Rockmelons

Rockmelons, often referred to as the Rockies, were an Australian pop/dance/R&B group formed in 1983 in Sydney.[1] Primary members are Bryon Jones, his brother Jonathon Jones and Raymond Medhurst.[1][2] They had two Australian top five hit singles in the early 1990s with "Ain't No Sunshine" and "That Word (L.O.V.E.)",[3] both sung by Deni Hines.[1] The associated album, Form 1 Planet, peaked at #3 on the ARIA albums chart in 1992,[3] and was certified platinum in Australia.[4]

This article is about the band. For the fruit, see Cantaloupe.

Rockmelons
Also known as	Rockies
Origin	Sydney, Australia
Genres	Pop, electronica, R&B
Years active	1983–2002
Labels	Phantom, Festival, True Tone, Mushroom
Associated acts	Peter Blakeley, GANGgajang, Deni Hines, Wendy Matthews
Past members	Raymond Medhurst Bryon Jones Jonathon Jones Vincent Dale Sandi Chick Peter Kennard Geoff Stapleton Peter Blakeley John Kenny Stephen Allkins Mary Azzopardi Wendy Matthews Deni Hines Doug Williams Eric Sebastian Jeremy Gregory Roxane LeBrasse

Career

1983-1986: Formation and early singles

The group concept was formed in 1983 at a warehouse party in Sydney when Raymond Medhurst (keyboards)[2] wanted a band to perform for a private party.[5] He contacted the Jones brothers Bryon (keyboards, bass guitar, backing vocals)[2] and Jonathon (keyboards, guitar, drums)[2] and Medhurst's schoolmate, Vincent Dale (keyboards)[2] to join.[1][5]

Sandi Chick (lead vocals) and Peter Kennard (guitar, percussion) entered in late 1983 and were followed closely by Geoffrey Stapleton (keyboards, guitar, percussion) (later in GANGgajang) in early 1984.[1][2] Stapleton had worked with the Jones brothers when they were in Les Ukeleles and No Heavy Lifting by recording their songs.[6] Vocalists Peter Blakeley and John Kenny (known to Stapleton in Adelaide) were brought in and with Stephen Allkins (operated turntables at gigs) made them a ten-piece.[1][2]

The first single from the album, "Time Out (For Serious Fun)", was released on Phantom Records on 4 February 1985 and had lead vocals by Chick. The second single "Sweat It Out" was released in September 1985 and had vocals by Blakeley. Chick and Stapleton left that year.

1987-1990: Tales of the City

1987 also saw the arrival of Mary Azzopardi (backing vocals) and Wendy Matthews (vocals). The pattern of using different vocalists continued during the recording of their debut album. In June 1987, the group released "Rhymes", a cover of a 1974 song by Al Green and had vocals by John Kenny. In November 1987, the group releases ""New Groove" which was followed by "What's It Gonna Be" in February 1988. All three singles peaked inside the Australian top 50. The album Tales of the City was released in May 1988 and peaked at number 9 on the Australian charts. Three further singles were released off the album in 1988.

At the ARIA Music Awards of 1989, Rockmelons shared the ARIA Award for Breakthrough Artist – Album with 1927's album ...ish.[7] The album peaked at #6 on the Australian charts.[3][8]

By 1990 the Rockmelons were down to Medhurst and the Jones brothers after all others including founding member Dale had left.[1]

1991-2000:Form 1 Planet

In 1991, Rockmelons recruited vocalist Deni Hines and recorded their cover of Bill Withers' "Ain't No Sunshine" which reached #5 in Australia in January 1992,[3] and was certified gold.[4] Their follow-up single "That Word (L.O.V.E.)" (written by B. Jones, J. Jones, Medhurst and Robin Smith)[9] reached #4 in Australia,[3] and was also certified gold.[4] By 1992, Doug Williams had joined as a vocalist whilst Hines left to have success as a solo artist, with the "It's Alright" single (1995) peaking at #4 in Australia.[10] Rockmelons were nominated for ARIA Album of the Year award in 1993 for Form 1 Planet,[7] which peaked at #3 in Australia in August 1992[3] and was certified platinum by ARIA.[4]

2001-2005:Rockies 3

Rockmelons' third album, Rockies 3 was released in October 2002. Rockmelons used eight different vocalists on the album.[8] The Jeremy Gregory lead single "All I Want Is You" was nominated for 2003 APRA Most Performed Dance Work.[11] Other vocalist were: Roxane LeBrasse, Darren Paul, Doug Williams, Emma Morton, Sydney Bouchaniche, and Evelyn Rubuen.[12]

Producers

Collectively, the trio of Medhurst, B. Jones and J. Jones (as Rockmelons) have produced (or co-produced): Time of Our Lives for Marcia Hines,[2] "Hook Me Up" and "Let it Whip" for CDB,[13] No Commandments for Kaylan, and two tracks for Disco Montego for Disco Montego (aka Kaylan).[13] The Rockmelons have also produced music for Sophie Monk.

