The heyday for Sydney based Glide saw the band connect with a generation of music lovers in the 1990s - who loved the band all the more for the gifted song writing, guitar playing and singing of front man William Arthur. His untimely passing in 1999 left behind a musical legacy that will be acknowledged with the iTunes release of Glide’s entire back catalogue on July 30, 2010.

Throughout the lifetime of Glide, William Arthur was the creative leader behind a band renowned for his incisive and challenging lyrics, and a wall of harmony guitar sound. Glide released the following EPs and albums, which are to be re-released exclusively through iTunes:

• Pretty Mouth EP (1991)
• Shuffle Off To Buffalo EP (1992)
• Wake EP (1993)
• Open Up & Croon (1995)
• Disappear Here (1996)
• Shrink Wrapped Real Thing (1997)
• Last (2000)

Acknowledged at the time as one of Australia’s most accomplished and original songwriters, William Arthur’s talent and influence has long been held dear to a small but devoted group of music fans. The lack of availability of the band’s full catalogue for the past ten years has long kept his light hidden under a bushel. Now with the re-release of the full Glide catalogue (unavailable for the past ten years), there is finally chance for a wider audience to appreciate exactly how immense William Arthur’s song writing talents were.

For the first time since the late 90s, Glide will perform two very special shows in Melbourne and Sydney. In celebration of twenty years since the band’s formation, the original line up comprising Jason Kingshott on drums, Marc Lynch on bass, and Tim Scott on guitar will play on stage together with Andy Kelly (the band’s second bassist) on second guitar. They are delighted to be joined on vocals by long time fan and devotee of the work of William Arthur, Youth Group’s Toby Martin.

The shows will take in Arthur’s classic songs from all eras of the band’s life, from the very first track they released, “Fade”, across the early EPs and all albums. The band’s hope is that these shows and reissues will reignite a new appreciation and understanding of the breathtaking song writing talent of one of Australia’s most under-rated musicians, William Arthur.

William Arthur formed Glide in Sydney in 1990. One of their earliest gigs was supporting The Clouds at Sydney’s Annandale Hotel and they went on to release three EPs – ‘Pretty Mouth’, ‘Shuffle Off To Buffalo’ and ‘Wake’ – ahead of their debut album ‘Open Up & Croon’ in early 1995. Following an ‘Album of the Week’ on Triple J and their first Big Day Out tour they went on to tour Australia as a 3 piece. Their second album ‘Disappear Here’ (1996) heralded a line-up change with the departure of Marc Lynch and arrival of Andy Kelly on bass. The album brought them further critical acclaim and extensive radio play on Triple J and community radio across the country. Glide toured nationally as both headliners and as support to the likes of Blur, Juliana Hatfield, Morphine and Swervedriver. They released two more albums – ‘Disappear Here’ and ‘Shrink Wrapped Real Thing’ then at the beginning of 1997 Glide took on the US with shows at SXSW, and in LA and NY. Following William’s untimely passing, ‘Last’ was released posthumously in 2000.