Chocolate Starfish is an Australian

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

band formed in 1992 and disbanded in 1998. Their

self-titled An eponym is a person, a place, or a thing after whom or which someone or something is, or is believed to be, named. The adjectives which are derived from the word eponym include ''eponymous'' and ''eponymic''. Usage of the word The term ''epon ...

debut album, issued in April 1994, peaked at No. 2 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 was followed in October 1995 by their second album, ''

Box A box (plural: boxes) is a container used for the storage or transportation of its contents. Most boxes have flat, parallel, rectangular sides. Boxes can be very small (like a matchbox) or very large (like a shipping box for furniture), and can ...

'', which reached No. 6. Their highest-charting single, "

You're So Vain "You're So Vain" is a song written in 1971 by American singer and songwriter Carly Simon and released in November 1972. It is one of the songs with which Simon is most identified, and upon its release, reached No. 1 in the United States, Canada, ...

", was a cover version of Carly Simon's 1972 hit. It peaked at No. 11 on the ARIA Singles Chart in September 1993. They had another hit with "

Mountain A mountain is an elevated portion of the Earth's crust, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock. Although definitions vary, a mountain may differ from a plateau in having a limited Summit (topography), summit area, and ...

" in March 1994, which reached No. 12. The group reformed in 2010 and on 31 March 2012, guitarist Zoran Romic died of

non-Hodgkin lymphoma Non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL), also known as non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, is a group of blood cancers that includes all types of lymphomas except Hodgkin lymphomas. Symptoms include enlarged lymph nodes, fever, night sweats, weight loss, and tirednes ...

after remission from an earlier bout. Since the reformation, the group has released a further three studio albums. The group are also known for paying homage to great and touring classic albums, including odes to

Meat Loaf Michael Lee Aday (born Marvin Lee Aday; September 27, 1947 – January 20, 2022), known professionally as Meat Loaf, was an American rock singer and actor. He was noted for his powerful, wide-ranging voice and theatrical live shows. He is on t ...

's ''

Bat Out Of Hell ''Bat Out of Hell'' is the 1977 debut album by American rock singer Meat Loaf and composer Jim Steinman. It is one of the best-selling albums in history. The album was developed from a musical, ''Neverland'', a futuristic rock version of '' ...

'' in 2017 and

INXS INXS (a word play, phonetic play on "in excess") were an Australian Rock music, rock band, formed as The Farriss Brothers in 1977 in Sydney, New South Wales. The band's founding members were bassist Garry Gary Beers, main composer and keyboar ...

's ''

Kick A kick is a physical Strike (attack), strike using the leg, in unison usually with an area of the knee or lower using the foot, heel, tibia (shin), ball of the foot, blade of the foot, toes or knee (the latter is also known as a knee (strike), ...

'' in 2018 and a Bohemian Rhapsody tour 2021.

History

1992-1998: Formation, ''Chocolate Starfish'' & ''Box''

Chocolate Starfish were founded in Melbourne in early 1992 with Norman Falvo on keyboards and vocals;

Craig Harnath Craig Norman Harnath is an Australian musician who was the founding mainstay bass guitarist of the pop, funk and new wave musical group, Kids in the Kitchen from 1983 to 1988. As a songwriter he co-wrote the B-side, "Glad to Be Alive", Note ...

(ex

Kids In The Kitchen Kids in the Kitchen are an Australian pop, funk and new wave band which formed in 1983. They enjoyed chart success with four top-20 hits on the Australian Kent Music Report Singles Chart, "Change in Mood" (1983), "Bitter Desire" (1984), "Someth ...

) on bass guitar, Bruce Pawsey on drums; Zoran Romic 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 Adam Thompson on

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 ...

. The band played a limited number of shows with a comical country based theme under the name of ''The Hodads'' at the Station Hotel. Australian rock music historian, Ian McFarlane, described Thompson as an "entertaining frontman who lent the music an air of much-needed theatricality and melodrama". Other early members were guitarist Brett Kingman (also a member of

Uncanny X-Men ''Uncanny X-Men'', originally published as ''The X-Men'', is an American comic book series published by Marvel Comics since 1963, and is the longest-running series in the X-Men comics franchise. It features a team of superheroes called the X- ...

