PSEUDO ECHO

Pseudo Echo formed in Melbourne in 1982 by school friends Brian Canham on vocals, guitars, and keyboards and Pierre Gigliotti (as Pierre Pierre) on bass and keyboards, they were joined by Tony Lugton (ex-James Freud & the Radio Stars) on guitars and keyboards. The group were named for a sound effect available on their keyboards and were influenced by New Romantics bands, Duran Duran, Spandau Ballet and Ultravox. Molly Meldrum, television presenter for the pop music series Countdown, saw the group at a gig and aired them on the show with a demo version of "Listening" in June 1983. They were signed to EMI Records and "Listening" – produced by Peter Dawkins – was issued in November as their debut single, which peaked at #4 on the Australian Kent Music Report Singles Chart.

Their first album 'Autumnal Park', produced by Dawkins and John Punter, was released in June 1984, which peaked at #11 on the Kent Music Report Albums Chart. It was an Ultravox-influenced effort which, besides "Listening", yielded the singles "A Beat for You" (#12 in April), "Stranger in Me" (July) and "Dancing Till Midnight" (December). "His Eyes", another album track, received overseas exposure when it was used in the film Friday the 13th: A New Beginning. Pseudo Echo's Tony Lugton was replaced by James Leigh (aka James Dingli) in October 1984. Tony Lugton left the band due to musical differences. Lugton eventually joined synth rock band Talk That Walk. Another line-up change occurred just after the recording of the second album, with Argiro replaced by James's brother Vince Leigh (aka Vincent Dingli).In November 1985, Canham joined a charity project for research on little penguins, as a guest vocalist with other Australian artists and backed by The Incredible Penguins. They covered the John Lennon and Yoko Ono hit "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)", which peaked at #10 in December.

Their second album, 'Love An Adventure' issued in November, was produced by Mark S. Berry, and Brian Canham, which reached #14. Three of its singles reached the Top 20 including "Don't Go" (#4 in October), "Love an Adventure" (#6 in January 1986), and "Living in a Dream" (#15 in May). A fourth single, "Try" (August), did not peak into the Top 50. In October 1986, Pseudo Echo released a rockier version of the Lipps, Inc. disco song "Funky Town", which spent seven weeks at #1 from December.

The album, 'Love an Adventure', was re-released the following year to include their remake of "Funky Town" which brought the group their biggest international success, the single reached #6 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States, and #8 on the UK Singles Chart in July 1987. The overseas release of 'Love An Adventure' featured a different track listing and included re-recorded versions of three singles from 'Autumnal Park': "Listening", "A Beat for You", and "Destination Unknown". These were more rock-oriented, to better match the other album tracks. Canham re-recorded his vocals for a slicker sound for the rock remixes. The overseas version of 'Love an Adventure' had the re-make of "Funky Town" replacing "Don't Go".

In 1987, the band re-released "Listening" for the movie North Shore starring Nia Peeples. In October they won the 1987 World Popular Song Festival (aka Yamaha Music Festival) with "Take on the World", which provided a prize of US$10,000. and released a compilation album 'Long Plays 83–87'. It was released as 'Funky Town - The Album' in New Zealand where it peaked at #1. Their third album, 'Race' (1989), produced by Julian Mendelsohn and Brian Canham, had a more mature rock sound. It featured the Australian singles "Fooled Again", "Over Tomorrow", "Eye of the Storm", and "Don't You Forget".

The album reached #18 on the Kent Music Report Albums Chart and #32 on the ARIA Albums Chart. The band's move to a more rock, metal genre had alienated a portion of their established fan base. Pseudo Echo disbanded shortly after touring for 'Race' in 1989. Rock music historian, Ian McFarlane, stated they "combined flash clothes, blow-wave hairstyles, youthful exuberance and accessible synth-pop to arrive at a winning combination ... and found a ready-made audience among teenagers who fawned on the band's every move". After Pseudo Echo disbanded in 1990, Canham moved into record production including Chocolate Starfish's 1994 debut album, 'Chocolate Starfish', which peaked at #2 on the ARIA Albums Chart. Gigliotti performed with a covers band, All the Young Dudes.

Pseudo Echo reunited in March 1998, with Canham and Gigliotti joined by Daniel Danielson on drums and Tony Featherstone on keyboards (ex-The Badloves) to tour. With Andy McIvor added on bass guitar and Dave Stuart on keyboards, they toured as Brill and issued an album, 'Brill' in August. In late 1999, as Pseudo Echo, Canham and Gigliotti were joined by Martin Dambrosi on guitar and Ben Grayson on keyboards and released an EP 'Funkytown Y2K: RMX', with six new remixes of "Funky Town".

In 2000, they supported international artists Culture Club and Village People. Pseudo Echo issued a double-CD 'Teleporter' (2000), produced by Canham. One disc featured four new tracks and five re-mixed tracks. The second disc was a live performance, which featured all the tracks from 'Autumnal Park' except "From the Shore", some tracks from 'Love an Adventure' and the rare B-side "In Their Time". Since reuniting, the band toured Australia, including with the "Idols of the 80s" in 2005. In April 2010, they played two sold out shows in Adelaide and then toured nationwide. On 10 July 2012, Pseudo Echo released "Suddenly Silently" independently.

This was followed by "Fighting the Tide" in 2013. 2014 saw them undertake a successful crowd-funding campaign which enabled them to release their 5th studio album 'Ultraviolet'. The band toured 'Ultraviolet' extensively across Australia and to New Zealand. In January 2015, the group recorded a live performance in Hollywood's Viper Room in January 2015 in front of a sold-out crowd. This was released as 'Live at the Viper Room' in June 2015. In December 2017, the group released a cover of "Nutbush City Limits".

In May 2020, the group released their fifth studio album, the acoustic album 'Acoustica', which was followed by the release of their sixth studio album 'After Party' in September of the same year. In June 2021, the group released the album '1990: The Lost Album Demos', a compilation of songs that Brian Canham demoed in 1989 for what would have been Pseudo Echo's fourth studio album.

Members

Brian Canham (vocals, guitar, keyboards, bass) Quentin Roth (Keytar) Matty Ray (Keytar)
Cameron Smith (drums) Pierre Gigliotti (bass, keyboards) Tony Lugton (guitar, keyboards)
Anthony Agriro (drums) James Leigh (keyboards, keytar) Vince Leigh (drums)
Tony Featherstone (keyboards), James Mudd (keyboards), Sammy Paul (backing vocals)

SINGLES

Listening

28 NOV '83

#4

A Beat for You

30 APR '84

#12

Dancing Until Midnight

16 JUL '84

#53

Stranger in Me

10 DEC '84

#58

Don't Go

28 OCT '85

#4

Love an Adventure

27 JAN '86

#6

Living in a Dream

12 MAY '86

#15

Try / Lonely Without You

15 SEP '86

#60

Funky Town

1 DEC '86

#1

Fooled Again

28 NOV '88

#33

Over Tomorrow

20 MAR '89

#40

References

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pseudo_Echo

http://top100singles.blogspot.com.au/