| Dragon | |
|---|---|
| Also known as | Hunter |
| Origin | Auckland, New Zealand |
| Genre(s) | Rock |
| Years active | 1972-1979, 1982-1998, 2006-present |
| Label(s) | Vertigo, CBS, Portrait, Polydor, RCA, J & B, Liberation Music |
| Associated acts |
XL Capris |
| Website | Dragon Online |
| Members | |
| Todd Hunter Mark Williams Bruce Reid Pete Drummond |
|
| Former members | |
| Ray Goodwin Graeme Collins Neil Reynolds Neil Storey Ivan Thompson Marc Hunter Geoff Chunn Robert Taylor Paul Hewson Kerry Jacobson Billy Rogers Richard Lee Alan Mansfield Terry Chambers Tommy Emmanuel Don Miller-Robinson Doane Perry David Hirschfelder Lee Borkman John Watson Randall Waller Barton Price Mike Caen Jeffrey Bartolomei Mitch Farmer Rajan Kamahl Ange Tsoitoudis Dario Bortolin Mick O'Shea Billy Kervin |
|
Dragon is a popular New Zealand/Australian rock band, led by singer Marc Hunter and his brother Todd Hunter. Their well known hits are "April Sun in Cuba", "Are You Old Enough?" and "Still in Love With You" from the late 1970s and "Rain" from early 1980s. Keyboard player Paul Hewson wrote or co-wrote most of the group's earlier hits.
Contents |
Band history
Early days
Dragon formed in Auckland, New Zealand, in 1972 with a line-up that featured Todd Hunter (bass guitar), guitarist Ray Goodwin, drummer Neil Reynolds and singer Graeme Collins.[1] Collins is credited with using I Ching to provide the name Dragon.[2] By 1974 several personnel changes had occurred, with Marc Hunter joining on vocals and Neil Storey on drums. The band recorded two progressive rock albums in their native New Zealand, Universal Radio and Scented Gardens for the Blind. Robert Taylor from the group Mammal then joined the band as it searched for a more 'pop' feel.
Initial stardom
Dragon eventually landed a contract with CBS Records in Australia and relocated to Sydney in 1975. Soon after, they sent for keyboard player Paul Hewson, who they had known in New Zealand and who had a reputation as a pop songwriter. Often courting or creating controversy, the band was rocked by the heroin overdose death of drummer Neil Storey in 1976. By then, founding member Goodwin had left the group, and their first single to chart, 'This Time', had just begun selling. Storey was replaced by Kerry Jacobson and, between 1975 and 1979, Dragon scored a string of major hits on the Australian pop charts with songs including "April Sun in Cuba," "Are You Old Enough?" and "Still In Love With You" and with the albums Sunshine and O Zambezi, making them one of the country's most popular rock acts. As a result, the band had hopes of a breakthrough in the American market, but these were scuttled during a disastrous US tour culminating in a show in Austin, Texas at which Marc Hunter incited a crowd by suggesting all Texans were "faggots", resulting in the band having to dodge flying beer bottles.
Split - 1979-1982
Marc Hunter left Dragon in 1979 due to drug problems which were, by then, seriously affecting his performances. Singer Billy Rogers formerly of the Perth group Last Chance Cafe and violinist Richard Lee from the Melbourne band Sidewinder were recruited and the group recorded the commercially unsuccessful Powerplay LP before breaking up. Marc Hunter cleaned up in the post-Dragon years and released two successful solo singles, "Island Nights" (1979) and "Big City Talk" (1981) from the LPs Fiji Bitter and Big City Talk respectively. The video clip for the "Big City Talk" single was filmed in the Broadway Tunnel, a long and dreary pedestrian walkway linking Sydney's Central Station with Broadway. The clip captured the seedy and unsettling atmosphere of the tunnel, adding extra mood to the song's words. Todd Hunter had meanwhile teamed up with his partner (and later second wife) Johanna Pigott, formerly of indie punk group XL Capris, and together they became a successful songwriting team. He had three kids Harry, James and Joey. Harry is a successful DJ in Sydney. James is still at high school but plays a lot of basketball. Joey is also at high school getting up on his studies. The XL Capris were not commercially successful, although their memorable re-working of crooner Tommy Leonetti's "My City Of Sydney" became a minor cult classic. Todd Hunter produced both their albums Where's Hank? (March 1981) and Weeds (October 1981), and was a member of the band for the second.[1] Ex-Dragon keyboardist, Paul Hewson had also found success in that time, when after moving back to Auckland, became a member of The Pink Flamingos, a band led by Dave McArtney of Hello Sailor (a band that had also split at the time) - in the early 1980s The Pink Flamingos were one of New Zealand's top musical acts.
