The Chevelles are a power pop band from Perth, Western Australia. They formed in 1989 and have toured Australia, Europe, the United States and South America.
Biography
Pre-Chevelles
The Chevelles' founding members are Guy Douglas on drums, Jeff Halley on bass guitar, Richard Lane on guitar, keyboards and vocals and Duane Smith on guitar. Smith's first band was the Freuds, which he formed with school friend Bruce Abbot and Halley (of the Kryptonics) in Perth in 1987. Ian Tubbs, their later drummer and formerly of the Lincolns, had also played in the Freuds. That band was short-lived, breaking up in 1989, despite having a recording contract with Revolution Records.
At that time Lane was looking for a new project following the break-up of the Stems in 1987. For a period Lane had moved to Sydney and tried to put together another Stems-style band, without success. Halley and Smith had befriended Lane during the Freuds' and the Stems' concurrent careers. When Lane returned to Perth in 1989 they approached him with the idea of forming a new band. The Stems' drummer Gary Chambers was included in rehearsal sessions and jamming began late in 1989. However, Chambers lived too far away from Perth and could not sustain his involvement in a new band. His replacement was former Freuds and Rackett drummer, Douglas.
1989–93: Early days
The band took their name from the United States mid-sized car, Chevrolet Chevelle. They played their first headline show at the Coronado Hotel on 15 December 1989. The Chevelles signed with Sydney-based independent label, Zero Hour Records, (named after the Plimsouls' tune), operated by former the Stems roadie, George Matzkov. In April 1990 they recorded six tracks at Poons Head Studios in Perth. Matzkow chose Lane's power pop rocker "Be My Friend" and Smith's "She Don't Come Around" for the band's first single. Although he thought there were better songs he felt those two captured the energy he was looking for from the band.
The single, "Be My Friend", was released in August 1990. It was praised in pop zines such as Bucketfull of Brains, whose writer felt, "'Be My Friend' is a non-stop rocker in prime Hoodoo Gurus/Screaming Tribesman heyday fashion with hooks a plenty and loads of blazing guitars." Steve Gardener of Noise for Heroes opined, "[it] is harder and nastier than any Stems song." Outside Australia it was promoted in Spain, Germany and France. The band's connection to the Stems was an attention-getter.
Requests for tribute compilations followed and they recorded "Zero Hour" for a Plimsouls tribute album and "Back of My Car" for an Alex Chilton tribute on Spanish label Munster Records. In late 1990 they recorded five tracks for an extended play at Planet Studios: The Kids Ain't Hip, it was released in November. A trip to the east coast and high radio rotation for the track, "Show Me Your Love", confirmed the band's prospects. Upon return to Perth they embarked on an intensive gigging schedule. They supported local gigs by eastern states bands, Ratcat, Falling Joys and the Plunderers.
In the later half of 1991, friction in the band mounted and delays in recording the band's first album followed. In September 1991 during rehearsal Smith presented a track, "Valentine", to the other band members. Lane said that the Chevelles were strictly a vehicle for his music. Halley and Smith then dismissed Lane from the band. The Chevelles performed a final show with Lane on Christmas Eve 1991. He was replaced on guitar by Adrian Allen (ex-the Diehards). The Diehards had supported the Chevelles, and Allen had previously filled in at gigs for Smith or Lane on occasion. A New Year's Eve concert at Wildwood Winery, alongside Boom Crash Opera, the Neptunes, the Kryptonics and the Dweebs, was the new line-up's first show.
The band had found new focus at a live level but their recording plans were in a mess. Almost a full album's worth of material had been recorded with Lane. They salvaged some of Smith's tracks from those sessions, including the next single, "Girl for Me". Lane released his tracks under the name of his new band, the Rosebuds, without crediting the Chevelles' members for their performances.
Meanwhile, the relationship between the Chevelles and Zero Hour had become strained and Matzkov decided to dump the band due to the band dumping Lane. Although they owed Zero Hour five tracks, Matzkov tore up the contract and walked away. They then signed with Survival Records, whose acts included the Hitmen and the Screaming Tribesmen.