Bellydance were an Australian 9 piece dance, funk band originally known as Bellydance Disco, which formed in Sydney 1987. Mainstays were Tony Hughes on vocals, Frank Ward on bass, Ted Cavanagh on guitar and Scott Saunders (also in

Directions in Groove Directions in Groove or DIG were an Australian acid jazz band which formed in 1991 by Alexander Hewetson on bass guitar, Terepai Richmond on drums and percussion, Rick Robertson on saxophone, Tim Rollinson on guitar and Scott Saunders on keybo ...

) on keyboards. Featured a range of musicians/vocalists and brass. Their debut album, ''One Blood'' (1993), was nominated at the

ARIA Music Awards of 1994 The Eighth Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards (generally known as the ARIA Music Awards or simply The ARIAs) was held on 30 March 1994 at the State Theatre in Sydney. Radio and TV personality Richard Stubbs hosted the ce ...

for Best Pop Release.

History

Bellydance were formed as a dance, funk band, Bellydance Disco, in Sydney in 1987 by mainstays Ted Cavanagh on guitar, the actor, Tony Hughes on vocals, and Scott Saunders (ex-

Deckchairs Overboard Deckchairs Overboard were an Australian pop music band based in Sydney which formed in 1982 and disbanded in 1985. They released two minor hit singles: "That's The Way" (1983) and "Fight For Love" (1985), as well as a charting LP. The early li ...

, Beatfish) on keyboards. Their line-up changed often and the ensemble sometimes reached 12 members. The group's debut single, "Spittin' Bullets", appeared in July 1987. According to Australian musicologist,

Ian McFarlane Ian McFarlane (born 1959) is an Australian music journalist, music historian and author, whose best known publication is the ''Encyclopedia of Australian Rock and Pop'' (1999), which was updated for a second edition in 2017. As a journalist ...

, they "built up a strong following on the Sydney dance/pub circuit, and first came to national prominence with the release of the topical single 'Green Revolution' in mid-1992." By that time Saunders had also formed an acid jazz group,

(initially styled as d.i.g.), with Alexander Hewetson on bass guitar,

Terepai Richmond Terepai Chalmers Richmond (born 21 February 1971) is an Australian drummer. He joined the Sydney-based rock band The Whitlams in September 1999 and formerly played in acid jazz group Directions in Groove (d.i.g.) (1991–1998, 2008). Biograph ...

on drums, Rick Robertson on saxophone, and Tim Rollinson on guitar. They released an extended play, ''Fun Dopin'', in May 1993 and also supported visiting English reggae singer,

Maxi Priest Max Alfred Elliott (born 10 June 1961), known by his stage name Maxi Priest, is a British reggae vocalist of Jamaican descent. He is best known for singing reggae music with an Contemporary R&B, R&B influence, otherwise known as reggae fusion. ...

, on his tour of Australia. Bellydance issued their debut studio album, ''One Blood'', in October 1993 via

Regular Records Regular Records was an Australian record label based in Sydney that operated from 1978 until the mid-1990s. Regular Records released music by acts including Mental As Anything, Icehouse (band), Icehouse, and The Cockroaches. The Regular Record ...

Festival Records Festival Records, later known as Festival Mushroom Records, was an Australian recording and publishing company founded in Sydney, Australia, in 1952 and operated until 2005. Festival was a subsidiary of News Limited from 1961 to 2005. The com ...

. It had been recorded in the previous year with Stephen Ferris producing. McFarlane observed, " tcontained a mix of hard funk, smooth soul-pop, dub reggae and jazz-funk." At the

it was nominated for Best Pop Release. The group released "The Joker" in 1994 and followed with their second album, ''Babylon Mixed Business'', late in the next year, via

Roadshow Music Village Roadshow is an Australian company which operates cinemas and theme parks, and produces and distributes films. Before being acquired by private equity company BGH Capital, the company was listed on the Australian Securities Exchange and ...

. "Ain't no Use" was released in November 1995 and the group disbanded in 1996.

Band members

* Ted Cavanagh – guitar (1987–96) * Tony Hughes – vocals (1987–96) * Scott Saunders – keyboards (1987–96) * Frank Ward – bass guitar, keyboards *Charlie MacLean – vocals *John Swanton – percussion & drums *Linda Jannsen – vocals *Grant Taylor – guitar *Dave Wray – saxophone *Richard Barry – vocals *

– drums * Theo Silvera – drums * Lisa Maxwell - recording vocalist * Stephen O'Connell; - saxophone

Discography

Albums

Awards and nominations

ARIA Music 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 ...

are a set of annual ceremonies presented by

Australian Recording Industry Association The Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) is a trade association representing the Australian recording industry which was established in the 1970s by six major record companies, EMI, Festival Records (Australia), Festival, Sony Music ...

(ARIA), which recognise excellence, innovation, and achievement across all genres of the

music of Australia 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 ...

. They commenced in 1987. ! , - , rowspan="2",

1994 The year 1994 was designated as the " International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations. In the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, 1994 had only 364 days, omitti ...

, , ''One Blood'' , , Best Pop Release , , , ,

References

{{reflist Australian soul musical groups