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Stephen Cummings

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Template:Short description Template:About Template:Use dmy dates Template:Use Australian English Template:Infobox musical artist Stephen Donald Cummings<ref name="APRA Hurry">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> (born 13 September 1954) is an Australian rock singer and songwriter. He was the lead singer of Melbourne-based rock band the Sports from 1976 to 1981,<ref name="McFS">Template:Cite encyclopedia</ref> followed by a solo career which has met with critical acclaim but has had limited commercial success.<ref name="McF">Template:Cite encyclopedia</ref><ref name="Howl">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}Template:Cbignore</ref> He has written two novels, Wonderboy (1996) and Stay Away from Lightning Girl (1999), and a memoir, Will It Be Funny Tomorrow, Billy (2009).<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In 2014 a documentary film, Don't Throw Stones, based on his memoir premiered as part of the Melbourne International Film Festival.

Early yearsEdit

Stephen Cummings was born in 1954 in Melbourne and grew up in the suburb of Camberwell. He was the vocalist for Ewe and the Merinos.<ref name="McFPB"/>

CareerEdit

The Pelaco BrothersEdit

{{#invoke:Labelled list hatnote|labelledList|Main article|Main articles|Main page|Main pages}} The Pelaco Brothers formed in 1974, with Cummings on vocals, Joe Camilleri on saxophone and vocals, Peter Lillie on guitar and vocals, Johnny Topper on bass guitar, Karl Wolfe on drums and Chris Worrall on guitar.<ref name="McFPB">Template:Cite encyclopedia</ref><ref name="ARDb">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> They played "rock-a-billy, country swing and R&B which recalled American outfits like Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen and Dan Hicks and his Hot Licks. Yet, the band's delivery presented a fiercely Australian outlook".<ref name="McFPB"/> Only existing for 18 months, they later included Ed Bates on guitar and Peter Martin on slide guitar,<ref name="ARDb"/> their posthumous releases were The Notorious Pelaco Brothers Show a live six-track Extended Play on the Ralph imprint (a completely different entity from the San Francisco label) in June 1977 and three studio tracks for a various artists release, The Autodrifters and The Relaxed Mechanics Meet The Fabulous Nudes and The Pelaco Bros, in June 1978 on Missing Link Records.<ref name="McFPB"/> The Pelaco Brothers disbanded in late 1975. Camilleri went on to form Jo Jo Zep & The Falcons, Lillie formed Relaxed Mechanics and Topper formed the Fabulous Nudes. Lillie, Topper and Wolfe were all in the Autodrifters.<ref name="McFPB"/> Meanwhile, Steve Cummings and Bates formed the Sports in 1976<ref name="McFPB"/>

The SportsEdit

{{#invoke:Labelled list hatnote|labelledList|Main article|Main articles|Main page|Main pages}} The Sports were a new wave band formed in 1976 by Cummings and former Pelaco Brothers bandmate Ed Bates, with Robert Glover (former Myriad) on bass guitar, Jim Niven on piano (former the Captain Matchbox Whoopee Band)<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> with Paul Hitchins on drums.<ref name="McFS"/> Their early sets contained covers of Chuck Berry, Billy Emerson, Don Covay, Company Caine and Graham Parker.<ref name="McFS"/> Original songs, mostly written by Cummings and Bates, completed their sets.<ref name="McFS"/> The Sports' debut recording was the EP Fair Game in early 1977.<ref name="McFS"/> A friend in London posted the record to New Musical Express which declared it "Record Of The Week".<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Andrew Pendlebury (ex-Myriad) joined on guitar in August 1977 and assisted Cummings with songwriting.<ref name="McFS"/><ref name="juice">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Cummings brought in Martin Armiger on guitar, vocals and songwriting to replace Bates in August 1978.<ref name="McFS"/> The Sports had top 30 hits on the Australian Kent Music Report singles charts with "Don't Throw Stones" (1979), "Strangers on a Train" (1980) and "How Come" (1981);<ref name=aus>Australian chart peaks:

  • Top 100 (Kent Music Report) peaks to mid-June 1988: Template:Cite book N.B. The Kent Report chart was licensed by ARIA between mid-1983 and 12 June 1988.
  • Top 50 (ARIA) peaks from 13 June 1988: {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}

  • A New Kind of Blue (ARIA) peak: {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}

