Indecent Obsession were formed early in 1987 in Brisbane by David Dixon on lead vocals and Mick Szumowski on keyboards. The band's name refers to Colleen McCullough's 1981 novel, An Indecent Obsession and the related 1984 feature film of the same name. Dixon and Szumowski had met through their voice teacher. In 1988 Daryl Sims joined on drums and Paul O'Donnell on guitar. O'Donnell was replaced by Andrew Coyne on guitar. For a year-and-a-half they performed in the local pub rock scene and recorded demos. Sims later recalled that they were "underaged, playing in pubs in Brisbane up to Cairns, all the mining towns in between". Initially they played cover versions of material by Duran Duran, INXS, Crowded House and George Michael. They signed with Ian "Molly" Meldrum's record label, Melodian. Meldrum had hosted Countdown (1974–1987), a TV pop music show; and had contacts in the music industry including with Mushroom Records, which distributed material by Melodian's artists.
Indecent Obsession relocated to Melbourne, where they became known for their "mix of pop rock and dance-pop songs". In May 1989 the group issued their debut single, "Say Goodbye", which peaked at #6 on the ARIA Singles Chart, despite lack of support from commercial radio and remains as their highest position on Australian charts. The track had been co-written by Dixon and Szumowski with their producer, Mark S. Berry. Their second single, "Tell Me Something" (September), reached #17 nationally. It was co-written by Dixon and Szumowski and produced by Ian MacKenzie (Pseudo Echo). The B-side, "Why Do People Fall in Love", was also co-written by Dixon and Szumowski, but was produced by Szumowski.
In November 1989 Indecent Obsession issued their debut album, Spoken Words, which peaked at #28 on the ARIA Albums Chart. The album was co-produced by Ross Inglis (Tina Arena) and Szumowski; except individual tracks by Berry, MacKenzie, Mark Forrester and Jeremy Smith. Australian musicologist, Ian McFarlane, felt the album was "patchy, ranging from the polished synth-pop of ''Tell Me Something'' to the contrived, melodramatic ballad 'Come Back to Me'". The group were marketed as a boy band and teen pop act: an image Coyne refuted, in November he told The Age's Caroline Milburn, "Say Goodbye' was not a wimpy song, yet we have this pretty boy image ... our record company has pushed this teen image, so radio won't play us ... I get frustrated when I'm not recognised as a musician".
"Come Back to Me" appeared as the album's third single in January 1990 which reached the top 40. Also, that month they toured Australia supporting United States pop singer-songwriter, Debbie Gibson. Their fourth single, "Never Gonna Stop", peaked at #72 in February 1990. Early in 1990 "Tell Me Something" was picked up by US radio and peaked at #31 on the Billboard Hot 100; without the band travelling to the US. It reached #1 in Indonesia, #1 in Hong Kong, Top 10 in Japan and Top 10 in South Africa. "Come Back to Me" was also a number-one hit in Hong Kong. For international markets 'Spoken Words' was repackaged as 'Indecent Obsession', which reached #148 on the Billboard 200. The band supported Kylie Minogue's 1990 Enjoy Yourself Tour of Australia, Europe and East Asia, and there was an attempt to launch them in the United Kingdom on the back of the profile generated by the tour. In the Asian region Indecent Obsession performed and released material under the shortened name of Obsession.
In late 1991, the group moved to Los Angeles where they recorded their second album, 'Indio' with Peter Wolf (The Escape Club, Go West, Wang Chung) as producer, co-songwriter, bass guitarist and arranger. In May 1992 the album was issued by MCA Records for North American and European markets, it peaked at #36 on the Austrian Ö3 Top 40 albums chart. In Australia 'Indio' appeared in August on Melodian, which reached the top 40 on the ARIA Albums Chart. McFarlane observed that it showed the group's "transition from naive pop to mature, radio-friendly dance music".
The second album's four Australian singles are "Rebel with a Cause", "Kiss Me" (March 1992, top 30), "Indio" (August, top 50) and "Gentleman Style". During 1992 the group toured Latin America, Europe and Asia-Pacific regions. Indecent Obsession became the first Western act to tour South Africa after the lifting of the cultural isolation of that nation due to their apartheid policy. McFarlane describes how the group were "greeted by screaming fans and scenes of mass hysteria". Both "Kiss Me" and 'Indio' peaked at #1 on the relevant South African charts. Other singles in that market were "Rebel with a Cause", "Whispers in the Dark" and "Indio". At the start of a US tour that year Mark Gray (ex-Wa Wa Nee) joined on bass guitar. Both Coyne and Dixon left late in 1992, and according to Szumowski "David Dixon was getting sick of touring, he wanted to pursue something else. Andrew Coyne wanted to stay in LA".
The group relocated to London where Richard Hennassey (ex-Kiss Like This) replaced Dixon on lead vocals and Graham Kearns replaced Coyne on guitar for the group's third studio album, 'Relativity' (1994). The album was produced by Ian Richardson and Nick Coler. It charted in the South Africa Top 20. "Fixing a Broken Heart" was the lead single and became popular in South-east Asia, particularly in the Philippines. Singles "Fall From Grace", "Lady Rain" and "One Bad Dream" followed. A compilation album, 'The Most Indecent Obsession', was issued by MCA Records in Japan, South-east Asia and South Africa in 1995. New Straits Times reviewer, Gerald Martinez, described the band's sound as "combining techno dance rhythms with power chords and tunes poppy hooks, these guys play nice sanitised pop''. The group disbanded in that year.
Members
Michael Szumowski (keyboards), Daryl Sims (drums), David Dixon (vocals), Paul O'Donnell (guitar), Andrew Coyne (guitar), Richard Hennassey (vocals), Mark Gray (bass), Graham Kearns (guitar), Albert E Barnard (guitar)
SINGLES
Say Goodbye
| 3 JUL '89 | #6 |
Tell Me Something
| 25 SEP '89 | #17 |
Come Back to Me
| 25 DEC '89 | #40 |
Never Gonna Stop
| 25 FEB '90 | #72 |
Kiss Me | 12 APR '92 | #27 |
Indio | 16 AUG '92 | #41 |
References
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indecent_Obsession
http://top100singles.blogspot.com.au/
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