| The Sports | |
|---|---|
| Origin | Melbourne, Victoria Australia |
| Genres | Rock New Wave |
| Years active | 1976 — 1981 |
| Labels | Mushroom Records Sire Records Arista Stiff Records Raven Records Festival Records |
| Associated acts | Pelaco Brothers The Captain Matchbox Whoopee Band |
| Former members | |
| see members list below | |
The Sports were a popular Australian rock group that performed and recorded between 1976 and 1981.
Based in Melbourne, Victoria, the group released a number of successful singles and albums. Their sound fitted well with both 1970s British pub rock bands (such as Brinsley Schwarz) and British New Wave (such as Elvis Costello). Their best known songs include "Boys (What Did The Detective Say?)", "Don't Throw Stones", "When You Walk In The Room", "How Come", "Who Listens To The Radio?", "Perhaps" and "Strangers on a Train".
Contents |
Biography
The Sports were formed in 1976 by Stephen Cummings who was the singer of Melbourne rockabilly group, The Pelaco Brothers, (which comprised Cummings, Joe Camilleri, Peter Lillie and Johnny Topper). Cummings and ex-The Pelaco Brothers bandmate Ed Bates, with Robert Glover (ex-Myriad) on bass guitar, Jim Niven on piano (ex-The Captain Matchbox Whoopee Band)[1] and Paul Hitchins on drums.[2] Their early sets contained covers of Chuck Berry, Billy Emerson, Don Covay, Company Caine and Graham Parker.[2] Original songs, mostly written by Cummings and Bates, completed their sets.[2] The Sports' debut recording was the EP, Fair Game in early 1977.[2] A friend in London posted the record to the New Musical Express which declared it 'Record Of The Week'.[3]The Sports found themselves right in tune with the very latest music trend dominating London rock. They became part of the promise of a new beginning for song-based rock as an antidote to punk, dubbed New Wave. "We were totally surprised," Cummings says of the NME review.
"It was the last thing you'd expect. It was my making and my undoing in some ways. When you have everything go right so quickly you expect that everything after that is going to be good and that easy. It meant that I probably didn't put myself out as much as I should have."[4]
Andrew Pendlebury (ex-Myriad) joined on guitar in August 1977 and assisted Cummings with songwriting.[2][4]Cummings recalls
"I just vaguely met people and dragged them into it. I always wanted Andrew in the group as a guitarist and I had an idea for a rockabilly country sound. But I always wanted to change it because I really liked the MC5 and wanted to make it more like that as well."[4]
Cummings brought in Martin Armiger on guitar, vocals and songwriting to replace Bates in August 1978.[2]
The Sports had top 30 hits on the Australian Kent Music Report singles charts with, "Don't Throw Stones" (1979), "Strangers on a Train" (1980) and "How Come" (1981);[5] and top 20 albums with, Don't Throw Stones (#9, 1979), Suddenly (#13, 1980) and Sondra (1981).[5] "Who Listens to the Radio?", co-written by Cummings and Pendelbury,[6] peaked at #35 on the Australian singles charts in 1978,[5] and was their only hit on the United States Billboard Pop Singles chart, peaking at #45 in November 1979.[7][8]
The Sports broke up in 1981 with lead singer Stephen Cummings going on a successful solo singing career. Guitarist Martin Armiger became a successful composer for film and TV.
