Anderson Amos Temba "Andy" Qunta (born 9 January 1951) is an English singer, songwriter, composer and musician. In a career spanning more than 40 years, Qunta is best known as the keyboardist of the Australian rock band Icehouse from between 1982 and 1988. As a popular musician, he has been influenced by artists including

the Who The Who are an English rock band formed in London in 1964. Their classic lineup consisted of lead singer Roger Daltrey, guitarist and singer Pete Townshend, bass guitarist and singer John Entwistle, and drummer Keith Moon. They are considered ...

Cliff Richard Sir Cliff Richard (born Harry Rodger Webb; 14 October 1940) is an Indian-born British musican, singer, producer, entrepreneur and philanthropist who holds both British and Barbadian citizenship. He has total sales of over 21.5 million s ...

, Jimi Hendrix,

Genesis Genesis may refer to: Bible * Book of Genesis, the first book of the biblical scriptures of both Judaism and Christianity, describing the creation of the Earth and of mankind * Genesis creation narrative, the first several chapters of the Book of ...

Manfred Mann Manfred Mann were an English rock band, formed in London and active between 1962 and 1969. The group were named after their keyboardist Manfred Mann, who later led the successful 1970s group Manfred Mann's Earth Band. The band had two diffe ...

, Yes,

Todd Rundgren Todd Harry Rundgren (born June 22, 1948) is an American multi-instrumentalist, singer, songwriter, multimedia artist, sound engineer and record producer who has performed a diverse range of styles as a solo artist and as a member of the band Ut ...

and

Queen Queen or QUEEN may refer to: Monarchy * Queen regnant, a female monarch of a Kingdom ** List of queens regnant * Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king * Queen dowager, the widow of a king * Queen mother, a queen dowager who is the mother ...

Early years

Anderson Qunta was born on 9 January 1951, in

Warrington Warrington () is a town and unparished area in the borough of the same name in the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England, on the banks of the River Mersey. It is east of Liverpool, and west of Manchester. The population in 2019 was estimat ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. His father was South African and his mother English. Beginning at the age of six, he studied classical piano and violin, but later developed an interest in popular music and picked up guitar, bass guitar, harmonica, and drums.

Music career

In 1970, Andy and his brother Tony formed the band Factory in

Hastings Hastings () is a large seaside town and borough in East Sussex on the south coast of England, east to the county town of Lewes and south east of London. The town gives its name to the Battle of Hastings, which took place to the north-west ...

, England. Andy played 12-string guitar, Tony played lead guitar and electric violin, Laurie Cooksey played drums, Jaffa Peckham played bass guitar until 1974 being replaced with Steve Kinch. All members contributed to vocals, and the band played to consistently good critical reviews. The original members of Factory re-formed in 2014, and their debut studio album ''Back in the Time Machine'' was released in April 2016. From 1979, Qunta worked as a session musician and toured with various bands, beginning with

Hazel O'Connor Hazel Thereasa O'Connor (born 16 May 1954) is a British singer-songwriter and actress. She became famous in the early 1980s with hit singles " Eighth Day", " D-Days" and " Will You?" She also starred in the 1980 film '' Breaking Glass''. Care ...

's Megahype. In 1981, he played on the single " I Can't Even Touch You" by

Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel are a British glam rock band from the early 1970s from London. Their music covers a range of styles from pop to progressive rock. Over the years they have had five albums in the UK Albums Chart and twelve singles in ...

. In 1982,

Manfred Mann's Earth Band Manfred Mann's Earth Band are an English rock band formed by South African musician Manfred Mann. Their hits include covers of Bruce Springsteen's " For You", "Blinded by the Light" and "Spirit in the Night". After forming in 1971 and with a ...

recorded Qunta's song "Tribal Statistics" for their album '' Somewhere in Afrika''. This recording was also released as a single, but it failed to chart. At the end of 1982, Qunta moved to Australia to join the band Icehouse. Their 1983 single " Hey Little Girl" reached the Top 10 in the UK and Europe. In 1984, Icehouse released the album '' Sidewalk'', which featured the hit " Don't Believe Anymore", and toured Australia, New Zealand, UK, Japan and Europe to support the release. Icehouse continued with a succession of hits, including the singles "

Great Southern Land "Great Southern Land" is a song by Australian rock band Icehouse. It was released on 9 August 1982 as the lead single from their second studio album '' Primitive Man''. It peaked at No. 5 on the Australian Singles Chart, it was later featured ...

