Whirlywirld were an Australian

post-punk Post-punk (originally called new musick) is a broad genre of music that emerged in late 1977 in the wake of punk rock. Post-punk musicians departed from punk's fundamental elements and raw simplicity, instead adopting a broader, more experiment ...

band led by

Ollie Olsen Ollie Jngbert Christian Olsen (born Ian Christopher Olsen, 20 February 1958 – 16 October 2024) was an Australian multi-instrumentalist, composer and sound designer. From the mid-1970s until his later years, he performed, recorded and produced ...

in the late 1970s and early 1980s, and the first of his musical collaborations with drummer John Murphy. They played in

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

and

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

and were supporters of the Melbourne little band scene.

Biography

In 1976, as a guitarist,

formed The Reals, who on occasion shared the bill at suburban dance halls with The Boys Next Door.McFarlan
'Ian 'Ollie' Olsen'
entry. Retrieved 6 February 2010. The Reals would eventually evolve into The Negatives, but before that Olsen had become dissatisfied with the group, and left. Olsen went on to form The Young Charlatans. The Young Charlatans' four members would all go on to distinguish themselves in long music careers: they included Olsen, guitarist Rowland Howard (later of The Boys Next Door/ The Birthday Party, as well as

These Immortal Souls These Immortal Souls were an Australian post-punk band formed in London in 1987 by Harry Howard on bass guitar, his older brother Rowland S. Howard on guitar and vocals, Epic Soundtracks (a.k.a. Kevin Godfrey) on drums (all three ex- Crime & ...

), drummer Jeffrey Wegener (

Laughing Clowns Laughing Clowns, sometimes written as The Laughing Clowns, were a post-punk band formed in Sydney in 1979. In five years, the band released three LPs, three EPs, and various singles and compilations. Laughing Clowns' sound is free jazz, bluegr ...

) and bassist

Janine Hall Janine Margaret Hall ( – 20 May 2008) was a New Zealand-born musician who played in early proto punk, punk rock and rock groups in Australia. On bass guitar she was a member of Rowland S. Howard's Young Charlatans (1977–1978), the Saints ...

(later of The Saints). The group was short lived and after a brief, stormy existence, the band broke up. By then Olsen had met John Murphy, the drummer for another early Melbourne punk band, NEWS. The pair formed Whirlywirld in 1978 with their stated priority, from the outset, to use synthesisers and other non-'rock' instruments, departing from a guitar-based format. Whirlywirld was completed by two keyboardists, credited with 'electronics', Andrew Duffield and Simon Smith (Olsen, by this point, had abandoned guitar in favour of 'electronics') together with guitarist Dean Richards. Whirlywirld only played live very infrequently but they did rehearse on a rigid schedule. In June 1979, the band released a self-titled debut EP. Whirlywirld made their live debut at The Crystal Ballroom later that year, by which time Duffield left to join The Models and had been replaced by Philip Jackson. Whirlywirld would go on to play only fourteen performances in their entire career. Gradually, the personnel within the band changed, in accordance with a change in direction, Richards, Jackson and Smith departed. Richards and Jackson went on to two popular local 'underground' bands in Melbourne,

Equal Local Equal Local were an Australian synth-pop band, formed in Melbourne, Victoria in 1980. The original line-up was Dean Richards on guitar, Philip Jackson on synthesisers, trumpet and rhythm generator, Melissa Webb on synthesisers and piano, Bryce ...

and Hot Half Hour, In the 2000s Richards records and performs as Disturbed Earth. Arnie Hanna came in on guitar and Greg Sun on bass. During this period Murphy played an array of percussion devices, natural, electronic or otherwise and Olsen even played saxophone, clarinet, tape loops as well as keyboards. This incarnation of the band recorded at York St. Studios in December, 1979. Four of these tracks came out on a 12" EP, again titled ''Whirlywirld'' in February 1980. After the band split, Olsen and Murphy went on to form firstly The Beast Apparel, and then Hugo Klang, which performed a handful of gigs in England, and recorded a single, "Beat Up The Old Shack", released in Australia on Prince Melon Records. Olsen and Murphy then went on to form Orchestra of Skin and Bone, before their musical partnership ended with Olsen going to form NO in the late 1980s. Hanna and Murphy later played with Olsen and

Michael Hutchence Michael Kelland John Hutchence (22 January 1960 – 22 November 1997) was an Australian singer and songwriter. He was the co-founder, lead singer and lyricist of the rock band INXS from 1977 until his death in 1997. The band sold over 50 ...

in the band Max Q. A version of one of Whirlywirld's songs, "Win/Lose", was re-recorded by Olsen in 1986 for inclusion in the film ''

Dogs in Space During the 1950s and 1960s the Soviet space program used dogs for sub-orbital and orbital space flights to determine whether human spaceflight was feasible. The Soviet space program typically used female dogs due to their anatomical compa ...

''. Hutchence sang the early Whirlywirld song, "Rooms for the Memory" on the soundtrack, and the song became a hit on the mainstream Australian charts in 1987. The remixed version of "Win/Lose" was also released as a single by Olsen.

Members

* Andrew Duffield -

synthesiser A synthesizer (also synthesiser or synth) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis and ...

(1978–1979) * Arne Hanna - guitar (1979–1980) * Philip Jackson - synthesiser (1978–1979) * John Murphy -

drum The drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophone. Drums consist of at least one membrane, called a drumhead or drum skin, that is stretched over a ...

s (1978–1980) * Ian 'Ollie' Olsen -

vocals Singing is the art of creating music with the voice. It is the oldest form of musical expression, and the human voice can be considered the first musical instrument. The definition of singing varies across sources. Some sources define sing ...

saxophone The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed on a mouthpiece vibrates to p ...

(1978–1980) * Dean Richards -

guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

(1978–1979) * Simon Smith - synthesiser (1978–1979) * Greg Sun -

bass guitar The bass guitar (), also known as the electric bass guitar, electric bass, or simply the bass, is the lowest-pitched member of the guitar family. It is similar in appearance and construction to an Electric guitar, electric but with a longer nec ...

(1979–1980)

Discography

Albums/EPs

* ''Whirlywirld'' - Missing Link (MLS-3) (June, 1979) * ''Whirlywirld'' - Missing Link (MLEP-4) (February 1980) * ''Whirlywirld - The Complete Studio Works'' - Missing Link (Missing Link 10) (1986) (Re-Issue) (2002)

Singles

* "Sextronics"/"Eyebrows Still Shaved" - Missing Link (MLS-10) - (February 1980)

References

;General * Note: Archived n-linecopy has limited functionality. * Note: n-lineversion established a
White Room Electronic Publishing Pty Ltd
in 2007 and was expanded from the 2002 edition. ;Specific {{Authority control Musical groups from Melbourne Musical groups established in 1978 Musical groups disestablished in 1980 Australian post-punk groups