  • Top 100 (ARIA) peaks from January 1990 to December 2010: Template:Cite book
  • All ARIA-era (from June 1988) singles chart peaks to 21 November 2017: {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }} N.B. The High Point number in the NAT column represents the single's peak on the national chart.</ref> and top 20 albums with Don't Throw Stones (#9, 1979), Suddenly (No. 13, 1980) and Sondra (1981).<ref name=aus/> "Who Listens to the Radio?", co-written by Cummings and Pendlebury,<ref name="APRA Who">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> peaked at No. 35 on the Australian singles charts in 1978,<ref name=aus/> and was their only hit on the United States Billboard pop singles chart, peaking at No. 45 in November 1979.<ref name="Billofficial">Template:Cite magazine</ref><ref name="BillSingl">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Solo careerEdit

After the Sports had disbanded in late 1981, Cummings formed a "part-time" band, A Ring of Truth, with Robert Glover (also the Sports), Peter Luscombe (Tinsley Waterhouse), Wilbur Wilde (Ol '55, Jo Jo Zep and the Falcons) and Les Stackpool (In-Focus).<ref name="Livesey">Template:Cite news</ref> Stackpool was soon replaced by Peter Laffy (Mondo Rock).<ref name="Livesey"/> According to TharunkaTemplate:'s Diane Livesey, "[they were Cummings] way of relieving boredom for a while and inflicting 'the modern face of cabaret' upon an unsuspecting public ... The only way to describe them is 'truly wonderful'."<ref name="Livesey"/> By late March 1982, Cummings had left that group.<ref name="Livesey"/> He spent the rest of 1982 co-writing tracks with Ian Stephen and waiting out his contract.<ref name="McF"/><ref name="Howl"/> He released his debut solo single, "We all Make Mistakes" on Phantom Records, in December 1982 and followed with "Stuck on Love" in May 1983.<ref name="McF"/><ref name="Howl"/> Cummings' debut album, Senso, released by Regular Records in August 1984, was produced by former bandmate Martin Armiger,<ref name="Howl"/><ref name="ARDb"/> and recorded with session musicians including Armiger, Joe Camilleri and Pendlebury from his earlier bands.<ref name="McF"/> Senso spawned two dance-pop singles, "Gymnasium" in July 1984 and "Another Kick in the Head" in October.<ref name="McF"/>

His second studio album, This Wonderful Life, was released in August 1986. It was a more personal and less busy recording<ref name="McF"/> which was produced by Cummings<ref name="ARDb"/> and provided two singles, "Speak with Frankness" and "Love is Crucial".<ref name="McF"/> In September 1987, Cummings dueted with Pendlebury on "She Set Fire to the House".<ref name="McF"/><ref name="ARDb"/> before releasing his third album, Lovetown in January 1988. Cummings formed Stephen Cummings' Lovetown (aka Stephen Cummings and Lovetown) with Rebecca Barnard on backing vocals, Mick Girasole (also in the Black Sorrows alongside Camilleri) on bass guitar, Peter Luscombe (also the Black Sorrows) on drums, Shane O'Mara on guitar and Pendlebury on guitar.<ref name="ARDb"/> It "was a very subtle, alluring, personal and mostly acoustic album ... full of conversational, narrative vignettes".<ref name="McF"/> The album, produced by Mark Woods and Cummings,<ref name="ARDb"/> provided two further singles, "Some Prayers Are Answered" in February and "My Willingness" in May.<ref name="McF"/>

Cummings changed labels to True Tone Records for his next album, A New Kind of Blue, which was released in March 1989 and produced by Cummings and O'Mara.<ref name="ARDb"/> It spawned three singles, "A Life is a Life" in October 1988, "Your House is Falling" in February 1989 and "When the Day is Done" in July. The album provided Cummings with his only Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) Award, winning "Best Adult Contemporary Album" in 1990.<ref name="ARIAlistAwards">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}Template:Dead link</ref><ref name="ARIA1990">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

For his fifth solo album, Good Humour, Cummings returned to his earlier dance and funk sound from his Senso album,<ref name="McF"/> using a backing band of Barnard, O'Mara and Nick Smith (ex-Kevins) on backing vocals, with additional session musicians from Sydney jazz outfit The Necks, and Robert Goodge (I'm Talking) on guitar, drum programming and co-production (for two tracks).<ref name="McF"/><ref name="ARDb"/> The album, produced by Cummings and O'Mara,<ref name="ARDb"/> peaked at No. 40 on the ARIA Album Charts in March 1991.<ref name=aus/> "Hell (You've Put Me Through)", which peaked at No. 33 after its November 1990 release,<ref name=aus/> was followed by a cover of Sly Stone's "Family Affair" and then "Stand Up (Love is the Greatest)".<ref name="McF"/> Cummings has supplemented his income by writing advertising jingles: he co-wrote Medibank Private's theme "I Feel Better Now", with Goodge.<ref name="McF"/><ref name="Howl"/>

Cummings' sixth studio album, Unguided Tour, produced by Cummings and O'Mara for Polygram Records,<ref name="ARDb"/> was issued in August 1992 and provided three singles.<ref name="McF"/><ref name="ARDb"/> The album peaked at number 76 on the ARIA Charts. In 1993, Cummings' first compilation album Rollercoaster was released.

