Midnight Oil

The concert, took place at the Sydney Cricket Ground, also included performances by Powderfinger, silverchair, Nick Cave, the John Butler Trio and others. An interview about her role in the song and video is featured in the corresponding Making the Video documentary. The members of the band, including Garrett, reunited to perform at the WAVEAID (http://www.waveaid.com.au/) concert on January 29, 2005 to raise funds for the victims of the recent tsunami. Nicks played the guitar part for the Destiny's Child song Bootyliciousas well as appearing in the video. The other members of the band resolved to continue working together, but not under the Midnight Oil name, bringing the band's career to a close. The extravaganza even inspired a 2004 film, Gypsy 83 (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/redirect?tag=mothernyccom&path=ASIN%2FB0002WZT8Y%2Fmothernyccom%3Fdev-t%3Dmason-wrapper%2526camp%3D2025%2526link_code%3Dxm2), about two fans who drive all the way from Ohio to perform in the show. He won the safe Labor seat of Kingsford Smith at the 2004 federal election. A New York City campy tribute/concert/festival in honor of Nicks, called Night of 1,000 Stevies (http://www.mothernyc.com/stevie/), began in 1991 and has grown larger each year.

Garrett decided to quit the band on December 2, 2002 to focus on his political career. While she has a love for the gothic and has no problem with any of these beliefs, she has never been associated with Wicca nor has she ever called herself a witch. Gary Morris was the band's manager and effective sixth member (often credited with the simple title "Business" on albums) throughout. One of the more persistent rumors which has trailed Nicks through the years is that she is a witch and is heavily involved in Wicca. Andrew "Bear" James, the first bass player, left in 1979, replaced by Peter Gifford, who left in 1989 to be replaced by New Zealander Bones Hillman, (ex Swingers), who remained with the group until its dissolution in 2002. Stevie Nicks was ranked # 14 on VH1's list of most influential female artists in music history. The Midnight Oil lineup remained quite stable over the band's long career: Garrett as lead singer (and, early on, synthesizer), Jim Moginie on guitar and keyboards, Martin Rotsey on guitar, and Rob Hirst on drums. Stevie was also the basis for the character Jynx on the popular children's TV series Pokémon.

He had triggered a storm of controversy that year with his dogged refusal to embrace reconciliation and apologise to Aboriginal Australians and members of the stolen generation, a refusal that many Australians believed was cynically motivated by conservative fears that an apology might be construed as an admission of liablity and could trigger a rush of land rights and financial compensation claims by Aboriginal people. Also, in the skit, she ties in her food choices to her drug addictions.
In one episode of South Park she is mistaken for a goat when she and Fleetwood Mac perform in Afghanistan for US soldiers. The SORRY shirts were also specifically aimed at conservative Prime Minister John Howard, who was in the audience. In 1998, Lucy Lawless parodied Nicks on Saturday Night Live, in a skit called "Stevie Nicks' Fajita Round-Up." In the skit, Nicks ran a Tex-Mex cantina in Arizona, where all of her signature dishes were take-offs on her song titles. This was a political statement offering apologies to the Aboriginal people for their suffering during more than 200 years of white settlement. They married in 1983, but the arrangement quickly fell apart and they split a year later. The band famously performed during the closing ceremony of the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games. After first appearing on stage in boiler suits, the band and their support players then partially disrobed, revealing the word "SORRY" conspicuously printed on their clothes. Her best friend (his wife) had recently died of cancer, leaving behind a husband and young child, and Nicks felt it was her calling to marry Anderson and raise the child.

Their subsequent albums sold less well outside Australia, but the Oils maintained a following throughout the 1990s and into the new century. While she has had well-publicized affairs with men ranging from Buckingham to Mick Fleetwood to the late Warren Zevon to The Eagles member Don Henley (who outraged Stevie in the early 90's when he claimed in a magazine interview that she had aborted his child), Nicks has only married once, to Kim Anderson. Between 1988 and 1992, the band's Diesel and Dust and Blue Sky Mining discs became known worldwide, as did their political activism for causes ranging from nuclear disarmament to aboriginal rights and environmental issues, and they began to tour overseas for the first time. Stevie currently resides in Paradise Valley, Arizona, a suburb of Phoenix. In 1984, Garrett ran for political office in Australia under the Nuclear Disarmament Party banner, and lost. She has also made appearances on a number of soundtracks, ranging from 1980 (the cult cartoon Heavy Metal) to 2003 (the hit Jack Black comedy School of Rock). It has recently been remastered and released on DVD. She recorded a duet with Chris Isaak on his 2004 Christmas album.

