Melanie Susan Oxley is an Australian musician, singer-songwriter and primary school teacher. Oxley was a member of the dance pop group, The Sparklers (from 1985 to 1989), which in October 1988 released their debut album, ''Persuasion''. Since 1989 Oxley teamed with keyboardist,

Chris Abrahams Christopher Robert Lionel Abrahams (born 1961, Oamaru, New Zealand) is a New Zealand-born, Australian-based musician. He is a founding mainstay member of experimental, jazz trio the Necks (1987–present), he collaborated with Melanie Oxley a ...

to perform and record as a soul pop duo, Melanie Oxley & Chris Abrahams. They have released four studio albums, ''Welcome to Violet'', ''Coal'', ''Jerusalem Bay'' and ''Blood Oranges''. At the

ARIA Music Awards of 1993 The Seventh Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards (generally known as the ARIA Music Awards or simply The ARIAS) was held on 14 April 1993 at the Entertainment Centre in Sydney. Note: User may be required to access archived ...

''Welcome to Violet'' was nominated for

ARIA Award for Best Independent Release The ARIA Music Award for Best Independent Release, is an award presented at the annual ARIA Music Awards, which recognises "the many achievements of Aussie artists across all music genres", since 1987. It is handed out by the Australian Recording ...

Biography

Early life

Melanie Susan Oxley is the daughter of Eric and Jan Oxley. Eric, an art teacher, was originally from

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...

and had migrated to Sydney before the Oxley family settled in the rural northern beach community of

Kingscliff Kingscliff is a coastal town just south of Tweed Heads in the Northern Rivers region of New South Wales, Australia, and is a beach community offering a variety of holiday accommodations. Together with the villages of Chinderah and Fingal, it i ...

in 1965. Oxley's older brothers are

Peter Peter may refer to: People * List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Peter (given name) ** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church * Peter (surname), a su ...

and Jeremy Oxley (born ca. 1961), who founded Australian pop-rock band

The Sunnyboys Sunnyboys are an Australian power pop band formed in Sydney in 1979. Fronted by singer-songwriter, guitarist Jeremy Oxley, the band "breathed some freshness and vitality into the divergent Sydney scene". Their first two albums, ''Sunnyboys ...

, and her younger brothers are Damien and Tim (singer, guitarist, drummer in The Humdingers, The Verys, The Dearhunters, and Roger Loves Betty).

1984-1988: Paris Green and The Sparklers

Oxley performed with Louis Tillett's jazz influenced blues-rock band Paris Green in 1984, alongside Charlie Owen. She performed backing vocals on

The Triffids The Triffids were an Australian alternative rock and pop band, formed in Perth in Western Australia in May 1978 with David McComb as singer-songwriter, guitarist, bass guitarist and keyboardist.McFarlane (1999). Encyclopedia entry fo"The T ...

' 1984 EP, ''

Raining Pleasure Raining Pleasure is an indie/ rock band originating from Patras, Greece, often credited with spearheading the newest wave of Greek bands with English lyrics. History The band was formed in September 1990 under the name Rest in Peace. A year af ...

''. In early 1985 she worked for the Johnny Kannis Band with Richard Jakimyszyn on guitar, Tony Juke on keyboards and guitar, Kannis on lead vocals, Tony Robertson on bass guitar, Don Raffael on saxophone and Destroyer on drums. Also that year she was briefly in Sweet Nothing. Later that year, Oxley formed a dance pop band, The Sparklers, in Sydney with

(ex-

Benders The Benders were an Australian jazz band from 1980 to 1985. The group's members included Chris Abrahams on keyboards, Dale Barlow on saxophone, Louis Burdett on drums, Andrew Gander on drums, Jason Morphett on saxophone, and Lloyd Swanton on ...

) on keyboards; her brother Peter Oxley on bass guitar; Bill Bilson (The Sunnyboys) on drums; and Mark Walker (Hoi Polloi, Sweet Nothing) on guitar – who was replaced by Colin Bloxsom, a year later. The Sparklers released two singles before Abrahams left, he was replaced by Phil Grove. The Sparklers released an album, ''Persuasion'', in October 1988 with Oxley writing all tracks except one co-written with Abrahams. ''Persuasion'' was produced by Leszek Karski on Mighty Boys Records before the group disbanded in 1989. Oxley also performed backing vocals for

Johanna Pigott Johanna Paton Pigott (born ca. 1955) is an Australian musician, singer-songwriter and screenwriter. Her best known hit songs are Dragon's " Rain" which peaked at No. 2 on the Australian Kent Music Report Singles Chart in 1983, Note: Used f ...

's band Scribble, appearing on their 1986 album ''Pop Art'', as well as on

Ed Kuepper Edmund "Ed" Kuepper (born 20 December 1955) is a German-born Australian guitarist, vocalist and songwriter. He co-founded the punk band The Saints (1973–78), the experimental post-punk group Laughing Clowns (1979–85) and the grunge-like ...

's 1986 album '' Rooms of the Magnificent''. Other 1980s work includes The Spliffs ''House of Seven'' (1988) and Penguins on Safari's ''Normal Soon'' (1989).

1989-present: Melanie Oxley & Chris Abrahams

In 1989 Oxley formed a soul pop duo, Melanie Oxley & Chris Abrahams, with ex-The Sparklers bandmate, Abrahams (by then also a pianist-songwriter for experimental jazz trio,

The Necks The Necks are an Australian avant-garde jazz trio formed in 1987 by founding mainstays Chris Abrahams on piano and Hammond organ, Tony Buck on drums, percussion and electric guitar, and Lloyd Swanton on bass guitar and double bass. They play ...

