Brian Mannix

Last updated

Brian Mannix (born 7 October 1961 in Melbourne) is an Australian rock music singer and actor. He is best known as the lead singer of 1980s band Uncanny X-Men.

Contents

Career

Early life

Mannix won a 'beauty contest' in his childhood after being entered by a family friend, claiming the title Mr Ocean Grove 1971.[ citation needed ]

1981–1987: Uncanny X-Men

From 1981 to 1987, Mannix was the lead singer of 1980s band Uncanny X-Men. The band released two top twenty albums. Uncanny X-Men are known for their hits such as "The Party", "How Do You Get Your Kicks?", "50 Years" and "Everybody Wants to Work".

In 2006, Uncanny X-Men performed in the Countdown Spectacular and at the 2006 AFL Grand Final.[ citation needed ]

1988-present: solo career

Mannix was a regular on the ABC1 television quiz show Spicks and Specks where he usually played on Myf Warhurst's team. Mannix appeared as a contestant on Channel 7's series of Dancing with the Stars in its twelfth season during 2012 where he came fifth with professional dance partner Melanie Hooper. [1]

In 2016, Mannix was cast as "Buddy," a leading role in the successful stage musical We Will Rock You based on the music of Queen and written by Ben Elton. The musical ran for six months from 30 April to 30 October 2016, first at Sydney's Lyric Theatre, followed by the Lyric Theatre at Brisbane's QPAC, and the Regent Theatre in Melbourne, where it closed with a spectacular performance on Sunday, 30 October 2016.

On Tuesday, 29 November 2016, Mannix announced he would be releasing a new single. The song, "Won't Be Home for Christmas" was co-written by Steve Harrison, a co-founder of the Uncanny X-Men, about "20 years ago" according to Mannix. It was released on 9 December 2016.[ citation needed ]

Brian Mannix has a show on Perth's Mix 94.5 every weekday from 12pm to 1pm called "Generation 80's". Mannix tells the stories and Dean Claires plays the tunes.[ citation needed ]

Mannix lived in Airport West, Victoria until 2022 when he relocated to Queensland

Mannix is married to Susan Mannix (née Hebbard) and has two children, Casey and Max Mannix.[ citation needed ]

Film appearances and cameo roles

Absolutely 80s tour and career revival

Mannix had more recent attention for his Absolutely 80's tour. [4] Beginning in 2006, the tour plays at venues around Australia and features other popular eighties stars and bands such as Boom Crash Opera, Kids in the Kitchen, The Black Sorrows, The Choirboys and Wa Wa Nee. The Absolutely 80's concept has continued through 2018. [4]

Mannix furthered his career revival by providing the vocals for an EDM song "F**K (Yeah!)" by DJ Paddy Duke. [5]

Awards and nominations

Countdown Australian Music Awards

Countdown was an Australian pop music TV series on national broadcaster ABC-TV from 1974 to 1987, it presented music awards from 1979 to 1987, initially in conjunction with magazine TV Week . The TV Week / Countdown Awards were a combination of popular-voted and peer-voted awards. [6]

YearNominee / workAwardResult
1985himselfMost Popular Male PerformerNominated

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Banshee (character)</span> Fictional character in Marvel Comics

Banshee is a fictional superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, commonly in association with the X-Men. Created by writer Roy Thomas and artist Werner Roth, the character first appeared in X-Men #28.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Australian Recording Industry Association</span> Australian music industry trade group

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 replacing the Association of Australian Record Manufacturers (AARM) which was formed in 1956. It oversees the collection, administration and distribution of music licences and royalties.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Colin Hay</span> Scottish-Australian musician (born 1953)

Colin James Hay is a Scottish-Australian musician, singer, songwriter, and actor. He came to prominence as the lead vocalist and the sole continuous member of the band Men at Work, and later as a solo artist. Hay's music has been used frequently by actor and director Zach Braff in his work, which helped a career rebirth in the mid-2000s. Hay has also been a member of Ringo Starr's Ringo Starr & His All-Starr Band.