Bryon Jones, also known as Bry Jones, has worked as a producer for artists, especially Australian Idol contestants including Guy Sebastian, Shannon Noll, Anthony Callea, Casey Donovan, Jessica Mauboy, Damien Leith, Kate DeAraugo, Stan Walker, and Wes Carr. He has also produced The Voice artists Rachael Leahcar, Harrison Craig, and Fatai; and The X Factor artist Jason Owen. Bryon also produced the music and soundtrack for the Australian movie The Sapphires, featuring Jessica Mauboy.[13]

Jonathon Jones remixed "Love & Glory" for Tina Harrod.[13]

Discography

Studio albums

Year	Album details	Peak chart positions		Certifications (sales thresholds)
		AUS [3]	NZ [14]
1988	Tales of the City Released: May 1988 Label: True Tone/Polygram Formats: CD, cassette	6	—
1992	Form 1 Planet Released: July 1992 Label: Mushroom Formats: CD, cassette	3	14	ARIA: Platinum[15]
2002	Rockies 3 Released: October 2002 Label: Festival Formats: CD	—	—

Compilation albums

Year	Album details
2015	Serious Fun: Tales of the Rockmelons (1985–2002) Released: November 2015 Label: The Rockmelons Formats: CD, digital downlaod

Singles

Year	Title	Lead vocalist	AUS [3]	NZ [14]	UK [16]	Album
1985	"Time Out (For Serious Fun)"	Sandi Chick	81	—	—	singles only
	"Sweat It Out"	Peter Blakeley	—	—	—
1987	"Rhymes"	John Kenny	26	—	—	Tales of the City
	"New Groove"		21	—	—
1988	"What's It Gonna Be"		41	—	—
	"Thief"		—	—	—
	"Jump"	Wendy Matthews	81	—	—
	"Boogietron"	Ensemble	—	—	—
1991	"Ain't No Sunshine"	Deni Hines	5	8	—	Form 1 Planet
1992	"That Word (L.O.V.E.)"		4	5	90
	"It's Not Over"		15	17	—
1993	"Form One Planet (Power to the People)"	Eric Sebastian	73	—	—
1994	"Stronger Together"	Doug Williams	96	—	80
	"Love's Gonna Bring You Home"		—	—	—
2002	"All I Want Is You"	Jeremy Gregory	41	—	—	Rockies 3
	"I Ain't Playin'"	Roxane LeBrasse	79	—	—
	"Police Woman 2002" (with Groove Quantize)	N/A	—	—	—	single only

References

1. McFarlane, Ian (1999). "Encyclopedia entry for 'Rockmelons'". Encyclopedia of Australian Rock and Pop. Allen & Unwin. ISBN 1-86448-768-2. Retrieved 1 April 2009.
2. "Rockmelons". Australian Rock Database. Magnus Holmgren. Archived from the original on 20 October 2000. Retrieved 1 April 2009.
3. Australian chart peaks:
   • Top 100 (Kent Music Report) peaks to 19 June 1988, and "Jump": Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (Illustrated ed.). St. Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 254. ISBN 0-646-11917-6. N.B. the Kent Report chart was licensed by ARIA between mid 1983 and 19 June 1988.
   • Top 50 (ARIA Chart) peaks from 26 June 1988: "australian-charts.com > Discography Rockmelons". Hung Medien. Retrieved 23 February 2016. N.B. This site only displays chart information from the commencement of the ARIA-produced chart on 26 June 1988.
   • Top 100 (ARIA Chart) peaks from January 1990 to December 2010: Ryan, Gavin (2011). Australia's Music Charts 1988-2010. Mt. Martha, VIC, Australia: Moonlight Publishing.
   • "Stronger Together": "The ARIA Australian Top 100 Singles Chart – Week Ending 25 Sep 1994". ARIA. Retrieved 23 February 2016.
4. Ryan, Gavin (2011). Australia's Music Charts 1988-2010. Mt. Martha, VIC, Australia: Moonlight Publishing.
5. "Rockmelons". HowlSpace. Retrieved 26 September 2007.
6. Geoffrey Stapleton. "Rockmelons". GANGgajang Official Website. Retrieved 26 September 2007.
7. "ARIA Awards". Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA). Retrieved 26 September 2007.
8. Maree Hamblion. "Profile on Rockmelons". EMI Music Publishing Australia. Archived from the original on 19 September 2007. Retrieved 26 September 2007.
9. ""That Word LOVE" at APRA search engine". Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA). Retrieved 1 April 2009.
10. "Discography Deni Hines". Australian charts portal. australian-charts.com. Retrieved 1 April 2009.
11. "2003 Most performed dance work". Australasian Performing Right Association. Archived from the original on 6 September 2007. Retrieved 27 September 2007.
12. "Rockmelons, The - Rockies 3 (CD)". Discogs. Retrieved 1 April 2009.
13. "Rockmelons, The - Discography". Discogs. Retrieved 1 April 2009.
14. "charts.nz > Discography Rockmelons". Hung Medien. Retrieved 23 February 2016.
15. "End of Year Charts – ARIA Top 50 albums - 1992". Australian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved 5 June 2016.
16. "Official Charts > Rockmelons". The Official UK Charts Company. Retrieved 23 February 2016.

External links

• Rockmelons archived from the original on 15 April 2002, at HowlSpace by Ed Nimmervoll, retrieved on 2 February 2014.