Simon Hussey

Simon Hussey
Background information
Birth name Simon Cyril Hussey
Born Lismore, Victoria, Australia
Origin Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Genres Rock, Pop, Orchestral
Occupation(s) Musician, songwriter, producer, arranger, engineer
Instruments Keyboards, drum programming, guitar
Years active 1984–1999
Labels Freestyle, Sony ,Warner Chappell Music, EMI Records, Virgin Records
Associated acts James Reyne, Daryl Braithwaite, Company of Strangers, Craig McLachlan, John Farnham, Margaret Urlich, David Reyne, Australian Crawl Cats Under Pressure, Danielle Greenwood

Simon Cyril Hussey (Lismore) is a multi-instrumentalist, songwriter/arranger and record producer, nominated for seven (recipient of two) ARIA awards for producing and dual APRA awards for songwriting. In 1984 he formed Cats Under Pressure with David Reyne (ex-Australian Crawl) on drums/vocals and Mark Greig on guitar . Hussey and Greig joined Australian Crawl's demo and recording sessions for their fourth studio album, Between a Rock and a Hard Place (August 1985). Hussey provided keyboards and co-wrote material with the band's lead singer, James Reyne (David's older brother). In 1987 when James undertook his solo career, Hussey joined his backing band on keyboards, and co-wrote six tracks for James' debut self-titled album including top 10 hit singles, Hammerhead (October) and Motor's Too Fast (June 1988).In May 1988 Hussey provided keyboards, songwriting and was the producer for Edge (November), the comeback album by Daryl Braithwaite (ex-Sherbet), which peaked at No. 1 on the ARIA Albums Chart for three weeks in mid-1989.

Hussey worked on further solo material by both Braithwaite and Reyne. In 1991 Hussey formed Company of Strangers with Braithwaite, Reyne and Jef Scott (backing and session musician for both Braithwaite and Reyne). The group issued a self-titled debut album (November 1992) which peaked at No. 9, and provided three top 40 singles "Sweet Love" (June), "Motor City (I Get Lost)" (September), and "Daddy's Gonna Make You a Star" (January 1993). At the ARIA Music Awards of 1992 Hussey won Producer of the Year for his work on various tracks: Craig McLachlan's "On My Own"; Braithwaite's "The Horses", "Higher than Hope" and "Don't Hold Back Your Love"; and James Reyne's "Slave". He won the same category in 1993 for Braithwaite's "Nothing to Lose"; and Company of Strangers' three singles. In 1994 he was again nominated for Producer of the Year for Braithwaite's "Barren Ground" and "The World As it Is"; and Company of Strangers' "Baby, You're a Rich Man" and "Daddy's Gonna Make You a Star".

Biography

Simon Cyril Hussey,[1] was born in Lismore – a town 170 kilometres (106 mi) west of Melbourne and grew up in Mount Eliza. By the early 1980s he was working as a record producer on a single by the Lisa Bade Band, which included Mark Greig (ex-The Runners) on guitar.[2][3] Cats Under Pressure was a band formed in Melbourne in 1984 with Hussey on guitar, keyboards and backing vocals; Greig on guitar and David Reyne (ex-Australian Crawl) on drums and lead vocals.[4] They issued a self-titled extended play on Freestyle Records – the label owned by Reyne's former band mates from Australian Crawl.[4] It was produced by David Reyne's older brother, James, who was still Australian Crawl's lead singer.[5][6] Cats Under Pressure followed with a single, "Let Me Be", which was co-written by Hussey with David Reyne.[7]

In 1985 Hussey and Greig joined the Australian Crawl recording sessions for their fourth studio album, Between a Rock and a Hard Place, which was released in August. Besides keyboard work Hussey also co-wrote four of the album's tracks with James. Meanwhile, Cats Under Pressure recorded a single, "On Again Off Again", in September which was issued later that year.[8] During the 1980s and 1990s Hussey was a legal reporter transcribing criminal court cases when not working in the music industry.[9] Greig remained with Australian Crawl until they disbanded in 1986.[5]