", "

Crazy Insanity, madness, lunacy, and craziness are behaviors performed by certain abnormal mental or behavioral patterns. Insanity can be manifest as violations of societal norms, including a person or persons becoming a danger to themselves or t ...

", " Electric Blue", and "My Obsession". Their best selling albums included '' Primitive Man'' (1982), and ''

Man of Colours A man is an adult male human. Prior to adulthood, a male human is referred to as a boy (a male child or adolescent). Like most other male mammals, a man's genome usually inherits an X chromosome from the mother and a Y chromos ...

'' (1987). The band was inducted into the

Australian Recording Industry Association The Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) is a trade association representing the Australian recording industry which was established in the 1970s by six major record companies, EMI, Festival, CBS, RCA, WEA and Universal replacing ...

(ARIA) Hall of Fame on 16 August 2006. Along with the success of "Crazy", in 1987 Qunta co-wrote "

You're the Voice "You're the Voice" is a song written by Andy Qunta, Keith Reid, Maggie Ryder and Chris Thompson, and recorded by the Australian singer John Farnham and released as a single in September 1986 ahead of his album '' Whispering Jack''. "You're t ...

" which was released by John Farnham as the first single from his studio album ''

Whispering Jack ''Whispering Jack'' is the twelfth studio album by Australian adult contemporary pop singer John Farnham. It was produced by Ross Fraser, and released on 20 October 1986, peaking at No. 1 on the Australian Kent Music Report Album Charts. NOTE: ...

'' (1986). The song reached the number-one chart position. This gave Qunta the confidence to write and record his 1989 solo album ''Legend in a Loungeroom''. Afterward he left Icehouse, and relocated to

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

, California.

Songwriting career

In 1985, Qunta signed a worldwide publishing contract with

Rondor Music Universal Music Publishing Group (UMPG) is a North American music publishing company and is part of the Universal Music Group. It was formerly known as MCA Music Publishing until it merged with PolyGram. Universal Music Publishing is the wor ...

to market his songs, but in 1992 he switched to PolyGram in Los Angeles, California. In 1986, Qunta and

Iva Davies Ivor Arthur Davies, AM (born 22 May 1955), known professionally as Iva Davies, is an Australian singer, songwriter, composer, multi-instrumentalist and record producer. Davies' music career spans more than 40 years. He came to prominence in t ...

co-wrote the Icehouse single "Crazy", he also co-wrote "

" for John Farnham in the same year. In 2000, he wrote the score for the movie ''Last Chance'' and in 2006 collaborated with Anthony Di Pietro on a stage musical adaptation of

Rudyard Kipling Joseph Rudyard Kipling ( ; 30 December 1865 – 18 January 1936)''The Times'', (London) 18 January 1936, p. 12. was an English novelist, short-story writer, poet, and journalist. He was born in British India, which inspired much of his work. ...

's story "

The Man Who Would Be King "The Man Who Would Be King" (1888) is a story by Rudyard Kipling about two British adventurers in British India who become kings of Kafiristan, a remote part of Afghanistan. The story was first published in '' The Phantom Rickshaw and other E ...

" (1888).

Personal life

Qunta married songwriter Jane Wareing in 1997 and they have a daughter named Alex. The couple divorced in 2001. He currently lives near Los Angeles, California, with his current wife, photographer Teresa Qunta, whom he married in 2005.

Discography

Qunta has a long list of credits, and in 1989 released a solo studio album. Studio album * ''Legend in a Loungeroom'' (1989)

References

External links

Official website
* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Qunta, Andy 1951 births Living people People from Warrington 20th-century English singers 21st-century English singers English male composers English male singers English male singer-songwriters English pop rock singers English session musicians English people of South African descent English male guitarists English keyboardists Icehouse (band) members Classix Nouveaux members