At the same time that the band was enjoying the success of their single "I Make Hamburgers" (1996) founding member Stevie Plunder was found dead on Australia Day, 1996, from what was believed to be an act of suicide. After a break of several months, Tim Freedman reformed the band with several new members. After several more months, there was another line-up change and this is when the process of starting to record the album 'Eternal Nightcap' began. This album sold over 200,000 units and in 1998 won the band ARIA awards for Best Independent Album, Song of the Year and Best Group. This last award was presented by the band's namesake Gough Whitlam. "No Aphrodisiac", a single from this album, made it to #1 in the 1997 Triple J Hottest 100.
Several of the band's songs were played during the 2000 Sydney Olympics as examples of Australian pop culture (for example, "Sydney 2000 Olympic Theme", a b-side from the "I Make Hamburgers" single that was reworked as "You Gotta Love This City" on 'Love This City'—an ironic choice, as the song's protagonist commits suicide by jumping in the Harbour at the end of the song, disgusted at the city's crass pursuit of money: It dawns on him / The horror / We got the Olympic Games).
During the band's Canadian tour in April 2000 supporting Blue Rodeo, the band received word that founding member, Andy Lewis had died, committing suicide back in Australia. Andy had been battling a gambling addiction for a long time prior to his death. While no direct links between his gambling and suicide have been proven it's well known and understood to have contributed to his state of mind. The single "Blow Up the Pokies" had been co-written by Freedman with Greta Gertler not long before Lewis' death as a statement on the destruction he saw in Lewis' life due to his gambling and was awaiting release as a single at the time. Freedman soon after wrote "The Curse Stops Here", describing being the 'last one' from the original line-up of the band, and voicing his determination to survive. "The Curse Stops Here" was included as a B-side track on the "Blow Up the Pokies" single.
A month after Lewis' death a benefit concert was held at the Metro club in Sydney to raise money for his wife and child. The event was hosted by Paul McDermott, Mikey Robins and Steve Abbott (The Sandman), and performers included Max Sharam, and The Gadflys (another band Lewis performed with).
'Torch The Moon' (2002), the band's next album, received moderate success, with the singles "Fall For You", "Best Work", "Royal in the Afternoon" and "Don't Believe Anymore". Another song from the album which received a fair amount of airplay was "I Will Not Go Quietly (Duffy's Song)", which was used on the Australian TV series Love Is a Four Letter Word (2001). The Michael Buble song "Just Haven't Met You Yet" (2009) is almost identical, musically, to "I Will Not Go Quietly".
A double-album titled 'Little Cloud' (loosely referred to also as Little Cloud and The Apples Eye) was released on 19 March 2006 in Australia. Several songs received considerable airplay, including "I Was Alive". Three of the songs on the album have been released as radio-only singles, with a fourth, "Beautiful as You", released as a CD single. The album was followed up with almost non-stop touring around Australia, including performances at political and university events. The band made the news in 2006 when, for political reasons, the members refused to perform to troops in Iraq. The band performed a short orchestral tour in late 2007, performing shows with the Sydney Symphony, the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra, the West Australian Symphony Orchestra and The Queensland Orchestra.
In 2008 The Whitlams released a free CD in The Sunday Telegraph (1 June) and The Australian (26 July) of their live performance with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra. The Whitlams released a 'Best of' compilation album titled 'Truth, Beauty and a Picture of You' on 2 August 2008. As part of the promotion for the release, and the subsequent tour, the Whitlams performed on a number of TV programs including Nine's "ooty Show (NRL)"and Seven's Sunrise and The Morning Show.
The Whitlams performed with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra in 2009 to celebrate the 12th anniversary of the release of their breakthrough album 'Eternal Nightcap'. On 11 November 2011 (the anniversary of Gough Whitlam's dismissal), Tim Freedman released a new album titled 'Australian Idle', featuring a new band named The Idle. They did however perform an outdoor concert with West Australian artist Jason Ayres in March 2015 at the Mundaring Weir Hotel. To celebrate turning 25, the Whitlams performed six shows with the best orchestras in Australia for an Anniversary tour. Taking place in April and May 2017, the tour visited Brisbane, Melbourne, Sydney, Perth, Canberra and Adelaide. In each city, they were backed by a 50-piece orchestra using the top performers from each city. Tim Freedman said that “It is an honour to play with these musicians who in some cases have been playing their instruments since they were in the womb,”
In 2020, the band released their first new song in almost 15 years, "Ballad of Bertie Kidd". The six-minute song was written from the perspective of a would-be criminal, enlisted by Kidd for an art gallery heist in Gosford. The single was later revealed to be the lead single from the band's seventh album, 'Sancho', which was released on January 28, 2022. A further four singles were released from the album: "Man About a Dog", "(You're Making Me Feel Like I'm) 50 Again", "Cambridge Three" and "Nobody Knows I Love You".
In April 2022, Freedman launched a country music off-shoot of the band, billed as The Whitlams Black Stump Band. The band is composed of Freedman, Richmond, banjo player Rod McCormack, pedal steel player Ollie Thorpe and bassist Matt Fell. Freedman began the project after discovering that "Man About a Dog" had been added to country radio. The Whitlams BlackStump Band and are scheduled to release their debut album in February 2024. In June 2022, the band announced a 25th anniversary tour for 'Eternal Nightcap'. With the announcement came the band's first line-up change since 2001: the departure of bassist Warwick Hornby, who was replaced by Sancho session bassist Ian Peres. In May 2023, the band announced a national tour for October 2023 that will see them focus on the early years of The Whitlams' material, between 1993 and 1997. To replicate the sound of these albums, the band will be joined by double bassist Scott Owen of The Living End.
Members
Tim Freedman (vocals, piano, keyboards), Stevie Plunder [Anthony Hayes] (guitar, vocals),
Andy Lewis (bass), Stuart Eadie (drums), Michael Vidale (bass), Louis Burdett (drums),
Hanuman Daas (drums), Michael Richards (drums), Òscar Briz (guitar), Tim Hall (guitar, vocals), Bill Heckenberg (drums), Chris Abrahams (organ), Ben Fink (guitar), Cottco Lovett (bass),
Clayton Doley (organ), Alex Hewitson (bass), Mike "Gubby" Gubb (organ), Warwick Hornby (bass), Terepai Richmond (drums), Jak Housden (guitar), Ian Peres (bass), Scott Owen (double bass)
SINGLES
No Aphrodisiac
| 28 DEC '97 | #59 |
Melbourne
| 1 JUN '98 | #70 |
Thank You (For Loving Me at My Worst)
| 17 JAN '00 | #63 |
Blow Up the Pokies
| 5 JUN '00 | #21 |
Made Me Hard
| 14 MAY '01 | #75 |
Fall for You
| 24 JUN '02 | #21 |
Best Work
| 16 SEP '02 | #35 |
Royal in the Afternoon
| 10 FEB '03 | #66 |
Don't Believe Anymore
| 23 JUN '03 | #47 |
Beautiful as You
| 5 MAR '07 | #40 |
References
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Whitlams
http://top100singles.blogspot.com.au/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Whitlams
http://top100singles.blogspot.com.au/
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