Eurogliders are a band formed in 1980 in

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

, Western Australia, which included

Grace Knight Grace Ethel Knight (born 23 December 1955) is an English-born Australian vocalist, saxophone player and songwriter. During the 1980s she was a mainstay of Indie pop group Eurogliders which formed in Perth, Western Australia. Knight later became a ...

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

, Bernie Lynch on

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

and vocals, and

Amanda Vincent Amanda Vincent is a Canadian marine biologist and conservationist, one of the world's leading experts on seahorses and their relatives. She currently holds the chair of the IUCN SSC Seahorse, Pipefish and Seadragon Specialist Group and is the ma ...

on keyboards. * First edition (online copy): * Second edition: In 1984, Eurogliders released an Australian top ten album, '' This Island'', NOTE: Used for Australian Singles and Albums charting from 1970 until

ARIA In music, an aria (Italian: ; plural: ''arie'' , or ''arias'' in common usage, diminutive form arietta , plural ariette, or in English simply air) is a self-contained piece for one voice, with or without instrumental or orchestral accompanime ...

created their own

charts A chart (sometimes known as a graph) is a graphical representation for data visualization, in which "the data is represented by symbols, such as bars in a bar chart, lines in a line chart, or slices in a pie chart". A chart can represent tabul ...

in mid-1988. which spawned their No. 2 hit single, "

Heaven (Must Be There) "Heaven (Must Be There)" (sometimes shortened to just "Heaven") is a song by the Australian pop and New Wave band Eurogliders Eurogliders are a band formed in 1980 in Perth, Western Australia, which included Grace Knight on Singing, voca ...

". "Heaven" also peaked at No. 21 on the United States ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

Mainstream Rock Mainstream rock (also known as heritage rock) is a radio format used by many commercial radio stations in the United States and Canada. Format background Mainstream rock stations represent the middle ground between classic rock and active rock ...

charts and appeared on the

Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100 is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), radio play, and online streaming ...

. Another Australian top ten album, '' Absolutely'', followed in 1985, which provided two further local top ten singles, " We Will Together", and "

Can't Wait to See You "Can't Wait to See You" is a song by Australian pop rock group, Eurogliders, released in November 1985 as the third single from their third studio album, ''Absolutely!'' (1985). The song peaked at number 8 on the Australian Kent Music Rep ...

". They disbanded in 1989, with Knight having a successful career as a

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

singer. Australian rock music historian

Ian McFarlane Ian McFarlane (born 1959) is an Australian music journalist, music historian and author, whose best known publication is the '' Encyclopedia of Australian Rock and Pop'' (1999), which was updated for a second edition in 2017. As a journalist ...

described Eurogliders as "the accessible face of

post-punk Post-punk (originally called new musick) is a broad genre of punk music that emerged in the late 1970s as musicians departed from punk's traditional elements and raw simplicity, instead adopting a variety of avant-garde sensibilities and non-roc ...

new wave music New wave is a loosely defined music genre that encompasses pop-oriented styles from the late 1970s and the 1980s. It was originally used as a catch-all for the various styles of music that emerged after punk rock, including punk itself. La ...

. The band's sophisticated brand of pop was traditional in its structure, but displayed the decidedly 'modern veneer' (hip clothes, heavy use of synthesiser)". The band reformed in 2005 releasing two new albums followed in 2014 by their seventh album.

History

Early days (1980–1982)

Guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

ist and singer Bernie Lynch (as Rip Torn) fronted a new wave band, The Stockings, in

Perth, Western Australia Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

in the late 1970s. He left in early 1980 to form Living Single, with keyboard player Amanda Vincent. Together, they recruited Crispin Akerman on guitar, Don Meharry on

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

and Guy Slingerland on

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

through a series of advertisements. The following year, Grace Knight – Lynch's future domestic partner – joined as lead vocalist. By the end of 1981, drummer John Bennetts replaced Slingerland and the band changed their name to Eurogliders. They were signed by

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities o ...

, Brian Peacock, to their first recording and publishing contracts with

PolyGram PolyGram N.V. was a multinational entertainment company and major music record label formerly based in the Netherlands. It was founded in 1962 as the Grammophon-Philips Group by Dutch corporation Philips and German corporation Siemens, to be a ...

