Stephen Cummings
| Stephen Cummings | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Stephen Donald Cummings |
| Born |
13 September 1954 Melbourne, Victoria, Australia |
| Genres | Rock, rockabilly, country swing, R&B, new wave |
| Occupation(s) | musician, singer, songwriter, writer |
| Years active | 1974–present |
| Labels | Ralph, Missing Link, Phantom, Regular |
| Associated acts |
The Pelaco Brothers The Sports A Ring of Truth The Drawcards Four Hours Sleep |
Stephen Donald Cummings (born 13 September 1954 in Melbourne, Australia) is an Australian rock singer-songwriter and writer. He was lead singer of Melbourne-based rock band, The Sports, from 1976 to 1981, followed by a solo career which has met with critical acclaim but has had limited commercial success. He has written two novels, Wonderboy (1996) and Stay Away from Lightning Girl (1999), and a memoir, Will it Be Funny Tomorrow, Billy? (2009). In 2014 a documentary film Don't Throw Stones based on his memoir premiered as part of the Melbourne International Film Festival.
Stephen Cummings was born in 1954 in Melbourne and grew up in Camberwell. He was the vocalist for Ewe and the Merinos.
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. They played "rock-abilly, country swing and R&B that 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". Only existing for 18 months, they later included Ed Bates on guitar and Peter Martin on slide guitar, 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 the various artists release, The Autodrifters and The Relaxed Mechanics Meet The Fabulous Nudes and The Pelaco Bros, in June 1978 on Missing Link Records. The Pelaco Brothers disbanded in late 1975, Camilleri went on to form Jo Jo Zep & The Falcons, Lillie formed Relaxed Mechanics, Topper formed The Fabulous Nudes, Lillie, Topper and Wolfe were all in The Autodrifters. Meanwhile, Cummings and Bates formed The Sports in 1976. and Paul Hitchins on drums. Their early sets contained covers of Chuck Berry, Billy Emerson, Don Covay, Company Caine and Graham Parker. Original songs, mostly written by Cummings and Bates, completed their sets. The Sports' debut recording was the EP, Fair Game in early 1977. A friend in London posted the record to the New Musical Express which declared it 'Record Of The Week'.Andrew Pendlebury (ex-Myriad) joined on guitar in August 1977 and assisted Cummings with songwriting. Cummings brought in Martin Armiger on guitar, vocals and songwriting to replace Bates in August 1978. 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); and top 20 albums with, Don't Throw Stones (#9, 1979), Suddenly (#13, 1980) and Sondra (1981). "Who Listens to the Radio?", co-written by Cummings and Pendlebury, peaked at #35 on the Australian singles charts in 1978, and was their only hit on the United States Billboard Pop Singles chart, peaking at #45 in November 1979.
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