Eurogliders are a band formed in 1980 in Perth, Western Australia, which included Grace Knight on Singing, Bernie Lynch on guitar and vocals, and Amanda Vincent on keyboards.[
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First edition (online copy):
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Second edition:
[ NOTE: Used for Australian Singles and Albums charting from 1970 until ARIA created their own ARIA Charts in mid-1988.] which spawned their No. 2 hit single, "Heaven (Must Be There)".
History
Early days (1980–1982)
and singer Bernie Lynch (as Rip Torn) fronted a new wave band, The Stockings, in Perth, Western Australia in the late 1970s.
He left in early 1980 to form Living Single, with keyboard player Amanda Vincent. Together, they recruited Crispin Akerman on guitar, Don Meharry on
bass guitar and Guy Slingerland on
drum kit through a series of advertisements. The following year, Grace Knight – Lynch's future domestic partner – joined as lead vocalist.
By the end of 1981, drummer John Bennetts replaced Slingerland and the band changed their name to Eurogliders.
They were signed by
band manager, Brian Peacock, to their first recording and publishing contracts with
PolyGram.
They recruited Melbourne bass player Geoff Rosenberg to replace Meharry. In 1982, Eurogliders travelled to
Manila, capital of the
Philippines, to record their first album,
Pink Suit Blue Day, produced by Englishman Lem Lubin, which did not peak into the top 50 of the Australian Kent Music Report albums chart.
From Manila, they relocated to Sydney to release their first single in June, "Without You", which peaked into the top 40 on the Kent Music Report singles chart.
International success (1983–1985)
Eurogliders changed record labels from Polygram to
CBS in 1983. They replaced bass guitarist, Rosenberg, with Scott Saunders and travelled to the UK in July.
While there, they recruited bass guitarist Ron François, formerly of
The Sinceros, The Teardrop Explodes and
Lene Lovich.
With this line-up they recorded
This Island, produced by Nigel Gray (also worked with the Police) which was released in May and peaked at No. 4 on the Australian albums chart.
The single, "Heaven (Must Be There)", also released in May, reached No. 2 on the Australian singles charts.
Released several months later in North America, the single peaked at No. 47 in Canada, and at No. 65 on the US
Billboard Hot 100 chart.
The album peaked at No. 140 on the
Billboard 200 chart.
In Australia, "Heaven" was followed by a
domino effect of two more top 10 hits, with "We Will Together" (No. 7, April 1985), and "Can't Wait to See You" (No. 8, November 1985).
Their third album
Absolutely, which peaked at No. 7, spent 47 weeks in the Australian charts.
Between 1984 and 1986, Eurogliders toured Australia, the USA, Canada, Puerto Rico, Japan and New Zealand.
At the height of the band's success, Grace Knight and Bernie Lynch reconciled their relationship and were married in 1985 but the union was short-lived. Despite their marital separation, they stayed together in the band for another four years. Lynch and Knight dismissed Brian Peacock, and took over the band's management.
Demise (1986–1989)
In early 1987, journalists documented Lynch and Knight's claim that Bennetts, François and Vincent left the band voluntarily.
Vincent went to London on a world tour with the
Thompson Twins, and stayed in the UK to tour and co-wrote with
Boy George. François became a session musician in Australia, while Bennets toured with
Eartha Kitt, and later worked in the Educational IT industry before founding Monkeydrum Studios.
Reduced to a duo, Lynch and Knight recorded their fourth album ( Groove) with session musicians, including Akerman. However, despite Akerman's presence on the album it was clear that Lynch and Knight by themselves were now the Eurogliders, as they were the only people pictured on the album cover or inner sleeve, or on any of the album's associated singles.
Groove peaked at No. 25 on the Australian charts in April 1988.
For the album tour, Lynch, Knight and Akerman were joined by Guy Le Claire on guitar, Rex Goh on guitar (ex-Air Supply), Lindsay Jehan on bass guitar and Steve Sowerby on drums. Later in 1989, the Eurogliders disbanded.
