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Girl Overboard were a
pop rock Pop rock (also typeset as pop/rock) is a fusion genre with an emphasis on professional songwriting and recording craft, and less emphasis on attitude than rock music. Originating in the late 1950s as an alternative to normal rock and roll, earl ...
band formed in 1985 as Separate Tables by Lisa Schouw a
contralto A contralto () is a type of classical female singing voice whose vocal range is the lowest female voice type. The contralto's vocal range is fairly rare; similar to the mezzo-soprano, and almost identical to that of a countertenor, typically b ...
on lead vocals, Robin Gist on guitar, and Brett McNaughton on keyboards with an expanded line-up, they changed their name. Girl Overboard released two albums: ''Paint a Picture '' (March 1990) and ''Go'' in 1993. The group split up in late 1993.


History


1983-1988: Founding

In 1983, future member of Girl Overboard, Lisa Schouw (born 5 March 1958 - 2 October 2020) joined as a vocalist for a Melbourne band, Pointz, where she worked alongside Robin Gist on guitar. Over two years they changed their name to Short Story, played around the town, and started negotiating a publishing and recording deal with Wheatley Records. However, the band fell apart before being signed. Schouw returned to New Zealand for six months, and returned to Australia to meet Gist and write songs. After auditioning various players they settled on keyboard player, Brett McNaughton, and together the three formed Separate Tables in 1985, initially using a drum machine. Separate Tables' line-up was augmented by Lee Davidson on drums, Dean Hilson on saxophone and Jenny Milroy on backing vocals and percussion. They released an independent single, "Long Dark Night" backed with "Wrap Your Arms Around Me". After a year the band secured a recording deal with
RCA The RCA Corporation was a major American electronics company, which was founded as the Radio Corporation of America in 1919. It was initially a patent trust owned by General Electric (GE), Westinghouse, AT&T Corporation and United Fruit Comp ...
/ BMG and were a support act for
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 ...
's Jack's Back Tour. They had a management contract with the Neil Clugston Organisation. Separate Tables promoted their single, "When the Word Came Down" (December 1987), by playing entertainment centres, concert halls and pubs around Australia. Their next single "Change My Sex" (May 1988) was largely ignored by radio. John Favaro joined on bass guitar and another single, "Wrap Your Arms Around Me" (February 1989), was released. They performed music for the soundtrack to the 1988 film ''
Hungry Heart "Hungry Heart" is a ballad written and performed by Bruce Springsteen on his fifth album, '' The River''. It was released as the album's lead single in 1980 and became Springsteen's first big hit on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart peaking at numb ...
'' in which Schouw also costarred.


1989-1992: ''Paint a Picture''

The band began recording their debut album, ''Paint a Picture'', with producer Ross Fraser at Metropolis Studios in Melbourne. At the
ARIA Music Awards of 1989 The Third Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards (generally known as the ARIA Music Awards or simply The ARIAS) was held on 6 March 1989 at the Darling Harbour Convention Centre in Sydney. First Australian host Greedy Smith o ...
Fraser won
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 ...
for his work on "When the Word Came Down" by Separate Tables, Farnham's '' Age of Reason'' and
the State A state is a centralized political organization that imposes and enforces rules over a population within a territory. There is no undisputed definition of a state. One widely used definition comes from the German sociologist Max Weber: a "stat ...
's "Real Love". At the same ceremony Doug Brady won Engineer of the Year for his work on "Change My Sex" and "When the Word Came Down" by Separate Tables and additional works for other artists. The name changed to Girl Overboard with the release of the next single, "I Can't Believe" (October 1989). Schouw explained to ''
The Canberra Times ''The Canberra Times'' is a daily newspaper in Canberra, Australia, which is published by Australian Community Media. It was founded in 1926, and has changed ownership and format several times. History ''The Canberra Times'' was launched in ...
Kathryn Whitfield, why they changed, "We were playing pubs and were making a lot more noise and the name didn't describe the band, we are more emotional more energetic than that, so we became Girl Overboard." Whitfield observed, "Schouw, Gist and McNaughton have worked together on all the band's songs and though they all lean personally toward different musical styles they seem to reach perfect accord on the band's style." "I Can't Believe" was nominated for Breakthrough Artist – Single at ARIA Music Awards of 1990. A subsequent single, "The Love We Make" (January 1990), peaked at No. 23 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 ...
. They toured Australia to promote ''Paint a Picture'', which reached No. 18 on the ARIA Albums Chart. According to Australian musicologist,
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 ...
, "
heir Inheritance is the practice of receiving private property, titles, debts, entitlements, privileges, rights, and obligations upon the death of an individual. The rules of inheritance differ among societies and have changed over time. Officiall ...
sound was a safe mix of dance pop, light jazz and American-styled hard rock." They followed with a trip to United States and United Kingdom in 1991 to write new material, and "meet with song publishers and our record company." Fraser won another ARIA Award for his production work for Girl Overboard (and other artists) in
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.


