Pseudo Echo

Template:Short description Template:Use Australian English Template:Use dmy dates Template:Infobox musical artist

Pseudo Echo are an Australian new wave band formed in 1982 by Brian Canham (vocals, guitar, and keyboards), Pierre Gigliotti (bass keyboards and bass guitar), and Tony Lugton (keyboards). Later members included Anthony Argiro (drums), Vince Leigh (drums), and James Leigh (keyboards). In the 1980s, Pseudo Echo had multiple Australian top 20 hits with "Listening", "A Beat for You", "Don't Go", "Love an Adventure", and "Living in a Dream". Their 1986 cover of "Funky Town" (a 1979 Disco hit by Lipps Inc.) was an international success, peaking at No. 1 in Australia and New Zealand and becoming a top ten hit in Sweden, Canada, the United States, and in the United Kingdom.

Their 1984 debut album, Autumnal Park, peaked at No. 11 on the Australian Kent Music Report. Love an Adventure followed in 1985 and reached No. 14. Their third album, Race (1988), peaked at No. 18. In 1990, the group disbanded. They reformed in 1998 and released the albums Ultraviolet (2014), Acoustica, and After Party (both 2020). Australian rock music historian Ian McFarlane described the band as "combin[ing] flash clothes, blow-wave hairstyles, youthful exuberance and accessible synth-pop to arrive at a winning combination".

BiographyEdit

1982–1984: Formation and Autumnal ParkEdit

{{#invoke:Labelled list hatnote|labelledList|Main article|Main articles|Main page|Main pages}} Pseudo Echo was formed in Melbourne in 1982 by two high school friends Brian Canham on vocals, guitars, and keyboards, and Pierre Gigliotti (as Pierre Pierre) on bass guitar and keyboards.<ref name="McF"/><ref name="ARDb"/> They were later joined by Tony Lugton (ex-Steeler, James Freud & the Radio Stars) on guitars and keyboards.<ref name="McF"/><ref name="ARDb"/> The group were named for a sound effect available on their keyboards and were initially influenced by New Romantics bands, Duran Duran, Spandau Ballet, and Ultravox.<ref name="McF"/><ref name="Warner"/><ref name="Femail"/> Molly Meldrum, television presenter and talent co-ordinator for the pop music series Countdown, saw the group at a gig and aired them on his show with a demo version of "Listening" in June 1983.<ref name="Warner"/><ref name="Jenkins"/> Originally the three-piece group had used a drum machine until Anthony Argiro joined on drums in July.<ref name="McF"/><ref name="ARDb"/>

The band were signed to EMI Records and "Listening" – re-recorded and produced by Peter Dawkins – was issued in November as their debut single.<ref name="ARDb"/><ref name="aus"/> It peaked at No. 4 on the Australian Kent Music Report Singles Chart.<ref name=aus/> Their debut album, Autumnal Park, produced by Dawkins and John Punter, was released in June 1984 and peaked at No. 11 on the Kent Music Report Albums Chart.<ref name="McF"/><ref name="ARDb"/><ref name=aus/> The album was released as Pseudo Echo for the North American market.<ref name="Sutton 1"/> It yielded the singles "A Beat for You" (No. 12 in April), "Dancing Until Midnight", and "Stranger in Me".<ref name="McF"/><ref name=aus/><ref name="AutoJS-1"/> Another track from Autumnal, "His Eyes", was used in the horror film, Friday the 13th: A New Beginning (1985). In October 1984, Tony Lugton left the band due to musical differences,<ref name="Grech"/> and was replaced by James Leigh (aka James Dingli) on keyboards.<ref name="McF"/><ref name="ARDb"/> Lugton eventually joined synth rock band Talk That Walk.<ref name="ARDb"/>

1985–1990: Love an Adventure, "Funky Town", Race, and disbandmentEdit

Template:Main article In November 1985, Pseudo Echo released their second album, Love an Adventure. It was co-produced by Brian Canham and Mark S. Berry.<ref name="ARDb"/> Another line-up change occurred after its recording with Argiro replaced by James' brother Vince Leigh (aka Vincent Dingli) on drums.<ref name="McF"/><ref name="ARDb"/> The album reached No. 14 in Australia.<ref name=aus/> Three of its singles reached the Top 20 including "Don't Go" (No. 4 in October), "Love an Adventure" (No. 6 in January 1986), and "Living in a Dream" (No. 15 in May).<ref name=aus/> A fourth single, "Try" (August), peaked at No. 60.<ref name=aus/> In November 1985, Canham was part of the supergroup the Incredible Penguins, who recorded a cover of the John Lennon and Yoko Ono hit "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)" for charity; it peaked at No. 10 in December.<ref name=aus/><ref name="SpencerIncredible"/>

