WEDDINGS, PARTIES, ANYTHING

Mick Thomas grew up in Geelong where he played in bush bands in his youth. In 1981 (at age 21) he moved to Melbourne and after a couple of years in Melbourne's pub rock scene with bands like Where's Wolfgang and Trial, Thomas formed the first version of Weddings, Parties, Anything in late 1984. "I couldn't get any rubber on the road. By about 1983 I stopped - and that was the closest to an epiphany I had, to quit and say 'I have to enjoy this or there's no point'."— Mick Thomas, Thomas' idea behind Weddings Parties Anything was to combine that punk rock inspiration with his original love for the honest storytelling in folk music.

The band was essentially based on a song he'd written, "Away, Away". In early 1985 the group's original piano accordion player Wendy Joseph was replaced by Mark Wallace. Michael Thomas had placed an ad looking for an accordion player but didn't receive any responses. He then looked through the phone book for music schools and lists of their past students. After four or five schools he came up with Mark "Wally" Wallace, who'd been playing in his dad's Scottish Club band. Wallace was also listening to rock bands such as The Violent Femmes and like Thomas he was keen to put the accordion into a modern context. "He'd rung accordion teachers out of the phone book looking for ex-students, he got on to me, and wrote me a letter with a tape with five songs on it— Mark Wallace.  Weddings Parties Anything released a four track self-titled EP on the group's own Suffering Tram label with the lineup of Mick Thomas (vocals/bass), Mark Wallace (accordion), David Adams (drums) and Paul Clark (guitar).

By the time they released their version of Tex Morton's ''Sergeant Small'' as a single, the line-up comprised Mick Thomas, Mark Wallace, guitarist Dave Steel (ex-Strange Tenants and Fire Down Below), bassist Janine Hall (ex-The Saints) and drummer Marcus Schintler returning to work with Thomas, after the two met at an audition as the rhythm section for Melbourne band Little Murders two years earlier. Clarke, Schintler and Thomas worked on early versions of ''Away Away'' and ''The River is Wide'', never performing live. ''Sergeant Small'' was written in the 1930s about the Queensland Railway Police and was banned soon after its release in Australia. In 1987 Weddings Parties Anything released its first album, 'Scorn Of The Women'.

They recorded it as another independent release, but on the strength of the group's ever growing live following, the group ended up being offered a recording contract and the album was released by Warners. Janine Hall left the band following the release of the album, and was replaced by Peter Lawler, adding a mandolin to the band's repertoire. It was that line-up that produced 1988's 'Roaring Days'. 1988 also saw Weddings Parties Anything winning its first ARIA award for 'Best New Talent', which was followed by another ARIA in 1989 for 'Best Indigenous Release' (Roaring Days). 

Dave Steel left the band following a tour of North America, citing exhaustion as the chief reason. He also noted in several interviews, at the time of his departure (1988), that he was feeling frustrated not getting a lot of his material on the Weddings Parties Anything albums. He released his debut solo album 'Bitter Street', through WEA in 1989. He was replaced by Richard Burgman (ex-The Sunnyboys, The Saints) for the band's 1989 release, 'The Big Don't Argue', and accompanying tours. In 1989 the band won a third ARIA for 'Best Indigenous Release' (The Big Don't Argue), the second such award with the nomination causing the band to boycott the awards for the second year running. In 1990 Weddings Parties Anything parted company with Warners.

The band spent a great deal of time touring over the next three years, and managed to release only one EP in 1990, titled 'The Weddings Play Sports (and Falcons)', featuring cover versions of the bands The Sports, and Jo Jo Zep & The Falcons. The band resurfaced, in 1992, with the release of the album 'Difficult Love's' and yet another guitarist, Paul Thomas (ex-Huxton Creepers), replacing the departing Richard Burgman. It was only when the album was finished that at a new distribution deal was signed, with RooArt. The single "Father's Day" reached #42 on the ARIA charts and was nominated for 'Single of the Year' as well as winning 'Song of the Year' at the 1993 ARIA awards).

This line-up (Michael Thomas, Paul Thomas, Mark Wallace, Marcus Schintler, and Peter Lawler) remained intact for another two years, producing another album, 'King Tide' in 1993. The album was highest charting LP for the band reaching #20. Following the world tour to promote that release, Marcus Schintler left the band for family reasons (later joining Sydney surf band The Wetsuits with Jon Schofield, Clyde Bramley, Stephen "Bones" Martin and Katrina Amiss). Schintler went on to pursue a career in Government as Chief of Staff to the NSW Minister for Industrial Relations and Aboriginal Affairs. Peter Lawler left a year later to pursue a solo career (later to work with Jimmy Barnes and Tim Rogers among others). Thomas reformed the band, and by 1996, the new Weddings Parties Anything lineup was ready for its first release, the independently produced 'Donkey Serenade'. The band now included Jen Anderson on violins, mandolin (ex-The Black Sorrows), Michael Barclay on drums (ex-Paul Kelly & The Messengers, Little Murders), Stephen O'Prey on bass (ex-The Badloves), as well as Michael Thomas, Paul Thomas and Mark Wallace.

