Renée Rebecca Geyer (11 September 195317 January 2023) was an Australian singer who was an acclaimed jazz, soul and R&B musician. She released 15 studio albums with Moving Along (1977) and Tenderland (2003) both reaching number 11 on the Australian charts. Geyer's singles success as a solo artist in Australia were with "It's a Man's Man's World", "Heading in the Right Direction" and "Stares and Whispers" in the 1970s and "Say I Love You" in the 1980s. The latter also reached number one in New Zealand. The singer was an internationally respected and sought-after backing vocalist, whose session credits include work with Sting, Chaka Khan, Toni Childs, Joe Cocker, Neil Diamond, Men at Work and Trouble Funk.
Geyer's autobiography, Confessions of a Difficult Woman (2000), co-written with music journalist Ed Nimmervoll detailed her drug addictions, sex life and career in music. She described herself as "a white Hungarian Jew from Australia sounding like a 65-year-old black man from Alabama." She spent more than 10 years based in the United States while working as a session vocalist, but had little chart success there under her own name. Geyer returned to Australia in the mid-1990s and her career continued into the 21st century. Rock historian Ian McFarlane described Geyer as having a "rich, soulful, passionate and husky vocal delivery". Geyer died of lung cancer which was attributed to her long addiction to smoking cigarettes.
Biography
1953–1973: Early years
Renée Rebecca Geyer, was born on 11 September 1953 in Melbourne, to a Hungarian-Jewish father, Edward Geyer (1920–2013), a Holocaust survivor, as the youngest of three children. The couple had met in Palestine and migrated to Melbourne in 1951 where her father managed the Warsaw Centre. The group worked at Kask Wine Bar, Bondi; where she earned $5 a night her father disapproved of her chosen career, Dry Red also contained Eric McCusker (later of Mondo Rock). For her audition she sang the Bee Gees' hit "To Love Somebody".
With Geyer, Sun's line-up was George Almanza (piano), Henry Correy (bass guitar), Gary Norwell (drums), Keith Shadwick (saxophone, flute, clarinet, vocals) and Chris Sonnenberg (guitar). In 2022 a four-disc album by various Sun line-ups, Rehearsal Recordings Album, was issued. which mostly consisted of R&B/Soul cover versions of overseas hits and was produced by Gus McNeil at ATA Studios, Sydney. Aside from Harris on keyboards it was recorded with Mike Brady on backing vocals, Bobby Bright on backing vocals, Geoff Cox on drums, Tim Gaze on guitar and Phil Manning on guitar. It became her first charting album when it peaked at No. 28 in October on the Kent Music Report. (both ex-the Johnny Rocco Band), which reached the top 40 in 1976.
Geyer participated in the 1975 federal election campaign for the Liberal Party, singing their theme song "Turn on the Lights". Her backing musicians, Logan and Sullivan were supplemented by members of Stevie Wonder's band, It provided Geyer's biggest Australian hit single, at the time, with "Stares and Whispers" (April) peaking at No. 17. Known for her uncompromising and direct personal manner, Geyer refused to accede to such deception and insisted on marketing with a cover photograph of what she referred to as "my big pink huge face". Amy Hanson of AllMusic found Murphy's vocal tracks to be "at best drab and lifeless, and frequently droning and dire." The added fire in her vocals was sparked by harder edged backing from the group and additional musicians: Logan, Punch, Kerrie Biddell on backing vocals (Brian Cadd band) and Tim Piper on guitar (ex-Chain, Blackfeather).
1980–1984: So Lucky, Renée Live and Faves
In 1981 Geyer recorded her seventh studio album So Lucky at Shangri-La Studios, Malibu, California. Helmed by Rob Fraboni (The Beach Boys, Bob Dylan, The Band) and Ricky Fataar (Beach Boys), So Lucky was released in November 1981 and provided two further singles, "Do You Know What I Mean" (December 1981), which reached the Australian and New Zealand top 30s So Lucky was released internationally by Portrait Records as Renée Geyer by Renée Geyer and the Bump Band in 1982. Also in that year Mushroom re-issued her previous albums. In the following year, Geyer released her second live album Renée Live in May, Concert excerpts were broadcast in Australia (on both Seven Network and Nine Network) and on MTV in the US. She recorded a live album Live at the Basement in May 1986, which was released later that year by ABC Records.
Geyer continued as an in-demand US session vocalist, as in Australia. In 1986 she sang lead vocals on the Danny Hutton Hitters cover of Nik Kewshaw's "Wouldn't It Be Good" that was featured in the John Hughes 1986 film Pretty In Pink. She appeared on Sting's 1987 double-album, ...Nothing Like the Sun, including his single "We'll Be Together". She performed a duet with Joe Cocker on his 1987 album Unchain My Heart and, following its release, toured Europe with him as a backing vocalist. She was audible on Toni Childs' hit "Don't Walk Away" from that artist's 1988 album Union. Other sessions included working with Neil Diamond, Julio Iglesias, Buddy Guy and Bonnie Raitt. Two singles were released from the soundtrack including Geyer's cover of Jean Stafford's "Someday I'll Take Home The Roses". In March 1999 Geyer released her tenth studio album Sweet Life, which was co-produced by Kelly with Joe Camilleri (Jo Jo Zep & The Falcons, The Black Sorrows).
2000–2008: ARIA Hall of Fame, Tenderland, Tonight and Dedicated
thumb|Geyer performing with a choir behind her at the [[2000 Summer Paralympics Opening Ceremony]]
In April 2000 Geyer released her autobiography, Confessions of a Difficult Woman: The Renée Geyer Story, referencing her 1994 studio album, Difficult Woman.
In October 2000 Geyer performed at the Opening Ceremony of the Summer Paralympics in Sydney. In August 2003 the singer released her eleventh studio album Tenderland. It peaked at number 11 on the ARIA Charts, equalling her highest-charting album in her career.
