203_high_jpg


March 15, 2009

Hi there!
 
Exciting news - for me anyway! Yesterday, Coldplay, (whose current CD was the best-selling CD in the world in 2008), along with Australian mega-star John Farnham, sang "You're The Voice", which of course I co-wrote! This unique performance took place at the Sound Relief benefit concert in Sydney, in aid of the victims of the recent Australian fires! Towards the end of Coldplay's set, after they began the intro to the song, singer, Chris Martin, announced "And now, to sing Australia's national anthem, please welcome John Farnham!" John Farnham, of course, had the original hit with the song, which is apparently now considered the unofficial national anthem!
 
Apparently Coldplay have been playing bits of the song on their current tour. They, or more specifically, Chris Martin and drummer Will Champion, are quoted as saying they grew up listening to the song! "It was absolutely everywhere! It was huge!" they said! Chris Martin went on to say "It's funny - even when you play the smallest snippet of that, the whole place just goes with it, straight away!" Having seen the performance on YouTube, you can see that he is not wrong! All 50,000 tickets were sold out in advance, and the whole crowd were singing along! Great to see!
 
Icehouse, the band I used to be in, also played, and Iva Davies & Co were in great form, as you can also see on YouTube! They played all their hits, including Crazy, which I also co-wrote!
 
There is talk of the shows (there were two Sound Relief shows on the same day - the second was in Melbourne) being eventually released on CD and DVD. Will let you know if and when that happens!
 
Well, that's it for now! Hope to have more for you soon!
 
Cheers!
 
Andy.

March 11, 2009

Hi All!
 
Been a while since I last updated my news, amazing how the time goes!
 
I'm still working on the stage musical, with my friend Anthony Di Pietro. He's the writer/director, and always pushing me to come up with musical styles I haven't tackled before, so it's very interesting and challenging. However, it's going well, and we both have high hopes for it! We can see the light at the end of the tunnel now, and we are rapidly heading for the end of Act Two, and then we're all done! After that it's just a question of getting it on Broadway, or off-Broadway, or off-off-Broadway or on the stage somewhere anyway!
 
I played Hammond Organ and Piano recently on a CD for Lindy Bingham, who is a singer, sax player, songwriter, pianist and great all-round musician! Her music is kinda bluesy, but has a wide popular appeal. The CD is called "Make Me An Offer" Check out her website - www.lindyb.com  I am currently gigging with her band, which is a lot of fun, as the players are all excellent and very easy to get on with! By the way, the CD was recorded in the studio at the Fender Museum, in Corona, here in California. Great atmosphere!
 
"You're The Voice", the song I co-wrote all that time ago with Chris Thompson (Blinded By The Light/Manfred Mann's Earth Band), Keith Reid (Whiter Shade Of Pale/Procul Harum), and Maggie Ryder (Eurythmic's band), just keeps on rolling! Last year it was performed on the biggest show on US TV, American Idol, by the eventual runner-up, David Archuleta, resulting in huge numbers of downloads on iTunes - a big hit all over again!
 
Also, I just read an article about the upcoming Sound Relief concert in Australia, which is now the biggest selling concert of all time in that country. It seems Coldplay are on the bill, and Chris Martin is quoted as saying they are trying to get John Farnham, who had the orginal hit with "You're The Voice", to sing it with them! Apparently he loves the song, and Coldplay have been performing bits of it at recent gigs! Cool!
 
Last year, my friend and former band-mate in Icehouse, bass player Guy Pratt, had a book published! It's called "My Bass....And Other Animals". It's basically his life in the music business told in his own inimitable, hilarious style! After leaving Icehouse, he played with Pink Floyd for many years, and did sessions for everyone from Madonna to Jimmy Page, so you can imagine what great stories he has! I was flattered to see myself included in some of those stories too! It's a great read, I thoroughly recommend it!
 
Well, that's it for now! I'll try to remind myself to post updates more often in future!
 
All the best!
 
Cheers,
 
Andy.
Andy Qunta © 2003 - 2010