Reformation - 1982-1997
Dragon briefly reformed in 1982 to pay off outstanding debts, with the band then staying together to have another shot at success. Their second comeback single, "Rain", proved to be a #2 hit,[3] but Jacobson left the band for health reasons and was replaced by British drummer Terry Chambers, formerly from the band XTC. American keyboard player and producer Alan Mansfield also joined at this point. Dragon's 1984 album Body and the Beat became one of the biggest-selling albums in Australia and New Zealand; they were restored to something close to their late 1970s glory. Their public profile was further raised by Marc Hunter's solo album, Communication. Its title track became a moderate hit in Australia and featured a loosely cabaret-oriented video-clip filmed in Amsterdam in which Marc — resplendent in a bright red cowbot hat — was flanked by two women who also danced away under red Stetsons. Body and the Beat yielded further successful Australasian singles, notably "Magic" and "Cry". Paul Hewson left Dragon and died of a drug overdose in New Zealand in January 1985; fellow members Terry Chambers and Robert Taylor left some time after. American drummer Doanne Perry replaced Chambers, and Taylor was eventually succeeded by local Sydney guitar ace Tommy Emmanuel. This line-up recorded the Todd Rundgren-produced Dreams of Ordinary Men album and later toured Europe with Tina Turner under the name Hunter (in 1987). Dragon again split up in 1988 although a year later the Hunter brothers and Mansfield had reconvened once again with guitarist Randall Waller and drummer Barton Price, ex-Models, for the Bondi Road album, which also featured Emmanuel's guitar playing. Dragon continued to record and tour with varying line-ups centered around Todd and Marc Hunter and Mansfield. Todd Hunter retired from the band in 1995 and worked for six years as Music Composer for Heartbreak High (TV series),[4] after the 1995 album Incarnations, which featured reworkings of earlier hits. In November 1997, Marc Hunter was diagnosed with severe throat cancer and died on 17 July 1998.[5] A memorial sevice for him was held at St Andrews Cathedral in Sydney. The compilation CD Forever Young, released on Raven Records, captures many of the highlight tracks of his career.
Split - 1997-2006
Dragon broke up, ostensibly for the last time after Marc Hunter's illness had been diagnosed in 1997.
Reformation - 2006-
Todd Hunter (bass) reformed Dragon in 2006 with a line-up of Mark Williams (vocals, guitar), Bruce Reid (slide guitar), and Pete Drummond (drums).[1] This new Dragon line up released Sunshine to Rain under the Liberation Blue Acoustic Series Label in June 2006. Dragon is currently touring Australia with the show Dragon Remembers.
Personnel
(In chronological order)[1]
- Todd Hunter (bass) 1972 - 1995, 2006 -
- Ray Goodwin (guitar) 1972 - 1975
- Graeme Collins (vocals) 1972
- Neil Reynolds (drums) 1972
- Neil Storey (drums) 1972 - 1975
- Ivan Thompson (vocals) 1973 - 1974 (replaced Collins)
- Marc Hunter (vocals) 1973 - 1979, 1982 - 1997
- Geoff Chunn (drums) 1974
- Robert Taylor (guitar) 1974 - 1984
- Paul Hewson (keyboards) 1975 - 1985
- Kerry Jacobson (drums) 1977 - 1982
- Billy Rogers (harmonica, sax, piano) 1979
- Richard Lee (vocals/guitar/violin) 1979 - 1980
- Alan Mansfield (keyboards) 1982 - 1997
- Terry Chambers (drums) 1983 - 1985
- Tommy Emmanuel (guitar) 1985 - 1988, 1995
- Don Miller-Robinson (guitar) 1985 (replaced Taylor)
- Doane Perry (drums) 1985 - 1988
- David Hirschfelder (keyboards) 1987 - 1989
- Lee Borkman (keyboards) 1988 - 1989
- John Watson (drums) 1988 - 1989
- Randall Waller (guitar) 1989
- Barton Price (drums) 1989
- Mike Caen (guitar) 1989 - 1995, 1996 - 1997
- Jeffrey Bartolomei (keyboards) 1989 - 1996
- Mitch Farmer (drums) 1989
- Rajan Kamahl (keyboards) 1991(?) - 1993(?)
