The Choirboys | |
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 The Choirboys performing in 2010 | |
| Background information | |
| Origin | Sydney,New South Wales, Australia |
| Genres | Hard rock,pub rock |
| Years active | 1979–present |
| Labels | Albert/EMI,Mushroom/Festival,Warner Music, Camouflage/TWA |
| Members |
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| Past members |
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| Website | choirboys.net |
The Choirboys are an Australianhard rock andpub rock band fromSydney formed asChoirboys in 1979 with mainstaysMark Gable on lead vocals, Ian Hulme on bass guitar, Brad Carr on lead guitar and Lindsay Tebbutt on drums. In preparation for their second albumBig Bad Noise in 1988, the band changed their name to The Choirboys. The band line-up saw many changes from 1983 to 2007, while releasing 8 studio albums. Their 1987 single "Run to Paradise" remains their biggest commercial success.
Choirboys formed in theNorthern Beaches area of Sydney as a hard rockpub band in 1979.[1] Original members were Brad Carr on lead guitar,Mark Gable on vocals, Ian Hulme on bass guitar and Lindsay Tebbutt on drums.[2]
In 1983, after one of their demos was sent toAlbert Productions record producerGeorge Young (ex-The Easybeats, older brother ofAngus andMalcolm Young ofAC/DC) they signed to Albert Records.Jim Manzie produced their self-titled debut album,Choirboys, which was released in July.[2] The first single, "Never Gonna Die" reached No. 30 on the AustralianKent Music Report Singles Chart.[3] Australian TV and music personalityIan "Molly" Meldrum claimed the album was "destined to become an Aussie classic". They toured as support toThe Angels andRose Tattoo and thenCold Chisel invited Choirboys to support them on their Last Stand Tour.[1] However in November, Gable's vocal cords had ruptured and they were unable to join that tour – they spent 1984 and 1985 in hiatus waiting for him to recover.[1][4]
Choirboys signed withMushroom Records and released "Fireworks" in May 1986, they also opened forDeep Purple on their tour of Australia. Brad Carr left the group to be replaced on lead guitar by Brett Williams (ex-Brakes) as they supportedBon Jovi's tour in 1987.[1] They recorded their second albumBig Bad Noise with producers Peter Blyton (The Radiators,Machinations) and Brian McGee (The Rolling Stones,Cyndi Lauper).[2] The next single "Run to Paradise" reached No. 3 in December 1987.[5] Released in the United States, it appeared on theBillboard Hot 100 and peaked at No. 33 on theMainstream Rock chart in 1989.[6]Big Bad Noise peaked at No. 5 on the Kent Music Report Albums Chart in April 1988 and went double platinum.[1][3] It was ranked No. 21 for the year in Australia.[7] Other singles from the album included "Boys Will Be Boys" and "Struggle Town" reaching No. 14 and No. 34 respectively.[3]
The Choirboys recordedMidnight Sun, in Los Angeles with producerMarc Tanner. The album didn't achieve the level of success of its predecessor – it peaked at No. 30.[3] Late in the year they released a live album,Dead Drunk Live Hangovers, recorded at a Melbourne show.[1]
Brad Heaney (ex-The Screaming Jets) replaced Tebbutt on drums and Steve Williams (Wa Wa Nee) replaced Brett Williams on guitar by 1993.[1] Their compilation albumDecade 1983–1993 (1993) was followed byDancing on the Grave of Rock n' Roll (1994), with Barton Price (Models) on drums, which was produced by Gable and Hulme.[2]
The band recorded its next albumYo-Yo in Germany during 1996, with Blyton and Choirboys producing and Richard Lara (The Screaming Jets) replacing Brett Williams on guitar. The band supportedCheap Trick on their Australian tour in the same year with Tony Le Rhodes on drums.[1]
The Choirboys recorded theEvolver album in 2002 and 2003 in between going on an extensive tour of Australia and New Zealand. FormerIcehouse drummer Paul Wheeler joined the band. TheEvolver album was released in 2004 but due to low promotion for the album, it peaked at 174 in the Australian charts. The band returned to the Australian singles charts in Australia in July when dance producerNick Skitz asked Gable to sing "Run to Paradise" on a dance reworking. The song, billed as "Nick Skitz vs. Choirboys", debuted in the top 20 of the Australian singles charts.[8]
In 2006, The Choirboys performed "Run To Paradise" on the Grand Final edition ofThe AFL Footy Show and releasedBig Bad and Acoustic with re-recorded versions of their earlier work. In 2007 they resurfaced to bring out their next studio album,So Easy, which contained cover versions ofThe Easybeats' songs. Gable said, "We thought it a worthwhile exercise to explore them in a more modern light. We could redo things with a greater technical capacity [...] we could put in backgrounds that two-track recording wouldn't allow. With Pretty Girl, for example, we spent quite a bit of time, adding about 80 backing vocals around the lead".[9]
Gable hosted a radio show,Vega Sunday Session, on Vega 95.3 FM Sydney and Melbourne. The show featured local and international artists talking about their lives and their music. On 25 October, The Choirboys performed "Run to Paradise" at the Gold Coast SuperGP (formerly Indy Carnival). They released a second compilation,Never Gonna Die – The Very Best of Choirboys 30th Anniversary (2009), and followed with a national tour into 2010.[10]Gable as of 2012 hosts his own radio showThe Awesome Eighties on 107.7 2GO (2GGO) FM Central Coast. The show which is aired 5 days a week consists of interviews and insight into the music and the artists of the 1980s.
