The Sharp
| The Sharp | |
|---|---|
| Origin | Melbourne, Victoria, Australia |
| Genres | Rock, pop, rockabilly |
| Years active | 1991–1995, 2000, 2010 |
| Labels | East West/Warner |
| Website | myspace |
| Past members |
|
The Sharp were a three-piece pop, rockabilly band which formed in 1991 with Allan Catlin on double bass and lead vocals, Piet Collins on drums and Charlie Rooke on guitar and lead vocals. They issued three albums, This Is the Sharp (September 1993), Sonic Tripod (October 1994) and Single File (compilation, September 1995). Their highest charting single, "Alone Like Me" (1994), reached the ARIA Singles Chart top 20. They disbanded in October 1995.
In 1991 the Sharp were formed as a three-piece rockabilly, pop group in the Melbourne suburb of Collingwood by Allan Catlin on double bass and lead vocals, Piet Collins on drums and Charlie Rooke on guitar and lead vocals. Rooke had formed 59 Sharp, a "good-time bar-band", in 1988; he was later joined by Catlin, and alternating drummers Danny Simcic (also a member of Real Life, a new wave-synth pop band) and Tony Day (Broderick Smith Band). They "played 1950s rock'n'roll and rockabilly covers to a hardcore Melbourne following."
Piet Collins, who was writing Neighbours episodes at the time, joined on drums in 1991 due to other commitments for both Day and Simcic. The group were renamed as the Sharp, which according to Australian musicologist, Ian McFarlane "Boasting double bass, stand-up drums, rockabilly-tinged guitar licks and musicians dressed in all black... [they] presented a united front and an interesting twist on 1990s pop... [their] aesthetic push incorporated frisky pop melodies, tight arrangements, strong harmonies and grungy guitar riffs." For the Sharp Catlin and Rooke wrote original tracks, both individually and jointly. The group acknowledged the influence of the Kinks, the Beatles and the Easybeats.
In June 1992 they issued their debut CD three-track extended play, Love Your Head, on Mushroom Distribution Services. It was produced by Nick Mainsbridge (The Triffids, Tall Tales and True, Ratcat). They were signed to East West Music/Warner Music Australasia later that year. Their first hit single, "Talking Sly" (from the Spinosity EP), was written and sung jointly by Rooke and Catlin, which "received plenty of radio support and high critical acclaim." It reached the ARIA Singles Chart top 30. Their third EP, Train of Thought, which appeared in May that year, was co-produced by Mainsbridge with Peter Farnan (of Boom Crash Opera).
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