THE SHIVERS MELBOURNE AUSTRALIA.
CD available via Post gammarays_homer@hotmail.com

THE FORMATION OF ‘The Shivers’1987

Chapter 1

Wendy Morrison and I (Don Ely) saw The band Concrete Blonde at the ‘VENUE’ in St. Kilda, Melbourne in 1987,we were impressed with the lead vocals of female lead vocalist Johnette Napolitano and guitarist James Mankey, and wondered if we might be able to form a band along the same lines.
We were right into the Pixies and the Smithereens too, and I guess you can hear the influence of those bands in our music. Crowded House was coming up with some fantastic pop songs which also inspired us.
Wendy’s biggest love and influence by far though was Neil Young.
Especially with Crazy Horse! We saw Neil Young with the Horse back in 1988. I led Wendy after his gig thru the underground tunnels of Rod laver Arena(with no passes) so she could meet him.
We somehow fluked landing in the Band reception area, and we mingled, and ate and drank with the rest of the backstage guests.
Finally, Neil and the band appeared. Wendy could not move. She said, “Let’s just go home”, but I pushed her forward as Neil was headed for the band Tarago.
Neil lifted his sunnies after she said in a very Aussie accent, “Neil, wait up…” They had a little chat and she shook his hand, and then the hands of all the Crazy Horse.
I’m not sure if she’s ever washed that hand again.
We started writing songs so we could work together in a band. This hadn’t occurred to us before, as I had my own bands, and Wendy had her own music mainly written on her piano and acoustic guitar.

Chapter 2

Writing songs together seemed to flow quite easily, so we went to ‘WHIRLED’ recording studio In Richmond, run by Craig MacArthur.
We recorded 6 songs using friends for a rhythm section and also a piano player .We recorded the songs live in the studio so as to get a good live feel then we added vocal overdubs and guitar solos etc.

Chapter 3

After mixing the song demos we played them to friends and got a very good reaction. Wendy and I decided to submit said Demos to the RRR radio Melbourne demo show. RRR played us and gave us a good review, and we were invited by the RRR demo show to come in for an interview.
We went in for the RRR interview and the guy played our songs and asked us about how we recorded the songs. Then while we were on air there was a phone call to the announcer, he answered it and then said this call is for you guys. He handed me the phone and it was a call from Premier artists who as it turned out is connected to Mushroom records. The guy on the phone (Gerard) said bring your demos in to my office I like what I’m hearing.

Chapter 4

Wendy and I went in to see Gerard. He loved the Demos and recommended us to Mushroom records. There we met Ian James, Mushroom’s publishing Guru.
This is when things got Tricky. Mushroom wanted to see our band. Unfortunately we had no band. (Heh-heh)
Thinking we would not get a record deal without a band, we decided not to tell Mushroom this little fact, hoping our band would form by the time we got signed.
We told Mushroom they could see us rehearse so we organised the guys that played on our demos, (they didn’t want to join our band)...to come and play at a Rehearsal.
After seeing this line-up, Mushroom offered us a publishing deal but not a recording deal.
After about six months of this charade, we confessed and said we have no band. There is only Wendy and I. (Around this time, Wendy and I were flown to Sydney by Rondor Music who wanted to sign us.) As it turned out, The Stems had disbanded in the last 12 months and their Bassist Julian Mathews was without a band. Ian James (Mushroom) suggested we team up.
Also around the same time Archie Larizza from The Saints auditioned for the Shivers on bass. So Julian switched to guitar. Then Julian suggested Stems ex drummer Dave Shaw .So now we had our band.
We went into Metropolis studios in Melbourne to record our first single. We recorded three songs Washaway, Baby Says and Sorry as potential singles.
Washaway emerged as the first Single after I added the Twangy surf riff... This song got quite extensive airplay on RRR, JJJ, and FOX FM radio. Around this time we appeared in a quest spot on the very popular Australian TV show 'NEIGHBOURS' playing our single WASHAWAY.
The Plot was, The SHIVERS playing in the Watering Hole bar and the young female character getting busted for drinking underage at the end
We were also the first band to appear on The Steve Vizard Show TV back then, and we did it live. This was 1990, and Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait that same night.

Chapter 5

We released three more singles with the last one DOWNTOWN SISTER getting extensive airplay on the new, now national radio station JJJ.
We also released our album BIG LOVE. From the start of the band, we were continually writing and demo-ing new songs. After the extensive airplay for DOWNTOWN SISTER, we submitted our new Demos to Mushroom Records. We were given the classic ‘we can’t hear any hits’ and we were getting no help from Mushroom… (No film clip or promotion for DOWNTOWN SISTER). We were downhearted and broke up the band. This was probably a mistake in retrospect, but there it is. We had a pile of gig offers in Sydney, but we felt there was no future for us. These Demos feature the unreleased tracks. They are pretty darn catchy! So here it is: a retrospective album – ‘POWER POP’ by THE SHIVERS.

Chapter 6

As for Wendy and I, After the SHIVERS Wendy released several records -and sang the theme song for the hugely popular ABC series ‘SEACHANGE ‘. The show featured songs from her album ‘FELT’ made together with Richard Pleasance. Another of her songs, ‘Under his Thumb’ from our album ‘Big Love’ became the opening theme for the original movie of ‘McLeod’s Daughters”.
Wendy had songs placed in film and TV, as well as writing credits with other artists.
For me post ‘the SHIVERS’, I used my natural talent for Twangy riffs and formed the psycho spaghetti/surf band ‘THE GAMMARAYS’. We released an album called ‘GIRL ON A MOTORCYCLE’ which was the ‘album of the week’ on triple RRR radio, and PBS radio in Melbourne.
‘The GAMMARAYS’ played both the Meredith and Queenscliff music festivals. Right now, I play with The GAMMARAYS and a new band called WACO SOCIAL CLUB.
Introducing the retrospective album ‘POWER POP’ by THE SHIVERS. GRAB ONE & PLAY IT LOUD.