Big Pig

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Big Pig were a seven-piece Australian pop/rock band that existed from 1985-1991.

Biography

Big Pig were formed in London in 1985 by Australian drummer Oleh Witer with singer Nick Disbray, the pair returned to Melbourne later that year and recruited the new line-up that would make the hit records.

In May 1986, after self financing an independent E.P.and with only five live shows under its belt, every major record and publishing company in the country offered lucrative contracts to the group. Mushroom Records became the band's label and their first album "Bonk" was recorded in Melbourne in 1987 and mixed in London later that year. The album went gold, then platinum in Australia with three top-twenty singles ("Hungry Town", "Breakaway" and "Big Hotel").

In the U.S. "Breakaway" reached #60 on the Billboard magazine top 100 pop charts and was used in the opening sequence of the movie Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure^[1].

The group's song 'Money God' was well known in the United Kingdom as the theme tune for the BBC DEF II Rough Guides show with Magenta Devine, whilst many tracks from the first album "Bonk" were used towards the end of the Miami Vice TV series in the 1980s. The songs "Hungry Town" and "Boy Wonder" both featured in the 1988 Yahoo Serious movie Young Einstein, while their 1988 Australian Top 10 hit "Breakaway" recently enjoyed a revival in the dance charts with a new 2007 cover version by US House Diva Inaya Day.

Notable for their dominant use of drums, harmonica and vocals, along with the absence of guitars, the band established a unique place in music. Sounding quite unlike anything else, their signature look was black waterproof aprons, similar to those worn by Blacksmiths, which gave their stage presence a distinctly industrial feel. Big Pig disbanded in 1991 after the release of their second album,You Lucky People.

Members

• Nick Disbray - lead vocals, percussion
• Sherine Abeyratne - lead vocals, percussion
• Oleh Witer - vocals, drums
• Tony Antoniades - vocals, harmonica
• Tim Rosewarne - vocals, keyboard
• Adrian Scaglione - drums
• Neil Baker - drums

Discography

Albums

• Bonk - White Label (March, 1988)
• You Lucky People - White Label (1990)

EPS

• Big Pig - White Label (1986)

Singles

• "Hungry Town" - White Label (1987)
• "Boy Wonder" - White Label (April, 1987)
• "Breakaway" - White Label (February, 1988)
• "Big Hotel" - White Label (June, 1988)
• "Iron Lung" - White Label (December, 1988)
• "Justifier"/"Taste" - White Label (August, 1990)
• "Hanging Tree" (January, 1991)
• "King of Nothing" (April, 1991)
• "Inbetween days" (May, 1991)

Video albums

• Bonk (1988): VHS

References