1993: ''Go'' and break up

The band's second album, ''Go'' (1993), was recorded with producer, Charles Fisher, who provided an overall sense of cohesion while new drummer, Tony Day, had replaced Davidson. It provided the singles, "Chain of Fools", "Your Love", and "Jackie". ''Go'' and its singles were less successful on the charts and some band members became disillusioned. McFarlane felt, "
hey Hey or Hey! may refer to: Music * Hey (band), a Polish rock band Albums * ''Hey'' (Andreas Bourani album) or the title song (see below), 2014 * ''Hey!'' (Julio Iglesias album) or the title song, 1980 * ''Hey!'' (Jullie album) or the title s ...
offered lushly textured pop with Schouw's rich contralto well to the fore." The band broke up late in 1993. Note: last name is incorrectly given as Shouw.


Death

Lead vocalist Schouw died from cancer on 2 October 2020, aged 62 and was honoured at the
ARIA 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 The music of Australia has ...


Members

* Lisa Schouw – vocals (d. 2020) * Robin Gist – guitar * Brett McNaughton – keyboards * Lee Davidson – drums (album: Paint a Picture), Tony Day (Album ''Go'') * Jenny Milroy – backing vocals, percussion * John Favaro – bass guitar * Tony Day – drums *
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 ...
On ''Some Things Never Change''


Discography


Studio albums


Singles


Awards and nominations


ARIA Music 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 ...
. They commenced in 1987. ! , - , rowspan="2",
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, "I Can't Believe" ,
ARIA Award for Breakthrough Artist - Single 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 ...
, , rowspan="2", , - , Doug Brady for "I Can't Believe" by Girl Overboard ,
ARIA Award for Engineer of the Year The ARIA Music Award for Engineer of the Year, is an award presented within the Artisan Awards at the annual ARIA Music Awards. The ARIA Awards recognise "the many achievements of Australian artists across all music genres", and have been given ...
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1991 File:1991 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Boris Yeltsin, elected as Russia's first president, waves the new flag of Russia after the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, orchestrated by Soviet hardliners; Mount Pinatubo erupts in the Phil ...
, "Permanent Friend" ,
ARIA Award for Best Video The ARIA Award for Best Video, is presented at the annual ARIA Awards, which recognise "the many achievements of Aussie artists across all music genres", since 1987. It is handed out by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA), an o ...
, , rowspan="2", , - , Ross Fraser for "The Love We Make" by Girl Overboard ,
ARIA Award for Producer of the Year The ARIA Music Award for Producer of the Year, is an award presented within the Artisan Awards at the annual ARIA Music Awards. The ARIA Awards recognise "the many achievements of Aussie artists across all music genres", and have been given by t ...
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References


External links

* * Entry for Lisa Schouw * {{Authority control Australian pop rock groups Musical groups established in 1985 Musical groups disestablished in 1993 1985 establishments in Australia 1993 disestablishments in Australia