Angry Anderson

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Gary Stephen "Angry" Anderson Template:Post-nominals (born 5 August 1947) is an Australian rock singer, songwriter, television personality and actor. He has been the lead vocalist and the longest-tenured remaining member of the hard rock band Rose Tattoo since 1976. As a solo artist, he is best known for his international hit "Suddenly" (1987).

On Australia Day 26 January 1993, Anderson was made a Member of the Order of Australia for his role as a youth advocate. According to rock music historian Ian McFarlane, "over the course of a lengthy career, [the] gravel-throated vocalist ... has gone from attention-grabbing, rock'n'roll bad boy to all-round Australian media star." Rose Tattoo were inducted into the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) Hall of Fame in 2006.

BiographyEdit

{{#invoke:Labelled list hatnote|labelledList|Main article|Main articles|Main page|Main pages}} Gary Stephen Anderson<ref name="ASCAP"/> was born on 5 August 1947<ref name="NLABio"/> in Melbourne, Victoria, to an Anglo-Australian father and Mauritian mother. He has a brother Rodney living in Melbourne. Anderson's nickname of "Angry Ant" developed "during his youth after his aggressive and volatile nature got the better of him."<ref name="McFarlane"/> According to Anderson, his father "was a deeply troubled man... I've dealt with my rage, my pain... I was a very angry boy... When he was around he was a very explosive person."<ref name="Fidler"/> Anderson used his uncle, Ivan, as his role model: a cigarette-smoking, beer-drinking, leather jacket-wearing, motorcycle-riding drummer in a swing band.<ref name="Fidler"/> Anderson grew up in suburban Coburg and attended Coburg Technical School before working as a fitter and turner in a factory.<ref name="Coupe"/> Initially he wanted to be a blues guitarist, "I wanted to be like all the great blues guitar players, then I wanted to be like Bob Dylan, then of course... John Lennon."<ref name="Coupe"/> Anderson found himself in a band with three possible guitarists and "[t]he other two were much better than me, so the only other thing we needed was a singer... [we] had to sing 'Twist and Shout' without accompaniment. I just happened to be the best one at it."<ref name="Coupe"/>

From 1971 to 1973, Anderson led rock group Peace Power and Purity and came to wider public notice as the lead vocalist with Buster Brown.<ref name="McFarlane"/><ref name="McFarlaneBuster"/> He fronted the hard rock and blues rock band from its foundation in 1973, the original line-up included Phil Rudd on drums, who left in 1974 to join AC/DC.<ref name="McFarlaneBuster"/> In 1975, Buster Brown released an album, Something to Say, on Mushroom Records/Festival Records before disbanding in November that year.<ref name="McFarlaneBuster"/>

In 1976 in Sydney, Rose Tattoo was formed by Peter Wells of the heavy metal band Buffalo.<ref name="McFarlaneRose"/> Anderson had relocated to Sydney and replaced the group's original singer Tony Lake. When their drummer Michael Vandersluys departed soon afterwards, he was replaced by Dallas Royall, who had been Rudd's replacement in Buster Brown.<ref name="McFarlaneRose"/> Their most popular single on the Australian Kent Music Report Singles Chart was "Bad Boy for Love" from 1977, which peaked at No. 19.<ref name="Kent"/> Rose Tattoo's 1981 tour of Europe included an appearance at the Reading Festival, where Anderson repeatedly head butted the amp stacks until his scalp started bleeding.<ref name="ARIABio"/>

Anderson's debut as an actor was a minor role in Bullamakanka (1983).<ref name="McFarlane"/> Later, he appeared as the character Ironbar Bassey in the film Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome (1985).<ref name="McFarlane"/> Filmink magazine later wrote that Anderson "appeared in surprisingly few acting roles for someone with such renown as a presenter."<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>

Anderson joined as a guest vocalist with The Incredible Penguins, for a cover of "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)", a charity project for research on little penguins, which peaked at No. 10 in December 1985.<ref name="Kent"/><ref name="WhosWho"/> In 1987, he played Lenin in the musical Rasputin, composed by David Tyyd, at the State Theatre in Sydney.

