Rogue Traders is a British
-Australian dance-electro
band fronted by Melinda 'Mindi' Jackson with James Ash on keyboards, Tim Henwood on guitars and
Peter Marin on drums. The group's original members (James
Ash and Steve Davis) met in London in 1989. Before forming Rogue
Traders, Ash and Davis worked together on many projects, most
notably as dance act Union State. Davis still contributes to the
band and is still an active part of the songwriting process. The
band's name came from the movie
Rogue Trader.
The Rogue Traders have enjoyed major success, with over a dozen
internationally recognised hit singles, including "
Voodoo Child", "
In Love Again" & "
Watching You". The group's third studio album
Better in the Dark was
released in Australia on October 13 2007.
To date, Rogue Traders have been nominated for 10
ARIA Awards, 3
MTV AVMA Award, 1
The Nickelodeon Kids' Choice
Awards, 1 Inside Film Award and 5
APRA Awards
On June 25, 2008, it was announced that lead singer
Natalie Bassingthwaighte had quit
the band to focus on acting and a solo career.
[64362] In July 2008 it was reported that
Bassingthwaighte's bandmate and boyfriend
Cameron McGlinchey has also left the
band.
[64363]
On 13th August, 2009, Ash revealed that Tim Henwood had returned to
the band and Danny Spencer had left the band.
On 14 November 2009, Mindi Jackson was revealed as the new lead
singer to replace Natalie Bassingthwaighte.
History
We Know What You're Up To: 2002-2003
In 2003 Rogue Traders (James Ash, Steve Davis) released their debut
album
We Know What You're
Up To. Their debut single did not enter the Top one
hundred, but reached number sixteen on the ARIA Top forty Club
Chart.
The second single released from the album, "
Give in to Me", was a
minor Australian ARIAnet top one hundred chart single peaking at
number sixty-seven. Their third single was a lot more successful.
They remixed/covered
INXS's "Need You Tonight",
renaming it "
One
of My Kind". The track peaked at number ten in Australia --
giving them the recognition they needed. A fourth single, "
Stay?", gave them another minor top one hundred chart
single peaking at number sixty.
The Rogue Traders won an ARIA award for Best Dance Track for the
song "One of My Kind". They were nominated for two
APRA awards in
2003 for "Give in to Me" and in 2004 for "One of My Kind".
Here Come the Drums: 2005-2006
Natalie Bassingthwaighte performing in
Sydney for the 'We're Coming Home' Tour in 2006.
Rogue Traders returned in 2005, with their new album
Here Come the Drums, a new record
contract with
Sony BMG along with new band
member Natalie Bassingthwaighte. The first single "
Voodoo Child", reached
number four in Australia, number seven in New Zealand and number
three in the UK. The second single from the album, "
Way to Go!" reached number seven in Australia,
while "Watching You", which was their second single to reach the
top five, peaked at number five in Australia. Like many other
modern mainstream music acts, the Rogue Traders use elements of old
songs in their music. However, rather than
sampling the original songs, they re-record
the relevant parts. "Voodoo Child" contains a re-recorded riff from
"
Pump It Up" by
Elvis Costello, "Watching You"
contains re-recorded elements of "
My
Sharona" by
The Knack and "In Love
Again" contains re-recorded elements of "
Head over Heels" by
Tears for Fears.
2006 saw the Rogue Traders' continuing success in Australia as
released singles and their second album continued to do well in the
Australian charts. Amongst rumours of Natalie Bassingthwaighte
planning to leave her role as Izzy Hoyland in
Neighbours, the band revealed a deal with
the UK arm of Sony BMG, intending to release music in the country
in the summer of 2006. They also won the 2006
MTV Australian Video Music Award for Best Dance Video
for "Voodoo Child".
In June 2006 the Rogue Traders won their first APRA Award, with
"Way to Go!" taking out the "Most Performed Dance Work" category.
They have previously been nominated for two APRA awards in the same
category, in 2003 for their single "Give in to Me" and in 2004 for
"One of My Kind", which also won an ARIA award. Also in June 2006,
the Rogue Traders announced they were releasing their second album
Here Come the Drums again, as a Limited Edition two CD
remix set. The second CD contained remixes from all their smash
singles and the album included new artwork. It was released on June
10, the same day of their fourth single "
We're Coming Home". On June 18, 2006,
Natalie Bassingthwaighte and James Ash announced on
Video Hits that the
band are currently in the process of writing their third studio
recorded album.