. They recruited Melbourne bass player Geoff Rosenberg to replace Meharry. In 1982, Eurogliders travelled to

Manila Manila ( , ; fil, Maynila, ), officially the City of Manila ( fil, Lungsod ng Maynila, ), is the capital of the Philippines, and its second-most populous city. It is highly urbanized and, as of 2019, was the world's most densely populate ...

, capital of the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

, to record their first album, '' Pink Suit Blue Day'', produced by Englishman Lem Lubin, which did not peak into the top 50 of the Australian

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 January 1999. The chart was re-branded the Australian Music Report (AMR) in July ...

albums chart. From Manila, they relocated to Sydney to release their first single in June, "Without You", which peaked into the top 40 on the Kent Music Report singles chart.

International success (1983–1985)

Eurogliders changed record labels from Polygram to

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainmen ...

in 1983. They replaced bass guitarist, Rosenberg, with Scott Saunders and travelled to the UK in July. While there, they recruited bass guitarist

Ron François Ron François (born April 1958) is a British musician, who first came to notice as the lead singer and bass player of the English R&B band The Strutters, which was involved in the London pub rock scene of the mid-1970s. In 1978, he recorded ...

, formerly of

The Sinceros The Sinceros were a new wave and power pop band from London, England, who recorded two albums for Epic Records, ''The Sound of Sunbathing'' (1979) and '' Pet Rock'' (1981). Both albums were released worldwide and achieved moderate commercial ...

The Teardrop Explodes The Teardrop Explodes were an English post-punk/neo-psychedelic band formed in Liverpool in 1978. Best known for their Top Ten UK single "Reward", the group originated as a key band in the emerging Liverpool post-punk scene of the late 1970s. T ...

and

Lene Lovich Lene Lovich (; born Lili-Marlene Premilovich; March 30, 1949) is an English-American singer, songwriter and musician. She first gained attention in 1979 with the release of her hit single "Lucky Number", which peaked at number 3 on the UK Single ...

. With this line-up they recorded '' This Island'', produced by Nigel Gray (also worked with the

Police The police are a constituted body of persons empowered by a state, with the aim to enforce the law, to ensure the safety, health and possessions of citizens, and to prevent crime and civil disorder. Their lawful powers include arrest and t ...

) which was released in May and peaked at No. 4 on the Australian albums chart. The single, "

", also released in May, reached No. 2 on the Australian singles charts. Released several months later in North America, the single peaked at No. 47 in Canada, and at No. 65 on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart. The album peaked at No. 140 on the ''Billboard'' 200 chart. In Australia, "Heaven" was followed by a

domino effect A domino effect or chain reaction is the cumulative effect generated when a particular event triggers a chain of similar events. This term is best known as a mechanical effect and is used as an analogy to a falling row of dominoes. It typically ...

of two more top 10 hits, with " We Will Together" (No. 7, April 1985), and "

" (No. 8, November 1985). Their third album '' Absolutely'', which peaked at No. 7, spent 47 weeks in the Australian charts. Between 1984 and 1986, Eurogliders toured Australia, the USA, Canada, Puerto Rico, Japan and New Zealand. At the height of the band's success, Grace Knight and Bernie Lynch reconciled their relationship and were married in 1985 but the union was short-lived. Despite their marital separation, they stayed together in the band for another four years. Lynch and Knight dismissed Brian Peacock, and took over the band's management.

Demise (1986–1989)

In early 1987, journalists documented Lynch and Knight's claim that Bennetts, François and Vincent left the band voluntarily. Vincent went to London on a world tour with the

Thompson Twins Thompson Twins were a British Pop music, pop band formed in 1977 in Sheffield. Initially a New wave music, new wave group, they switched to a more mainstream pop sound and achieved considerable popularity during the mid-1980s, scoring a string ...

, and stayed in the UK to tour and co-wrote with

Boy George George Alan O'Dowd (born 14 June 1961), known professionally as Boy George, is an English singer, songwriter, DJ, author and mixed media artist. Best known for his soulful voice and his androgynous appearance, Boy George has been the lead singe ...

. François became a session musician in Australia, while Bennets toured with

Eartha Kitt Eartha Kitt (born Eartha Mae Keith; January 17, 1927 – December 25, 2008) was an American singer and actress known for her highly distinctive singing style and her 1953 recordings of "C'est si bon" and the Christmas novelty song "Santa Ba ...