Post-Eurogliders (1990–2005)
After Eurogliders, Knight made a cameo appearance in the 1990 TV series
Come In Spinner and sang on its
soundtrack album,
Come In Spinner, recorded with
jazz artist
Vince Jones, which peaked at No. 4 on the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA)
ARIA Charts.
This launched a new career for Knight as a jazz singer with her first solo album,
Stormy Weather, which peaked at No. 16 in 1991.
Lynch became involved in theatre and soundtrack composition,
and as the business manager of his second wife, fashion designer Collette Dinnigan. Vincent, who had a successful popular music career with credits including
Boy George, Gang of Four and
Billy Bragg, moved into
ethnomusicology, specialising in African and Cuban music.
Reformations
Eurogliders reformed in October 2005, with Grace Knight and Bernie Lynch using session musicians including former member, Rex Goh,
and they released their fifth studio album, simply called
Eurogliders and included the single, "Hummingbird", but neither album nor single peaked into the ARIA top 50
ARIA Charts.
[ NOTE: Information supplied by ARIA shows that Eurogliders has no Top 50 charting albums or singles since they started their ARIA Charts in mid-1988.] They started touring again in April 2006 and performed on the Countdown Spectacular during June to August, which was a nostalgic tour of Australian bands from the 1970s and 1980s, as featured on the pop television show
Countdown with its host
Ian Meldrum. The group's sixth album,
Blue Kiss, was recorded during the same sessions as the previous and was released in mid-2006, it also had no top 50 charting.
Eurogliders official website was shut down in September 2008. In 2013 it was announced that the Eurogliders were expected to reform to support The Boomtown Rats on a planned reunion tour of Australia in May. However, the tour was cancelled due to poor ticket sales. Their seventh studio album,
Don't Eat the Daisies, appeared in 2014.
In May 2017 they headlined the entertainment on Darley Kingsford-Smith Cup Day during the Brisbane Winter Racing Carnival. Eurogliders plan to tour Australia in support of Simple Minds and OMD in December 2021.
Members
Eurogliders' members (arranged chronologically):
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Bernie Lynch – vocals, guitar, keyboards (1980–1989, 2005–2007, 2013–present)
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Amanda Vincent – keyboards (1980–1987)
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Crispin Akerman – guitar (1980–1987)
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Don Meharry – bass guitar (1980–1981)
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Guy Slingerland – drum kit (1980–1981)
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Grace Knight – vocals, saxophone, keyboards (1981–1989, 2005–2007, 2013–present)
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John Bennetts – drums, percussion (1981–1987)
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Stephen Clarke - drums (1981)
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Geoff Rosenberg – bass guitar (1981–1983)
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Ron François – bass guitar, backing vocals (1983–1987)
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Scott Saunders – bass (1983)
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Rex Goh – guitar (1988–1989)
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Lindsay Jehan – bass guitar (1988–1989)
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Guy Le Claire – guitar (1988–1989)
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Joy Smithers – backing vocals (1988–1989)
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Steve Sowerby – drums (1988–1989)
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Phil Whitcher – Keyboards (1988–1989)
Discography
Studio albums
Compilation albums
Singles
Awards and nominations
ARIA Music Awards
The ARIA Music Awards are a set of annual ceremonies presented by Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA), which recognise excellence, innovation, and achievement across all genres of the music of Australia. They commenced in 1987.
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| 2024
| Eurogliders - realestate.com.au: Keep Moving (72andSunny)
| Best Use of an Australian Recording in an Advertisement
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Countdown Australian Music Awards
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.
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| rowspan="2" |1982
| "Pink Suit Blue Day"
| Best Debut Album
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| "Without You"
| Best Debut Single
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| rowspan="5" |1984
| rowspan="2" | "Heaven Must Be There"
| Best Single
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| Best Video
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| Themselves in "Heaven Must Be There"
| Best Group Performance in a Video
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| Bernie Lynch (Eurogliders)
| Best Songwriter
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| Grace Knight
| Most Popular Female Performer
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| 1986
| Grace Knight
| Most Popular Female Performer
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West Australian Music Industry Awards
The West Australian Music Industry Awards are annual awards celebrating achievements for Western Australian music. They commenced in 1985.
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| 2017 || Eurogliders || Hall of Fame ||
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Further reading
External links
