Happyland were an Australian punk rock duo formed in

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

in 1997 as a

side project In popular music, a side project is a project undertaken by one or more people already known for their involvement in another band. It can also be an artist or a band temporarily switching to a different style. Usually these projects emphasize a ...

by Janet English on bass guitar and lead vocals (from

Spiderbait Spiderbait is an Australian alternative rock band from Finley, New South Wales, formed in 1991 by bass guitarist and singer Janet English, drummer and singer Kram (musician), Kram, and guitarist Damian Whitty. In 2004 the group's cover version o ...

) and her then-boyfriend,

Quan Yeomans Quan Yeomans (born 12 December 1972) is an Australian musician best known as the frontman of the band Regurgitator. Early years Yeomans was born in Sydney to a fifth-generation Australian father, Neville, and his mother Lien, a well-known Vi ...

on lead guitar and vocals (from

Regurgitator Regurgitator are an Australian rock band from Brisbane, Queensland, formed in late 1993 by Quan Yeomans on lead vocals, guitar and keyboards; Ben Ely on bass guitar, keyboards and vocals; and Martin Lee on drums. Their debut studio album, ''Tu ...

). They were originally named, The Shits, but decided on Happyland. Their only album, ''Welcome to Happyland'', was released on 25 August 1998, via the Polydor Australia label, which reached No. 18 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 ...

. It provided the single, "Don't You Know Who I Am?" (July 1998), which peaked at No. 24 on the ARIA Singles Chart.

History

In 1996 Janet English of

started dating

. During downtime from their respective main projects, in 1997 in Brisbane, the pair formed the Shits (later renamed as Happyland) as an

art pop Art pop (also typeset art-pop or artpop) is a loosely defined style of pop music influenced by art theories as well as ideas from other art mediums, such as fashion, fine art, cinema, and avant-garde literature. The genre draws on pop art's ...

side project. As the Shits, English and Yeomans, provided the artwork for Regurgitor's album, ''

Unit Unit may refer to: Arts and entertainment * UNIT, a fictional military organization in the science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'' * Unit of action, a discrete piece of action (or beat) in a theatrical presentation Music * ''Unit'' (alb ...

'' (November 1997); at the

ARIA Music Awards of 1998 The 12th Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards (generally known as the ARIA Music Awards or simply The ARIAS) was held on 20 October 1998 at the Sydney Convention & Exhibition Centre. Presenters, including Democrats deputy l ...

the duo won the Best Cover Art category. Happyland's only album, ''Welcome to Happyland'', was released on 25 August 1998 via Polydor Australia, which peaked at No. 18 on the

.Peak chart positions for charting releases in Australia: * "Don't You Know Who I Am?": * ''Welcome to Happyland'': * "Hello!": It was recorded Yeomans' home studio and produced by the duo, with all tracks co-written by English and Yeomans.

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

's Jody Macgregor opined that "The songs they recorded together combined the most hyper-kinetic and poppy sounds common to the two bands, with English's vocals at their most high-pitched and girlish, and Yeomans' melodies at their most twitchy and infectious." 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 ...

, felt it "boasted noisy modern fuzz-pop." At the

ARIA Music Awards of 1999 The 13th Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards (generally known as the ARIA Music Awards or simply The ARIAS) was held on 12 October 1999 at the Sydney Entertainment Centre. Hosted by Paul McDermott and Bob Downe, and present ...

English and Yeomans were nominated for Best Cover Art for ''Welcome to Happyland''. "Don't You Know Who I Am?", the lead single from the album, peaked at No. 24 on the ARIA Singles Chart. It was listed at No. 28 in

Triple J Triple J (stylised in all lowercase) is a government-funded, national Australian Radio in Australia, radio station intended to appeal to listeners of alternative music, which began broadcasting in January 1975. The station also places a greate ...

's 1998 Hottest 100 music poll; while the follow up single, "Hello!" (November 1998), was listed at No. 71. "Hello!", which did not peak in the ARIA Singles Chart top 50, was proposed for Regurgitator's ''Unit'' but it did not fit with the rest of its content. McFarlane described "Hello" as "low-tech but snappy pop." Happyland toured Australia as part of the 1999

Big Day Out The Big Day Out (BDO) was an annual music festival that was held in five Australian cities: Sydney, Melbourne, Gold Coast, Adelaide, and Perth, as well as Auckland, New Zealand. The festival was held during summer, typically in January of eac ...

music festival, in late January and early February, performing at the

Gold Coast Gold Coast may refer to: Places Africa * Gold Coast (region), in West Africa, which was made up of the following colonies, before being established as the independent nation of Ghana: ** Portuguese Gold Coast (Portuguese, 1482–1642) ** Dutch G ...

, Sydney, Melbourne and

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

. In their live shows, the band members dressed in fluffy animal costumes. They provided a cover version the Italian song, "Tintarella di luna" (written by Bruno de Filippi and

Franco Migliacci Francesco "Franco" Migliacci (born 28 October 1930 in Mantua) is a lyricist, producer, and actor. Biography He studied in Florence where his family had settled, here he entered in a competition for young players, in which he won a stay of ...

), on the soundtrack for the feature film, '' Looking for Alibrandi'', in 2000. The duo had disbanded in 1999 and each member had returned to their respective main project. Quan mentioned in a 2001 interview in the ''

Daily Telegraph Daily or The Daily may refer to: Journalism * Daily newspaper, newspaper issued on five to seven day of most weeks * ''The Daily'' (podcast), a podcast by ''The New York Times'' * ''The Daily'' (News Corporation), a defunct US-based iPad new ...

'' that Happyland were working on another release. This is backed up by a comment made by Quan, when asked "Will there be any more Happyland releases?", on a web chat for ''

Rolling Stone Australia ''Rolling Stone'' Australia is the Australian edition of the United States' ''Rolling Stone'' magazine devoted to music, politics, and popular culture, published monthly. The Australian version of ''Rolling Stone'' was initially published in 197 ...

'', in October 2000, he answered, "We may have a song or three for the willing and able out there." However, both have stated that this is unlikely, as they have since split up as a domestic couple, but remain good friends. English replied, in August 2004, to the notion of a reunion, "A Happyland comeback? (laughs) twas just the one off thing, just a bit of fun when we had time off from our respective bands. The way that the momentum is going on this stuff piderbait commitmentsoverseas and Europe I can't imagine I'll have a lot of time to deal with anything like that."

Discography

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. ! , - ,

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 ...

and Janet English for Happyland – ''Welcome to Happyland'' ,

ARIA Award for Best Cover Art The ARIA Music Award for Best Cover Art, 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 the Aus ...

, , , -

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Happyland ARIA Award winners Australian pop punk groups Musical groups from Brisbane Musical groups established in 1997 Musical groups disestablished in 1999