- Ange Tsoitoudis (guitar) 1996 - 1997
- Dario Bortolin (bass) 1996
- Mick O'Shea (drums) 1996 - 1997
- Billy Kervin (bass) 1996 - 1997
- Mark Williams (vocals, guitar) 2006 -
- Bruce Reid (guitar) 2006 -
- Pete Drummond (drums) 2006 -
- Darren Percival (guest vocals) 2007
- Bernie Segedin (guest vocals) 2007
Discography
Albums
| Date of Release | Title | Label[1] | Charted | Country | Catalog Number[1] |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1974 | Universal Radio | Vertigo Records | - | - | 6360902 |
| 1975 | Scented Gardens for the Blind | Vertigo Records | - | - | 6360903 |
| 1977 | Sunshine | CBS, Portrait | - | - | SBP234946, JR35068 |
| 1977 | Running Free | Portrait, CBS | - | - | PR33005, CBS (1989 CD) 465720-2 |
| 1978 | O Zambezi | Portrait | - | - | PR33010 |
| 1979 | Power Play | CBS | - | - | SBP237352 |
| 1979 | Dragon's Greatest Hits Vol. 1 | CBS, Portrait | - | - | SBP237294, 462440-2 |
| 1984 | Body and the Beat | Polydor | - | - | 817874-1 |
| 1985 | Live One | Polydor | - | - | 825860-1 |
| 1986 | Dreams of Ordinary Men U.S./Europe release by band "Hunter" |
Polydor | - | - | 829828-1, "Hunter" (1987 CD) 831760-2 |
| 1989 | Bondi Road | RCA | - | - | SFCD0170 |
| 1990 | J & B | - | - | JB325 (1988 vinyl), JB526 (1989 CD) | |
| 1994 | Scented Gardens for the Blind (re-released as a CD) |
TRC Records | - | - | TRC045 |
| 1995 | Incarnations | Roadshow Music | - | - | 14251-2 |
| 2006 | Sunshine to Rain | Liberation Music | - | - | Blue090.2 |
Singles
| Year | Single | Album | Charted | Certification |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1977 | "April Sun in Cuba" | Running Free | 2[5] | - |
| 1978 | "Are You Old Enough?" | O Zambezi | 1[5] | - |
| 1978 | "Still In Love With You" | O Zambezi | - | |
| 1983 | "Rain" | Body and the Beat | 2[3] | - |
| 1989 | "Young Years" | Bondi Road | 18[6] | - |
Awards
- 1977 - Best New Group (TV Week King of Pop Awards)[7]
- 1978 - Outstanding Local Achievement (TV Week King of Pop Awards)[7]
References
- ^ a b c d e f Australian Rock Database. Magnus Holmgren. Retrieved on 2007-10-21.
- ^ Dragon history. Dragon Online. Retrieved on 2007-10-21.
- ^ a b The best of 1983. Oz Net Music Chart. Retrieved on 2007-09-28.
- ^ Heartbreak High (1994). Internet Movie Database (IMDb. Retrieved on 2007-10-25.
- ^ a b c "Marc Hunter (1953-1998)". MILESAGO. Retrieved on 2007-10-25.
- ^ Australian Charts. australian-charts.com. Retrieved on 2007-10-21.
- ^ a b Australian Music Awards. Retrieved on 2007-10-25.
