Stylus (band)
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Stylus were an Australian
blue-eyed soul Blue-eyed soul (also called white soul) is rhythm and blues (R&B) and soul music performed by white artists. The term was coined in the mid-1960s, to describe white artists whose sound was similar to that of the predominantly-black Motown and Stax ...
group formed in 1975. They were the only Australian act to be released by
Motown Records Motown Records is an American record label owned by the Universal Music Group. It was founded by Berry Gordy, Berry Gordy Jr. as Tamla Records on June 7, 1958, and incorporated as Motown Record Corporation on April 14, 1960. Its name, a portmant ...
in the USA. Stylus toured supporting
George Benson George Washington Benson (born March 22, 1943) is an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He began his professional career at the age of 19 as a jazz guitarist. A former child prodigy, Benson first came to prominence in the 1960s, pla ...
,
Average White Band The Average White Band (also known as AWB) are a Scottish funk and R&B band that had a series of soul and disco hits between 1974 and 1980. They are best known for their million-selling instrumental track " Pick Up the Pieces", and their album ...
,
Ike & Tina Turner Ike & Tina Turner were an American musical duo consisting of husband and wife Ike Turner and Tina Turner. From 1960 to 1976, they performed live as the Ike & Tina Turner Revue, supported by Ike Turner's band the Kings of Rhythm and backing vocal ...
, and
Little River Band Little River Band (LRB) are a rock band originally formed in Melbourne, Australia, in March 1975. The band achieved commercial success in both Australia and the United States. They have sold more than 30 million records; six studio albums rea ...
. According to 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 ...
, Stylus "scored a number of hit singles and became very popular on the Australian pub and concert circuit". The group disbanded in 1979 and subsequently had various reunions. In 1998-99 Japan's Toshiba-EMI re-issued three Stylus albums on CDs (''For the Love of Music'', ''Best Kept Secret'' and ''Part of It All''). Their reunions have resulted in a live album, ''Still Alive'' (2003); and a new studio album, ''Across Time'' (2010).