Anderson led Rose Tattoo through five studio albums until disbanding the group in 1987, by which time he was the only member remaining from the early line-up.<ref name="McFarlaneRose"/> During 1986, as Rose Tattoo was winding down following the recording of Beats from a Single Drum, Anderson joined The Party Boys for an Australian tour, but never recorded with them. By this time Anderson had established himself as an advocate on social issues and made regular appearances on the Channel Nine programs The Midday Show with Ray Martin and then A Current Affair as a human interest reporter.<ref name="McFarlane"/>

In 1987, Anderson had his biggest hit, when the uncharacteristic ballad "Suddenly" from the album, Beats from a Single Drum, was used as the wedding theme for the Neighbours episode in which the popular characters Scott Robinson and Charlene Mitchell married.<ref name="McFarlane"/> Robinson was portrayed by Jason Donovan, while Mitchell's character was portrayed by pop singer, Kylie Minogue, who had issued her debut single in July as a cover version of "Locomotion."<ref name="McFarlane"/> "Locomotion" was at number one on the Australian charts preventing "Suddenly" from reaching the top spot.<ref name="Kent"/> Beats from a Single Drum had been planned as Anderson's debut solo release, but had initially been billed as a Rose Tattoo album due to contractual obligations; however, after the success of "Suddenly", it was re-released in 1988 as an Angry Anderson solo album. In November 1988, the single reached number three on the UK singles chart after the episode aired there.<ref name="UKSingles"/>

File:Angry anderson.jpg

Anderson in Wagga, New South Wales, January 1993

With the dissolution of Rose Tattoo, Anderson pressed on with his solo career, releasing the album Blood from Stone in 1990 which provided the No. 11 hit single "Bound for Glory."<ref name="AUSCharts"/> He performed the song during half-time at the 1991 AFL Grand Final between Hawthorn and Template:AFL WC, after jumping out of a vehicle resembling the Batmobile.<ref name="Phelan"/> According to The Punch's Michael Phelan, Anderson's performance was "a teeth-gnashing, eyeballs-bleeding, nails-scratching-down-a-blackboard rendition" and rates it as the worst pre-game display in Australian sporting history.<ref name="Phelan"/>Template:Dead link Fellow guest Robert de Castella believed Anderson struggled with Waverley Park's poor acoustics,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> while Anderson himself claimed that he could not hear himself over the engine noise of the "Batmobile".<ref name=thewest>Template:Cite news</ref> In 1992, Anderson acted in the Australian arena-style revival of Jesus Christ Superstar as Herod. On Australia Day (26 January) 1993, Anderson was made a Member of the Order of Australia with the citation, "In recognition of service to the community, particularly as a youth advocate."<ref name="Honours"/> Also that year, Rose Tattoo reunited to support Guns N' Roses on the Australian leg of their Use Your Illusion Tour, Guns N' Roses specifically requested The Tatts to support them in Australia. However, the reunion was short-lived and the band's members returned to their solo projects.

From 1994, Anderson has used his contacts in the media to organise a Challenge where a particular charity's project was completed with support of community and business groups. Examples of these Challenges include constructing a playground for disabled children within 48 hours, assisting drought affected farmers with reserve feed for their stock, organising Christmas presents for socially and economically disadvantaged children, building two respite units for people living with and affected by HIV/AIDS and delivering artificial limbs for Cambodian land mine victims.<ref name="Coupe"/>

Rose Tattoo reconvened in 1998 and undertook an Australian tour.<ref name="McFarlaneRose"/> The group has continued to perform despite five Rose Tattoo former band members dying of cancer: Dallas Royall (1991),<ref name="Howl"/><ref name="Ankeny"/> Peter Wells (2006),<ref name="SMH2006"/> Ian Rilen (2006),<ref name="Brown"/> Lobby Loyde (2007)<ref name="Baker"/> and Mick Cocks (2009).<ref name="Cocksdied"/> According to rock music historian, Ian McFarlane, "over the course of a lengthy career, [the] gravel-throated vocalist ... has gone from attention-grabbing, rock'n'roll bad boy to all-round Australian media star."<ref name="McFarlane"/> On 16 August 2006, Rose Tattoo were inducted into the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) Hall of Fame.<ref name="HoFAug"/>

In the early years of the 2000s, Anderson participated in and organised a string of charity events. In 2002, Anderson played with former members of The Angels at the Bali Relief concert in Perth, Western Australia, held in aid of victims of the Bali bombing. Anderson is involved in the Dunn Lewis Youth Development Foundation, which is a lasting legacy of two of the 88 Australian lives lost in the bombings. In 2003, Anderson appeared in a cameo role as the character Kris Quaid in the independent Australian feature film Finding Joy. At the end of the film, he sings his hit "Suddenly."<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