This concert was also filmed and recorded by the ABC and was simulcast on ABC-TV and Triple J. She has done duets or guest vocals for several of their albums and they've returned the favor. In 1985, arguably at their peak, Midnight Oil performed another landmark outdoor concert on Goat Island in Sydney Harbour, in order to celebrate the tenth anniversary of Triple J, before a select audience of fans who had won tickets in a radio competition. Such notables as Sheryl Crow, The Dixie Chicks, Michelle Branch, and Courtney Love have praised her work, and vice/versa. The album cover featured a startling photomontage of Sydney - both city and harbour - cratered and devastated after a hypothetical nuclear attack. One of the reasons for Nicks' continued career is the devotion she inspires in her fans. It was followed by the equally excellent Red Sails In The Sunset (1984) on which the band continued to expand their sound and explore their preoccupations with politics, consumerism, militarism, the nuclear threat and environmental issues. Their tour of America, Europe and Australia ended in September 2004.

It was one of four classic albums Launay produced in Australia that year, the others being The Church LP Seance and The Models commercial breakthrough The Pleasure of Your Company and INXS' "The Swing". Say You Will was released in 2003, to respectable sales and generally positive reviews. 10, 9, 8 ... was produced by Englishman Nick Launay, who had previously worked with The Jam, XTC, Peter Gabriel, PiL, Gang of Four, The Birthday Party, and Killing Joke, and who had engineered for leading producers including John Leckie, Steve Lillywhite, Hugh Padgham and Tony Visconti. This was followed by another album with John McVie, Buckingham, and Fleetwood (Christine McVie had retired from the road and the group), their first original album in 16 years (The Dance had been a greatest hits package with a few new songs sprinkled in for flavor). Their ascendance was signalled by a series of landmark concerts at Sydney's Capitol Theatre, one of which was filmed and recorded, and which has recently been released on DVD. In 2002 she sang a spirited version of Elvis Presley's classic song "Won't You Wear My Ring Around Your Neck?" on VH1's Diva's Live tribute to Presley. Their major Australian breakthrough and their first international recognition came in 1982, after several albums with the release of 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, which included the singles "Power and the Passion" and "Read About It" and their classic denunciations of American imperialism, "US Forces" and "Short Memory". She released another greatest hits package and then a solo album and tour in 2001, Trouble in Shangri-La, which placed high on the charts.

The third LP Place Without A Postcard (1981) was recorded with legendary English producer Glyn Johns but it was apparently an uneasy match and the band were not totally happy with the outcome, although it did yield some superb tracks. In 1998 the group was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and performed together a final time. Legend has it that this track originally featured a vocal that was removed prior to release, supposedly because of its forthright lyrical content. This album, The Dance, rocketed to #1 on the charts and Stevie's single "Silver Spring" (which had been originally planned for Rumours but shelved, much to Stevie's regret) also did well, as did the concert tour. Further interest was generated by the excellent Bird Noises EP, produced by former Supercharge (band) member Lesek Karski, which featured the beautiful surf-instrumental 'Wedding Cake Island' (named after a rock outcrop in the ocean off Sydney's Coogee Beach). She entered seclusion for a number of years, beat her sedative addiction, and lost weight. She returned to the spotlight in 1997 when plans to help Mick Fleetwood with a solo album turned into one final album with the Rumours era group -- including Lindsey Buckingham. Their first two albums, 'Midnight Oil' and 'Head Injuries' are now regarded as classics of Australian indie rock, mixing solid guitar rock with progressive flourishes; both were released independently through the M7 label (a subsidiary of the Seven TV Network) and both were produced by Triple J live concert sound producer Keith Walker. One of her rare public appearances around this time was performing Don't Stop at the 1993 Inaugural Gala for President Bill Clinton.

Nevertheless, they built up an intensely dedicated fan base through constant touring and their blistering live performances, featuring the scorching twin-guitar attack of Moginie and Rotsey, the powerhouse drumming and soaring vocals of drummer Rob Hirst and the manic, whirling-dervish presence of their towering, shaven-headed lead singer Peter Garrett, who quickly earned a reputation as one of the most charismatic and outspoken musicians on the Australian music scene. Stevie was crushed by the weak numbers and by the vicious attacks from critics because of her weight gain. One famous case in the mid-80s involved writer and critic Bruce Elder, who in a newspaper review described the band's music as "narrow and xenophobic"; in retaliation, Morris banned him from Oils shows permanently. Sales were not as strong as expected, a pattern which continued for her 1991 "greatest hits" album and culminated in the outright flop of her 1994 album Street Angel. Manager Gary Morris also developed a fearsome reputation as one of the toughest managers in the business and he became equally notorious for banning any critics or journalists (who were usually given free admission to concerts) if they wrote unfavourable reviews. In 1989 Nicks also released her latest solo album, The Other Side of the Mirror. In retaliation, the group declared that they would never appear on the show, a promise they faithfully kept. After the tour, Nicks left the group.

