Affectionately known as "The Hunnas", Hunters and Collectors is one of the best
bands to have come out of
Australia.
The group formed in
Melbourne in 1981 and began experimenting with a
punk/funk style. Today they are seen as a
rock band and have a huge following, especially among the
alternative music community.
Over the years the core members of the group have included:
- Mark Seymour - guitar, lead vocals, lyrics, melody
- Jeremy Smith - keyboards, guitars, french horn, backing vocals
- Doug Falconer - drums, percussion, programming, backing vocals
- John Archer - bass, backing vocals
- Martin Lubran - guitar
- Geoff Crosbi - keyboards
- Greg Perano - percussion
- Michael Waters - trombone, keyboards, finance
- Jack Howard - trumpet, keyboards, backing vocals
- Barry Palmer - guitars
Over the years the band has produced a number of classics, the most famous being
Holy Grail,
Throw Your Arms Around Me and
True Tears of Joy.
The album
Under One Roof is a live recording that contains the groups best songs. The following message comes with the album:
This is the last recording from Hunters and Collectors.
The band retired in March of 1998, after the Juggernaut tour, a culmination of seventeen years of global touring and recording. We produced ten albums and numerous radio singles which may not have sold truckloads, but made a firm contribution to the national songbook. People queued around a lot of blocks.
To say we have mixed feelings about retirement would be an understatement. We're too close to assess the impact the band had. The songs live on, so this is no place for a eulogy.
The boys in the band are still going 'round nurturing their own unique versions of the historical truth . . . human nature being what it is. Every fan has their own H&C story.
But there's one sure thing.
Hunters and Collectors was a democracy that worked, that all the players respected. In an era when Australian popular music appeared to have retreated from the towns and suburbs, H&C went there if for no other reason than to watch the machine at work, to see it adapt and change, and to hear the band's music survive long enough to be taken into the hearts and minds of Australians everywhere.
Goodnight and thanks for the years.