Nick Barker (ex-Wreckery) formed Nick Barker & the Reptiles, a rock, blues and power pop band in March 1988, with former bandmate Adrian Chynoweth on guitar, Drew Basford on bass guitar, and David Pinder on drums. They signed to Mushroom Records' White Label imprint. Their debut single, "Another Me / Spirit Level" was released in December. Chris Harris joined the group on harmonica. Also, during 1988 and 1989, Barker was a member of Hugo Race and the True Spirit and Mark Seymour and the Daydreamers on bass guitar.
Nick Barker & the Reptiles released their debut album, 'Goin' To Pieces', in August 1989, which peaked in the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) Albums Chart at #35. It was co-produced by Jim Faraci (Femme Fatale), Mark Moffatt (Mental As Anything, Midnight Oil) and Chris Bailey (ex-The Saints). Penelope Layland of The Canberra Times observed, "Patchy production mars this debut album from the group. Their music really relies on its rough and rude edge, and without it, loses much of its appeal it is hardly a dismal failure, they just haven't quite come up with the goods. You can only make so many excuses for a debut album. After that it comes down to the fact that a patchy album costs just as much as a great one."
The band's cover version of Cockney Rebel's "Make Me Smile (Come Up and See Me)" reached the top 30 on the ARIA Singles Chart in November. They undertook a touring schedule with 200 performances a year on the national pub rock circuit. Australian musicologist, Ian McFarlane, described how "their sassy brand of commercial rock'n'blues found immediate acceptance by becoming one of the archetypal Oz Rock pub bands of the era." In 1990 Matthew Heydon joined on keyboards and Marc Scully (ex-Love Rodeo, Deadly Hume) replaced Basford on bass guitar.
Their second album, 'After The Show' was released in March 1991, was produced by Los Angeles-based, Joe Hardy (Steve Earle, Tom Cochrane), which peaked at #33. McFarlane opined, "it was a diverse collection of songs, ranging from tough rock'n'roll and bar-room boogies to ballads." The Canberra Times' John Lilley felt, "they have well and truly strayed from the norm by not only promptly releasing a second album but making it a worthy one as well... their sound has not been forcefully smoothed out beyond recognition in the recording studio. Their enthusiastic live sound has been allowed to seep through."
None of 'After the Show's' three singles charted in the top 50. "Out in the Open" appeared in February 1992 and was followed by an extended play, 'Loose', in April. Its tracks were used as fill music on the TV program Nine's Wide World of Sports. After a hiatus and overseas travel, Barker returned to Melbourne and disbanded the Reptiles in 1993.
Members
Nick Barker (guitar, vocals), Adrian Chynoweth (guitar), Dave Pinder (drums), Drew Basford (bass), Chris Harris (harmonica), Mark Scully (bass), Matt Heydon (keyboards)
SINGLES
Another Me
| 13 MAR '89 | #64 |
(Sure Beats) Going to Pieces
| 7 AUG '89 | #84 |
Make Me Smile (Come Up and See Me)
| 30 OCT '89 | #30 |
Resurrection Time
| 25 FEB '90 | #86 |
Won't Get You Loved
| 17 FEB '91 | #53 |
Can't Hold On
| 26 MAY '91 | #84 |
Out in the Open ["Loose "EP] | 29 MAR '92 | #81 |
Heard So Much About You
|
Nick Barker
| 27 MAR '94 | #88 |
References
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nick_Barker
http://top100singles.blogspot.com.au/
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