According to producer Michael Shrimpton, on the day of the taping, the band had arrived late for rehearsal but (due to the show's very tight schedule and budget) there was a strict policy that latecomers were not allowed to appear, so they were told they could not perform that day. The album received damp reviews and had only one semi-successful single (from Christine McVie). While this was strictly true, the fact is that they had indeed been scheduled to appear in the early Eighties, but they were "bumped" from the show. Nicks stayed with the group through 1990, when they recorded Behind the Mask. In support of this, it was often stated that they were one of the only Australian bands never to have appeared on the all-powerful ABC TV pop show Countdown. Since Nicks only listened to the song a small number of times, the lines "all the way down you held the line" was misheard by Nicks as "all the way down to Emmeline" Fleetwood Mac had always had high personality conflicts, but the tension between Buckingham and Nicks had grown unbearable -- Buckingham quit the group right before their Tango in the Night tour. The Oils developed a strong "street cred" and a reputation for making no compromises with the music industry. Sandy Stewart wrote the song "Seven Wonders".

Although consistently championed by Sydney alternative rock station Double Jay and its FM band successor Triple J, Midnight Oil, like many independent bands of the period, were almost totally ignored by Australia's mainstream commercial radio stations. Titled Tango in the Night Nicks' song "Seven Wonders" was one of the album's biggest hits. One of their early fan bases was at the Sydney northern beaches pub The Royal Antler at Narrabeen. Her next album was with Fleetwood Mac. The Oils, as they are known to their fans, began as a progressive rock band called the Farm in the early 1970s, then under the Oils name became an aggressive, hard-rock group associated with the surfer community near Sydney. Later, Nicks was advised to take a sedative to counteract her anxiety after ceasing her use of cocaine which lead to another addiction battle in which she overcame along with her sixty cigarette per day habit. Peter Garrett, the former lead singer, is an active campaigner for social and environmental issues (currently a member of the Australian Parliament) and this is reflected in many of the band's songs. Nicks was treated for an addiction to cocaine at the Betty Ford clinic.

Midnight Oil were an Australian rock band known for their driving hard rock sound, superb live performances and their overt left-wing political activism. For the next couple of years Nicks withdrew from performing and during her hiatus was treated for drug addiction. Best Of Both Worlds (2004, also on DVD). In 1985 she released the album "Rock A Little" scoring more hit singles with "Talk To Me" and "I Can't Wait". Capricornia (2002). Nicks joined Fleetwood Mac for their 1982 album "Mirage" and contributed the hit "Gypsy", and released a second solo album titled "The Wild Heart" in 1983, which featured the Prince inspired track "Stand Back", and "If Anyone Falls". The Real Thing (2000). Billboard Album charts and as of 1990 is certified quadruple (4x) platinum.

Redneck Wonderland (1998). 3 on the U.S. 20,000 Watt R.S.L. (1997, also on videotape and DVD). Bella Donna reached No. Breathe (1996). Other singles included "Leather and Lace" with Don Henley and "Edge of Seventeen". Earth and Sun and Moon (1993). Its lead single "Stop Dragging My Heart Around" was a collaboration with Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers and it reached number three on the US charts.

Scream in Blue (Live, 1992). Nicks recorded her first solo album Bella Donna in 1981. Blue Sky Mining (1990). Around this time Stevie also had a hit single with Kenny Loggins on "Whenever I Call You Friend". Diesel and Dust (1987). Rumors have swirled for years that "Sara" was actually a reference to an aborted child -- rumors that Nicks has repeatedly denied. Species Deceases (EP) (1985). Nicks' song "Sara" written for the girlfriend of band member Mick Fleetwood was a hit single.

Red Sails in the Sunset (1984). With several Nicks songs such as "Gold Dust Woman" it also contained Fleetwood Mac's only United States number one single, "Dreams" which was written by Nicks and featured her on lead vocals. The band's next album Tusk was more experimental in sound and while successful alienated some of its fans. 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 (1982). The album was a considerable success, and its follow-up Rumours released in 1977 became one of the all time best selling albums. Place without a Postcard (1981). Nicks contributed songs such as "Rhiannon" and "Landslide", originally written for the second Buckingham Nicks album. Bird Noises (EP) (1980). They invited the duo to join them, and the new ensemble released the album Fleetwood Mac in 1975.

Head Injuries (1979). Stevie was reduced to cleaning houses at the time that Fleetwood Mac stumbled onto the duo. Midnight Oil (1978). While not a commercial success it caught the attention of Fleetwood Mac band members who were attempting to broaden their appeal. After the band parted, Nicks and Buckingham remained as a duo releasing the album Buckingham Nicks in 1973. They were the opening act for, among others, Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin.

Nicks met her future partner Lindsey Buckingham while in high school and along with two others formed a band called Fritz which became popular as a live act from 1968 until 1972. Stephanie Lynn "Stevie" Nicks (born May 26, 1948 in Phoenix, Arizona) is an American singer and songwriter, best known for her work with Fleetwood Mac.