Guy McDonough

Guy Gillis McDonough (17 October 1955 – 26 June 1984) was an Australian rock musician best known for rhythm guitar and singer-songwriter with the iconic[1] band Australian Crawl.[2][3] He provided rhythm guitar and lead vocals on two of their well-known songs, "Oh No Not You Again" and "Errol".[4] McDonough's solo 1985 release, My Place, was produced by his brother, Bill McDonough.

Guy McDonough
Birth nameGuy Gillis McDonough
Born(1955-10-17)17 October 1955
Mount Eliza, Victoria, Australia
Died26 June 1984(1984-06-26) (aged 28)
Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
GenresRock
Occupation(s)Musician, singer, songwriter, guitarist
InstrumentsGuitar
Years active1976-1984
LabelsEMI
Geffen
Virgin
Associated actsAustralian Crawl

Biography

Early years

McDonough's parents were William Morris McDonough and Juneva McDonough. Together with his elder brother Bill McDonough, he grew up in Mount Eliza on Mornington Peninsula south east of central Melbourne, Victoria. McDonough attended The Peninsula School and formed Spiff Rouch[2][4] in 1976 with Bill McDonough (drums) and other locals James Reyne (vocals, guitars, keyboards), Brad Robinson (guitars, keyboards), Paul Williams (bass guitar), Robert Walker, Mark Hudson (guitars) and Simon Binks.[2][3]

By early 1978 Spiff Rouch had separated into two groups: The Flatheads and Clutch Cargo. The Flatheads had Guy and Bill McDonough, and Walker, who were joined by Sean Higgins (synthesisers) and Nigel Spencer (bass guitars, synthesisers).[2] Clutch Cargo was renamed Australian Crawl[5] and David Reyne (drums) soon left to be replaced by Bill McDonough. Guy McDonough had co-written[6] "Downhearted", with Higgins and Bill McDonough, for the Crawl's third single from debut 1980 album The Boys Light Up.

Australian Crawl
Main article: Australian Crawl

Guy McDonough joined Australian Crawl in October 1980, supplying rhythm guitar, vocals, and songwriting.[2][4] The Crawl released their second album Sirocco in 1981, which became a #1 album on the National charts.[7] McDonough wrote or co-wrote five of its eleven tracks including two singles "Errol" and "Oh No Not You Again".[6] He sang lead on "Oh No Not You Again" and on "Errol".[4] "Errol" reached #18 on the Australian Singles Chart[7] and was voted their third most popular song by listeners of Triple M in 2007.[8]

1982 saw the release of Sons of Beaches with McDonough again writing or co-writing five of its tracks.[6] This album also reached #1 but the singles had less success.[4] After its release, Bill McDonough left the Crawl. He was briefly replaced by Graham Bidstrup on drums for the 1983 EP release Semantics. This four-track EP contained no tracks written by McDonough but did feature the #1 Australian Singles Chart success "Reckless (Don't Be So)".[7] The live album Phalanx released later that same year saw drummer John Watson replacing Bidstrup. The Crawl's biggest overseas break came when Duran Duran took the band as support on an international tour.[9]

Death

In the early months of 1984, McDonough decided to detox in an attempt to break away from alcohol and heroin addiction. McDonough booked into rehab with family support but then decided to not finish his program and returned home to follow a naturopathic procedure provided by a 'qualified' friend. Unfortunately this was an error of judgment as this treatment exacerbated his health situation rather than improve it, leading him to contract viral pneumonia and to be admitted to hospital in Melbourne, thus also forcing Australian Crawl off the road. McDonough was in the Intensive Care Unit for many weeks, and improved enough to return home for a few day visits; but due to extreme physical deterioration from months in hospital he contracted a secondary infection and was placed back into the Intensive Care Unit. Despite intense medical intervention, on 26 June 1984, he died at the age of 28.[10]

Solo release/legacy

Prior to his death, Guy McDonough recorded a series of demos with his brother, Bill McDonough (drums), Sean Higgins (keyboards) and Nigel Spencer (bass) (all former bandmates in The Flatheads),[2] Mick Hauser (saxophone) and Michael Bright (guitar).[11] Bill McDonough then assembled the tapes and Wheatley Records issued Guy McDonough's posthumous album, My Place, in April, 1985.[11] The singles were "My Place" / "Things Don't Seem" and "What's in it For Me" / "Hook, Line and Sinker".[4] Seven of the tracks from My Place were later remastered and released in 1996 as part of the Australian Crawl compilation Lost & Found.[12][13] Compilers and producers of Lost & Found were Bill McDonough and Peter Blyton.[2]

Discography
  • Spiff Rouch (1976–1978)
    • Demo tapes exist. Bill McDonough had them transferred to digital format in 2012
  • The Flatheads (1978–1980)
    • Demo tapes exist - some were used as the base tracks of the My Place LP & then the Lost & Found CD compilation produced by Bill McDonough & Peter Blyton.
  • Australian Crawl (1980–1984)
Main article: Australian Crawl discography

for full list or for a quick link to albums and singles use infobox below. Studio albums with McDonough:

  • Solo
    • My Place (1985)
    • Lost & Found (1996) compilation featuring Bill & Guy McDonough, other Crawl members & studio musicians.
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References
  1. "1996: 10th Annual ARIA Awards". ARIA. Retrieved 19 March 2008.
  2. Holmgren, Magnus; Warnqvist, Stefan; Draper, Oliver; McDonough, Bill. "Australian Crawl". Australian Rock Database. Passagen.se (Magnus Holmgren). Archived from the original on 22 October 2013. Retrieved 23 March 2014.
  3. Nimmervoll, Ed. "Australian Crawl". Howlspace – The Living History of Our Music (Ed Nimmervoll). Archived from the original on 27 July 2012. Retrieved 29 January 2014.
  4. McFarlane, Ian (1999). Encyclopedia of Australian Rock and Pop. Allen & Unwin. ISBN 1-86448-768-2. Archived from the original (doc) on 8 September 2002. Retrieved 19 March 2008.
  5. "Nostalgia Central entry on Australian Crawl". Archived from the original on 6 June 2011. Retrieved 19 March 2008.
  6. "Australasian Performing Right Association". APRA. Archived from the original on 24 January 2008. Retrieved 19 March 2008.
  7. Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970-1992. St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. ISBN 0-646-11917-6. Note: Used for Australian Singles and Albums charting from 1970 until ARIA created their own charts in mid-1988.
  8. "Triple M's Essential 2007 Countdown". Triple M. Archived from the original on 20 November 2008. Retrieved 19 March 2008.
  9. Baker, Glen A. (1983). Phalanx (album liner notes). EMI.
  10. Death Index Victoria 1921-1985 CDROM, (1998), The Crown in the State of Victoria: Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages.
  11. "Guy McDonough". Australian Rock Database. Magnus Holmgren. Archived from the original on 15 November 2000. Retrieved 21 March 2008.
  12. "Guy McDonough - My Place". www.ebuyrecordstore.com. Archived from the original on 20 July 2008. Retrieved 31 March 2008.
  13. "Obscure 80's/MFV Archive". New Wave Outpost. Archived from the original on 7 August 2007. Retrieved 31 March 2008.
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