Ian McFarlane wrote the following about Hunters and Collectors in the "Encyclopaedia of Rock and Pop":
The journey that has taken Hunters & Collectors from esoteric art-funk innovators to Australia's greatest pub-rock exponents has been a fascinating one to say the least. The band's early records were full of challenging, noisy rock, bleak imagery, gripping drama and slithery funk. By the 1986 album Human Frailty and single `Say Goodbye', the band had stripped away unnecessary excess to arrive at a sound that combined equal parts refried boogie-rock and lyric paradoxes.
Front man Mark Seymour became the `thinking woman's sex symbol' with his blue labourer's singlet, bulging biceps, introspective angst and impassioned vocals. There was a double irony in the sight of beer-soaked boys in suburban pubs across the land bellowing about not feeling like a woman any more, while the girls danced relentlessly up the back. Hunters & Collectors' great achievement was to lay bare human emotions in the intensely ritualistic milieu of the pub-rock gig.
Hunters and Collectors unsurprisingly began life immersed in excessive quantities of alcohol and loud rock. John Archer, Mark Seymour and Robert Miles were friends at a Melbourne University residential college called Ormond College in the 1970's (in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia). After John and Robert joked around about forming a band for a while, they eventually formed the Schnortts. This wholly unsuccessful circa 1978 drunken adventure was the first band to contain Mark Seymour, John Archer, Doug Falconer and Robert Miles. The inspiration for the name Schnortts came from a Belgian tennis racquet of Rob's (used primarily for air guitar) that John converted into a two string 'electric tennis racquet'.
Many drinks later, the core of what was to become Hunters and Collectors formed The Jetsonnes in Melbourne around September 1979. The line-up comprised of Mark Seymour (guitar), John Archer (bass), Doug Falconer (drums), Ray Tosti-Gueira (guitar), Margot O'Neill (vocals) and Robert Miles, who contributed towards the live sound and popular promotional artwork. The band had a light, bouncy pop sound and the only recorded item by the band is a track called "News-paper" that was a gig giveaway 7" single (with the International Exiles' "Miniskirts In Moscow").
The Jetsonnes played in the Melbourne area for about a year before disbanding around September 1980. All members except Margot were soon to reappear in May 1981 in a new, far more radical concept. Mark introduced new members Geoff Crosby (keyboards) and Greg Perano (percussion) and became the vocalist. A massive horn section, initially comprising of six members, was then added to form the new band. The band was named by Greg Perano after the German band Can's track "Hunters and Collectors" (from their 1975 album "Landed"). Working an eleven member band into something that sounds coherent was not to be an easy job and hence Robert Miles became a full member to handle sound and mixing.
The journey that has taken Hunters & Collectors from esoteric art-funk innovators to Australia's greatest pub-rock exponents has been a fascinating one to say the least. The band's early records were full of challenging, noisy rock, bleak imagery, gripping drama and slithery funk. By the 1986 album Human Frailty and single `Say Goodbye', the band had stripped away unnecessary excess to arrive at a sound that combined equal parts refried boogie-rock and lyric paradoxes.
Front man Mark Seymour became the `thinking woman's sex symbol' with his blue labourer's singlet, bulging biceps, introspective angst and impassioned vocals. There was a double irony in the sight of beer-soaked boys in suburban pubs across the land bellowing about not feeling like a woman any more, while the girls danced relentlessly up the back. Hunters & Collectors' great achievement was to lay bare human emotions in the intensely ritualistic milieu of the pub-rock gig.
Hunters and Collectors unsurprisingly began life immersed in excessive quantities of alcohol and loud rock. John Archer, Mark Seymour and Robert Miles were friends at a Melbourne University residential college called Ormond College in the 1970's (in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia). After John and Robert joked around about forming a band for a while, they eventually formed the Schnortts. This wholly unsuccessful circa 1978 drunken adventure was the first band to contain Mark Seymour, John Archer, Doug Falconer and Robert Miles. The inspiration for the name Schnortts came from a Belgian tennis racquet of Rob's (used primarily for air guitar) that John converted into a two string 'electric tennis racquet'.
Many drinks later, the core of what was to become Hunters and Collectors formed The Jetsonnes in Melbourne around September 1979. The line-up comprised of Mark Seymour (guitar), John Archer (bass), Doug Falconer (drums), Ray Tosti-Gueira (guitar), Margot O'Neill (vocals) and Robert Miles, who contributed towards the live sound and popular promotional artwork. The band had a light, bouncy pop sound and the only recorded item by the band is a track called "News-paper" that was a gig giveaway 7" single (with the International Exiles' "Miniskirts In Moscow").
The Jetsonnes played in the Melbourne area for about a year before disbanding around September 1980. All members except Margot were soon to reappear in May 1981 in a new, far more radical concept. Mark introduced new members Geoff Crosby (keyboards) and Greg Perano (percussion) and became the vocalist. A massive horn section, initially comprising of six members, was then added to form the new band. The band was named by Greg Perano after the German band Can's track "Hunters and Collectors" (from their 1975 album "Landed"). Working an eleven member band into something that sounds coherent was not to be an easy job and hence Robert Miles became a full member to handle sound and mixing.
