Ivor Arthur Davies, AM (born 22 May 1955), known professionally as Iva Davies, is an Australian singer, songwriter, composer, multi-instrumentalist and record producer. Davies' music career spans more than 40 years. He came to prominence in the early 1980s as co-founder and lead singer of

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...

band Icehouse, becoming one of Australia's top rock stars of that decade. In addition to his work with Icehouse and his solo career, Davies has made music for television series and films. He is known for his work as composer for the film '' Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World''.

Early life

Davies was born on 22 May 1955 in

Wauchope, New South Wales Wauchope ( ) is a town in the Mid North Coast region of New South Wales, Australia. It is within the boundaries of the Port Macquarie-Hastings Council area. Wauchope is inland on the Hastings River and the Oxley Highway west of Port Mac ...

, and was first attracted to bagpipes at the age of six. He played

oboe The oboe ( ) is a type of double-reed woodwind instrument. Oboes are usually made of wood, but may also be made of synthetic materials, such as plastic, resin, or hybrid composites. The most common type of oboe, the soprano oboe pitched in C, ...

with the Sydney Youth Orchestra and was a member of the Epping Boys High School Band where he also played the

euphonium The euphonium ( ; ; ) is a tenor- and baritone-voiced valved brass instrument. The euphonium is a member of the large family of valved bugles, along with the tuba and flugelhorn, characterised by a wide conical bore. Most instruments have thr ...

. He went on to be an oboe and composition student at the New South Wales Conservatorium of Music, but dropped out at age 21 to pursue a professional career.

Career

1970s

Davies first performed professionally as a 16-year-old musician with the Lucy Fields Jug Band. The band secured a recording contract with M7 Records, but the company changed hands shortly thereafter and the band's album was never released. In 1974, Davies performed Handel's Concerto for Oboe in E♭ major with Strathfield Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Richard Gill. Davies would later use his woodwind skills on some tracks with his band Icehouse, playing oboe on several albums and adding

cor anglais The cor anglais (, or original ; plural: ''cors anglais''), or English horn (mainly North America), is a double-reed woodwind instrument in the oboe family. It is approximately one and a half times the length of an oboe, making it essentially ...

to "Man of Colours", the title track of their sixth studio album. In July 1975, Davies released his first single, “Leading Lady”, on the RCA label. In early 1977, Davies was working as a part-time cleaner at a squash court in Lindfield, New South Wales managed by bass player Keith Welsh's mother. Davies and Welsh got together to form the band Flowers, rehearsing in a house next door to the squash court. In 1977, Davies re-established an old acquaintance with Cameron Allan, the director of Sydney-based independent label

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 ...

; Flowers signed with the label in early 1977. In 1980, the band's debut album ''Icehouse'', which included the song " Can't Help Myself", reached the Top Five, making it the highest-selling debut album in Australia. To take advantage of this success, the band changed its name to Icehouse in 1981. The name was taken from a cold flat Davies lived in and the strange building across the road populated by itinerant people.

1980s

In 1983, Davies and Icehouse went on a European tour with David Bowie. In 1984, Davies was invited to Japan to write the lyrics and sing vocals for the track "Walking To The Beat" by

Yukihiro Takahashi was a Japanese musician, singer, record producer, fashion designer, and actor, who was best known internationally as the drummer, lead vocalist, & 2nd keyboardist of the Yellow Magic Orchestra, as the former drummer of the Sadistic Mika Band, ...

, for the album ''Wild & Moody''. The following year "Walking To The Beat" was released as a single in Australia, New Zealand and the Netherlands. In 1985 Davies briefly joined Takahashi's touring band in Japan for the "Wild & Moody" tour, where he met

Steve Jansen Steve Jansen (born Stephen Ian Batt, born 1 December 1959) is an English musician, composer and record producer. Biography Jansen was a founding member of the band Japan (band), Japan, along with his brother David Sylvian (vocals, guitars and ...

. In 1985, Davies and fellow Icehouse member Bob Kretschmer worked on the ballet '' Boxes'' with the Sydney Dance Company. In addition to scoring the ballet, they also co-wrote the script with Graeme Murphy. ''Boxes'' opened at the

Sydney Opera House The Sydney Opera House is a multi-venue Performing arts center, performing arts centre in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Located on the foreshore of Sydney Harbour, it is widely regarded as one of the world's most famous and distinctive b ...

in December, and Davies performed in an acting/singing/dancing role to sold-out crowds for three weeks straight. 1985 also saw Davies win an APRA Music Award for Most Performed Australasian Music for Film for ''

Razorback A feral pig is a pig, domestic pig which has gone feral, meaning it lives in the wild. The term feral pig has also been applied to wild boars, which can interbreed with domestic pigs. They are found mostly in the Americas and Australia. Razorb ...

''. Davies was an early adopter of the Fairlight which he used to compose the music of the film. His score has been described as "pioneering" and "an important contribution to Australian film scoring". In 1988, Davies and co-collaborator John Oates won an APRA Music Award for the Icehouse song " Electric Blue" (from the ''

Man of Colours ''Man of Colours'' is the fifth studio album by Australian rock/synthpop band Icehouse, released locally on 21 September 1987 on Regular Records / Chrysalis Records. Cover art The cover artwork, designed by Iva Davies and Robert Kretschmer, d ...