In August 1994, Cummings' seventh solo album Falling Swinger was released.<ref name="McF"/> The single, "September 13" appeared in July and is titled for Cummings' birthday, which he shares with Steve Kilbey.<ref name="McF"/><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Later in 1994, the Toni Childs and Cummings duet, "Fell from a Great Height", was released as a single. It later appeared on Childs' compilation album, The Very Best of Toni Childs in 1996.

Steve Kilbey also produced Cummings' eighth studio album Escapist, released in September 1996,<ref name="ARDb"/> which contained "countrified ballad "Everything Breaks Your Heart" to the psychedelic-tinged mantra "Sometimes".<ref name="McF"/> Also in 1996, Cummings published his first novel, Wonderboy,<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref name="NLAWonder">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> which deals with relationships especially those between a father and son.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

On 14 November 1998, Cummings and, a briefly reformed, The Sports performed at the Mushroom Records 25th anniversary concert. His next solo album, Spiritual Bum, had Cummings as record producer and was issued in June 1999.<ref name="McF"/> He returned to an acoustic, melancholic sound.<ref name="McF"/> Cummings also had his second novel, Stay Away from Lightning Girl, published in 1999, which described an ageing musician and his band.<ref name="McF"/><ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref name="NLAStay">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In 2001, he released Skeleton Key followed by Firecracker in 2003, Close Ups in 2004, Love-O-Meter in 2005, Space Travel in 2007, and Happiest Man Alive in 2008. On 1 May 2009, his memoir, Will It Be Funny Tomorrow, Billy was printed,<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref name="NLAWill">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> which his publishers described as a series of anecdotes from his childhood through thirty years of the music business and his family relationships.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In October 2010, his 1988 album Lovetown was listed in the top 40 in the book, 100 Best Australian Albums.<ref name="ODonnell">Template:Cite book</ref>

In 2019, Cummings released his 20th studio album, Prisoner of Love. A four disc anthology album, titled A Life is a Life, was also released in 2019.

In February 2023, Cummings announced the forthcoming release of 100 Years from Now <ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> for 5 May 2023.<ref name=":0">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Personal lifeEdit

In March 2020, Cummings had a stroke, but partially recovered and began releasing work in 2023.<ref name=":0" />

Media reviewsEdit

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Alongside Nick Cave and Tim Rogers, I would nominate Stephen Cummings. He is easily one of our great storytellers, capable of creating lives in miniature<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>{{#if:Bernard Zuel, The Sydney Morning Herald, 3 November 2001|{{#if:|}}

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Apart from Paul Kelly, no other Australian solo artist has managed to sustain a recording and performing career at such a high level of artistry for as long as Stephen Cummings<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>{{#if:Shaun Carney, The Age, 1 November 2001|{{#if:|}}

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Debonair, romantic and sensitive, Cummings owns a voice that allows vulnerable yearning qualities as much space as an authoritative voice of experience.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>{{#if:Lauren Zoric, Rolling Stone Australia, issue 544, January 1998|{{#if:|}}

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In a year rich in fine albums from singer-songwriters as diverse as Bob Dylan, Ron Sexsmith and Lucinda Williams, this is one of the finest<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>{{#if:Larry Schwartz, The Sunday Age, 28 October 2001|{{#if:|}}

