Severed Heads were an Australian electronic music group founded in 1979 as Mr and Mrs No Smoking Sign. The original members were Richard Fielding and Andrew Wright, who were soon joined by Tom Ellard. Fielding and Wright had both left the band by mid-1981 with Ellard remaining the sole consistent member for the rest of the band's existence. Throughout the next decade, several musicians joined Severed Heads' ranks, including Garry Bradbury, Simon Knuckey, Stephen Jones and Paul Deering.
In 1984 the band released "Dead Eyes Opened" as a single, which was remixed in 1994 and re-released, reaching No. 16 on the ARIA Singles Chart. Two of their singles, "Greater Reward" (1988) and "All Saints Day" (1989), reached the top 30 on the Billboard Hot Dance Club Songs chart. Ellard disbanded the group in 2007 and continued with other projects. Subsequent Severed Heads reunions have occurred: in 2010 for a 30th-anniversary concert, in 2011 in support of Gary Numan's tour of Australia, again in 2011 at BimFEST in Antwerp, in 2013 with a gig at the Adelaide Festival of Arts and in September 2015 with a tour of the United States for the first time in more than 20 years. In November 2016, Severed Heads played at the State Library of Victoria as part of Melbourne Music Week and in November 2017 they headlined a one-off double act along with Snog at the Corner Hotel in Richmond, Victoria. Severed Heads announced that they would again disband following headlining shows in September 2019.
History
Early years and independent releases (1979–1982)
In 1979, Richard Fielding and Andrew Wright formed an experimental electronic duo, Mr. & Mrs. No Smoking Sign, in Sydney. By the end of that year, Tom Ellard joined the group.
The group's early music was characterised by the use of tape loops, noisy arrangements of synthesisers and other dissonant sound sources in the general category of industrial music. Wright departed late in 1979, leaving the duo of Ellard and Fielding to put together the band's early studio offerings, including the A-side of a split album, Ear Bitten/No Vowels, No Bowels, with the B-side by Rhythmyx Chymx. Fielding departed the band during the recording of 1981's Clean, leaving much of the work to be completed solely by Ellard. Following the release of these albums, Severed Heads were also joined by video expert and musician Stephen Jones.
Major label years and mainstream success (1983–1998)
1983 saw British label Ink Records issue Since the Accident, which was later released by Nettwerk records in North America and Volition Records in Australia. AllMusic's John Bush described the album as not "quite a crossover effort" with the lead single, "Dead Eyes Opened", being "surprisingly melodic synth-pop". The band's recording deals led to a world tour, which became a multimedia event with the addition of video synthesisers performed by Jones. After the tour, Severed Heads returned to Australia in August 1984. However, this period saw more personnel change for the band. Bradbury had departed during the recording of Since the Accident in 1983 (leaving most of the recording to Ellard) and Knuckey departed soon before the 1984 world tour, so the lineup that went on tour consisted of Ellard, Jones and the newly recruited Paul Deering.
In 1985, Severed Heads issued City Slab Horror, again on Ink Records for the European market. Local label Volition compiled international tracks for the local-only album Stretcher in November 1985.
Severed Heads peaked at No. 19 in the United States on the Billboard Hot Dance Club Songs chart in 1988 with the 12-inch single "Greater Reward", which later appeared on the album Rotund for Success, issued in October 1989. The album included several remixes by Sydney-based producer Robert Racic, who produced tracks for the band through the late 1980s and early 1990s and contributed to their sound. On 22 October 2011, Severed Heads played what was intended to be their final performance in Australia Joan Sutherland Centre, Promotional material at the Joan Sutherland Performing Arts Centre. At BimFEST 2011 in Antwerp, they performed what was billed as their "absolutely final" performance as Severed Heads. However, Ellard and Lawler performed what was again intended to be a final gig at the Queen's Theatre during the Adelaide Festival of Arts in 2013, a concert that was recorded by Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
Since 2014, several older Severed Heads albums have been released on vinyl via Medical Records and Dark Entries, such as Since the Accident and City Slab Horror. 2016 saw the release of the Beautiful Arabic Surface 10" acetate dub plate, which contained the first newly recorded Severed Heads tracks since their announced hiatus in 2008. The single was released through Bughlt Records in a limited edition of 45 copies.
Renewed interest in the band resulted in a seven-date American tour in September 2015, their first performances in the United States in over 20 years. Following these tour dates, the project remained active with new recordings, further reissues and live performances.
Severed Heads again split up after a string of headlining shows in the US in September 2019. On the band's Bandcamp page selling the Living Museum live compilation, they stated: "The 2019 shows were the last bye bye for Severed Heads in Australia, Europe and the USA, and we thank all the people who came out to see us off. We look forward to 2020 and new nilamox* STUFF."
Influence
Vancouver-based industrial band Skinny Puppy was influenced by early Severed Heads material. A relationship was formed between the bands which led to Severed Heads being signed to Nettwerk Records and a joint 1986 North American tour. Tom Ellard was known to have participated in some of the band's "brap" sessions, leading to production and performance credits on the Skinny Puppy songs "Assimilate" and "Chainsaw" (on Bites and the Chainsaw single, respectively.)
Australian electropop musician Paul Mac of Itch-E and Scratch-E has stated that, "I thought Severed Heads were the future. They were such an inspiration for Australian[s] who were doing dance music and electronic music, because they were the future."
Trent Reznor (of Nine Inch Nails) and Orbital have both cited Severed Heads as a pivotal influence.
