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. Today, Fabrice Morvan forges a solo career, performing light alternative music that is far from his glory days with Milli Vanilli; he plays in clubs throughout the U.S. 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. Then, in 1998, Pilatus was found dead of an alcohol and drug overdose in Frankfurt, Germany. 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. In 1997, Milli Vanilli had a chance to tell their side of the story of their musical fiasco in the premiere episode of VH1's Behind The Music. He won the safe Labor seat of Kingsford Smith at the 2004 federal election. After a few more tries, Pilatus began a series of criminal acts, arrested for assault and vandalism, among other crimes, in Los Angeles.

Garrett decided to quit the band on December 2, 2002 to focus on his political career. Pilatus tried to commit suicide soon after, then rejoined with Morvan as Rob & Fab. Gary Morris was the band's manager and effective sixth member (often credited with the simple title "Business" on albums) throughout. Farian tried to reform the band as the Real Milli Vanilli, but the resulting LP Moment of Truth was an utter failure. 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. A court ruling in the US allowed anyone who had bought the album to get a refund. 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. Milli Vanilli's Grammy was rescinded four days later, and Arista Records dropped the act from its rosters and deleted the album and its masters from their catalog.

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. With Morvan and Pilatus pressuring him to let them sing on the next album, Farian revealed the truth to reporters on November 15, 1990, after the record of Girl You Know It's True skipped during a live performance recorded by MTV at the Lake Compounce theme park in Connecticut. The SORRY shirts were also specifically aimed at conservative Prime Minister John Howard, who was in the audience. Pilatus was ridiculed in the press for comparing himself to Paul McCartney, Elvis Presley, Mick Jagger and Bob Dylan; he also developed a cocaine problem. This was a political statement offering apologies to the Aboriginal people for their suffering during more than 200 years of white settlement. Milli Vanilli won a Grammy Award for Best New Artist on February 22, 1990 for their second album, Girl You Know It's True (1990 in music). 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. Despite critical pans, Milli Vanilli's fame continued to grow worldwide even after Charles Shaw told a reporter the truth; he later retracted his statement after Farian paid him off.

Their subsequent albums sold less well outside Australia, but the Oils maintained a following throughout the 1990s and into the new century. Their first album was All or Nothing (see 1988 in music), which was both a European hit and an American hit. 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. Frank Farian used Pilatus and Morvan to front Charles Shaw, Johnny Davis and Brad Howell; he felt that these musicians were talented but unmarketable. In 1984, Garrett ran for political office in Australia under the Nuclear Disarmament Party banner, and lost. In fact, some of melodic influence in today's hip-hop may be attributed to Milli Vanilli's influence. It has recently been remastered and released on DVD. Despite the scandal, the Milli Vanilli sound created by Frank Farian was ground-breaking in pop-music, as it combined (American) hip hop rhythms with Eurodance melodies.

This concert was also filmed and recorded by the ABC and was simulcast on ABC-TV and Triple J. Other bands, including C&C Music Factory and Black Box, were also fronted by lip-syncers. 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. They have since been used as an example of utter shallowness in music, though they were hardly unique at the time. The album cover featured a startling photomontage of Sydney - both city and harbour - cratered and devastated after a hypothetical nuclear attack. Their photos were pictured on the album cover and they lip-synced in concert. 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. They are notorious for being the only group to have their Grammy Award stripped from them after it was revealed that they had not been involved in the creation of their breakthrough album, Girl You Know It's True and did not sing in concert.

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". Milli Vanilli ("milli" is a word meaning "national" in Turkish, picked up by the artists while visiting Turkey on one of its national days) was a duo, Fabrice Morvan and Rob Pilatus, formed in Germany in the mid-1980s. 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. 1989 "Girl I'm Gonna Miss You" #2 UK, #1 US. 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. 1989 "Blame It on the Rain" #1 US. 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". 1989 "All or Nothing" #4 US.

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. 1988 "Baby Don't Forget My Number" #16 UK, #1 US. Legend has it that this track originally featured a vocal that was removed prior to release, supposedly because of its forthright lyrical content. 1988 "Girl You Know It's True" #3 UK, #2 US. 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). 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.

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. 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. 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 retaliation, the group declared that they would never appear on the show, a promise they faithfully kept.

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. 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. 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. The Oils developed a strong "street cred" and a reputation for making no compromises with the music industry.

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. One of their early fan bases was at the Sydney northern beaches pub The Royal Antler at Narrabeen. 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. 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.

Midnight Oil were an Australian rock band known for their driving hard rock sound, superb live performances and their overt left-wing political activism. Best Of Both Worlds (2004, also on DVD). Capricornia (2002). The Real Thing (2000).

Redneck Wonderland (1998). 20,000 Watt R.S.L. (1997, also on videotape and DVD). Breathe (1996). Earth and Sun and Moon (1993).

Scream in Blue (Live, 1992). Blue Sky Mining (1990). Diesel and Dust (1987). Species Deceases (EP) (1985).

Red Sails in the Sunset (1984). 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 (1982). Place without a Postcard (1981). Bird Noises (EP) (1980).

Head Injuries (1979). Midnight Oil (1978).