File:AngryAnderson2011.jpg

Left to right: Hamish Rosser, Anderson, Matt Sorum, Sarah McLeod, DJ Lethal at opening of Darling Harbour's Hard Rock Cafe in December 2011

Anderson appeared in a guest role in the Australian movie Suite for Fleur (2011), as Silas, Fleur's father, a carpenter and furniture maker living in Byron Bay. In December, Anderson joined Doc Neeson ( The Angels), Mark Gable (The Choirboys), Buzz Bidstrup (The Angels), Phil Emmanuel and Matt Sorum (drummer for Guns N' Roses) on-stage to celebrate the opening of a Hard Rock Cafe in Darling Harbour.<ref name="Sharp"/> In January 2012, Anderson announced that Rose Tattoo would disband—he is a member of the National Party and is considering using his birth name, Gary, for "political expediency" when running as a candidate in the next federal election.<ref name="SMH1"/>

In 2014, Anderson was featured on 7mate's successful television series Bogan Hunters as one of eight celebrity judges.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Later that year, Anderson scored a role in the motion picture Fat Pizza vs. Housos. The film was shown in Australian cinemas from 27 November 2014 onwards.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Political viewsEdit

In July 2007, Anderson was criticised by some after espousing his views on Muslim immigration to Australia when he told the Sydney Daily Telegraph:<ref name=telegraph/><ref name=carlton/>

It's not ill-conceived to look at certain people and question when they come out here what they bring with them ... We have strict quarantine laws and it should be the same when it comes to cultures that do not want to integrate. We should be very careful about where certain Muslims come from and what they believe. If you come here, you should behave yourself—it's as simple as that... If people come and live in any country and their way of life is so different they need their own special laws, then possibly they have to pick somewhere else to live. The idea of any Muslim being photographed for a passport or a licence with one of those shrouds on—sorry, it just can't happen.{{#if:|{{#if:|}}
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On 1 March 2010, he told a Federal Parliamentary Committee into the impact of violence on youth that life experience has taught him "Aussies use their fists" when they fight and that "weapons were introduced by other cultures."<ref name="Kamper"/> In March 2011, Anderson declared he was a supporter of conservative politician Tony Abbott and his views against a tax on carbon dioxide emissions.<ref name="Thompson"/><ref name="Johnston"/> He announced in October that year that he was joining the conservative National Party, and was interested in standing for a seat in the next Australian federal election.<ref name="MacKenzie"/> When asked whether his more 'leftie views' might be gagged (he supports same-sex marriage, for example) he replied, "maintaining some sort of order and balance is about agreement, compromise, setting rules as the head of the house. I've learnt to be a part of the family. So I'm not going to say things in public that are going to embarrass the party."<ref name="SMH3"/> He was selected as the National candidate for the Division of Throsby in New South Wales under his birth name, Gary Anderson. Although he did not win, his preferences helped the Coalition net a four-percent swing in the seat.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

In 2012, Anderson participated in the SBS doco-reality show Go Back To Where You Came From, in which six Australians, each with differing opinions on Australia's asylum seeker debate, were taken on a journey to which refugees have taken to reach Australia. At the outset of the series Anderson says that "boat people" who arrive in Australia illegally should be sent back to their countries of origin: "If you come here illegally, I don't care about your story, first thing you do is you turn around and go back." Later in the series, after having met with refugees from Afghanistan who settled in Melbourne as well as visiting war-torn Kabul, Anderson softened his stand on the subject: "Now I've been here and spoken to people, I don't want to turn away refugees, I don't want to turn away people who need to be reunited with their families. I don't want that. Who would want that? I don't want people to go on suffering needlessly, when we can give them somewhere safe to be. But I don't want them to come to Australia in boats."<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Again endorsed by the National Party in September 2014, this time in the New South Wales seat of Cessnock for the 2015 state election, Anderson withdrew his candidacy in February 2015, citing personal reasons.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

In 2016 Anderson was endorsed as an Australian Liberty Alliance candidate for the Senate representing New South Wales at the 2016 federal election. The Australian Liberty Alliance is a right wing group that opposes Muslim immigration to Australia.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Personal lifeEdit