'' album) in the Most Performed Australasian Popular Work category. On 25 January 1988, Icehouse performed "Electric Blue" at the Royal Command, New South Wales Bicentennial Concert in front of the

Prince A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. The ...

and

Princess of Wales Princess of Wales (; ) is a title used since the 14th century by the wife of the Prince of Wales. The Princess is the apparent future queen consort, as "Prince of Wales" is a title reserved by custom for the heir apparent to the Monarchy of the ...

at the

Sydney Entertainment Centre Sydney Entertainment Centre, later known as Qantas Credit Union Arena, was a multi-purpose arena located in Haymarket, Sydney, Australia. It opened in May 1983, to replace Sydney Stadium, which had been demolished in 1970 to make way for the ...

1990s

In the early 1990s, the Sydney Dance Company worked on creating a work which became the ballet ''Berlin''. As well as recording the score to the ballet, Davies performed live with Icehouse at each show. ''Berlin'' was an instant success and ran for two seasons.

2000s

In 2003, Davies travelled to

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

to record the soundtrack to the

Peter Weir Peter Lindsay Weir ( ; born 21 August 1944) is a retired Australian film director. He is known for directing films crossing various genres over forty years with films such as '' Picnic at Hanging Rock'' (1975), '' Gallipoli'' (1981), '' The Y ...

film '' Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World'' with Christopher Gordon and

Richard Tognetti Richard Leo Tognetti AO (born 4 August 1965) is a leading Australian musician recognised internationally as a violin soloist, ensemble player, leader, composer and arranger, conductor and artistic director. He is currently artistic direct ...

. Together, they won the 2004 APRA/ AGSC Screen Music Award in the Best Soundtrack Album category. In 2005, Davies scored the miniseries '' The Incredible Journey of Mary Bryant''. On 6 November 2006, he won the 2006 APRA/AGSC Screen Music Award in the Best Music for a Mini-Series or Telemovie category. From 15 June 2008, Davies was a judge on

Seven Network Seven Network (stylised 7Network, and commonly known as Channel Seven or simply Seven) is an Australian commercial free-to-air Television broadcasting in Australia, television network. It is owned by Seven West Media, Seven West Media Limited, ...

TV series '' Battle of the Choirs''; his band Icehouse performed "

Great Southern Land "Great Southern Land" is a song by the Australian Rock music, rock band Icehouse (band), Icehouse. It was released on 9 August 1982 as the lead single from their second studio album ''Primitive Man (album), Primitive Man''. It peaked at No. 5 on ...

" on the grand final show won by the University of Newcastle Chamber Choir.

Personal life

Davies lives in Whale Beach, New South Wales. He married Tonia Kelly in 1990; at the time, Kelly was the principal dancer at the Sydney Dance Company. The couple divorced in 2010. From his marriage to Kelly, he has two children, Brynn (born 1993) and Evan (born 1996).

Discography

Albums

Awards and nominations

In 2013, Davies was honoured in the

Queen's Birthday Honours The Birthday Honours, in some Commonwealth realms, mark the King's Official Birthday, reigning monarch's official birthday in each realm by granting various individuals appointment into Order (honour), national or Dynastic order of knighthood, dy ...

as a "Member (AM) in the General Division" for services to music, entertainment and the community

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. , - ,

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. ** Spain and Portugal en ...

, ''Razorback '' , Most Performed Australasian Music for Film , , - ,

1989 1989 was a turning point in political history with the "Revolutions of 1989" which ended communism in Eastern Bloc of Europe, starting in Poland and Hungary, with experiments in power-sharing coming to a head with the opening of the Berlin W ...

, "Electric Blue" (Iva Davies, John Oates) by Icehouse , Most Performed Australasian Popular Work , , - , rowspan="2" ,

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

, rowspan="2" , ''Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World'' (Iva Davies, Christopher Gordon, Richard Tognetti) , Best Feature Film Score , , - , Best Soundtrack Album , , - ,

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

, ''The Incredible Journey of Mary Bryant'' (Iva Davis) , Best Music for a Mini-Series or Telemovie ,

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 ...

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 ...

. They commenced in 1987. ! , - ,

1996 1996 was designated as: * International Year for the Eradication of Poverty Events January * January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...

, ''The Berlin Tapes'' , rowspan="2" , Best Original Soundtrack, Cast or Show Album , , rowspan="2" , ARIA Award previous winners. , - ,

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 ...

, ''The Ghost of Time'' , , -

Australian Songwriters Hall of Fame

The Australian Songwriters Hall of Fame was established in 2004 to honour the lifetime achievements of some of Australia's greatest songwriters. , - , 2018 , himself , Australian Songwriters Hall of Fame ,

TV Week / Countdown 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 ''TV Week'' is a weekly Australian magazine that provides television program listings information and highlights, as well as television-related news. Content ranges from previews for upcoming storylines of popular television programs, particu ...

''. The TV Week / Countdown Awards were a combination of popular-voted and peer-voted awards. , - , 1980 , himself , Best Recorded Songwriter , , - , rowspan="3" , 1982 , rowspan="2" , himself , Best Songwriter , , - , Best Australian Producer , , - , himself , Most Popular Male Performer , , - , 1984 , himself , Most Popular Male Performer , , -

References

External links

Icehouse official site

Spellbound – Icehouse
News, interviews, discography, photo gallery * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Davies, Iva 1955 births APRA Award winners Living people Icehouse (band) members Sydney Conservatorium of Music alumni Australian electronic musicians Australian new wave musicians Australian rock singers Musicians from New South Wales Australian rock guitarists Australian multi-instrumentalists Members of the Order of Australia Australian people of Welsh descent People educated at Epping Boys High School Male new wave singers Singers from Sydney Synth-pop singers 20th-century Australian musicians 21st-century Australian musicians Rock oboists Australian male guitarists Australian male singer-songwriters Australian singer-songwriters People from Wauchope, New South Wales