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BibliographyEdit

DiscographyEdit

Studio albumsEdit

List of studio albums, with selected chart positions
Title Album details Peak chart positions
AUS
<ref name=aus/>
Senso
  • Released: August 1984
  • Label: Regular Records (RRLP 1208)
 46
This Wonderful Life
  • Released: August 1986
  • Label: Centre Records (829 725-1)
 69
Lovetown
  • Released: January 1988
  • Label: Rampant Releases (RR052)
 61
A New Kind of Blue 53
Good Humour
  • Released: February 1991
  • Label: True Tone Records (847625)
 40
Unguided Tour 76
Falling Swinger
  • Released: August 1994
  • Label: Polydor Records (5233552)
 –
Escapist
  • Released: September 1996
  • Label: Polydor Records (5318402)
 –
Spiritual Bum –
Skeleton Key
  • Released: 3 October 2001
  • Label: W. Minc Productions (WMINCD021)
 –
Firecracker
  • Released: February 2003
  • Label: W. Minc Productions (WMINCD028)
 –
Close Ups –
Love-O-Meter
  • Released: 10 October 2005
  • Label: Liberation Music (LIBCD7181.5)
 –
Space Travel
  • Released: 25 August 2007
  • Label: Liberation Music (LIBCD92435)
 –
Happiest Man Alive
  • Released: 6 September 2008
  • Label: Head Records (HEAD099)
 –
Tickety Boo
  • Released: 2 November 2009
  • Label: Head Records (HEAD123)
 –
Good Bones
  • Released: August 2010
  • Label: Liberation Music (BLUE180.2)
 –
Reverse Psychology
  • Released: 17 February 2012
  • Label: Head Records (HEAD155)
 –
Nothing to Be Frightened Of
  • Released: August 2014
  • Label: Head Records (HEAD198)
 –
Prisoner of Love
  • Released: February 2019
  • Label: Bloodlines / UMA (BLOOD43)
 –
100 Years from Now
  • Scheduled 5 May 2023<ref name=":0" />
  • Label: Cheersquad Records & Tapes
 Template:Tba

Live albumsEdit

List of live albums
Title Album details
Live 2002
  • Released: April 2003
  • Label: W. Minc Productions (Limited Edition)
Live in the Big Room (CD/DVD set)

Compilation albumsEdit

List of compilation
Title Album details
Rollercoaster
Puppet Pauper Pirate Poet Pawn & King
  • Released: October 1997
  • Label: Polydor Records (5378832)
That's My Cave Man
  • Released: January 2008
  • Label: Stephen Cummings
A Life is a Life – Anthology
  • Released: April 2019
  • Label: Bloodlines / UMA (BLOOD44)

SinglesEdit

Year Single Peak chart positions Album
AUS
<ref name=aus/>
1982 "We All Make Mistakes" 89 Senso
1983 "Stuck on Love" 76
"Backstabbers" 40
1984 "Gymnasium" 27
"Another Kick in the Head" —
1985 "What Am I Going to Do?" 80 Non-album single
1986 "Speak with Frankness" 83 This Wonderful Life
"Love Is Crucial but Money, That's Everything" —
1987 "Set Fire to This House" (with Andrew Pendlebury) — Lovetown
1988 "Some Prayers Are Answered" —
"My Willingness" —
"A Life Is a Life" — A New Kind of Blue
1989 "Your House Is Falling" 80
"When the Day Is Done" 161
1990 "Hell (You've Put Me Through)" 33 Good Humour
1991 "Family Affair" 167
"Stand Up (Love Is the Greatest)" 142
1992 "Keep the Ball Rolling" 125 Unguided Tour
"Didn't Anybody Ever Say No to You" –
1993 "I've Got a Lot of Faith in You" 171
"Teacher I Need You" 102 The Heartbreak Kid soundtrack
"Whatever Love Is" 144 Rollercoaster
1994 "September 13/White Noise" 160 Falling Swinger
"The Big Room" —
1995 "Fell from a Great Height" (with Toni Childs) 147
1996 "Sometimes" 157 Escapist
"Taken by Surprise" 175
1999 "Don't Talk to Me About Love" — Spiritual Bum
"Wishing Machine" —
2004 "When Love Comes Back to Haunt You" (Acoustic version) — Close Ups
2023 "Carry Your Heart" 100 Years From Now
"—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released in that country.

AwardsEdit

ARIA Music AwardsEdit

The ARIA Music Awards is an annual awards ceremony that recognises excellence, innovation, and achievement across all genres of Australian music. Cummings has won one award from six nominations.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Template:Awards table |- || 1989 || "A Life Is a Life" | Best Male Artist | Template:Nom |- | rowspan="3"| 1990 | rowspan="3"| A New Kind of Blue | Best Male Artist | Template:Nom |- | Album of the Year | Template:Nom |- | Best Adult Contemporary Album | Template:Won |- || 1991 || "Hell (You've Put Me Through)" | Best Male Artist | Template:Nom |- || 1996 || Escapist | Best Adult Contemporary Album | Template:Nom |-

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Countdown Australian Music AwardsEdit

Countdown was an Australian pop music TV series on national broadcaster ABC-TV from 1974–1987, it presented music awards from 1979–1987, initially in conjunction with magazine TV Week. The TV Week / Countdown Awards were a combination of popular-voted and peer-voted awards.<ref name="CountdownMarch1987">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="1987noms&wins">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Template:Awards table |- | 1984 | himself ("Gymnasium") | Best Male Performance in a Video | Template:Nom |-

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ReferencesEdit

Template:Reflist

External linksEdit

Template:Stephen Cummings Template:The Sports Template:Authority control

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