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The Church
Formed
and launched in Sydney in April 1980,
The Church carved out one of the longest-surviving international music
careers ever to come out of Australia.
The
group was formed by English-born songwriter Steve Kilbey,
who had started his music career in Canberra, where he played with several
bands. Settling in Sydney, Steve spent a number of years writing and
recording songs in his bedroom studio with his friend Peter Koppes. Adding drummer Nick Ward they finally emerged
out of Steve's bedroom and played a handful of inauspicious shows before
becoming a quartet with the inclusion of former itinerant busker, Marty Willson-Piper, just arrived from England.
The band
decided to pool its resources and return to Steve's bedroom studio to record
a four-track demo, which not just found them a publishing deal, but a
record contract with EMI Australia. The first album was recorded without
the usual long apprenticeship Australian bands needed to serve on the live
circuit. However, the album sat on the shelves for several months while
singles were released and career-establishing wheels were set it motion. When it was time for an album, the tapes
were sent to be remixed in America by Bob Clearmountain.
Just before the album's release Nick Ward was replaced by teenage drummer
Richard Ploog and this line-up was to remain
intact for the next eight years.
From the
release of the first single, 'She Never Said', The Church distinguished
themselves with their jangling acoustic guitar sounds reminiscent of the
sixties folk rock practiced by the Byrds and
early Simon and Garfunkel. With its mystical lyrics the second album, 'The
Blurred Crusade' brought the group's own style more into focus. On the
third album, 'Seance' they added stings and other
effects. The Church was off on its own unique musical adventure. Capturing
international release for their music almost immediately ensured that the
group could concentrate on their recording career rather than slogging it
out on stage, as most Australian artists need to do to survive. That's
given The Church both their longevity and their willingness to experiment
in the studio.
In 1986 Willson-Piper
quit the group during the European leg of their third international tour.
He agreed to come back to the fold on the condition that future recordings
by The Church be collaborative rather than
comprise almost exclusively Steve Kilbey songs.
The resulting united album, 'Starfish' brought The Church back into the
commercial spotlight with the album's hit, 'Under The Milky Way'.(YouTube) a tribute to
their favourite Amsterdam venue/cafe, The Melk
Veg.
It
seemed to be a turning point, and it was, but not the one that seemed to be
beckoning. The follow-up to ‘Starfish’, called ‘Gold Afternoon Fix’ was not
the success their US record company was hoping for, despite the single the single "Metropolis", which seemed to
tick all the right boxes. From the band’s point of view they’d probably
compromised too much. There were tensions making that record and drummer Richard Ploog chose to leave. The Church’s response was to
escape back to Sydney and made the album they wanted with the producer they
wanted. The result, ’Priest=Aura’ did nothing to restore the band’s
commercial fortunes. Arista Records dropped them
and from now on the band’s international career was adrift and at the mercy
of the tides. But creatively ’Priest=Aura’ was the
record which cemented The Church internally, the kind of album they know is
in them no matter what happens personally or professionally.
The
Church has remained a fluid proposition where each album could easily have
been, but did not end up being, the last. Steve Kilbey,
Marty Willson-Piper and Peter Koppes
record solo albums, and are involved in a variety of extra-curricular
activities, particularly Steve. Rather than a contractual commitment, each
new Church album or tour evolves naturally out of their mutual desire to do
it again.
In
October 2010 The Church was inducted into the ARIA Hall Of Fame.
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