The Reels was an Australian rock band which formed in Dubbo, New South Wales in 1976. It disbanded in 1991, and reformed in 2007. Its 1981 song "Quasimodo's Dream" was voted one of the top 10 Australian songs of all time by a 100-member panel from Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA) in 2001. The Reels had top 10 Australian singles chart successes with covers of Herb Alpert's "This Guy's in Love with You" and Creedence Clearwater Revival's "Bad Moon Rising". Rock music historian Ian McFarlane described the group as "one of the most original and invigorating pop bands to emerge from the Australian new wave movement of the late 1970s."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eurogliders</span> Australian band

Eurogliders are a band formed in 1980 in Perth, Western Australia, which included Grace Knight on vocals, Bernie Lynch on guitar and vocals, and Amanda Vincent on keyboards. In 1984, Eurogliders released an Australian top ten album, This Island, which spawned their No. 2 hit single, "Heaven ". "Heaven" also peaked at No. 21 on the United States Billboard Mainstream Rock charts and appeared on the Hot 100. Another Australian top ten album, Absolutely, followed in 1985, which provided two further local top ten singles, "We Will Together", and "Can't Wait to See You". They disbanded in 1989, with Knight having a successful career as a jazz singer. Australian rock music historian Ian McFarlane described Eurogliders as "the accessible face of post-punk new wave music. The band's sophisticated brand of pop was traditional in its structure, but displayed the decidedly 'modern veneer' ". The band reformed in 2005 releasing two new albums followed in 2014 by their seventh album.

Big Pig was an Australian funk, rock and pop band that existed from 1985 to 1991. An early line-up was Sherine Abeyratne on lead vocals and percussion ; Tony Antoniades on vocals and harmonica; Neil Baker on drums; Nick Disbray on vocals and percussion; Tim Rosewarne on vocals and keyboards (ex-Bang); Adrian Scaglione on drums; and Oleh Witer on vocals and percussion (ex-Bang). They issued two albums, Bonk and You Lucky People, on the White Label Records imprint of Mushroom Records.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tottie Goldsmith</span> Australian actress, singer (born 1962)

Caroline "Tottie" Goldsmith is an Australian actress and singer. She was a founding member of the Chantoozies, a pop group formed in 1986.

Kids in the Kitchen are an Australian pop, funk and new wave band which formed in 1983. They enjoyed chart success with four top-20 hits on the Australian Kent Music Report Singles Chart, "Change in Mood" (1983), "Bitter Desire" (1984), "Something That You Said" and "Current Stand". The related album, Shine, reached No. 9 on the Kent Music Report Albums Chart and was the 16th-biggest-selling album of 1985 in Australia. A second album, Terrain, followed in August 1987 but did not chart and the group disbanded in 1988. Kids in the Kitchen supported the Australian leg of Culture Club's 2016 world tour.

William Alan Hawkshaw was a British composer and performer, particularly of library music used as themes for movies and television programs. Hawkshaw worked extensively for the KPM production music company in the 1950s to the 1970s, composing and recording many stock tracks that have been used extensively in film and TV.

Wa Wa Nee was a 1980s Australian funk band.

Mondo Rock are an Australian rock band, formed in November 1976 in Melbourne, Victoria. Singer-songwriter Ross Wilson founded the band, following the split of his previous band Daddy Cool. Guitarist Eric McCusker, who joined in 1980, wrote many of the band's hits, and along with Wilson formed the core of the group. They are best known for their second album, Chemistry, which was released in July 1981 and peaked at number 2 on the Australian Kent Music Report. Their song "Come Said the Boy" peaked at number 2 in Australia in 1983.