History

Stylus developed from Mason's Cure, which were a Melbourne-based group, led by Ian Mason on keyboards, and included at various stages Peter Cupples (ex-Wheatfield, Canyon), Ashley Henderson, Peter Lee, Ronnie Peers and Ian Tomney. In early 1975 that group issued a single, "Let Me Love You Right", but Mason left to join The Bootleg Band.McFarlane
'Stylus'
entry. Archived fro
the original
on 1 September 2004. Retrieved 18 March 2013.
The remaining members became Stylus with Cupples on lead vocals, guitar (electric and acoustic), congas, percussion and electric piano; Henderson on bass guitar, lead and backing vocals; Lee on drums and percussion; Peers on lead guitar (electric and acoustic); and new member, Sam McNally (ex-Silver Sun, Baiyana) on keyboards: fender electric piano, acoustic piano, moog synthesiser and clavinet;. The group supported tours by
Focus Focus, or its plural form foci may refer to: Arts * Focus or Focus Festival, former name of the Adelaide Fringe arts festival in South Australia Film *''Focus'', a 1962 TV film starring James Whitmore * ''Focus'' (2001 film), a 2001 film based ...
,
Ike and Tina Turner Ike or IKE may refer to: People * Ike (given name), a list of people with the name or nickname * Dwight D. Eisenhower (1890–1969), Supreme Commander of the Allied forces in Europe during World War II and President of the United States Surname ...
, and Sherbet. Stylus were signed to
WEA The Wea were a Miami-Illinois-speaking Native American tribe originally located in western Indiana. Historically, they were described as either being closely related to the Miami Tribe or a sub-tribe of Miami. Today, the descendants of the ...
and, in June 1975, released their debut single, " Summer Breeze", which was a cover version of Seals & Croft's 1972 song. The Stylus version reached the top 60 of the
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 ...
Singles Chart. Note: Used for Australian Singles and Albums charting from 1974 until
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 th ...
(ARIA) 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. In 1992, Kent back calculated chart positions for 1970–1974.
Their second single, "World of Make Believe", appeared in October which peaked into the top 40. It was followed, in November, by their debut album, ''Where in the World?'', which was recorded at Armstrong Audio Video in Melbourne for
Atlantic Records Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over its first 20 years of operation, Atlantic earned a reputation as one of the most i ...
.. In April 1976 the album provided a third single, "I'm Going Home", but Stylus had left WEA. Their next single, "So Much Love", was issued in June 1976 on Crystal Clear Records, which reached the top 50. The group signed with the Oz label, run by Ross Wilson and
Glenn Wheatley Glenn Dawson Wheatley (23 January 1948 – 1 February 2022) was an Australian musician, talent manager and tour promoter. Career Wheatley began his career as a musician in Brisbane in the mid-1960s. In the late 1960s he became known national ...
, and distributed by
EMI EMI Group Limited (originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records Ltd. or simply EMI) was a British transnational conglomerate founded in March 1931 in London. At the time of its break-up in 201 ...
. Their second album, ''For the Love of Music'', was released in October that year, which was produced by Trevor Courtney and Cupples. It included their next single, "I Just Don't Wanna Fall in Love Right Now", which reached the top 100. By that time Courtney (ex-Vibrants, Skylight) had temporarily replaced Lee on drums, and was replaced in turn by Joe Tattersall (
Ayers Rock Uluru (; pjt, Uluṟu ), also known as Ayers Rock ( ) and officially gazetted as UluruAyers Rock, is a large sandstone formation in the centre of Australia. It is in the southern part of the Northern Territory, southwest of Alice Springs ...
) by the end of that year. With Courtney on drums, Stylus had recorded the group's third album, ''Best Kept Secret'', which appeared in April 1978. It provided three more singles, "Workout Fine" (March 1978), "Look at Me" (July) and "Got to Say Goodbye" (November). The group signed with
Motown Records Motown Records is an American record label owned by the Universal Music Group. It was founded by Berry Gordy, Berry Gordy Jr. as Tamla Records on June 7, 1958, and incorporated as Motown Record Corporation on April 14, 1960. Its name, a portmant ...
to re-issue ''Best Kept Secret'' as ''Stylus'', in the United Kingdom and United States, on their Prodigal imprint. The album and its related singles received favourable reviews in music industry magazines, '' Cashbox'' and ''
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 ...
''. By mid-1978 Peter Roberts (ex-Ride Band) had joined on co-lead vocals and then Mark Meyer (Sailor) replaced Tattersall on drums. Prodigal was shelved by Motown in 1979, disrupting the Stylus-Motown relationship, just as tours with Hall & Oates and Earth Wind & Fire were proposed. Stylus supported
George Benson George Washington Benson (born March 22, 1943) is an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He began his professional career at the age of 19 as a jazz guitarist. A former child prodigy, Benson first came to prominence in the 1960s, pla ...
on his Australian tour. In August 1979 the band issued their fourth album, ''Part of It All'', and the related single, "If You Believe in Me". The group disbanded later that year. ''Part of It All'' was to be their second US release but this was also shelved. EMI Records in Australia were not committed to the band despite the US interest.


Afterwards and reunions

Various Stylus members pursued separate careers after the group had disbanded. By 1980 Cupples had formed the first version of Peter Cupples Band with Virgil Donati (ex-Taste) on drums;
David Hirschfelder David Hirschfelder (born 18 November 1960, Ballarat, Victoria) is an Australian musician, film score composer and performer. As a musician he has been a member of Little River Band and John Farnham Band. He has composed film scores for many films ...
on keyboards; Ross Ingliss on guitar; and Robert Little on bass guitar. In October 1981 he issued his debut solo album, ''Fear of Thunder'', on the Full Moon label for Astor Records. He also appeared on TV variety shows and worked on the cabaret circuit. In 1980 McNally joined John Farnham Band, by February 1982 he issued his solo album, ''First Chance''. He toured with various bands and worked as a session musician. In 1998-99 Toshiba-EMI in Japan released the Stylus back catalogue on CD – which had not appeared in that format in Australia. Late in 2001 Stylus reunited with the line-up of Cupples, Henderson, McNally, and Peers joined by David Jones on drums. Live recordings from their 2002 tour were issued as ''Still Alive'' in 2003 on Empire Records.. In 2009, Toshiba-EMI requested a new studio album from Stylus, they had established a relationship with the band following the re-release of the original catalogue. On 23 June 2010 the album, ''Across Time'', was released in Japan – the first one of new material in 31 years – on Vivid Japan/Zoom. The line-up were Cupples, Henderson, McNally and Peers with Gerry Pantazis on drums and percussion. Late in 2012 Stylus performed shows in Melbourne, Sydney and Newcastle; their first since 2002.


Discography


Studio albums


Live albums


Compilation albums


Singles


References

;General * Note: Archived n-linecopy has limited functionality. ;Specific


External links


Pop Archives


{{Authority control Australian pop music groups Musical groups established in 1975 Musical groups disestablished in 1979 Victoria (Australia) musical groups