Bachelor Girl are an Australian pop duo, formed in 1992 by Tania Doko as vocalist and James Roche as musician, producer and arranger. Their 1998 debut single, " Buses and Trains", was a top-10 hit in Australia and New Zealand; it peaked in the top 30 in Sweden and charted in the UK. The follow-up single, " Treat Me Good", reached the top 40 in Australia and New Zealand. Their debut studio album, '' Waiting for the Day'', was released in 1998 and reached the top 20 on the

ARIA Albums Chart The ARIA Charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling songs and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA became the offici ...

and achieved platinum certification. Worldwide, Bachelor Girl has sold a total of more than 500,000 albums and singles.

History

1992–1997: Formation

Bachelor Girl formed in December 1992 when songwriter and record producer, James Roche, met vocalist Tania Doko. Roche had previously worked, on keyboards or producing, with Tommy Emmanuel,

John Farnham John Peter Farnham (born 1 July 1949) is a British-born Australian singer. Farnham was a teen pop idol from 1967 until the mid-1970s, billed as Johnny Farnham. He has since forged a career as an adult contemporary singer.McFarlane (1999). Enc ...

and Jack Jones (aka Irwin Thomas). Doko was a classically trained university student. Roche was crafting a demonstration tape of a song he had written for an Australian

girl group A girl group is a music act featuring two or more women in music, female singers who generally vocal harmony, harmonize together. The term "girl group" is also used in a narrower sense in the United States to denote the wave of American female p ...

Girlfriend A girlfriend is a woman who is a friend, acquaintance or partner to the speaker, usually a female companion with whom one is platonically, romantically, or sexually involved. In a romantic context, this normally signifies a committed r ...

, and when the original singer cancelled, he recruited Doko. They began writing songs and recording other demos together. In December 1997, Bachelor Girl signed with Gotham Records, distributed by BMG, after being rejected by

Sony is a Japanese multinational conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at Sony City in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. The Sony Group encompasses various businesses, including Sony Corporation (electronics), Sony Semiconductor Solutions (i ...

1998–2001: ''Waiting for the Day''

Bachelor Girl's debut single, " Buses and Trains", was released on 18 June 1998. The song peaked at No. 4 on the

ARIA Singles Chart The ARIA Charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling songs and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA became the offici ...

and No. 6 on the

New Zealand Singles Chart The Official Aotearoa Music Charts, formerly the Official New Zealand Music Chart (), is the weekly New Zealand top 40 singles and albums charts, issued weekly by Recorded Music NZ (formerly Recording Industry Association of New Zealand). The M ...

. In 1999, it appeared in the top 30 on the

Swedish Singles Chart Sverigetopplistan (, lit. "the Sweden top list") is the Swedish national record chart, based on sales data from IFPI Sverige. It was formerly known as Topplistan (1975–1997) and Hitlistan (1998–2007) and has been known by its current name s ...

and reached the top 100 in the UK. Their second single, " Treat Me Good", was issued in November 1998 and reached the top 40 in Australia and New Zealand. The related album, '' Waiting for the Day'', was released in November and peaked at No. 20 on the ARIA Albums Chart. In May 1999, their third single, " Lucky Me" reached the top 50 in Australia and New Zealand. It reached the top 20 on the

Finnish Singles Chart The Official Finnish Charts (; ) are national record charts in Finland compiled and published by Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland. The name ''Suomen virallinen lista/Finlands officiella lista'' (lit. "the Official Finnish Chart"), which is ...

. In August, the album was issued internationally as ''Breaking Through from Down Under'' on

Arista Records Arista Records ( ) is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the American division of the Japanese conglomerate Sony. The label was previously a division of Bertelsmann Music G ...

2002–2004: ''Dysfunctional'' and split

In July 2002, Bachelor Girl released " I'm Just A Girl" as the lead single from their forthcoming second studio album. The song reached the Australian top 30. Their second album, '' Dysfunctional'', was released in August and peaked in the top 30. " Drowning Not Waving" was released in October 2002 as the second and final single from the album. The band recorded their third studio album in 2003-2004 but was never released as the duo amicably split in 2004.