, and later worked in the Educational IT industry before founding Monkeydrum Studios. Reduced to a duo, Lynch and Knight recorded their fourth album (''

Groove Groove or Grooves may refer to: Music * Groove (music) * Groove (drumming) * The Groove (band), an Australian rock/pop band of the 1960s * The Groove (Sirius XM), a US radio station * Groove 101.7FM, a former Perth, Australia, radio station * ...

'') with session musicians, including Akerman. However, despite Akerman's presence on the album it was clear that Lynch and Knight by themselves were now the Eurogliders, as they were the only people pictured on the album cover or inner sleeve, or on any of the album's associated singles. ''

'' peaked at No. 25 on the Australian charts in April 1988. The related single, "Groove" had peaked at No. 13 in February but the next singles, "It Must Be Love" in June, "Listen" in September and "Precious" in March 1989 did not reach the top 50. For the album tour, Lynch, Knight and Akerman were joined by Guy Le Claire on guitar, Rex Goh on guitar (ex-

Air Supply Air Supply is a soft rock duo formed in Melbourne, Australia, in 1975. It consists of Englishman Graham Russell (vocals, guitar) and Australian Russell Hitchcock (vocals). They had a succession of hits worldwide, including eight top-five hit ...

), Lindsay Jehan on bass guitar and Steve Sowerby on drums. Later in 1989, the Eurogliders disbanded. Akerman returned to his visual art background and became a painter, Lynch initially pursued a solo music career; while Knight became a successful

singer.

Post-Eurogliders (1990–2005)

After Eurogliders, Knight made a cameo appearance in the 1990 TV series '' Come in Spinner'' and sang on its

soundtrack A soundtrack is recorded music accompanying and synchronised to the images of a motion picture, drama, book, television program, radio program, or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack o ...

, ''Come in Spinner'', recorded with

artist

Vince Jones Vincent Hugh Jones (born 24 March 1954) is an Australian jazz singer, songwriter, and trumpet, flugelhorn and flumpet player. His music includes both original material and new contemporary versions of jazz standards. His themes are often love ...

, which peaked at No. 4 on the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) albums charts. This launched a new career for Knight as a jazz singer with her first solo album, ''Stormy Weather'', which peaked at No. 16 in 1991. Lynch became involved in theatre and soundtrack composition, and as the business manager of his second wife, fashion designer

Collette Dinnigan Collette Mary Ann Dinnigan (born 24 September 1965) is an Australian based fashion designer. Born in South Africa, Dinnigan moved to New Zealand, then Australia, where she obtained work with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. She opened ...

. Vincent, who had a successful popular music career with credits including

Gang of Four The Gang of Four () was a Maoist political faction composed of four Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officials. They came to prominence during the Cultural Revolution (1966–1976) and were later charged with a series of treasonous crimes. The gang ...

and

Billy Bragg Stephen William Bragg (born 20 December 1957) is an English singer-songwriter and left-wing activist. His music blends elements of folk music, punk rock and protest songs, with lyrics that mostly span political or romantic themes. His music is ...

, moved into

ethnomusicology Ethnomusicology is the study of music from the cultural and social aspects of the people who make it. It encompasses distinct theoretical and methodical approaches that emphasize cultural, social, material, cognitive, biological, and other dim ...

, specialising in African and Cuban music.

Reformations

Eurogliders reformed in October 2005, with Grace Knight and Bernie Lynch using session musicians including former member, Rex Goh, and they released their fifth studio album, simply called ''Eurogliders'' and included the single, "Hummingbird", but neither album nor single peaked into the ARIA top 50

. NOTE: Information supplied by

shows that Eurogliders has no Top 50 charting albums or singles since they started their

in mid-1988. They started touring again in April 2006 and performed on the

Countdown Spectacular The ''Countdown Spectacular'' is a series of concerts reviving the nostalgia of the Australian music television series ''Countdown''. Countdown Spectacular The first tour was staged from June to August 2006. It featured mainly Australian artists a ...

during June to August, which was a nostalgic tour of Australian bands from the 1970s and 1980s, as featured on the pop television show ''

Countdown A countdown is a sequence of backward counting to indicate the time remaining before an event is scheduled to occur. NASA commonly employs the terms "L-minus" and "T-minus" during the preparation for and anticipation of a rocket launch, and eve ...

