu ...

and Jack Jones (aka

Irwin Thomas Irwin Thomas (born Irwin Thomas Whittridge, 6 January 1971) is an American-born Australian singer-songwriter and guitarist. He performs professionally using the stage name Jack Jones from when he was the lead vocalist-guitarist in the band South ...

). Doko was a classically trained university student. Roche was crafting a demonstration tape of a song he had written for an Australian

girl group A girl group is a music act featuring several female singers who generally harmonize together. The term "girl group" is also used in a narrower sense in the United States to denote the wave of American female pop music singing groups, many of who ...

Girlfriend A girlfriend is a female friend, acquaintance or partner, usually a female companion with whom one is platonically, romantically, or sexually involved. In a romantic context, this normally signifies a committed relationship where the indi ...

, and when the original singer cancelled, he recruited Doko. They began writing songs and recording other demos together. In December 1997, Bachelor Girl signed with

Gotham Records Gotham Records was an American record label formed by Sam Goode (Goody) and Ivin Ballen in New York City in 1946. In January 1948 Ballen acquired the interest of Goode and became the sole owner. He then moved the company to Philadelphia, Pennsylvani ...

, distributed by BMG, after being rejected by

Sony , commonly stylized as SONY, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. As a major technology company, it operates as one of the world's largest manufacturers of consumer and professional ...

1998–2001: ''Waiting for the Day''

Bachelor Girl's debut single, "

", was released on 18 June 1998. The song peaked at No. 4 on the

ARIA Singles Chart 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 songs and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA became the offici ...

and No. 6 on the

New Zealand Singles Chart The Official New Zealand Music Chart ( mi, Te Papa Tātai Waiata Matua o Aotearoa) is the weekly New Zealand top 40 singles and albums charts, issued weekly by Recorded Music NZ (formerly Recording Industry Association of New Zealand). The Music ...

. In 1999, it appeared in the top 30 on the

Swedish Singles Chart Sverigetopplistan (, lit. "the Sweden top list") is the Swedish national record chart, formerly known as Topplistan (1975–1997) and Hitlistan (1998–2007) and known by its current name since October 2007, based on sales data from the Swedish R ...

and reached the top 100 in the UK. Their second single, " Treat Me Good", was issued in November 1998 and reached the top 40 in Australia and New Zealand. The related album, ''

'', was released in November and peaked at No. 20 on the ARIA Albums Chart. In May 1999, their third single, " Lucky Me" reached the top 50 in Australia and New Zealand. It reached the top 20 on the

Finnish Singles Chart The Official Finnish Charts ( fi, Suomen virallinen lista; sv, Finlands officiella lista) are national record charts in Finland compiled and published by Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland. The name ''Suomen virallinen lista/Finlands officiell ...

. In August, the album was issued internationally as ''Breaking Through from Down Under'' on

Arista Records Arista Records () is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of the Japanese conglomerate Sony. The label was previously handled by BMG Entertainmen ...

2002–2004: ''Dysfunctional'' and split

In July 2002, Bachelor Girl released " I'm Just A Girl" as the lead single from their forthcoming second studio album. The song reached the Australian top 30. Their second album, ''

Dysfunctional Abnormality (or dysfunctional behavior) is a behavioral characteristic assigned to those with conditions that are regarded as rare or dysfunctional. Behavior is considered to be abnormal when it is atypical or out of the ordinary, consists of un ...

'', was released in August and peaked in the top 30. "

Drowning Not Waving "Drowning Not Waving" is a song by Australian pop group Bachelor Girl. The song was released in October 2002 as the second and final single from the group's second studio album, '' Dysfunctional'' (2002). The song peaked at number 69 on the AR ...

" was released in October 2002 as the second and final single from the album. The band recorded their third studio album in 2003-2004 but was never released as the duo amicably split in 2004.

2004–2017: Hiatus, ''Loved & Lost: The Best of Bachelor Girl'' and ''Beautifully Wrong – The Lost Songs''

In April 2011, a compilation album, '' Loved & Lost: The Best of Bachelor Girl'', was released by

Sony Music Australia Sony Music Entertainment Australia is the predominant record label operated by American parent company Sony Music Entertainment in Australia. SMEA also formerly published and distributed video games in Australia & New Zealand on behalf of Sony ...