In Angry Anderson's 1994 biography, Angry – Scarred for Life, the author Karen Dewey describes his life as "Sexually, physically and mentally abused he broke the brutal family pattern to become a besotted, devoted father of four."<ref name="Dewey"/> Anderson described how "[t]here was physical and emotional violence in the family" and a family friend began sexually abusing him from the age of five.<ref name="SMH3"/>

In 1982, prior to one of Rose Tattoo's European tours, Anderson met Lindy Michael.<ref name="Coupe"/> The couple's daughter, Roxanne, was born in 1983.<ref name="Coupe"/> Anderson and Michael married in January 1986 and have also had three sons, Galen, Blaine and Liam.<ref name="Coupe"/><ref name="SMH3"/> By 2002, Anderson and Michael were divorced.<ref name="Coupe"/><ref name="SMH3"/> Anderson is a single father and lives in the Sydney suburb of Beacon Hill.<ref name="SMH1"/> Although he does not believe in an omniscient god, he attends the Baha'i temple regularly, saying: "the spirituality I have given myself over to is the divine."<ref name="SMH3"/>

Having seen cancer claim the lives of five of his Rose Tattoo bandmates (Dallas Royall, Peter Wells, Ian Rilen, Lobby Lloyde and Mick Cocks), Anderson has become an advocate for men's health. He appeared in a TV campaign promoting awareness of prostate cancer.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

On 4 November 2018, Anderson's son Liam was killed in an attack in a park in Queenscliff, New South Wales.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

DiscographyEdit

File:Rose Tattoo - Angry Anderson.jpg

Anderson performing with Rose Tattoo at the 2006 Meredith Music Festival

Rose TattooEdit

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Buster BrownEdit

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Solo albumsEdit

List of albums, with selected chart positions
Title	Album details	Peak chart positions
Title	Album details	AUS
Blood from Stone	Released: September 1990 Label: Mushroom Records (D 30252) Format: CD, Cassette	35

SinglesEdit

List of singles as lead artist, with selected chart positions and certifications
Title	Year	Peak chart positions				Certifications	Album
Title	Year	AUS <ref>Peak positions for singles in Australia: All except noted: {{#invoke:citation/CS1\|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="Aus2">{{#invoke:citation/CS1\|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	BE <ref name="NL"/>	Certifications	Album	NL <ref name="NL">{{#invoke:citation/CS1\|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	UK <ref name="British Hit Singles & Albums">Template:Cite book</ref>
"Suddenly"	1987	2	31	69	3		Beats from a Single Drum
"Get It Right"	1988	—	—	—	—
"Calling"	1989	—	—	—	—
"Bound for Glory"	1990	11	—	—	—		Blood from Stone
"Heaven"	1990	102	—	—	—		Blood from Stone
"I've Got to Rock (To Stay Alive)" (Saxon featuring Lemmy Kilmister, Angry Anderson and Andi Deris)	2007	—	—	—	—		Non-album single

FilmographyEdit

At Last... Bullamakanka: The Motion Picture (1983) – Senator's Aide
Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome (1985) – Ironbar Bassey
Scuff the Sock (1987, TV movie) – Plasterer
Finding Joy (2002) – Kris Quaid
Fat Pizza (2003) – Bikie
Pizza (2005, TV series) – Bikie Leader / Tattooist / Captain / Vietnam Vet
Swift and Shift Couriers (2008–2011, TV series) – Aaron 'Agro' Smith
Suite For Fleur (2011)
Housos vs. Authority (2012) – Angry
Go Back To Where You Came From (2012, TV series documentary) – Himself – Participant
Housos (2011–2013; 2020, TV series) – Angry
Fat Pizza vs. Housos (2014) – Angry
Bogan Hunters (2014, TV series) – Himself – Celebrity Judge
Dumb Criminals: The Movie (2015) – Angry
Fat Pizza: Back in Business (2019–2021, TV series) – Angry
Darradong Local Council (2023, TV series) – Patto

AwardsEdit

Mo AwardsEdit

The Australian Entertainment Mo Awards (commonly known informally as the Mo Awards), were annual Australian entertainment industry awards. They recognise achievements in live entertainment in Australia from 1975 to 2016. Angry Anderson won one award in that time.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Template:Awards table (wins only) |- | 1995 | Angry Anderson | John Campbell Fellowship Award | Template:Won |-

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