Hussey joined the James Reyne Band and worked on Reyne's self-titled debut solo album (September 1987), co-writing six tracks with James. Four of these were issued as singles, "Hammerhead" (October),"Heaven on a Stick" (February 1988), "Motor's Too Fast"(June) and "Always the Way" (November). James later told Debbie Kruger "['Hammerhead'] was not necessarily about me, but let's say I thought I knew what I was talking about. I wrote it with Simon Hussey; the music Simon and I wrote together and I wrote the lyrics. From memory it seemed to come quite easily".[10] The album peaked at No. 4 on the Australian Kent Music Report Albums Chart, while "Hammerhead" reached No. 8 and "Motor's Too Fast" at No. 4 on the related Kent Music Report Singles Chart.[11] "Motor's Too Fast" also reached No. 6 on the ARIA Singles Chart.[12]

In May 1988 Hussey provided keyboards and produced Daryl Braithwaite's comeback solo album, Edge, which was issued in November.[13][14] It has four tracks written or co-written by Hussey: "You Could Be Wrong" (by Hussey), "Let Me Be" (from Cats Under Pressure), "All the Same" (by Hussey, Bade and Greig) and "Edge" (by Hussey and Jef Scott). Edge peaked at No. 1 on the ARIA Albums Chart for three weeks in mid-1989.[15] In May 1991 Braithwaite told The Canberra Times' Bevan Hannan that he had met Hussey about two years before they worked on Edge.[9] Braithwaite had heard some demos of Hussey's work and "in 1987 I approached him to produce the album and after quite a lot of hassling he said yes".[9] Australian musicologist, Ian McFarlane, noted the album and singles had "captured a wonderful summer-filled mood, and a sense of freedom and happiness".[13] Edge featured John Farnham on backing vocals four tracks.

“..when Braithwaite (Daryl) was trying to make a comeback..record companies urged Braithwaite to use a name producer..he insisted on the untried Hussey. "I saw someone who was a little bit hesitant..a little shy but who was really talented" "he really did seem to care about the music..he doesn't do things half heartedly.." Braithwaite's instincts paid off: 'Edge' went to Number One, relaunching his career.” - Clinton Porteous, Rolling Stone (Sep 01, 1992)

By February 1989 Hussey was in London working on James' second solo album, Hard Reyne, he co-produced the album with John Hudson.[6][16] By April that year Hussey was married to Elisabeth Reyne, younger sister to the Reyne brothers.[17] Besides song writing Hussey also provided keyboards and programming,.[18] Kathryn Whitfield of The Canberra Times noted that "[t]he lyrics (once you can understand them) are not exactly brilliant and lack much of the depth which Reyne displayed in his Crawl days" nevertheless Hussey made a "big contribution" to the album.[18] The album peaked at No. 7 in June while Braithwaite's Edge was still at [[No. 1.<ref name="AusChartsJR"/><ref name="AusCharts 4 June 1989"/>]]

Whilst in London, Hussey received his debut nomination for Producer of the Year at the 1989 ARIA Music Awards

During 1990 Hussey produced Braithwaite's next album, Rise (November),[2][13] and provided a range of instrumentation: keyboards, electric piano, acoustic guitar, drum machine, synthesiser bass and Hammond organ.[19] Hussey wrote or co-wrote three tracks including Higher Than Hope which was issued as the album's third single in June 1991. Rise peaked at No. 3 in May that year, while "Higher Than Hope" reached the top 30.[15] In June 1991, for United States and European markets, Braithwaite issued a compilation album, Higher Than Hope, which included tracks from Edge and Rise.[20] Hussey was credited as a multi-instrumentalist, composer and producer.

Higher Than Hope was reissued as a single for the US market and peaked at No. 47 on the Billboard Hot 100.[21] John Farnham features as backing vocalist on the track.