In November 1986, Pseudo Echo released a cover version of the Lipps Inc. disco song "Funky Town", which spent seven weeks at number one from December.<ref name=aus/> "Funky Town" brought Pseudo Echo their biggest international chart success. It reached No. 6 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States, No. 8 on the UK Singles Chart in July 1987,<ref name="British Hit Singles & Albums"/> No. 1 in Canada,<ref name="AutoJS-2"/> (No. 17 on Canadian 1987 Year End)<ref name="AutoJS-3"/> and No. 1 in New Zealand.<ref name="NZL Charts"/> While not initially included on Love an Adventure, "Funky Town" was included on reissues of the album that were released following the success of the single. In September 1986, James and Vince Leigh appeared in the music video for John Farnham's single, "You're the Voice" despite not contributing to its audio recording.<ref name="Adams"/>

In 1987, the band re-released their 1983 debut single "Listening" for the movie North Shore. In October, they won the 1987 World Popular Song Festival with "Take on the World",<ref name="WPSF"/> which provided a prize of US$10,000.<ref name="McF"/> They released the compilation album Long Plays 83–87, re-titled Funky Town - The Album in New Zealand, where it peaked at No. 1.<ref name="NZL Charts"/> In 1988, they released their third studio album Race. It was produced by Canham, Brian Malouf and Julian Mendelsohn.<ref name="McF" /><ref name="ARDb" /> It spawned the Australian singles "Fooled Again", "Over Tomorrow", and "Eye of the Storm". The album reached No. 18 on the Kent Music Report Albums Chart and No. 32 on the ARIA Albums Chart.<ref name=aus/> Pseudo Echo disbanded after touring in support of Race in 1990.<ref name="McF"/>

1990–1997: Other projectsEdit

After Pseudo Echo disbanded, in 1990, bassist Pierre Gigliotti joined All the Young Dudes with former Geisha lead singer Chris Doheny. Lead singer Brian Canham moved into record production,<ref name="Nimmervoll"/> and produced Chocolate Starfish's 1994 debut album, Chocolate Starfish, which peaked at No. 2 on the ARIA Albums Chart.<ref name="McF"/><ref name="AusChartsCS"/> The Leigh brothers had a stint backing Tina Arena before forming Vertigo (later renamed as Invertigo) in 1996 with a third brother, Gerry Leigh on guitar.<ref name="Nimmervoll 2"/> In 1997, Canham formed Brill with Darren Danielson (ex-Chocolate Starfish) on drums. Andy McIvor was added on bass guitar and Dave Stuart on keyboards, and they toured as Brill, which issued a self-titled album in August 1997.<ref name="McF"/>

1998–2011: Reformation, Teleporter & the return of Vince & James LeighEdit

{{#invoke:Labelled list hatnote|labelledList|Main article|Main articles|Main page|Main pages}} Pseudo Echo reunited in March 1998, with Canham and Gigliotti joined by Danielson on drums and Tony Featherstone on keyboards (ex-the Badloves), and toured Australia.<ref name="McF"/> In late 1999, Ben Grayson replaced Featherstone on keyboards. In 2000, they released "Funkytown Y2K: RMX" which included six new remixes of "Funky Town". In February of that year, they supported international visitors Culture Club and Village People on the Retro Event of the New Millenium tour.<ref name="McF"/> In 2000, Pseudo Echo released Teleporter, a compilation of new tracks, remixes, and live performances.<ref name="Sutton 3" /><ref name="McF"/> During 2002 Canham and Grayson were part of the dance pop group Origene with vocalist Matilda White.<ref name="Nimmervoll O">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}Template:Cbignore</ref> Their debut single, "Suddenly, Silently" (March 2002),<ref name="Nimmervoll O" /> peaked at No. 51 on the ARIA Singles chart.<ref name="ARIA Report 643">Template:Cite journal Template:Cbignore</ref>

In 2005, Pseudo Echo toured extensively with Idols of the 80s and released Autumnal Park – Live. In 2006, Canham performed at the Countdown Spectacular. In 2007, to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Pseudo Echo, Canham and Gigliotti were joined by previous members James and Vince Leigh for a sold-out show at the Crown Casino, Melbourne. This performance was followed by a short Australian tour before Canham and Gigliotti were rejoined by latter day members, Danielson and Grayson.

