Hunters and Collectors



         


For the anthropological concept, see Hunter-gatherer.

Hunters & Collectors were an Australian rock band, formed in Melbourne in 1980. They were noted for songs such as "Throw Your Arms Around Me", "Talking To A Stranger" and "Say Goodbye" and were renowned as one of the best live acts of their day.

The original band was influenced by the Krautrock genre and the productions of Conny Plank and featured strong percussive influences, coupled with noise guitar and driving bass lines. The sound was in the vein of Remain in Light, the Talking Heads album of 1980. The band took its name from the track "Hunters & Collectors", on the German band Can's album Landed.

The first version of the band was: Mark Seymour (guitar & vocals); John Archer (bass); Doug Falconer (drums); Geoff Crosby (keyboards); Greg Perano (percussion); Ray Tosti-Gueira (guitar); and Robert Miles (who would stay with the band throughout their career, usually being credited with "live sound" and "art direction/design"). As lead singer, guitarist and principal songwriter, Seymour was the lynchpin of the group, and Archer and Falconer are widely regarded as one of the best rhythm sections ever to emerge from the Australian rock scene. Seymour is also the older brother of bassist Nick Seymour of Crowded House and in the mid-1980s he was romantically involved for a time with Do Re Mi (band) lead singer Deborah Conway.

The band was signed to White Label, part of Mushroom Records. Their first single was "Talking to a Stranger" which was accompanied by an influential music video directed by Richard Lowenstein, who went on to make many successful videos for INXS and the features 'Strikebound' (1984) and 'Dogs In Space'(1987) (which starred INXS lead singer Michael Hutchence).

In 1984 they briefly disbanded but reformed later in the year without Lubran. This line up also featured keyboards and a three-piece horn section. This was the period during which Hunters & Collectors enjoyed their greatest success. The first album featuring the new line up was The Jaws of Life (1984). It featured the single "The Slab", which was an underground success (mainly thanks to the support of radio station Triple J), but didn't make any inroads on the commercial music scene, possibly because of the masturbatory subtext of the lyrics. However, the record, regular airplay on the radio station JJJ (then Sydney-based) and video play on Countdown and other music video shows, and especially their consistent live performances brought Hunters & Collectors a strong and devoted following on the Australian pub scene.

Their breakthrough commercial success was the album Human Frailty which featured the single "Throw Your Arms Around Me".

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Australian discography

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Studio albums

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Studio EPs

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Live albums

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Compilation albums


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Personnel

The 'classic' Hunters and Collectors line up (for the last ten years together):

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Additional early members






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