MEO 245 were an Australian new wave band which formed in 1978 in

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Tasmania Tasmania (; palawa kani: ''Lutruwita'') is an island States and territories of Australia, state of Australia. It is located to the south of the Mainland Australia, Australian mainland, and is separated from it by the Bass Strait. The sta ...

with Paul Brickhill on keyboards, guitar and vocals; Campbell Laird on drums; Paul Northam on guitar and vocals; and Mick Wilson on bass guitar. Wilson was replaced on bass guitar by Mark Kellett, who in turn was replaced by Anthony Moore. The group issued a sole studio album, '' Screen Memory'' (August 1981), which reached the top 100 of the

Kent Music Report The Kent Music Report was a weekly record chart of Australian music singles and albums which was compiled by music historian David Kent from May 1974 through to January 1999. The chart was re-branded the Australian Music Report (AMR) in July 19 ...

Albums Chart.

History

MEO 245 were a pop rock band formed as Guided Tour in

by Paul Brickhill on keyboards, guitar and vocals; Campbell Laird on drums; Paul Northam on guitar and vocals; and Mick Wilson on bass guitar. The group's name, MEO 245, refers to a catalogue number of a German Import extended play released by the Beatles. In February 1979 they relocated to Melbourne where Wilson was replaced on bass guitar by Mark Kellet. The band signed with

Mushroom Records Mushroom Records was an Australian flagship record label, founded in 1972 in Melbourne. It published and distributed many successful Australian artists and expanded internationally, until it was merged with Festival Records in 1998. Festival ...

and in October 1980 they issued their debut single, "Lady Love". The singles, "Lady Love" and "Other Places" (July 1981), made the mainstream charts in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. The group appeared on ABC TV's pop show, ''

Countdown A countdown is a sequence of backward counting to indicate the time remaining before an event is scheduled to occur. NASA commonly employs the terms "L-minus" and "T-minus" during the preparation for and anticipation of a rocket launch, and eve ...

'', performing "Lady Love" and "Jewels" (October 1981). From May to July 1981 they recorded their first album, '' Screen Memory'' (August 1981), with Peter Dawkins (

Air Supply Air Supply is an Australian soft rock duo formed in Melbourne, Australia, in 1975, consisting of Englishman Graham Russell (vocals, guitar) and Australian Russell Hitchcock (vocals). With record sales of 100 million worldwide, they had a suc ...

Dragon A dragon is a Magic (supernatural), magical legendary creature that appears in the folklore of multiple cultures worldwide. Beliefs about dragons vary considerably through regions, but European dragon, dragons in Western cultures since the Hi ...

, Mi-Sex) producing at

Studios 301 Studios 301 is an Australian recording studio and is both the longest-running professional recording studio in the southern hemisphere and the largest studio complex in Australia. History The studio was founded in 1926 under the Columbia Grap ...

, Sydney. It reached No. 69 on the

Albums Chart. Note: Used for Australian Singles and Albums charting from 1974 until

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) created their own

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in mid-1988. In 1992, Kent back calculated chart positions for 1970–1974. 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 ...

, " hetitle was taken from ''A Critical Dictionary of Psychoanalysis'' and the record itself was full of English-influenced pop rock." During April and May 1982 they recorded a six-track EP, ''Rites of Passage'' (September 1982), at Richmond Recorders with co-production by the group and John French (he also worked as its audio engineer). Note: this source erroneously titles the extended play as ''Screen Memory''. It provided two singles, "Sin City" (also September) and "Summer Girl" (November). It was a marked shift from the new wave pop of ''Screen Memory'' with a more guitar-orientated sound coming to the fore. Ahead of the EP's release Kellet left and was replaced on bass guitar by Anthony Moore. In January of the following year Brickhill left to join Little Heroes and the group disbanded by March with Laird joining Soldier of Fortune and Northam going to Luxury Device. ''Screen Memory'', ''Rites of Passage'' and the non-album single, 'Lady Love", were released on CD as ''Screen Memory'' / ''Rites of Passage'', for a compilation album in 1997 by Mushroom Records.

Discography

Albums

Extended plays

Singles

References

Retro Universe Blog

Mushroom Evolution Concert - MEO 245 Live ℗ 2009 Liberation Music
{{Authority control Australian new wave musical groups Australian pop rock groups Musical groups established in 1978 Musical groups disestablished in 1983 Tasmanian musical groups