Boom Crash Opera

1985–1986: Formation and early years Boom Crash Opera were formed in late 1984 in Melbourne with a line up of Peter Farnan (ex-Urtle Urtle Urtle, Serious Young Insects) on guitar, keyboards and backing vocals; Peter 'Maz' Maslen (ex-One Hand Clapping) on drums, percussion and backing vocals; Greg O'Connor; Richard Pleasance (ex-Government Drum, Bang, One Hand Clapping) on bass guitar, guitar and backing vocals; and Dale Ryder on lead vocals. Farnan described his bandmates, other than Pleasance, to The Canberra Times Pollyanna Sutton in May 1986 "[t]he others are sort of from nowhere ... Drummer Peter "Maz" Maslen, has and still does a lot of recording sessions, in early 1984 he met Richard in this avante-garde band called One Hand Clapping, then played together with Venetta Fields in the time just before Boom Crash Opera. Dale came out of the blue, he has done some singing with bands but never had a serious crack at it until now." In 1990 they released a compilation album, Look! Listen!!, which featured remixed versions of songs from their first two albums plus two new songs. The band toured across Australia throughout 2016 and January 2017. Ryder rejoined in 2019. In March 2025, the band released their first new single in 28 Years "Latest Hustle". ==Members==

Current members • Peter Farnan – guitar, keyboards, backing vocals (1985–present) • Peter Maslen – drums, percussion, backing vocals (1985–present) • John Favaro – bass, backing vocals (2010–present) • Dale Ryder – lead vocals, harmonica (1985–2016, 2019–present) Former members • Richard Pleasance – bass, guitar, backing vocals (1985–1992, guest 2009) • Greg O'Connor – guitar, keyboards, backing vocals (1985–1994, guest 2009) • Michael Vallance – bass (1991–1992) • Dorian West – bass (1992) • Ian Tilley – bass, keyboards, backing vocals (1992–2009) • Andrew De Silva – lead vocals (2016–2018) ==Careers outside the band==

After the 1993 tour promoting Fabulous Beast, Boom Crash Opera took a break. Farnan had produced the debut album, This Is the Sharp (September 1993), for The Sharp, a three piece pop-rock band from Collingwood. He has also produced and written with artists such as Rachael Kane, and Cade. Maslen has performed live and/or as a recording drummer for many Australian artists including: Natalie Imbruglia, Delta Goodrem, Mark Seymour and The Undertow, Men at Work, The Seekers, Tripod, Shellie Morris, Tex Perkins, Felicity Urquhart, Models, Belinda Emmett, Vika and Linda, Archie Roach, Ollie Olsen, Bodyrockers, Icehouse, Shannon Noll, Jimmy Barnes, Kylie Minogue, Diesel, Jimmy Little, Troy Cassar-Daley, Colin Hay, Olivia Newton-John, Ian Moss, James Reyne and Kate Ceberano. Pleasance's 1991 solo album, Galleon, included contributions from Paul Hester and Deborah Conway. It was critically acclaimed and received five nominations at the ARIA Music Awards of 1992. Pleasance then promoted the album, as a support act on Elvis Costello's tour of Australia. Pleasance co-produced and performed on the debut album by Deborah Conway, String of Pearls. In 1995 Pleasance released his second solo album, Colourblind. In 1998 Pleasance wrote and produced the theme for the popular Australian TV series, SeaChange. ==Discography==

Studio albums • Boom Crash Opera (1987) • These Here Are Crazy Times! (1989) • Fabulous Beast (1993) • Born (1995) • Gizmo Mantra (1997) • Dancing in the Storm (2009) == Awards and nominations ==

ARIA Music Awards The ARIA Music Awards is an annual awards ceremony that recognises excellence, innovation, and achievement across all genres of Australian music. They commenced in 1987. Countdown Australian Music Awards Countdown was an Australian pop music TV series on national broadcaster ABC-TV from 1974 to 1987, it presented music awards from 1979 to 1987, initially in conjunction with magazine TV Week. The TV Week / Countdown Awards were a combination of popular-voted and peer-voted awards. ==References==