Members
- Martin Armiger — guitar (1978-1981)
- Ed Bates — guitar (1976-1978)
- Stephen Cummings — vocals (1976-1981)
- Robert Glover — bass (1976-1981)
- Paul Hitchins — drums (1976-1980)
- Iain McLennan — drums (1980)
- Jim Niven — vocals, keyboards (1976-1980)
- Andrew Pendlebury — guitar, vocals (1976-1981)
- Freddie Strauks — drums (1980-1981)
- Red Symons — keyboards (1980)
Discography
Albums/EPs
- Fair Game (EP) - Zac Records (1977) (limited to 500 copies)
- Reckless - Mushroom Records (1978) #43 AUS
- Don't Throw Stones - Mushroom/Arista/Sire (February, 1979) #9 AUS
- So Obvious (EP) - Stiff (1979)
- O.K., U.K.! (EP) - Mushroom (August, 1979) #40 AUS
- Suddenly - Mushroom/Arista (1980) #13 AUS
- Sondra - Mushroom (May, 1981) #20 AUS
- The Sports play Dylan (and Donovan) (EP) - Mushroom (1981) #70 AUS
- All Sports - Mushroom (1982) #35 AUS
- Missin' Your Kissin' - Raven (1987)
- This Is Really Something - Mushroom (1997)
- Definitive Collection - Festival (August, 2004)
Singles
- "Boys! (What Did The Dective Say)"/"Modern Don Jaun" - Mushroom (March, 1978) #55 AUS
- "When You Walk In The Room" - Mushroom (July, 1978) #42 AUS
- "Who Listens To The Radio?" - Mushroom/Ariola (November, 1978) #35 AUS, #50 US
- "Reckless"/"Mailed It To Your Sister" - Mushroom (1979)
- "Don't Throw Stones"/"Terror Hits" - Mushroom/Arista (March, 1979) #26 AUS
- "Suspicious Minds"/Bruises" - Mushroom (April, 1979) #74 AUS
- "Poor Mouth"/"Heart Of Darkness" - Mushroom (1980)
- "Strangers On A Train"/"Can't Ever Decide" (live) - Mushroom (March, 1980) #22 AUS
- "Perhaps" - Mushroom (April, 1980)
- "Stop The Baby Talking"/"Big City Lights" - Mushroom (October, 1980)
- "How Come"/"Drug Sluts" - Mushroom (March, 1981) #21 AUS
- "When We Go Out Tonight"/"Some Brass Thing" - Mushroom (July, 1981)
- "Sunshine Superman"/"Cargo Cult" - Mushroom (November, 1981) #72 AUS
References
- ^ "The Captain Matchbox Whoopee Band". MILESAGO: Australasian Music & Popular Culture 1964–1975. Milesago. http://www.milesago.com/artists/matchbox.htm. Retrieved 26 June 2008.
- ^ a b c d e f McFarlane, Ian (1999). "Encyclopedia entry for 'The Sports'". Encyclopedia of Australian Rock and Pop. St Leonards, NSW: Allen & Unwin. ISBN 1865080721. http://web.archive.org/web/20040806231417/www.whammo.com.au/encyclopedia.asp?articleid=402. Retrieved 1 July 2009.
- ^ "Songwriters: Cummings, Stephen". Mushroom Music Publishing. http://www.mushroommusic.com.au/songwriters/songwriter.asp?id=268. Retrieved 26 June 2008.
- ^ a b c Creswell, Toby (September 1997). "The Good Sport". Juice Magazine. Terraplane Press. http://www.lovetown.net/articles/97juice.html. Retrieved 26 June 2008.
- ^ a b c Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992. St Ives, NSW: Australian Chart Book. ISBN 0646119176. NOTE: Used for Australian Singles and Albums charting from 1970 until ARIA created their own charts in mid-1988.
- ^ ""Who Listens to the Radio?" at APRA search engine". Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA). http://www.apra-amcos.com.au/worksearch.axd?q=Who%20Listens%20to%20the%20Radio. Retrieved 1 July 2009.
- ^ "Top Music Charts - Hot 100 - "Who Listens to the Radio" - The Sports". Billboard (magazine). Neilson Business Media. 10 November 1979. http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/esearch/chart_display.jsp?cfi=379&cfgn=Singles&cfn=The+Billboard+Hot+100&ci=3071070&cdi=8889311&cid=11%2F10%2F1979. Retrieved 17 June 2009.
- ^ "Sports > Charts & Awards - Billboard Singles". allmusic. Macrovision. http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:hpfoxq95ldse~T51. Retrieved 1 July 2009.
External links
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