Billboard magazine singles review - Daryl Braithwaite - 'Higher than Hope' Producer: Simon Hussey Writers: Simon Hussey. Daryl Braithwaite Label: Epic/Sony. "...this pop/rock gem is so catchy that it should be an immediate top 40 add..slick production and offers an inspirational message of salvation"” - Billboard new singles, BILLBOARD MAGAZINE USA (Jun 03, 1991)

"SIMON HUSSEY HAS HOT HAND IN AUSTRALIAN RECORD PRODUCTION" Hussey's man-of-all-trades reputation has soared over the past year with two major albums." "Again, and in both cases, his involvement was almost equal to that of the artist" "Braithwaite's (Daryl) recent U.S charting single (Billboard top 40), "Higher than Hope", featured Hussey as producer, writer, and musician." – Glenn A. Baker, Billboard MAGAZINE. U.S.A (4 December 1991)

In June 1991 James released his next solo album, Electric Digger Dandy, with Hussey on keyboards, he co-produced it with Jim Scott, Tony Joe White and Chris Lord-Alge; and co-write two tracks, "Take a Giant Step" and "Company of Strangers", with James.[6][17] Also that year Hussey co-produced an album, Hands Free (March 1992), for actor-musician, Craig McLachlan.[2][22][23] Hussey co-wrote six of its tracks with McLachlan including the lead single, "On My Own" (November 1991).[24]

At the ARIA Music Awards of 1992 Hussey won his first Producer of the Year award for his work on various tracks: McLachlan's "On My Own"; Braithwaite's "The Horses", "Higher than Hope" and "Don't Hold Back Your Love"; and James Reyne's "Slave".[25][26] "Higher than Hope"

He was presented with the award on stage by visiting English artist Julian Lennon

In the same period, Hussey also won "Most Performed Australian Work" at the APRA Awards of 1992 for Higher Than Hope by songwriters Hussey and Braithwaite .[27]

Late in 1991 Hussey had started a songwriting project, Company of Strangers, with Jef Scott (backing musician for both Braithwaite and Reyne), which developed into a band with Braithwaite and Reyne joining.[28] In December 1991 they recorded their debut studio album (November 1992) with Hussey on keyboards, drums and backing vocals, Braithwaite on lead vocals, Reyne on lead vocals and lead guitar, Scott on lead vocals, guitar, drums and bass guitar.[28][29] It was produced by Hussey for Columbia Records and he shared songwriting duties with Scott of almost all the tracks.[28][29] McFarlane felt the album was "commercial rock pop" and provided three singles, "Sweet Love" (June 1992) "Motor City (I Get Lost)" (September) and "Daddy's Gonna Make You a Star" (January 1993).[28] The album reached No. 9 and all three singles peaked in the top 40.[30] The album included a cover version of The Beatles track, "Baby, You're a Rich Man".

At the ARIA Music Awards of 1993 Hussey won his second Producer of the Year trophy for his work on Braithwaite's "Nothing to Lose" and Company of Strangers' "Daddy's Gonna Make You a Star", "Motor City (I Get Lost)", and "Sweet Love".[26][31] At the ceremony Company of Strangers was nominated for Breakthrough Artist – Album and "Motor City (I Get Lost)" for Breakthrough Artist – Single.[26][31] "Daddy's Gonna Make You a Star" also won "Most Performed Australian Work" at the APRA Awards of 1993 for its songwriters Hussey, Reyne and Scott.[32]

Also in 1993 Hussey produced Braithwaite's next album, Taste the Salt (November), he provided keyboards and drum machine.[2][13] It reached No. 13 on the Australian Albums Chart.[15]

At the ARIA Music Awards of 1994 Hussey was nominated again for Producer of the Year for Braithwaite's "Barren Ground" and "The World As it Is"; and Company of Strangers' "Baby, You're a Rich Man" and "Daddy's Gonna Make You a Star".[33]

In early 1996 Hussey reunited with his log time co-writer, James Reyne to write and record a new album. Hussey built a purpose built studio for the project, however it was abandoned due to Reyne's record company, RooArt, cancelled funding for the project months into recording without warning.