The music style shifted somewhat from folk to a more alternative country sound. The band decided at this time to concentrate on the Australian market and did less touring outside of their native Australia. The band finished 1997 with a new release and what was to be its final studio album, 'Riveresque' on a new label (Mushroom/Sony), and by 1998, the band decided to take a break and work on several solo projects, including Michael Thomas's musical Over In The West. "I felt like the market, the industry, had pushed us into a corner. What they wanted of us was this huge Christmas tour every year and that was it.We were in danger of becoming pawns for Carlton & United Breweries. We were selling a mother lode of beer and not coming back with much to show for it."— Mick Thomas. Weddings Parties Anything initially gained a reputation as a hot new band through their constant touring in their early days, however they never really became a commercial success. They did, however, form a fanatical supporter base, known as the "Wedheads" that continued to sustain the band for years. "Trouble was, I didn't have any room to move in the end.

In January 2008, Weddings Parties Anything announced March/April dates for the band's Ten-Year Reunion Tour 2008, including an international performance at the Astoria (formally The Mean Fiddler) in London on April 25 (ANZAC Day). They sold out four consecutive shows at Melbourne venue The Corner Hotel, adding a fifth to surpass the record previously held by the Hilltop Hoods from 2004. We’ve got no plans for any new recordings at all for the time being. We’ve been pretty strong that this tour be seen as a ‘reunion’ and not a ‘reformation’."— Mark Wallace.  In 2010, 2011 and 2012 the band played Grand Final Eve shows in Melbourne. On 20 November 2012, the band were inducted into the EG Hall of Fame (Entertainment Guide – The Age).

The band played at the event, which was held at Billboard The Venue in Melbourne. Joined by original guitarist Dave Steel, they performed their first album, 'Scorn of the Women', in its entirety. In the lead-up to the show, The Age newspaper reported that Mick Thomas had posted on his Facebook page that it would be the last time the band performed, using the show to say a heartfelt farewell to long-standing fans. The band reunited for two shows on 27 and 28 March 2021 at the Archies Creek Hotel in Victoria. The shows were intended as a warm-up for the band's scheduled performance at the Byron Bay Bluesfest, which was subsequently cancelled due to COVID-19. Janine Hall died in 2008.

Members

Mick Thomas (vocals, guitar, bass, mandolin), Mark Wallace (keyboards, accordion), Paul Clark (guitar), Paul Thomas (guitar), Janine Hall (bass), Peter Lawler (bass), Stephen O'Prey (bass), Dave Adams (drums), Marcus Schintler (drums), Michael Barclay (drums), Jen Anderson (violin, mandolin, guitar), Richard Burgman (sax, guitar), Dave Steel (guitar, harmonica), Wendy Joseph (violin)

SINGLES
''Go! Move! Shift! / Sargeant Small'' 1986 Suffering Tram 
''Hungry Years / The Swans' Return'' 1987 WEA
''Away Away (#92) / Bourgeoise Blues'' 1987 WEA
''Shotgun Wedding / The Bells Of Rhymney / Australia Goodnight'' 1987 WEA
''Say The Word / Bright Lights Tonight'' 1988 WEA
''Tilting At Windmills / Misfits'' 1988 WEA
''The Wind And The Rain / Marie Provost'' 1989 WEA
''Streets Of Forbes / Missing In Action'' 1989 WEA
''Reckless / Great North West'' 1990 Virgin
"Father's Day" (#29) 1991 rooArt
"Step In, Step Out" (#60) 1991 roo Art
"Monday's Experts" (#45) 1993 rooArt
"The Rain in My Heart" (#85) 1993 rooArt
"Island of Humour" 1994 rooArt
"Luckiest Man" (#85) 1996 

''Don't Need Much'' 1997
"Anthem" 1998

EPs
'Weddings Parties Anything' 1985 Suffering Tram
'Goat Dancing on the Tables' 1988 WEA
'The Weddings Play Sports (and Falcons)' (#93) 1990 Virgin

ALBUMS
'Scorn of the Women' (#52) 1987 WEA 
'Roaring Days' (#46) 1988 WEA
'The Big Don't Argue' (#58) 1989 WEA 
'Difficult Loves' (#22) 1992 rooArt 
'King Tide' (#20) 1993 rooArt 
'Donkey Serenade' 1995 Weddings Parties Anything/Oz 
'River'esque' (#34) 1996 Mushroom 

References

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

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