James Reyne

For 20 years Australia has loved the sound and songs of singer James Reyne…

For 20 years Australia has loved the sound and songs of singer James Reyne. James Reyne himself however has had to learn to love being James Reyne again. He's done that with 'Speedboats For Breakfast', and the result (no hype!) is what he believes (and is!) to be the best record he's ever made.

That's a big statement of course.

James Reyne's first album with Australian Crawl, 'The Boys Light Up' is acknowledged as one of the classic Australian rock albums of all time. With Australian Crawl James went on to write and record the No.1 hit song 'Reckless', still one of the most requested Australian songs on radio. There would be a riot if James didn't perform 'Reckless' every time he walks on a stage. Then, after the hits with Australian Crawl - also including the wonderfully poignant 'Downhearted' - there were a string of solo hits – 'Fall Of Rome', 'Hammerhead', 'Motor's Too Fast', 'Slave' and more – and even acting roles. In the process James Reyne had become a rare commodity in Australian entertainment – his looks were as famous as his voice.

Fame became a problem for James Reyne the singer, the songwriter, the musician. He thought his past was standing in the way of his future. When he released his 1999 album 'Design For Living' there was no sign of James Reyne's photo anywhere. He didn't want his famous face getting in the way of the music. In mid-2003 when he started work on what became 'Speedboats For Breakfast' James was toying with the idea of releasing the results under another name, not his own, so his famous name wouldn't get in the way.

The music and the songs recorded for 'Speedboats For Breakfast' changed all that. James Reyne is too proud of this album, too pleased with the songs and the sounds contained, not to want to remind us this is the same James Reyne who gave us 'Reckless' and 'Slave'.

From start to finish 'Speedboats For Breakfast' is different to any other record James Reyne has ever made. When James and ex Horsehead guitarist Scott Kingman started work on this album there was no record company involved. They decided to back themselves, creatively and financially, to make the record they wanted to make. Whatever came after that was left to fate. They rented a house overlooking the rugged Victorian coastline, on the Mornington Peninsula where Australian Crawl began and James has returned in recent years. And surrounded by the landscape that is as much James Reyne as his music, James Scott and some long time associates recorded 'Speedboats For Breakfast'.

What you'll hear for yourself is everything everyone's always loved about James Reyne .. and more. This is the step into the future he's been longing for. Enjoying James Reyne has always been about more than that unmistakable vocal style. It's also been about the way his voice wraps its way around a melody and draws out incredibly memorable choruses. It's about James Reyne's love of words, the sound of the words as well as the images they evoke. All of that is here on 'Speedboats For Breakfast' – James Reyne at his very very best. Listen and you know it's true.
"I had nothing to prove, but everything to gain", he says.

When the sessions were finished, James was happy. Naturally, he sent copies to his friends. Impressed with what they heard they played the album to their friends. Soon James Reyne's record was all the buzz. James didn't have to hustle a record deal. He didn't have to make something happen. The music did the job. As it should

Timeline
1979 Australian Crawl's The Boys Light Up hits #1
1981 Sirocco sells 4 x platinum.
1982 Sons of Beaches is band's first US release.
1982 Reckless is band's first #1 single.
1983 James makes TV debut in cult melodrama, Return To Eden.
1986 The Final Wave live LP records Oz Crawl's last show.
1987 James Reyne album yields 5 hit singles.
1989 Hard Reyne.
1991 Electric Digger Dandy.
1992 Company of Strangers LP (with Daryl Braithwaite) and Way Out West single (with James Blundell).
1993 Fourth solo LP, The Whiff of Bedlam.
1996 South American tour yields Live in Rio LP. Australian Crawl inducted into ARIA's Hall of Fame.
1997 Boys Light Up named in Rolling Stone's Top 100 albums of all time.
1999 Design For Living LP greeted by stunning reviews.
2001 Reckless named in APRA's Top 20 Australian songs of all time.
2004 Composes score for film The Postcard Bandit. Composes music for Bell Shakespeare's Twelfth Night. Speedboats For Breakfast, first album under new Liberation deal.
2005 ...And the Horse You Rode In On, Liberation Blue Acoustic album.
2007 Every Man A King.

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