For The Spirit of Christmas 1996, a Christmas-themed album by various artists for charities, Hussey played on and produced James Reyne's version of "Silent Night".[2][34]

In 1998 Hussey co-produced a debut single with a new artist and writer, Danielle Greenwood, titled "If I Am Cruel". Again, like Braithwaites comeback album, Hussey was very reluctant to produce again. After recording some demo tracks however, He was encouraged to get involved. The resulting single was released to positive reviews with TV and radio airplay. It was however, the only track to be released from what was to become an aborted album project for Sony Music Australia.

The Greenwood project was the first to not feature Hussey as a writer or co-writer/arranger.

Hussey was unable to continue producing and writing from 1998 due to chronic long term mental health issues which were not revealed to his peers during his career. These deteriorated post Greenwood's project and marked the demise of a long and successful relationship with Sony Music.

His anxiety with public appearances and absence from industry functions, where acknowledged by Hussey through various published interviews in all facets of media during the height of his career. The popular monthly music publication, Juke Magazine. featured him with a front page headline: "Simon Hussey -The Invisible Man Steps out" when he did an extensive double page interview about his career. He did, however, managed to make many Australian television appearances in interviews and performances as a keyboard player for James Reyne, Company of strangers and Danielle Greenwood

Braithwaite's No.1 hit platinum single The Horses remains one of Australian music's most iconic and ubiquitous songs', transcending generations for over 25 years. Produced and arranged by Hussey, featuring Margaret Urlich on backing vocals, The Horses is perhaps the hallmark of a prolific career.

Hussey also worked with many successful artists during his active years as a vocal producer, including, John Farnham, Shirley Strachan - (Skyhooks), Margaret Urlich, Renee Geyer, Dale Ryder - (Boom Crash Opera)