'' with its host Ian "Molly" Meldrum. The group's sixth album, ''Blue Kiss'', was recorded during the same sessions as the previous and was released in mid-2006, it also had no top 50 charting. Eurogliders official website was shut down in September 2008. In 2013 it was announced that the Eurogliders were expected to reform to support

The Boomtown Rats The Boomtown Rats are an Irish rock band originally formed in Dublin in 1975. Between 1977 and 1985, they had a series of Irish and UK hits including "Like Clockwork", "Rat Trap", "I Don't Like Mondays" and "Banana Republic". The original line ...

on a planned reunion tour of Australia in May. However, the tour was cancelled due to poor ticket sales. Their seventh studio album, ''Don't Eat the Daisies'', appeared in 2014. In May 2017 they headlined the entertainment on Darley Kingsford-Smith Cup Day during the Brisbane Winter Racing Carnival. Eurogliders plan to tour Australia in support of Simple Minds and OMD in December 2021.

Members

Eurogliders' members (arranged chronologically): * Bernie Lynch – vocals, guitar, keyboards (1980–1989, 2005–2007, 2013-) *

– keyboards (1980–1987) * Crispin Akerman –

(1980–1987) * Don Meharry –

(1980–1981) * Guy Slingerland –

(1980–1981) *

–

saxophone The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed on a mouthpiece vibrates to pr ...

keyboards Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Musi ...

(1981–1989, 2005–2007, 2013-) * John Bennetts – drums,

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Exc ...

(1981–1987) * Stephen Clarke - drums (1981) * Geoff Rosenberg – bass guitar (1981–1983) *

– bass guitar,

backing vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are use ...

(1983–1987) * Scott Saunders –

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in the bass range: ** Bass (instrument), including: ** Acoustic bass gui ...

(1983) *

Rex Goh Goh Tee Haut, known professionally as Rex Goh, (born 5 May 1951) is a Singaporean-born Australian rock guitarist. In 1972 Goh moved to Australia. He has been a band member of various groups including Air Supply (1977, 1981–83), QED (1983–85 ...

– guitar (1988–1989) * Lindsay Jehan – bass guitar (1988–1989) * Guy Le Claire – guitar (1988–1989) *

Joy Smithers Joy Smithers (born 15 July 1963) is an Australian actress, best known for her acting performances on television, and her role as a television news presenter, such as with MTV Australia in the late 1980s. Her credits include: ''All The Way'', ' ...

– backing vocals (1988–1989) * Steve Sowerby – drums (1988–1989) * Phil Whitcher – Keyboards (1988-1989)

Discography

Studio albums

Compilation albums

Singles

Awards and nominations

Countdown Australian Music Awards

'' was an Australian pop music TV series on national broadcaster ABC-TV from 1974–1987, it presented music awards from 1979–1987, initially in conjunction with magazine ''

TV Week ''TV Week'' is a weekly Australian magazine that provides television program listings information and highlights, as well as television-related news. Content ranges from previews for upcoming storylines of popular television programs, particu ...

''. The TV Week / Countdown Awards were a combination of popular-voted and peer-voted awards. , - , rowspan="2" , 1982 , "Pink Suit Blue Day" , Best Debut Album , , - , "Without You" , Best Debut Single , , - , rowspan="5" , 1984 , rowspan="2" , "Heaven Must Be There" , Best Single , , - , Best Video , , - , Themselves in "Heaven Must Be There" , Best Group Performance in a Video , , - , Bernie Lynch (Eurogliders) , Best Songwriter , , - , Grace Knight , Most Popular Female Performer , , - , 1986 , Grace Knight , Most Popular Female Performer , , -

West Australian Music Industry Awards

The

West Australian Music Industry Awards The Western Australian Music Industry Awards (commonly known as WAMis) are annual awards presented to the local contemporary music industry, put on by the Western Australian Music Industry Association Inc (WAM). The WAMi Awards are Western Aust ...

are annual awards celebrating achievements for Western Australian music. They commenced in 1985. , - , 2017 , , Eurogliders , , Hall of Fame , , , -

References

External links

Grace Knight's Official website
{{Authority control Musical groups established in 1980 Musical groups from Perth, Western Australia Australian new wave musical groups Australian pop music groups Australian post-punk groups CBS Records artists