The Rogue Traders announced early 2006 that they have signed with
the European division of Sony BMG and were to be releasing their
second album
Here Come the Drums and singles from the
album later in the year. It was later announced that "Voodoo Child"
was to be again the first single in the UK as it was in Australia.
"Voodoo Child" was then given a UK release of July 10 and the album
July 24.
A
gig was also announced for the UK at Shepherds Bush
Empire
in London for July 11 - one day after the release
of "Voodoo Child", which was for hopes to get the debut of "Voodoo
Child" high in the charts. Lots of radio stations across the
UK started to play "Voodoo Child" six weeks before its
release.
The video clip for "Voodoo Child" started to receive airplay on
programs across UK such as
The Box,
The Hits and
MTV Dance. The clip stayed the same as the Australian
version. It reached top 5 positions on the programs and number-one
on some Radio Stations as well. The song received a lot of positive
reviews from radio stations, TV programs and music critics. Some
called it a 'Summer Anthem for 2006' and some named it either
'Record of the Week/Month'. The video and single was then put onto
iTunes UK for buy. The video reached number two on the iTunes Video
Chart and stayed in the top five for a few days, while the single
was selling itself into the top ten and days later into the top
five.
"Voodoo Child" was released on July 10 in the UK but debuted in the
chart the week before at number eighteen due to download sales.
After its official release, "Voodoo Child" rocketed into the top
ten at number three with sales of over 21,000. Due to its success
"Voodoo Child" is due to be released in several European countries
including the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg. "Watching You"
was released in the UK as the band's second single released from
the album on October 16, 2006 and peaked at number thirty-three on
the singles chart. The song "Voodoo Child" was played
diegetically in the
Doctor Who episode
The Sound of Drums. A new video clip was
filmed, along with a new remix track, and the third single to be
released in the UK from
Here Come the Drums was "Way To
Go!" at the last minute it was decided that it would only be
released as a digital download track.
Rogue
Traders were also a surprise inclusion to the 2006 season of
Big Brother
Australia
. Entering the house and playing a "concert"
for housemates. The event was also streamed to Big Brother
audiences from the programs website.
The Rogue Traders song, "Fashion" is used as the theme tune to
Gok Wan's
Channel 4
television programme called
Gok's
Fashion Fix.
We're Coming Home TourIn 2006, Rogue Traders went
on a national tour around Australia, playing at various cities
around the country. They performed songs off their album
Here
Come the Drums, kicking off each show with "Believer" and
ending with an encore of "Voodoo Child". It also previewed songs,
including "Better in the Dark", "What You're On" and "Shout Out"
from their third album,
Better in the Dark (2007).
SETLIST
- Believer
- White Lightning
- Watching You
- Better In The Dark
- Rescue Me
- World Go 'Round
- Shout Out
(Interval)
Encore:
2006 "WE'RE COMING HOME" NATIONAL TOUR DATES
- September 17 - Brisbane Convention Centre
- September 20 - Newcastle Entertainment Centre
- September 22 - Wollongong Entertainment Centre
- September 23 - Hordern Pavilion, Sydney
- September 24 - Royal Theatre, Canberra
- September 27 - Derwent Entertainment Centre
- September 29 - Palais, Melbourne
- September 30 - Palais, Melbourne
- October 1 - Geelong Arena
- October 3 - Adelaide Stadium, Perth
Better in the Dark: 2007-2008
Natalie Bassingthwaighte performing
during the 'Better In The Dark Tour' in 2008
In January
2007, Rogue Traders performed at the opening of the Australian Jamboree at Elmore,
Victoria
in front of
a crowd of over 10,000.
Rogue Traders announced on 11 February 2007 that they will support
British girl group
Girls Aloud on their
The
Sound of Girls Aloud: The Greatest Hits Tour in May 2007. Also,
the
Sunday Telegraph reported that
"The group's
management confirmed the band had been in discussions with a major
US label." The Rogue Traders will fly to the US in July 2007
where they will launch their first single into the American music
scene. The group have been signed with major US label Universal
Music.