General
Specific
  1. ↑ "'Charlatan's Web' at APRA search engine". Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA). Retrieved 11 December 2013.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Holmgren, Magnus. "Simon Hussey". Australian Rock Database. Passagen (Magnus Holmgren). Archived from the original on 20 October 2003. Retrieved 18 September 2013.
  3. ↑ Holmgren, Magnus. "Mark Greig". Australian Rock Database. Passagen (Magnus Holmgren). Archived from the original on 26 August 2003. Retrieved 11 December 2013.
  4. 1 2 Holmgren, Magnus. "Cats Under Pressure". Australian Rock Database. Passagen (Magnus Holmgren). Archived from the original on 24 October 2003. Retrieved 11 December 2013.
  5. 1 2 McFarlane, 'Australian Crawl' entry. Archived from the original on 3 August 2004. Retrieved 11 December 2013.
  6. 1 2 3 Holmgren, Magnus; Baird, Paul; Warnqvist, Stefan; McDonough, Bill. "James Reyne". Australian Rock Database. Passagen (Magnus Holmgren). Archived from the original on 19 October 2003. Retrieved 11 December 2013.
  7. ↑ "'Let Me Be' at APRA search engine". Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA). Retrieved 11 December 2013.
  8. ↑ Cats Under Pressure (1985). "'On Again Off Again'". Freestyle Records. National Library of Australia. Retrieved 11 December 2013.
  9. 1 2 3 Hannan, Bevan (9 May 1991). "Good Times: Braithwaite: Still Taking the Right Chances". The Canberra Times (ACT : 1926 – 1995) (National Library of Australia). p. 21. Retrieved 11 December 2013.
  10. ↑ Kruger, Debbie. "Songwriters Speak – The CD". Debbie Kruger Official Website. Retrieved 11 December 2013.
  11. ↑ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992. St Ives, NSW: Australian Chart Book Ltd. ISBN 0-646-11917-6. Note: Used for Australian Singles and Albums charting from 1974 until Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) created their own charts in mid-1988. In 1992, Kent back calculated chart positions for 1970–1974.
  12. ↑ Hung, Steffen. "Discography James Reyne". Australian Charts Portal. Hung Medien (Steffen Hung). Retrieved 12 December 2013.
  13. 1 2 3 4 McFarlane, 'Daryl Braithwaite' entry. Archived from the original on 19 April 2004. Retrieved 11 December 2013.
  14. ↑ Braithwaite, Daryl (1988), Edge, CBS Records. National Library of Australia, retrieved 11 December 2013
  15. 1 2 3 Hung, Steffen. "Discography Daryl Braithwaite". Australian Charts Portal. Hung Medien (Steffen Hung). Retrieved 11 December 2013.
  16. ↑ Zhakarov, Jeanine (9 February 1989). "Music: Daryl Braithwaite Makes It Safely Back from the Edge". The Canberra Times (ACT : 1926 – 1995) (National Library of Australia). p. 23. Retrieved 12 December 2013.
  17. 1 2 McFarlane, 'James Reyne' entry. Archived from the original on 6 August 2004. Retrieved 12 December 2013.
  18. 1 2 Whitfield, Kathryn (8 June 1989). "Music: Australian Drawl from James Reyne". The Canberra Times (ACT : 1926 – 1995) (National Library of Australia). p. 9 Section: Good Times. Retrieved 12 December 2013.
  19. ↑ Rise (album notes). Daryl Braithwaite. CBS. November 1990. COL 467675 2.
  20. ↑ "Higher Than Hope – Daryl Braithwaite | Credits". Allmusic. Retrieved 12 December 2013.
  21. ↑ "Higher Than Hope – Daryl Braithwaite | Awards – Billboard Singles". Allmusic. Retrieved 12 December 2013.
  22. ↑ McFarlane, 'Craig McLachlan' entry. Archived from the original on 7 August 2004. Retrieved 12 December 2013.
  23. ↑ Holmgren, Magnus. "Craig McLachlan". Australian Rock Database. Passagen (Magnus Holmgren). Archived from the original on 1 November 2003. Retrieved 12 December 2013.
  24. ↑ "'On My Own' at APRA search engine". Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA). Retrieved 12 December 2013.
  25. ↑ "Winners by Year 1992". Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA). Archived from the original on 26 September 2007. Retrieved 12 December 2013.
  26. 1 2 3 "17th Annual ARIA Awards". Australian Recording Industry Association. Archived from the original Check |url= value (help) on 23 February 2004. Retrieved 12 December 2013. Note: User may be required to access archived information by selecting 'The History', then 'By Award', 'Producer of the Year' and 'Option Show Nominations'.
  27. ↑ "APRA Music Awards – Winners 1992". Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA). Archived from the original on 22 March 2005. Retrieved 12 December 2013.
  28. 1 2 3 4 McFarlane, 'Company of Strangers' entry. Archived from the original on 6 August 2004. Retrieved 12 December 2013.
  29. 1 2 Holmgren, Magnus. "Company of Strangers". Australian Rock Database. Passagen (Magnus Holmgren). Archived from the original on 1 November 2003. Retrieved 12 December 2013.
  30. ↑ Hung, Steffen. "Discography Company of Strangers". Australian Charts Portal. Hung Medien (Steffen Hung). Retrieved 11 December 2013.
  31. 1 2 "Winners by Year 1993". Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA). Archived from the original on 14 December 2007. Retrieved 12 December 2013.
  32. ↑ "APRA Music Awards – Winners 1993". Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA). Archived from the original on 22 March 2005. Retrieved 12 December 2013.
  33. ↑ "ARIA Awards – History: Winners by Year 1994: 8th Annual ARIA Awards". Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA). Retrieved 12 December 2013.
  34. ↑ Holmgren, Magnus; Field, Lindsay. "The Spirit of Christmas 1996". Australian Rock Database. Passagen (Magnus Holmgren). Archived from the original on 2 October 2003. Retrieved 12 December 2013.
  35. Hung, Steffen (4 June 1989). "Album Top 50". Australian Charts Portal. Hung Medien (Steffen Hung). Retrieved 12 December 2013.
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