. It featured four tracks abandoned from the third studio album. Doko stated in interviews that the band did not feel there was enough material from their two albums to fill a greatest hits album, and they decided to use cuts from the unreleased third studio album. In May and June, Bachelor Girl performed three gigs to promote the album. In August 2011, the previously unreleased third album was released digitally, titled '' Beautifully Wrong – The Lost Songs''. In 2012, Doko moved to Sweden where she worked as a singer/songwriter and vocal coach. Roche worked with a number of Australian musicians, including producing

Anthony Callea Anthony Cosmo Callea (born 13 December 1982) is an Australian singer-songwriter and stage actor who rose to prominence as the runner-up in the 2004 season of '' Australian Idol''. Callea's debut single, a cover of Celine Dion and Andrea Bocel ...

's number one album, ''

Backbone The backbone is the vertebral column of a vertebrate. Arts, entertainment, and media Film * ''Backbone'' (1923 film), a 1923 lost silent film starring Alfred Lunt * ''Backbone'' (1975 film), a 1975 Yugoslavian drama directed by Vlatko Gilić M ...

'' in 2016.

2017–present: Reformation and "Speak"

In mid-2017, Roche completed a three-week trip to

Stockholm Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...

, Sweden, where he met up with Doko. The duo wrote and recorded with various Swedish writers and producers. Roche said, "I had a fantastic time; the context there of musical creation and endeavour is inspiring and energising. I've returned with a collection of songs I am so excited about - I can't wait to complete the production on them!". New material is set for release in 2018. " Speak" was released on 18 June 2018, exactly 20 years since the release of "Buses and Trains".

Discography

Albums

Compilations

Singles

Other appearances

Awards and nominations

ARIA Awards

The

ARIA Music Awards The Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards (commonly known informally as ARIA Music Awards, ARIA Awards, or simply the ARIAs) is an annual series of awards nights celebrating the Australian music industry, put on by the Austr ...

is an annual awards ceremony that recognises excellence, innovation, and achievement across all genres of

Australian music The music of Australia has an extensive history made of music societies. Indigenous Australian music forms a significant part of the unique heritage of a 40,000- to 60,000-year history which produced the iconic didgeridoo. Contemporary fusions of ...

. Bachelor Girl have won 1 award from 5 nominations. , - ,

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The '' Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently ...

, rowspan="2", "

" ,

Best New Talent Best or The Best may refer to: People * Best (surname), people with the surname Best * Best (footballer, born 1968), retired Portuguese footballer Companies and organizations * Best & Co., an 1879–1971 clothing chain * Best Lock Corporatio ...

, , - , rowspan="4",

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shootin ...

, ARIA Award for Highest Selling Single , , - , rowspan="2", ''

'' , Breakthrough Artist - Album , , - , Best Pop Release , , - , Bachelor Girl for ''Waiting for the Day'' ,

Producer of the Year The Grammy Award for Producer of the Year, Non-Classical is an honor presented to record producers for quality non- classical music at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards. Honors i ...

APRA Awards

The APRA Awards are held in Australia and New Zealand by the

Australasian Performing Right Association APRA AMCOS consists of Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA) and Australasian Mechanical Copyright Owners Society (AMCOS), both copyright management organisations or copyright collectives which jointly represent over 100,000 songwr ...

to recognise songwriting skills, sales and airplay performance by its members annually. Bachelor Girls have been nominated for three awards. , - , rowspan="2",

, rowspan="2", "

" , Song of the Year , , - , Most Performed Australian Work , , - ,

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...

, " Lucky Me" , Most Played Australian Work ,

Australian Women in Music Awards

The

Australian Women in Music Awards Australian Women in Music Awards (commonly known informally as AWMA) is an annual awards ceremony and conference celebrating the contributions of women in all areas of the Australian music industry. The two-day program includes forums, a show ...

(AWMA) is an annual event that celebrates outstanding women in the

Australian Music Industry Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal Au ...

who have made significant and lasting contributions in their chosen field. They commenced in 2018. , - ,

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October–November 2021 ...

, Tania Doko , Songwriter Award ,

References

{{Authority control APRA Award winners ARIA Award winners Victoria (Australia) musical groups Australian pop music groups Australian indie rock groups Musical groups established in 1992 Musical groups disestablished in 2003 Australian musical duos 1992 establishments in Australia 2003 disestablishments in Australia