Live at the Athenaeum was released in April 2004 and Geyer's twelfth studio album Tonight in April 2005.<!-- NOTE: Jimmy Barnes was also inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame in 2005 but at the later ARIA Awards on 23 October and so is not included in this list.--> At the ceremony, contemporary R&B singer Jade MacRae performed a Geyer medley, followed by Geyer singing her 1975 hit "It's a Man's Man's World". During July 2007 Geyer undertook the role of stepmother in musical theatre play Sleeping Beauty: This is Not a Lullaby at the Malthouse Theatre, Melbourne. In 2008 she provided a voice in the claymation film Mary & Max by Adam Elliot.
Geyer and fellow 1970s singer, Marcia Hines, are the subjects of Australian academic, Jon Stratton's 2008 cultural studies article, "A Jew Singing Like a Black Woman in Australia: Race, Renée Geyer and Marcia Hines". Geyer delivered a two-hour master class on 3 December 2008 to illustrate her annoyance at vocal gymnastics used by singers Mariah Carey and Christina Aguilera which had influenced contestants on talent quests such as Australian Idol. Geyer was approached to be a judge on Australian Idol and The X Factor but declined; she criticised judges on Australian Idol: Hines for being "so neutral, I don't hear an opinion" and Kyle Sandilands for his hurtful commentary rather than constructive criticisms. It is a collection of newly recorded acoustic versions of previously recorded tracks. In June of that year, Geyer was diagnosed with breast cancer and following surgery was told it had been detected early and a full recovery was expected.
In March 2010 Warner Music Australia released another compilation album, The Ultimate Collection, which is her highest-charting album in New Zealand—peaking at number 21. In August 2011 she was fined for careless driving over two incidents in Victoria in 2010 and 2011, where she crashed into parked cars, a tree and a shop front. Her lawyer had blamed the crashes on a drug she was taking to treat breast cancer which he said led to a loss of concentration. She was fined $500, which was ordered to be paid to the Cancer Council.
In April 2013 Geyer released her fifteenth and last studio album Swing, which consists of big-band cover versions. It peaked at number 22 in Australia. Geyer toured the album across 2013. In November 2013 the singer was inducted into the Music Victoria Hall of Fame.
In 2015, Geyer allegedly verbally attacked a receptionist at the Adina Hotel in Haymarket, leaving the receptionist in tears after telling Geyer that she needed to provide vehicle registration to access the car park. In January 2017, Geyer was not convicted but was handed a 12-month good behaviour bond. In October 2018 proposed recording a new album, "I am playing it by ear, but sometime in the next year, I would like to do something—another new album. I have collaborated with people on different things and other projects, but I would like to do something of my own again. And I think in the next twelve months it will happen. And it probably might be my last one. I will probably do something, like a tribute to a blues situation, because I have been so influenced by the blues through my life, and I have never really spoken to that. So, I might do something, that has to do with that. Some version of a blues record."
In January 2023 Geyer was admitted to a Geelong hospital for hip surgery. It was discovered that she had inoperable lung cancer. Renée Geyer died at that hospital from surgical complications on 17 January 2023 at the age of 69. A public memorial in her honour was held in April 2023 in St. Kilda, performers included Kevin Borich, Kate Ceberano, Deborah Conway, Paul Kelly and Russell Morris. Renee was a resident of St Kilda and lived in a number of rental properties around the area over the years, always identifying as "a Melbourne person at heart".
Bibliography
Discography
- Renée Geyer (1973)
- It's a Man's Man's World (1974)
- Ready to Deal (1975)
- Moving Along (1977)
- Winner (1978)
- Blues License (1979)
- So Lucky (1981)
- Sing to Me (1985)
- Difficult Woman (1994)
- Sweet Life (1999)
- Tenderland (2003)
- Tonight (2005)
- Dedicated (2007)
- Renéessance (2009)
- Swing (2013)
Awards and nominations
ARIA Awards
The ARIA Music Awards is an annual awards ceremony held by the Australian Recording Industry Association. They commenced in 1987. Geyer was nominated six times. In 2005, she was inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame.
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| 1987 || Live at the Basement || Best Female Artist||
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| 1999 || Sweet Life || Best Adult Contemporary Album ||
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| 2003 || Tenderland || Best Female Artist||
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| 2003 || Tenderland || Best Adult Contemporary Album||
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| 2005 || Tonight || Best Adult Contemporary Album ||
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| 2005 || Renée Geyer || ARIA Hall of Fame ||
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| 2013 || Swing || Best Jazz Album ||
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Australian Women in Music Awards
The Australian Women in Music Awards is an annual event that honours women for their contributions to the Australian music industry. They were first awarded in 2018.
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| 2018
| Renée Geyer
| Lifetime Achievement Award
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| 2023
| Renée Geyer
| Honour Roll
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Countdown Music and Video Awards
The Countdown Music and Video Awards were an annual award ceremony based on responses from viewers of Countdown between 1979 and 1986.
Geyer was nominated twice.
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| 1981 ||Renée Geyer|| Most Popular Female||
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| 1983 ||Renée Geyer|| Most Popular Female||
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Music Victoria Awards
The Music Victoria Awards are an annual awards night celebrating Victorian music. They commenced in 2005.
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| 2013 ||Renée Geyer|| Hall of Fame || ||
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Appearances
Film
{|class="wikitable"
!Year
!Title
!Role
!Type
|-
| 1984 || My First Wife || Barmaid || Feature film
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| 1988 || A Day and a Half || Herself || Short film
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| 1995 || Stickoitiveness || Herself || Short film
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| 2009 || Mary and Max || Vera Lorraine Dinkle (voice) || Animated feature film
|}