Not long after Beargarden began performing live, manager/publisher Chris Murphy developed an interest in the band, having seen them at the Crystal Ballroom, playing in support of INXS who he managed at the time. INXS members Michael Hutchence and Andrew Farriss also saw potential in Beargarden and expressed interest in producing a studio recording. INXS invited the band to support them on an eleven-show tour through Sydney and Chris Murphy signed them to his publishing company MMA. With a building industry vibe, the band also secured prominent support slots with Cold Chisel, Divinyls, Echo & The Bunnymen, The Teardrop Explodes and others.
In February 1982, encouraged by Murphy, Beargarden signed a recording contract with RCA. Several months afterwards, riddled with internal strife, Beargarden disbanded. Sejavka occupied himself with a brief-lived band that did not see the outside of a rehearsal room, and wrote the play Planetarium, which was produced soon after. Keyboardist Gus Till joined the Models for a number of Australian tours. Around the beginning of 1983, urged by Till and again encouraged by Chris Murphy, Beargarden reformed. Ex-Models tour-manager Chris Melios became manager and the band signed with booking agency Nucleus.
The band's music moved further towards the pop standard of the day, abandoning the last chaotic influences of their precursors The Ears. With the RCA contract annulled, Virgin Records Australia chose Beargarden as their first Australian signing. A single "The Finer Things" was produced by Ross Cockle at AAV studios in South Melbourne and released in October 1984 with a film clip directed by John Hillcoat and featuring a young Noah Taylor. Though the single made little impact on the charts, the band's fortunes continued to improve.
Sebastian Chase, who had previously managed The Reels and Dragon, replaced Melios. Beargarden supported Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark on their Australian tour, as well as, in Melbourne, Culture Club, Simple Minds and Eurythmics. In July 1985, Beargarden began recording their debut album, 'All That Fall', at Albert Studios in Sydney with producers Bruce Brown & Russel Dunlop. A second single "I Write the News" resulted from these sessions. The B-side, "Sixty Perfect Windows", had been recorded previously at Richmond Recorders, Melbourne, and was produced by Michael Hutchence and Andrew Farris (Hutchence provides backing vocals for the track). A film clip for "I Write The News" was directed by Paul Goldman (Australian Rules, The Night They Called It a Day, The Ben Cousins Story).
The single penetrated the lower reaches of the charts but despite heavy promotion and good airplay did not break through. 'All That Fall' took a great many months to complete and during this time the band's inner turmoil again boiled to the surface. Bassist Ross Farnell was replaced by Simon Polinski, and Shaun Andersen (brother of guitarist Shane Andalou) was recruited on second guitar. These changes exacerbated the band's pre-existing instability, and, after the release of a third single ''Drink Drink Drink'', it folded. Paul Goldman directed a clip for ''Drink Drink Drink'' but, given the suggestive nature of the song title and the mistaking of burning scarecrows for burning crucifixes by the producers of Countdown, it failed to air, and the single made little impact. Beargarden's disintegration was accompanied by acrimony and incidents of poor and/or outrageous behaviour on stage.
Virgin quickly divested themselves of the product and 'All That Fall' was ultimately released to little fanfare on Chase Records, accompanied by a fourth and final single "A Seaside Song". In 2010 the Beargarden albums, 'All That Fall' and 'The Word That Refers to The Word That Refers to Walt Disney' (a collection of b-sides and demos) became available for download on Bandcamp.
Members
Sam Sejavka (vocals), Ross Farnell (bass), Shane Andalou (guitar), Carl Manuell (drums),
Gus Till (keyboards), Mick Lewis (guitar), Shaun Andersen (guitar), Simon Polinski (bass)
SINGLES
I Write the News
| 15 JUL '85 | #56 |
References
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beargarden_%28band%29
http://top100singles.blogspot.com.au/
The B-side, "Sixty Perfect Windows" was produced by Michael Hutchence and Andrew Farris (Hutchence provides backing vocals for the track).
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