Doug Anthony All Stars

The Doug Anthony All Stars (or Doug Anthony Allstars, DAAS, D.A.A.S. or stylised as D⋆A†A☭S) were an Australian musical comedy, alternative rock and vocal group who initially performed together between 1984 and 1994. The group were an acoustic trio, originally comprising Paul McDermott and Tim Ferguson on main vocals and Richard Fidler on guitar and backing vocals. The group reformed in 2014, with Paul Livingston (aka "Flacco") replacing Fidler on guitar.

DAAS were known for their aggressive, provocative style, their habit of involving audience members and their tendency to attack topical and sometimes controversial issues in their comedy.

DAAS began performing as buskers on the streets of Canberra in 1984, while they were attending university. After winning the Pick of the Fringe award at the 1986 Adelaide Fringe Festival, the group relocated from Canberra to Melbourne, but it was not until they travelled to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 1987 that they first achieved success. They quickly gained popularity in the United Kingdom, where they made numerous television appearances and performed several times on the UK's Channel 4 late-night alternative comedy show '' Viva Cabaret'', but remained virtually unknown in Australia until 1989 when they were made regular performers on the Australian comedy show ''The Big Gig''. These appearances gained them recognition, and they remained a popular feature of the show until 1991 when they left to create their own ABC comedy series, ''DAAS Kapital''.

The group released four live recordings and one studio album, ''DAAS Icon'', which achieved some independent success in Australia but was briefly banned in Britain. They also released a collection of dark short stories in 1989, entitled ''Book'', which took a markedly different tone from their comedic stage performances. They also made two live concert videos and one film, ''The Edinburgh Years''. The group split up in 1994, following a final farewell tour of Australia. Although they reunited in 2003 to perform together at a benefit concert, were interviewed together in 2008 in support of their DVD, and reunited for a one-off show to launch the ''DAAS Kapital'' DVD in 2013, the three ruled out the suggestion of a reunion tour at the time.

In December 2013, McDermott and Ferguson announced they would be performing "as DAAS" for the group's 30th anniversary, at the Canberra Comedy Festival in March 2014, with Paul Livingston performing the role of Fidler. This current line-up has announced subsequent shows in Hobart, Melbourne, Wollongong, Perth, Brisbane and Bendigo, with more dates to follow.

The group have been inactive since the end of 2017.

Style

DAAS employ an aggressive, confrontational style, which author and journalist Geoff Bartlett describes as " ushingthe boundaries of humour and good taste to their absolute limits". They frequently delve into topical and taboo subject matter with songs such as "Commies for Christ" and "I Fuck Dogs". "Long before anyone knew the term, one of our greatest driving forces was to be politically incorrect," said Ferguson. Each band member developed distinctive onstage characters, with McDermott adopting a nasty, mean persona, while Ferguson played a narcissistic character who was "gorgeous but stupid". Fidler initially played the straight man, but as the group became more aggressive he developed into a character who was naturally happy and caring but frequently victimised by his fellow band members.

The group drew inspiration from short-lived punk bands like the Fat Sluts, The Lone Reagans and Forbidden Mule, whom Ferguson describes as "like all punk bands... very fast and furious." Much of the band's provocative style emerged from their origins as street performers, where to get people's attention they resorted to outrageous or theatrical tactics—the group would sometimes walk into the street and stop traffic to get noticed. "Sometimes we have to do really ugly or horrendous things to get people's attention, and we're not afraid to do that. We'll hit someone if it gets a bit of discourse going," said McDermott.

Neil Pigot, who did some work with the group, describes their style as "a sort of extension of the Python tradition, but very much in an Australian context." He says that DAAS were "crucially important" in the development of Australian comedy, directly contributing to the styles of successful comedy shows such as ''The D-Generation'', ''Fast Forward'' and ''Wogs Out of Work''. At the time DAAS emerged, Pigot says, comedy in Australia was dominated by joke-tellers and impersonators. By contrast, DAAS were belligerent and confrontational, frequently attacking topical issues, invading people's personal space and involving the audience in their act. Mark Trevorrow, who frequently collaborated with the group, described their work as "true genius." "Their great shows were among the greatest evenings I've witnessed in my life and their worst shows were among the worst," he said. "They'd whip up an audience and appeal to people's darker side. It was very Dada, what they were doing. And what happens with that is you're just as often likely to have people who want to kill you as applaud you." In addition, ABC comedy producer Ted Robinson says that the group played an important role in raising the profile of Australian comedy overseas, particularly in Britain where DAAS were very popular. British comedian Al Murray said of seeing the group at the Edinburgh Festival in 1988, "they came onstage with the attitude of feral invaders and left it with no taboo untouched." Murray described the All Stars as "an insanely hot act from Oz who sang, cursed, sweated and insulted each other and their audiences with a level of commitment and polish that seemed exotically charged and almost transgressive in the late 80s."

DAAS were known for continuing to act, or to remain in character, during interviews. Much of this was just banter, but they also had serious messages. DAAS were often criticising the media and part of this was to tell outrageous lies to journalists during interviews and attempt to see them published as fact. In one of the best-known instances of this, the group told British reporters that their namesake, former Australian politician Doug Anthony, was a much-loved Prime Minister of Australia who had been assassinated on 11 November 1975, by right-wing extremists. (In fact, Anthony is a former Deputy Prime Minister of Australia who had led the right-of-center National Party of Australia from 1971 to 1984.) The lie was printed in ''The Times'', ''The Guardian'' and ''The Independent''. This game continued undetected until in 1990 the group told a reporter that they had been cast in ''Batman'' and had become great friends with Jack Nicholson, both lies. The story was reported as fact in newspapers around Australia and appeared as a cover story in the TV guide of Melbourne's ''Herald Sun'' before the media realised the hoax.

History

Early years

Tim Ferguson met Richard Fidler busking on the streets of Canberra in 1984, while they were both attending university. Ferguson recalls: "Richard was playing the guitar—something from Cat Stevens—one day and I walked up to him and we did ' Wild Thing'. I sang a few lyrics and jumped about like a mad thing. Lo and behold we made a stack of money in ten minutes." The two began performing together and joined with another friend, Robert Piper, to form the Doug Anthony All Stars. They derived their name from Doug Anthony, a former Country Party leader and Deputy Prime Minister of Australia. According to Fidler, during their earlier gigs in clubs and as street performers, Ferguson was "a bit of an explosive hippie" while Fidler and Piper were more reserved. Robert Piper left the group in 1985 due to other commitments. Piper has gone on to a successful career with the United Nations and in March 2013 was named Deputy Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process and the humanitarian coordinator for the Occupied Palestinian Territory.

With Piper's departure, Paul McDermott, who performed at one of DAAS's regular clubs, was invited to join. He accepted, although he did not like their material, which he considered too sweet. Fidler says McDermott changed the group's dynamic; he wrote the majority of their songs and prompted a darker tone. After winning the Pick of the Fringe award at the 1986 Adelaide Fringe Festival, the group relocated from Canberra to Melbourne, where they based themselves with a regular gig at the Prince Patrick Hotel in Collingwood, in an effort to save enough money to travel to the Edinburgh Fringe. Initially, DAAS found that Melbourne audiences did not respond to their act and to provoke a reaction they became more aggressive, with McDermott and Ferguson adopting more abusive personas and often picking on Fidler's naturally happy but stupid character. They made their first overseas performance at the Edinburgh Fringe in 1987, to sold out crowds.

Successes

Following their Edinburgh Fringe shows, the group enjoyed considerable success in the United Kingdom, making appearances on numerous BBC
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