In 2018, The Choirboys released the instrumental album,1965, Life's a Beach.[11]
In 2019, the Choirboys released a series of cover EPs, titled6 Pack of the Hits.[12]
In 2021, The Choirboys released the singles "Feels Good", "Sorry" and "Rendezvous" followed byFeels Good.Feels Good is a compilation of live streams songs, released on vinyl on 29 October 2021.[13]
On 17 December 2021 the band announced through their social media pages that drummer Lindsay Tebbutt had died frommesothelioma.[14]
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| Title | Album details | Peak chart positions |
|---|---|---|
| AUS [3][15] | ||
| Choirboys | 26 | |
| Big Bad Noise |
| 5 |
| Midnight Sun |
| 30 |
| Dancing on the Grave of Rock n' Roll |
| - |
| Yo-Yo |
| 179 |
| Evolver |
| - |
| Big Bad and Acoustic |
| - |
| So Easy |
| - |
| 1965, Life's a Beach | - |
| Title | Album details |
|---|---|
| Dead Drunk Live Hangovers |
|
| Pub Rock Live |
|
| Title | Album details | Peak chart positions |
|---|---|---|
| AUS [15] | ||
| Decade 1983-1993 |
| 117 |
| Never Gonna Die – The Very Best of Choirboys 30th Anniversary |
| - |
| This Is Paradise: Greatest Hits |
| - |
| Feels Good |
| - |
| Title | Details |
|---|---|
| 6 Pack of Creedence Clearwater Revival |
|
| 6 Pack of Tom |
|
| 6 Pack of Bruce Springsteen |
| Year | Title | Peak chart positions | Album | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AUS [3][8][18][15] | NZ [19] | USA (Hot 100) [6] | USA (Main) [6] | |||||||||||
| 1983 | "Never Gonna Die" | 30 | — | — | — | Choirboys | ||||||||
| "Talk Big" | — | — | — | — | ||||||||||
| "Boys in the Band" | — | — | — | — | ||||||||||
| 1986 | "Fireworks" | 60 | — | — | — | Big Bad Noise | ||||||||
| 1987 | "Run to Paradise" | 3 | 13 | 80 | 33 | |||||||||
| 1988 | "Boys Will Be Boys" | 14 | 31 | — | — | |||||||||
| "Struggle Town" | 28 | — | — | — | ||||||||||
| 1989 | "Empire" | 65 | — | — | — | non-album single | ||||||||
| 1991 | "Rendezvous" | 40 | — | — | — | Midnight Sun | ||||||||
| "Place with No Love" | 110 | — | — | — | ||||||||||
| 1993 | "All Night" / "Run to Paradise" | 117 | — | — | — | Decade 1983-1993 | ||||||||
| 1994 | "Hard Heart" | — | — | — | — | Dancin on the Grave of Rock n' Roll | ||||||||
| 1995 | "Drops Like a Stone" | — | — | — | — | |||||||||
| 1996 | "Solo" | — | — | — | — | Yo-Yo | ||||||||
| 2004 | "Dream On (All You Need Is Love)" | — | — | — | — | Evolver | ||||||||
| "Run to Paradise"(byNick Skitz vs Choirboys) | 16 | — | — | — | non-album single | |||||||||
| 2021 | "Home Free" | — | — | — | — | Feels Good | ||||||||
| "Sorry" | — | — | — | — | ||||||||||
| "Rendezvous" | — | — | — | — | ||||||||||
| 2025 | "Have you ever seen the rain (Featuring Jay Parrino)" | — | — | — | — | Non-album single | ||||||||
| "Give Me All the Lovin' That You Got[20]" | — | — | — | — | ||||||||||
| "—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory. | ||||||||||||||
| International | |
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| Artists | |