, and a member of James Reyne's band for many years), and John Justin. In January 1993 Chocolate Starfish released their debut extended play, ''Seafood''. By that time ex- Roxus members John "Stone" Nixon and Darren Danielson replaced Harnath on bass guitar and Pawsey on drums, respectively. In August they released their debut single—a cover version of Carly Simon's "

"—which reached No. 11 on the ARIA Singles Chart. Their second single, " All Over Me" (October), reached the Top 40; while their third single, "

", peaked at No. 12 in March 1994. Their debut album, ''

Chocolate Starfish Chocolate Starfish is an Australian rock band formed in 1992 and disbanded in 1998. Their self-titled debut album, issued in April 1994, peaked at No. 2 on the ARIA Albums Chart. It was followed in October 1995 by their second album, ''B ...

'', was released in April 1994, and reached No. 2 on the ARIA Albums Chart. The album was certified platinum. It was produced by

Pseudo Echo Pseudo Echo are an Australian new wave band that formed in 1982 by founding mainstay Brian Canham on vocals, guitar and keyboards. Other original members were Pierre Gigliotti (as Pierre Pierre) on bass keyboards and bass guitar, and Tony Lugt ...

front man, Brian Canham, for

EMI Music Australia EMI Recorded Music Australia Pty Ltd (called EMI Music Australia until May 2013) is an Australian imprint of Universal Music Australia, formerly a subsidiary label of EMI Recordings Ltd and, between 1979 and 1996, that of Thorn EMI. It is Austra ...

. The album appeared in the top 40 on the ARIA End of Year Charts. McFarlane felt the album "showcased the band's confident and punchy, if overwrought, delivery". Falvo left the group at the end of 1994 and Tim Rosewarne replaced him on keyboards for the second album, ''

'', released in October 1995, reached No. 6. This was mixed by

Thom Panunzio Thom Panunzio is a music producer and engineer. His career began in 1974 at the Record Plant Studios NYC, working with John Lennon. Later, he became a staff engineer at the Record Plant, and later at The Hit Factory. Panunzio worked often wit ...

( U2,

Soundgarden Soundgarden was an American rock band formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1984 by singer and drummer Chris Cornell, lead guitarist Kim Thayil (both of whom are the only members to appear in every incarnation of the band), and bassist Hiro Yama ...

) and produced by Canham for

Virgin Records Virgin Records is a record label owned by Universal Music Group. It originally founded as a British independent record label in 1972 by entrepreneurs Richard Branson, Simon Draper, Nik Powell, and musician Tom Newman (musician), Tom Newman. It ...

. McFarlane felt it was similar to their debut album and "mixed strong vocals with grungy riffs, anthemic choruses with moody ballads, and accessible 1970s-influenced rock with tight 1990s production values". In 1997 Danielson left and the group relocated to Paris for six months; they disbanded by 1998.

1997-2009: After disbandment

In 1997 Danielson and Canham formed a band, ''Brill'', which released one self-titled album independently. In 1998 Romic joined Brill. When Canham re-formed

in 1998, he recruited Danielson to play drums. In the following years, Romic and Danielson formed The Fur Group and Fur Records in Melbourne with successful bands such as Skybombers.

2010-present: Reformation, ''Born Again Versions'', ''Spider'' & ''Beautiful Addiction''

In 2010 Chocolate Starfish reformed with a line-up of Danielson, Falvo, Nixon, Romic and Thompson. They started work on new studio material, however a planned concert tour was cancelled when Romic was diagnosed with

in March 2011. A benefit concert was held for Romic in October 2011—at which he performed with Chocolate Starfish—and on 31 March 2012 he died of the cancer. The band continued after Romic's death and from January to March 2013 they played on the Red Hot Summer Tour alongside

Jimmy Barnes James Dixon "Jimmy" Barnes (née Swan; born 28 April 1956) is a Scottish-born Australian rock singer. His career, both as a solo performer and as the lead vocalist with the rock band Cold Chisel, has made him one of the most popular and best- ...