Personnel
Members
;Final lineup
- Tom Ellard - vocals, bass, keyboards, synthesisers, electronic percussion <small>(1979–2008, 2010–2011, 2013, 2015–2019)</small>
- Stewart Lawler - synthesisers <small>(2010–2011, 2013, 2015–2019)</small>
;Former members
- Richard Fielding - synthesisers <small>(1979–1981)</small>
- Andrew Wright - synthesisers <small>(1979)</small>
- Garry Bradbury - synthesisers, electronic percussion, vocals <small>(1982–1983; guest musician - 1984–1985)</small>
- Simon Knuckey - guitars <small>(1982–1984)</small>
- Stephen Jones - synthesisers, video synthesisers <small>(1982–1992)</small>
- Paul Deering - synthesisers <small>(1984–1985)</small>
Timeline
Lineups
{| class="toccolours" border=1 cellpadding=2 cellspacing=0 style="float: width: 375px; margin: 0 0 1em 1em; border-collapse: collapse; border: 1px solid #E2E2E2;" width=99%
|-
! bgcolor="#E7EBEE" valign=top width=25% | 1979<br><small>(Mr. and Mrs. No Smoking Sign)</small>
! bgcolor="#E7EBEE" valign=top width=25% | 1979
! bgcolor="#E7EBEE" valign=top width=25% | 1979-1981
! bgcolor="#E7EBEE" valign=top width=25% | 1981-1982
|-
| valign=top |
- Richard Fielding - synthesisers
- Andrew Wright - synthesisers
| valign=top |
- Richard Fielding - synthesisers
- Andrew Wright - synthesisers
- Tom Ellard - vocals, bass, keyboards, synthesisers, electronic percussion
| valign=top |
- Richard Fielding - synthesisers
- Tom Ellard - vocals, bass, keyboards, synthesisers, electronic percussion
| valign=top |
- Tom Ellard - vocals, bass, keyboards, synthesisers, electronic percussion
|-
! bgcolor="#E7EBEE" valign=top width=25% | 1982
! bgcolor="#E7EBEE" valign=top width=25% | 1982
! bgcolor="#E7EBEE" valign=top width=25% | 1982-1983
! bgcolor="#E7EBEE" valign=top width=25% | 1983-1984
|-
| valign=top |
- Tom Ellard - vocals, bass, keyboards, synthesisers, electronic percussion
- Garry Bradbury - synthesisers, electronic percussion, vocals
| valign=top |
- Tom Ellard - vocals, bass, keyboards, synthesisers, electronic percussion
- Garry Bradbury - synthesisers, electronic percussion, vocals
- Simon Knuckey - guitars
| valign=top |
- Tom Ellard - vocals, bass, keyboards, synthesisers, electronic percussion
- Garry Bradbury - synthesisers, electronic percussion, vocals
- Simon Knuckey - guitars
- Stephen Jones - synthesisers, video synthesisers
| valign=top |
- Tom Ellard - vocals, bass, keyboards, synthesisers, electronic percussion
- Simon Knuckey - guitars
- Stephen Jones - synthesisers, video synthesisers
|-
! bgcolor="#E7EBEE" valign=top width=25% | 1984-1985
! bgcolor="#E7EBEE" valign=top width=25% | 1985-1992
! bgcolor="#E7EBEE" valign=top width=25% | 1992-2008
! bgcolor="#E7EBEE" valign=top width=25% | 2008-2010
|-
| valign=top |
- Tom Ellard - vocals, bass, keyboards, synthesisers, electronic percussion
- Stephen Jones - synthesisers, video synthesisers
- Paul Deering - synthesisers
| valign=top |
- Tom Ellard - vocals, bass, keyboards, synthesisers, electronic percussion
- Stephen Jones - synthesisers, video synthesisers
| valign=top |
- Tom Ellard - vocals, bass, keyboards, synthesisers, electronic percussion
| valign=top |
Disbanded
|-
! bgcolor="#E7EBEE" valign=top width=25% | 2010-2011
! bgcolor="#E7EBEE" valign=top width=25% | 2011-2013
! bgcolor="#E7EBEE" valign=top width=25% | 2013
! bgcolor="#E7EBEE" valign=top width=25% | 2013-2015
|-
| valign=top |
- Tom Ellard - vocals, bass, keyboards, synthesisers, electronic percussion
- Stewart Lawler - synthesisers
| valign=top |
Disbanded
| valign=top |
- Tom Ellard - vocals, bass, keyboards, synthesisers, electronic percussion
- Stewart Lawler - synthesisers
| valign=top |
Disbanded
|-
! bgcolor="#E7EBEE" valign=top width=25% | 2015–2019
|-
| valign=top |
- Tom Ellard - vocals, bass, keyboards, synthesisers, electronic percussion
- Stewart Lawler - synthesisers
|}
Discography
- Ear Bitten/No Vowels, No Bowels (1980)
- Side 2 (1980)
- Clean (1981)
- Blubberknife (1982)
- Since the Accident (1983)
- City Slab Horror (1985)
- Come Visit the Big Bigot (1986)
- Bad Mood Guy (1987)
- Rotund for Success (1989)
- Cuisine (With Piscatorial) (1991)
- Gigapus (1994)
- Haul Ass (1998)
- Contoured Simulation (1998)
- Airconditioning Your Productivity (1999)
- Gashing and Kato (2001)
- Op1.0 (2002)
- Cubical Broadcasts (2002)
- Controlling Time (2003)
- Op2.0 (2004)
- Op2.5 - Millennium Cheesecake (2005)
- Under Gail Succubus (2006)
- Op3.0 (2007)
Awards and nominations
ARIA Music Awards
The ARIA Music Awards is an annual awards ceremony held by the Australian Recording Industry Association. They commenced in 1987.
!
|-
| 2005
| The Illustrated Family Doctor
| Best Original Cast or Show Album
|
|
|-
References
External links
- A brief history of Severed Heads at LTM