Australian Crawl (often called Aussie Crawl or The Crawl by fans) were an Australian rock band founded by James Reyne (lead vocals/piano/harmonica), Brad Robinson (rhythm guitar), Paul Williams (bass), Simon Binks (lead guitar) and David Reyne (drums) in Melbourne in 1978. David Reyne soon left and was replaced by Bill McDonough (drums, percussion). They were later joined by his brother Guy McDonough (vocals, rhythm guitar). and sponsored a surfing competition in 1984. However, the band also handled broader social issues such as shallow materialism, alcoholism, car accidents, and cautionary tales of romance. Hospitalised with lymphoma, founding guitarist Brad Robinson was unable to attend the Hall of Fame induction in person. He died two weeks later.

Biography

1975–1979: formation and "Beautiful People"

The band Spiff Rouch

By early 1978 Spiff Rouch had separated into two groups: The Flatheads (including the McDonough brothers and Walker, along with Sean Higgins and Nigel Spencer) and Australian Crawl. The original lineup for the latter was Reyne as vocalist, Binks on lead guitar, Williams on bass guitar, along with Reyne's younger brother David Reyne on drums and schoolmate Brad Robinson on rhythm guitar.

David Reyne left the group in 1979 to finish his acting course, later becoming an actor and TV presenter as well as drumming for Cats Under Pressure and the Chantoozies (1986–1990). Reyne had co-written the song with guitarist Mark Hudson in 1975. The track included references to the shallow materialism of residents of Toorak Australian Crawl made one of the most memorable debuts on Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) TV series Countdown performing "Beautiful People" as Reyne still had both arms encased in plaster. "Beautiful People" remains one of their most popular songs according to listeners of Triple M in 2007.

1980 The Boys Light Up

Australian Crawl's debut album, The Boys Light Up (1980), also produced by Briggs for EMI, It also reached No. 22 on the National charts

However, according to James Reyne some people accused them of being demonic. He said whenever you bumped into the member of Little River Band who had found God, he'd tell him "you shouldn't be playing that, it's demonic". who co-wrote a track "Easy on Your Own" Of these, "Errol" about womanising Tasmanian-born actor Flynn is the band's third most popular song of all.

Another track on this album, "Unpublished Critics" has been compared several times to the later song "Sweet Child o' Mine" by US band Guns N' Roses, as acknowledged by the writer of "Unpublished Critics", James Reyne. He was responding to media comments in May 2015 about the possibility of plagiarism by the American band. Duff McKagan, who was bass player with Guns N' Roses when "Sweet Child o' Mine" was written and recorded, found the similarities between the songs "stunning," but said he had not previously heard "Unpublished Critics."

On the wave of popularity the band toured extensively playing to huge crowds at Melbourne's Myer Music Bowl (10,000), Sydney's Domain (90,000), the Narara Rock festival (70,000), smashing attendance records at indoor venues in Brisbane and Perth.

Sons of Beaches (1982) was recorded in Hawaii with expatriate Australian Mike Chapman producing. For Reyne's role of playboy tennis professional Greg Marsden, he was given the 1984 "Most Popular New Talent Award" at the TV Week Logie Awards. Reyne later declared he was not very good in the part, declining many acting offers since. The resultant album, Live at Several 21sts, peaked at No. 9 on the national chart.

1983–1984: "Reckless", Semantics and Phalanx

Soon after Reyne finished acting for Return to Eden, Bill McDonough left due to tensions within the band.

In June 1984 the band was forced off the road when Guy McDonough was admitted to hospital in Melbourne; he died soon after of viral pneumonia. Bill McDonough assembled the tapes and produced Guy McDonough's posthumous album My Place on Wheatley Records in April 1985. Singles "My Place" / "Things Don't Seem" and "What's in it For Me" / "Hook, Line and Sinker" were also released. "Things Don't Seem" written by Guy McDonough and Sean Higgins, Tracks from these sessions were re-mastered and released on Lost & Found in 1996.

1985–1986: Between a Rock and a Hard Place, The Final Wave and split

By 1985 the group recorded their last studio album, Between a Rock and a Hard Place, with English producer Adam Kidron. It was released in Australia on Australian Crawl's own label Freestyle Records. The album, which allegedly cost $400,000 to record,

When the album virtually failed to chart, the band was ready to split but had to go out on tour to pay off its debts.