Ian Moss Ian Richard Moss (born 20 March 1955) is an Australian rock musician from Alice Springs. He is the founding mainstay guitarist and occasional singer of Cold Chisel. In that group's initial eleven year phase from 1973 to 1984, Moss was recorded ...

and Dragon. For the tour they used Tim Henwood (

The Androids ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

The Superjesus The Superjesus are an Australian rock band formed in Adelaide in late 1994. Their debut album, ''Sumo'' (February 1998), peaked at No. 2 on the ARIA Albums Chart, their second album, ''Jet Age'' (October 2000) reached No. 5 and their ...

) on guitar. In 2014, the band recorded a wholly acoustic album of favourites called ''Born Again Versions'' (BAV) with the premise that "If a song can stand the rigours of a rework and still hold up, then hopefully it has the hallmarks of a good song". In 2014, the band wrote a song for a TV commercial in the

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (commonly abbreviated as NT; formally the Northern Territory of Australia) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian territory in the central and central northern regions of Australia. The Northern Territory ...

, which lead to them writing and recording an EP. In October 2014, the group released a self-produced EP titled ''Primitive''. Drummer Daniel Danielson said "It's a little from where we left off in the '90s. I'd like to think that we still have that energy that we had back in the day." Thompson told ''Forte'' magazine, "I'm going to tell you that it's fantastic that we finally have some new material we can shop around and show people. It was a long time coming to put it together, because everybody has other things in their lives going on and Starfish isn't a full-time thing anymore. It freshens everything up and its a welcome change for us I think." On 31 October 2014, the group performed a one-off performance of

's ''

Bat Out of Hell ''Bat Out of Hell'' is the 1977 debut album by American rock singer Meat Loaf and composer Jim Steinman. It is one of the best-selling albums in history. The album was developed from a musical, ''Neverland'', a futuristic rock version of '' ...

'' album from start to finish. In March 2015, the band released their first new single in almost 20 years, titled "Cinderella". All proceeds from the sale of the song were donated to the Jaime Wild Foundation in support for Jamie, who is a young woman challenged by

motor neurone disease Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as motor neuron disease (MND) or Lou Gehrig's disease, is a neurodegenerative disease that results in the progressive loss of motor neurons that control voluntary muscles. ALS is the most commo ...

. On 31 December 2017, the band released their first album of new material in twenty years, titled ''Spider'' dedicated to Zoran "Spider" Romic. Romic co-wrote the album track "Heavyweight" several years ago. The album's lead single "Farmer Loretta" was released in early 2018. In December 2020, the band released the EP ''Scaled Back'' which includes tracks from 1993 debut recorded in an intimate, jam session. In March 2021, the band confirmed the release of the album, ''Beautiful Addiction'' set for release in May 2021. The lead single is a cover of 4 Non Blondes' " What's Up".

Discography

Studio albums

Live albums

Extended plays

Singles

Awards and nominations

ARIA Music Awards

The ARIA Music Awards is an annual awards ceremony that recognises excellence, innovation and achievement across all genres of Australian music. Chocolate Starfish has been nominated three times. , - , rowspan="2",

1994 File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which Sinking of the MS Estonia, sank in ...

, , rowspan="2", "You're So Vain" , ,

ARIA Award for Breakthrough Artist – Single The ARIA Music Award for Breakthrough Artist – Single was an award presented at the annual ARIA Music Awards. It was presented from 1989 through to 2009 and 2011. This, and the ARIA Award for Breakthrough Artist – Album was merged in 2012 t ...

, , , - , ARIA Award for Highest Selling Single , , , - , 1995 , , "Mountain" , , ARIA Award for Highest Selling Single , , , -

References

External links

*
Zoran Romic - Tribute website
{{Authority control Australian rock music groups Musical groups from Melbourne Musical groups established in 1992 Musical groups disestablished in 1998 Musical groups reestablished in 2010