2012–2021: Ultraviolet, Acoustica, After Party, & 1990: The Lost Album DemosEdit

{{#invoke:Labelled list hatnote|labelledList|Main article|Main articles|Main page|Main pages}} In 2012, co-founder Gigliotti resigned from the band and was replaced by Simon Rayner (bass keys, backing vocals). In July 2012, Pseudo Echo released "Suddenly Silently". This was followed by "Fighting the Tide" in 2013. In 2014, the band undertook a successful crowd-funding campaign which enabled them to release their fourth studio album, Ultraviolet. The band toured Ultraviolet extensively across Australia and to New Zealand. In January 2015, the group recorded a live performance in Hollywood's Viper Room in front of a sold-out crowd. This was released as Live at the Viper Room in June 2015. In December 2017, the group released a cover of "Nutbush City Limits".

In May 2020, the group released their fifth studio album, the acoustic album Acoustica, which was followed by the release of their sixth studio album After Party in September of the same year. In June 2021, the group released the album 1990: The Lost Album Demos, a compilation of songs that Brian Canham demoed in 1989 for what would have been Pseudo Echo's fourth studio album.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

2022–present: Ultimate & New lineupEdit

In late 2022, Pseudo Echo tour entitled "The Ultimate Tour" to promote the compilation album released on that year. In July 2024, the lineup consists of Brian Canham, Matty Ray, James Mudd, Abigail Lula, & new backing vocalist Valentina Taylor. In October 2024, Andrea Krakovská joined on guitars replacing James Mudd.

MembersEdit

Current membersEdit

Brian Canham – lead vocals, guitar, keyboards (1982–1990, 1998–present)
Valentina Taylor – backing vocals (2024–present)
Andrea Krakovská - guitar (2024–present)
Danny Ammar - keyboards (2024–present)
Elliott Orban - drums (2025–present)
Michael Kasif - keytar (2025–present)

Former membersEdit

Pierre Gigliotti – bass guitar, keyboards, synth bass (1982–1990, 1998-2012)
Tony Lugton – keyboards, guitar (1982–1984)
Anthony Argiro – drums (1982–1985)
James Leigh – keyboards, keytar, piano (1984–1990, 2007–2011)
Vince Leigh – drums (1985–1990, 2007–2011)
Tony Featherstone - keyboards (1998–2012, 2022–2023)
Simon Rayner - keyboards (2012–2016)
Ben Grayson - keyboards, keytar (1999–2007, 2012–2018)
Darren Danielson - drums (1998–2007, 2012–2018)
Matty Ray – keytar (2016–2024)
Cameron Smith - drums (2017–2023)
James Mudd - bass keytar/guitar (2018-2024)
Abigail Lula - drums (2023–2024)

DiscographyEdit

{{#invoke:Labelled list hatnote|labelledList|Main article|Main articles|Main page|Main pages}}

Studio albums

Autumnal Park (1984)
Love an Adventure (1985)
Race (1988)
Ultraviolet (2014)
Acoustica (2020)
After Party (2020)

Awards and nominationsEdit

Countdown Music AwardsEdit

Countdown is an Australian pop music TV series which was broadcast nationwide on ABC-TV from 1974–1987 to present music awards from 1979–1987, known as the Countdown Music Awards.<ref name="CountdownMarch1987"/><ref name="1987noms&wins"/>

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ARIA Music AwardsEdit

The ARIA Music Awards is an annual awards ceremony that recognises excellence, innovation, and achievement across all genres of Australian music. In 1987, Pseudo Echo were nominated for four awards.<ref name="AutoJS-4"/>

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Yamaha Music FoundationEdit

World Popular Song Festival<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Year	Award	Winner Song	Result
1987	Grand Prix International	Take On the World (Pseudo Echo song)	Template:Won

ReferencesEdit

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Note: Archived [on-line] copy has limited functionality.

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Note: [on-line] version of The Who's Who of Australian Rock was established at White Room Electronic Publishing Pty Ltd in 2007 and was expanded from the 2002 edition. As from, September 2010 the [on-line] version shows an 'Internal Service Error' and was no longer available.

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External linksEdit

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