Supernaut (Australian band)
| Supernaut | |
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Supernaut (1976)
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| Background information | |
| Also known as | The Nauts |
| Origin | Perth, Australia |
| Genres | Glam rock, glam punk, punk rock, new wave |
| Years active | 1974–1980, 2007, 2016 |
| Labels |
Polydor Records Wizard Records |
| Associated acts |
Illustrated Man The Saints Twenty Flight Rockers This Is This Knock-Out Drops The Honeydippers Speedtwinn The International Swingers |
| Past members |
Gary Twinn Chris Burnham Joe Burnham Randall Murphy Philip Foxman Noel Kennedy |
Supernaut were an Australian glam/punk rock band from Perth, Australia. Formed in 1974 by British immigrants Gary Twinn and brothers Chris and Joe Burnham, their high points were an Australian No.5 single with an award-winning video and a Christmas No.1 album in 1976.
Supernaut were signed to Polydor Records upon a recommendation from Ian "Molly" Meldrum (in turn tipped off by Paul McCartney). They entered the Australian charts at no.16 on July 1976 with the single "I Like It Both Ways". The song was banned by most commercial radio stations because of its controversial lyrics, but strong TV performances on Countdown and Bandstand forced radio to give in to public pressure and "I Like It Both Ways" hit the Number 5 spot on most Australian charts (and Number 1 on the Bandstand Top Ten).
Philip Foxman joined the band after Randall Murphy was fired. A follow up hit, "Too Hot To Touch", came in November 1976, reaching No.14 on the charts. Their self-titled debut album was a Christmas hit, achieving double gold sales. The group was presented with two TV Week King of Pop awards for best new band and best video performance of 1976. In 1977 the band released two original songs entitled "Young and Innocent" and "The Kids are Out Tonight", and a cover of "Let's Spend the Night Together" originally by The Rolling Stones. They had worked extensively on sessions for a second album. Once they realized their style of music was out of touch, the project was abandoned. A year later, they released one more single, "Unemployed". before leaving Polydor.
Signing to Robie Porter’s Wizard Records in 1978 they opted back to their original punk influences and became The Nauts. With the addition of Noel Kennedy on keyboard, they released "Spies" and "Black Market World" as means to promote a new album (produced by Robie Porter) under the new name in 1979. They disbanded in early 1980. Two years later Gary Twinn formed Twenty Flight Rockers with former Generation X drummer Mark Laff, and now plays with rock supergroup The International Swingers. Chris Burnham went on to play in The Saints with Chris Bailey from 1982 and 1989. Philip Foxman formed Illustrated Man in 1984 with Japan member Rob Dean, Gary Numan keyboardist Roger Mason, and Hugo Burnham from Gang of Four. They recorded one self-titled album and toured the U.K and U.S.A, with their single, "Head Over Heels", charting the Top 20 on MTV's dance charts. Foxman currently has a solo career releasing two Cd's: West 4th and Charles, and Up Antenna, as well as a musical composer for Off Broadway show, Atomic, which ran for a limited season at the Acorn theatre, New York.
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