2004–2017: Hiatus, ''Loved & Lost: The Best of Bachelor Girl'' and ''Beautifully Wrong – The Lost Songs''

In April 2011, a compilation album, '' Loved & Lost: The Best of Bachelor Girl'', was released by

Sony Music Australia Sony Music Entertainment Australia is the predominant record label operated by American parent company Sony Music Entertainment in Australia. Prior to 1995, SMEA published and distributed video games in Australia & New Zealand on behalf of So ...

. It featured four tracks abandoned from the third studio album. Doko stated in interviews that the band did not feel there was enough material from their two albums to fill a greatest hits album, and they decided to use cuts from the unreleased third studio album. In May and June, Bachelor Girl performed three gigs to promote the album. In August 2011, the previously unreleased third album was released digitally, titled '' Beautifully Wrong – The Lost Songs''. In 2012, Doko moved to Sweden where she worked as a singer/songwriter and vocal coach. Roche worked with a number of Australian musicians, including producing

Anthony Callea Anthony Cosmo Callea (born 13 December 1982) is an Australian singer-songwriter and stage actor who rose to prominence as the runner-up in the 2004 season of ''Australian Idol''. Callea's debut single, a cover of Celine Dion and Andrea Bocelli' ...

's number one album, '' Backbone'' in 2016.

2017–present: Reformation, "Speak" and "Calling Out Your Name"

In mid-2017, Roche completed a three-week trip to

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

, Sweden, where he met up with Doko. The duo wrote and recorded with various Swedish writers and producers. Roche said, "I had a fantastic time; the context there of musical creation and endeavour is inspiring and energising. I've returned with a collection of songs I am so excited about - I can't wait to complete the production on them!". " Speak" was released on 18 June 2018, exactly 20 years since the release of "Buses and Trains". In February 2023, Bachelor Girl released "Calling Out Your Name".

Discography

Albums

Compilations

Singles

Other appearances

Awards and nominations

ARIA Awards

The

ARIA Music Awards The Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards (commonly known informally as ARIA Music Awards, ARIA Awards, or simply the ARIAs) is an annual series of awards nights celebrating the Australian music industry, put on by the Austr ...

is an annual awards ceremony that recognises excellence, innovation, and achievement across all genres of

Australian music The music of Australia has an extensive history made of music societies. Indigenous Australian music forms a significant part of the unique heritage of a 40,000- to 60,000-year history which produced the iconic didgeridoo. Contemporary fusions o ...

. Bachelor Girl have won 1 award from 5 nominations. , - ,

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...

, rowspan="2", " Buses and Trains" , Best New Talent , , - , rowspan="4",

1999 1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...

, Highest Selling Single , , - , rowspan="2", '' Waiting for the Day'' , Breakthrough Artist - Album , , - , Best Pop Release , , - , Bachelor Girl for ''Waiting for the Day'' , Producer of the Year ,

APRA Awards

The APRA Awards are held in Australia and New Zealand by the

Australasian Performing Right Association APRA AMCOS consists of Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA) and Australasian Mechanical Copyright Owners Society (AMCOS), both copyright management organisations or copyright collectives which jointly represent over 100,000 songwri ...

to recognise songwriting skills, sales and airplay performance by its members annually. Bachelor Girls have been nominated for three awards. , - , rowspan="2",

, rowspan="2", " Buses and Trains" , Song of the Year , , - , Most Performed Australian Work , , - ,

2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

, " Lucky Me" , Most Played Australian Work ,

Australian Women in Music Awards

The Australian Women in Music Awards (AWMA) is an annual event that celebrates outstanding women in the

Australian Music Industry The Australian music industry refers to the collection of individuals, organisations, businesses and activities that are involved in the creation, production, distribution and promotion of music in Australia. The music industry encompasses a wide r ...

who have made significant and lasting contributions in their chosen field. They commenced in 2018. , - ,

2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

, Tania Doko , Songwriter Award ,

References

{{Authority control APRA Award winners ARIA Award winners Musical groups from Melbourne Victoria (state) musical groups Australian pop music groups Australian indie rock groups Musical groups established in 1992 Musical groups disestablished in 2003 Australian musical duos 1992 establishments in Australia 2003 disestablishments in Australia