Moving Pictures (band)

1980–1987 Moving Pictures were formed in Sydney in 1980 with Charlie Cole on keyboards and trumpet; Paul Freeland on drums; Garry Frost on guitar, keyboards, and vocals; Ian Lees on bass guitar (ex-This Side Up); Alex Smith on vocals and guitar (Bilgola Bop Band, This Side Up); and Andrew Thompson on saxophone (Bilgola Bop Band). Initially they performed as a "hard working, R&B-inspired pub-rock outfit", playing up to 250 shows a year, with their early influences being Bruce Springsteen, Graham Parker and Van Morrison. In early 1981 Moving Pictures were signed to the Wheatley management team – run by former Masters Apprentices' bass guitarist Glenn Wheatley – and the allied Wheatley Records label. Their debut album, Days of Innocence, also appeared in October 1981 and initially failed to reach the Top 40 on the Kent Albums Chart. The band's live show was all about their rock leanings but the album featured strong ballads that belied that live rock act. The album's third single, "Sweet Cherie", from Days of Innocence peaked at 51, while the fourth and final single, "Winners", reached No. 12 in November. spending 26 weeks inside the Billboard Hot 100. It made Billboards year-end Hot 100 list for 1983, at No. 88 – a rare feat for a single with such a low peak position. The song made an unusual comeback in 1989, peaking at No. 46. Whilst with 1927, Frost also worked with Gyan co-writing her 1989 hit "Wait". "Wait" was the first single from her self-titled debut album, which won an ARIA award and was certified platinum. In 1990 Frost left 1927, and became co-partner in a Sydney post production studio, he continued writing, performing and producing. Some of Frost's work in the early 2000s was with Sydney singer-songwriter, Djamel • Alex Smith formed Alex Smith and the Volunteers aka Alex Smith and DBM, in 1989. 2005: Reunion In 2005 Moving Pictures reformed as an acoustic trio, with Smith and Cole joined by Dave Carter (ex Alex Smith and DBM), for 26 performances throughout New South Wales and Queensland. In July 2011, to commemorate the thirtieth anniversary of the initial release of Days of Innocence, Moving Pictures reformed with the line-up of Cole, Frost, Lees, Meyer, Smith and Thompson. They performed in Melbourne and Sydney, including an appearance on breakfast TV show, Sunrise, performing their signature song. ==Legacy==

In February 2004 Moving Pictures' hit single, "What About Me", was covered by Australian Idol (2003) runner-up Shannon Noll, which peaked at No. 1 on the ARIA Singles Chart – for four weeks. Noll liked the original, "it's just a great song about average people, and there are a lot of us out there ... I didn't mess around with it heaps, I just sang it as honest as possible". "What About Me" is the first Australian single to achieve No. 1 on two separate occasions by two different artists. In both cases the song accompanied the film's star doing a punchdance routine. The punchdance routine was also parodied in the Family Guy season 12 episode "Baby Got Black". The band have indicated that due to the bankruptcy of their U.S. record company, and unfortunate timing of the release of "Never", they had not received any royalties whatsoever for the track. ==Members==

;Current members • Charlie Cole – keyboards, trumpet (1978–1987, 2005, 2011–present) • Alex Smith – vocals, guitar (1978–1987, 2005, 2011–present) • Garry Frost – guitar, keyboards (1978–1983, 2011–present) • Mark Meyer – drums (1982–1987, 2011–present) • Scott Simpkins – saxophone (2018–present) ;Former members • Ian Riley Lees – bass (1978–1987, 2011–2025; his death) • Paul Freeland – drums (1978–1982; died 2020) • Andy Thompson – saxophone (1978–1987, 2011–2016) • Joey Amenta – guitar (1983–1985) • Kevin Bennett – guitar, keyboards (1985–1987) • Andy Bickers – saxophone (2017–2018) ==Discography==

Studio albums Live albums Compilation albums Singles ==Awards and nominations==

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==