). She worked periodically with Abrahams, performing, writing songs and recording albums, while maintaining a career as a primary school teacher. In December 1990 the duo released a four-track EP, ''Resisting Calm'', on Spiral Scratch Records. For the EP they used Tony Buck on drums, Mike Bukovsky on trumpet, Gerard Corben (ex-The Sparklers) on guitar, Guy Dickerson on guitar, Stuart Eadie on

floor tom A floor tom or low tom is a double-headed tom-tom drum which usually stands on the floor on three legs. However, they can also be attached to a cymbal stand with a drum clamp, or supported by a rim mount. It is a cylindrical drum without sna ...

s, Jackie Orszaczky on bass guitar and Lloyd Swanton on acoustic bass. It was co-produced by Abrahams and Oxley. National radio station,

Triple J Triple J (stylised in all lowercase) is a government-funded, national Australian radio station intended to appeal to listeners of alternative music, which began broadcasting in January 1975. The station also places a greater emphasis on broad ...

, placed the track, "Benchtop", on high rotation – a live version appeared on the compilation album, '' Live at the Wireless 2'' (1991). Their debut studio album, ''Welcome to Violet'', followed in October 1992 on

Remote Control Records Remote Control Records was established in 2001 by Steve Cross and Harvey Saward. It provides publicity, label management, distribution and marketing services to international and local artists and labels. Remote Control's roster of internatio ...

, which exemplified their "moody, emotive soul/pop" sound. At the

, ''Welcome to Violet'' was nominated for Best Independent Release. On 3 October 1994, their second studio album, ''Coal'', appeared. Their third studio album, ''Jerusalem Bay'', was issued in December 1998 and was produced by Oxley and Abrahams. Additional musicians included Mike Bukowski on trumpet (ex-Ten Part Invention) and Hamish Stuart on drums ( Ayers Rock, Wig World, Catholics). The album includes a cover version of " Cry Me a River" written by

Arthur Hamilton Arthur Hamilton Stern (born October 22, 1926),Stern, Arthur “Art”
''Mar-Ken ...

. ''Blood Oranges'' the fourth studio album was released in April 2003 on Vitamin Records. ''

The Age ''The Age'' is a daily newspaper in Melbourne, Australia, that has been published since 1854. Owned and published by Nine Entertainment, ''The Age'' primarily serves Victoria, but copies also sell in Tasmania, the Australian Capital Territo ...

''s Michael Dwyer described their sound as "sophisticated, sometimes jazz-tinted pop" while Oxley feels "It's quite a different album to ''Jerusalem Bay'', and it was recorded differently. That one was much more organic and live. With ''Blood Oranges'', Chris did a lot of work before we went into the studio, quite a lot of programming". Session musicians included Stuart, Michael Sheridan on guitar and Jonathan Zwartz on bass guitar. Vitamin Records promoted the album as being "Coloured by a strange, at times, dark playfulness, tis dotted throughout with classic sounding songs drawn from a number of pop influences. Lyrically thoughtful, deceptively simple". In April 2003 '' Sydney Morning Herald'' John Shand reviewed their performance at The Basement, he found Oxley used "a lot of breath aerating erlovely voice. Unlike, say,

Renée Geyer Renée Rebecca Geyer (born 11 September 1953) is an Australian singer who has long been regarded as one of the finest exponents of jazz, soul and R&B idioms. She had commercial success as a solo artist in Australia, with " It's a Man's Man's Wor ...

, however, this does not make it husky, but creates a soft-edged, whispering quality, which remains unaffected by volume, and which suggests innocence and sensuality in equal measure". In October that year ABC

Radio National Radio National, known on-air as RN, is an Australia-wide public service broadcasting radio network run by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). From 1947 until 1985, the network was known as ABC Radio 2. History 1937: Predecessors an ...

broadcast ''South Island'' on ''The Listening Room''; ''South Island'' was a joint project by Oxley (performer) with Abrahams (composer and performer) and Sherre DeLys (text and sound design). In January 2008 Oxley and Abraham provided "a simply devastating performance of 'Embedded'" at a tribute concert for its deceased songwriter,

David McComb David Richard McComb (17 February 19622 February 1999) was an Australian musician. He was the singer-songwriter and guitarist of the Australian bands, The Triffids (1976–89) and The Blackeyed Susans (1989–93). He also had a solo career incl ...

of The Triffids. A documentary film, ''It's Raining Pleasure'' (2009), showcased the performances and included an interview with Oxley, it was screened at the Adelaide International Film Festival.

Personal life

As of July 2003 Melanie Oxley's domestic partner is former drummer and television producer, Angus Millar. Oxley is a mother of three children and outside her musical career she is a primary school teacher who has taught at Newtown Public School and Annandale Public School, in Sydney's inner west.2012 interview

Melanie Oxley & Chris Abrahams Discography

Albums

Extended plays

Awards and nominations

ARIA Music Awards

The ARIA Music Awards 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, CBS, RCA, WEA and Universal replac ...

(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 of ...

. They commenced in 1987. ! , - ,

1993 File:1993 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Oslo I Accord is signed in an attempt to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict; The Russian White House is shelled during the 1993 Russian constitutional crisis; Czechoslovakia is peace ...

, ''Welcome to Violet'' (with Chris Abrahams) ,

, , , -

References

;General * Note: Archived n-linecopy has limited functionality. ;Specific {{DEFAULTSORT:Oxley, Melanie Living people Australian women musicians Australian women singer-songwriters People from Tweed Heads, New South Wales Year of birth missing (living people)