Uncanny X-Men were an Australian pop rock band which formed in late 1980. Their founding mainstay was lead singer Brian Mannix. Originally with Nick Matandos on drums and Ron Thiessen on guitar, they were soon joined by Chuck Hargreaves on guitar and Steve Harrison on bass guitar. John Kirk replaced Harrison and Craig Waugh replaced Matandos by 1984. The band's debut album, 'Cos Life Hurts, peaked at No. 3 on the Australian Kent Music Report, and provided their highest-charting single "50 Years" which reached No. 4 on the related singles chart. Thiessen left to be eventually replaced by Brett Kingman. Their second album, What You Give is What You Get, reached No. 19, and included a top 20 single, "I Am" (April). The group disbanded in 1987 and have occasionally reunited to play live concerts. Mannix has had a solo career as a singer, TV personality and actor.

The Countdown Spectacular is a series of concerts reviving the nostalgia of the Australian music television series Countdown.

The First Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards was held on 2 March 1987 at the Sheraton Wentworth Hotel in Sydney with Elton John as the host. The awards were introduced by ARIA Chairman, Paul Turner, who explained the nomination and voting procedures. Presenters of the 20 awards included Slim Dusty, Basia Bonkowski and Donnie Sutherland. The ceremony was not televised. The most successful artist was John Farnham with his album and its associated single, "You're the Voice" helping him win six awards.

Australian pop music awards are a series of inter-related national awards that gave recognition to popular musical artists and have included the Go-Set pop poll (1966–1972); TV Week King of Pop Awards (1967–1978); TV Week and Countdown Music Awards (1979–1980); the Countdown Awards (1981–1982) and Countdown Music and Video Awards (1983–1987).

The Incredible Penguins were an Australian supergroup formed in 1985, which reached the top ten on the Australian Kent Music Report Singles Chart with their cover of "Happy Xmas " in December. Contributors included Angry Anderson, Bob Geldof, Brian Mannix, Scott Carne, Colleen Hewett, and John Farnham. The charity project, for research on little penguins, was organized and produced by Countdown host, Ian Meldrum.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Molly Meldrum</span> Australian music journalist and media personality (born 1943)

Ian Alexander "Molly" Meldrum AM is an Australian music critic, journalist, record producer and musical entrepreneur. He was the talent coordinator, on-air interviewer, and music news presenter on the former popular music program Countdown (1974–87) and is widely recognised for his trademark Stetson hat, which he has regularly worn in public since the 1980s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wendy Stapleton</span> Musical artist

Wendy Anne-Marie Stapleton is an Australian pop/rock singer-songwriter, musical theatre performer and television actress and presenter Stapleton has performed as a backing singer, session musician and a solo artist; she fronted various Melbourne-based groups including Wendy Stapleton Band (1976–1978) and Wendy & the Rocketts [sic] (1980–1985) which had a top 30 hit single with "Play the Game" in June 1983.

QED were an Australian new wave band who had a top twenty hit single, "Everywhere I Go", on the Australian Kent Music Report in 1984. The band's lead singer, Jenny Morris, later went on to achieve commercial success as a solo artist.

<i>What You Give Is What You Get</i> (album) 1986 studio album by Uncanny X-Men

'What You Give Is What You Get is the second and final studio album by Australian pop-rock group Uncanny X-Men. Uncanny X-Men signed to CBS Records in May 1986 and released What You Give Is What You Get in October 1986. The album was certified gold by the end of 1986.

References

  1. http://www.melaniehooper.com/ Melanie Hooper
  2. "Good Vibrations". 1 January 2000 via IMDb.
  3. "Ricky! The Movie". 1 January 2010 via IMDb.
  4. 1 2 "Tour Dates". Popshop. Retrieved 20 April 2018.
  5. "F**k Yeah! (feat. Brian Mannix) - Single by Paddy Duke on Apple Music". Itunes.apple.com. 5 October 2015. Retrieved 16 April 2017.
  6. "Countdown to the Awards" (Portable document format (PDF)). Countdown Magazine. Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). March 1987. Retrieved 16 December 2010.