January, 2010 will see three of the most iconic rock acts Australia has ever produced come together in a unique, live on-stage event in Australian Rock Symphony! This inaugural phenomenon will see rock legends Chrissy Amphlett, Diesel and the Baby Animals raise the roof in Melbourne, Brisbane, Sydney, Adelaide and Perth!
Each of these amazing acts will perform a selection of their best known hits, accompanied by a full rock band and 30 piece Orchestra with accomplished Musical Director, Tim Count.
The January staging of Australian Rock Symphony will coincide with the rocking, patriotic celebrations that go off nationwide each year around the time of Australia Day. And it will all explode on stage in five of Australia’s premium live music venues!
Chrissy Amphlett is hailed as the most dynamic live female performer Australia has ever produced, let alone sent out into the world. Through the 80s and 90s in the legendary group The Divinyls, Chrissy Amphlett and guitarist Mark McEntee created a legacy of some of this nation’s most powerful pop records, including ‘Boys in Town’, ‘Science Fiction’, ‘Pleasure and Pain’ and ‘I Touch Myself’, with the latter reaching Number One in Australia and Top Ten in America. Four of The Divinyls five studio albums reached the Top 10 in Australia. The iconic image of Chrissy Amphlett strutting and pouting in her provocative school uniform and fishnets only further cemented her status as a true rock diva. In May 2001 the Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA), as part of its 75th Anniversary celebrations, named ‘Science Fiction’ as one of the Top 30 Australian songs of all time. The Divinyls were inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame in 2006.
Diesel burst out of Perth in 1987 with the band Johnny Diesel and the Injectors, becoming one of Australia's best pub rock bands of the late-1980s. The group's blend of Southern rock soul and R&B, plus Diesel's smoking guitar playing and rockstar looks quickly earned the band a huge and passionate fan base. Their self-titled debut album released in 1989 won them an ARIA for Highest Selling Album and Best New Talent, spawning such hits as ‘Cry in Shame’ and ‘Looking For Love’. He eventually pulled the pin on the Injectors, resurfacing as Diesel with the single ‘Love Junk’ in July 1991. Diesel has recorded nine albums in his amazing career, two of which have been Number 1 Australian hits. He has taken home the ARIA for Best Male Artist four times and once for Best Album for ‘Hepfidelity’ in 1992, featuring the hits ‘Come To Me’ and ‘Tip Of My Tongue’. From Johnny Diesel and the Injectors to a stellar solo career, Diesel’s fluid feel for blues-inspired guitar and instinctively soulful voice have soared their way into the Australian rock conscience.
Phenomenal Australian hard rock quartet the Baby Animals carved their road to rock history fronted by lead singer Suze DeMarchi. Suze exploded onto the music scene as a lean, mean, rock n' roll machine with super model looks and her signature pixie hair cut. Formed in 1990, the Baby Animals’ brash, punchy blues-based hard rock sound saw their debut single ‘Early Warning’ immediately reach the Top 20 on the Australian Singles Charts. Their self-titled debut LP spent six weeks at number one, eventually going eight times platinum and becoming the highest-selling debut Australian rock album of all time (until the release of Jet’s album 12 years later). The Baby Animals picked up a collection of honours at the 1992 ARIA Music Awards, receiving awards for ‘Best Debut Album’, ‘Best Single’ and ‘Best Album’. Suze DeMarchi was also nominated for ‘Best Female Vocalist’. The Baby Animals disbanded in 1996 with Suze DeMarchi focusing on her solo career, but then reformed in 2007 and in 2008 started touring again for the first time 13 years.
Tim Count is the Musical Director of the Australian Rock Symphony tour. Based in Perth, Tim is one of Australia's most accomplished musicians, with a diverse background that covers everything from live rock, to orchestral work, to music for film, TV and radio. He studied classical piano from the age of 9 and performed in professional bands throughout his teens and twenties touring Australia and releasing two top 20 singles. Through his career he has backed such artists as Deborah Conway, Marc Hunter, Angry Anderson, Doc Nesson, Swanee, Mark Callaghan (Gangagang) and Mark Gable (Choir Boys) and supported such artists as Sting, Shirley Bassey and Julio Iglesias.
The combining of these three stand-out Aussie rock acts on the one stage with Musical Direction from Tim Count for Australian Rock Symphony will be an event not to be missed!