Rogue Traders performed at the Melbourne Crown Casino in April,
previewing some of their new songs.
Old Navy, a division of Gap, Inc. in North America, has featured
"Believer", "Watching You", and in the most recent ad campaign,
"
World Go 'Round" for their
"Summerland" commercial (May 2007).
In the 24 June edition of
The Sunday Telegraph, it was
said that the Rogue Traders have just completed touring the UK and
are now back in Australia finishing up their new album, with a new
single out in September 2007 and the album should hit stores in
October 2007.
During mid-2007, the band's song "Voodoo Child" was prominently
featured in the
Doctor Who
episode, "
The Sound of Drums";
the appearance of the song was preceded by the villain,
The Master, proclaiming "Here come the
drums!" - a reference to the band's album title, while the episode
title was taken from a lyric in the song.
It was announced on 2 August that the first new single off the new
album would be "
Don't You Wanna
Feel" and would be released on 29 September. On 8 August, it
was revealed that their 3rd studio album would be called
Better
in the Dark and released on 13 October. It is to be released
in two forms; the standard form and a limited CD/DVD edition.
"Don't You Wanna Feel" premiered at 7am on Friday 7 September on
Nova radio station. Following that, on 13 September, "Don't You
Wanna Feel" reached a peak of number 2 on the
Hot 30 Countdown, less than a week
after its debut on radio. The following week, it reached number 1
on the
Hot 30 Countdown. "Don't You Wanna Feel" is already
proving a great success for the Rogue Traders 3rd studio album,
continuing to reach number 1. One week after the singles release,
it debuted on the Aria singles charts at number 10, and on the Aria
dance charts at number 1.
The new album,
Better in the
Dark, was released in Australia on October 13, with
international imports available later the following week.
With the release of
Better in the Dark,
Here Come the
Drums has re-entered the charts at #40, 2 years after its
initial release.
Better in the Dark made its debut into
the charts at number 63, just hours after its release.
Better in the Dark made it to number 4 in the Australian
ARIA Album Charts, and number 1 in the Australian Charts, just 1
week after its release.
On 8 November 2007, James Ash confirmed on the official forum that
the new single from
Better in the Dark would be "I Never
Liked You".
Shortly afterwards James informed the members on the official forum
that 'Shout Out', a song which was performed on tour but never
released on
Better in the Dark, was to be a B-side on the
single 'I Never Liked You' which is in stores on January 12,
2008.
Don't You Wanna Feel was
certified Gold (35,000+ copies sold) by
ARIA
Charts This is the group's 3rd single to go Gold. Rogue Traders
also have 1 album,
Better in the Dark to go platinum.
Their second single, "Voodoo Child", went platinum (70,000+ copies
sold) and their second album,
Here Come the Drums, went 4X
platinum (280,000+ copies sold).
On Friday
1 February 2008, Rogue Traders performed 'Don't You Wanna Feel' and
'I Never Liked You' at the Melbourne Cricket Ground
Twenty/20 Cricket match as part of the half-time
entertainment in front of a crowd of over 84,000.
The third single from the Rogue Traders album
Better in the
Dark will be "
What You're On".
It debuted on radio on 15 March 2008 and was released on April 19.
A fourth single was confirmed and linked with a competition through
Ford Fiesta. The competition was to answer in 25 words or less why
you should feature in the new Rogue Traders video. The unknown
fourth single was confirmed as "On Your Way to the Disco", the song
was no longer released as lead singer Natalie Bassingthwaighte left
the group.
The "Better in the Dark Tour" was announced in early March. Rogue
Traders will tour from 29 April to the beginning of June, playing
at many venues around the country. This is the last chance for fans
to see them on tour for approximately two years. This is due to the
solo career Natalie Bassingthwaighte will be foccusing on in the
next year. James Ash has thrown out ideas about this being the end
of the band, stating that he has already started working on the
next album, the fourth for the band..
What You're On debuted in the Aria
Singles Charts on April 26 at number 30. That same week it reached
number 18 on the Physical Singles Chart, 9 in the Australian
Singles Chart and number 3 in the Dance Charts.
Better in the Dark TourThe tour kicked off on
29 April at the Regent
Theatre in Yarram
, Victoria
. They played songs from all three albums:
We Know What You're Up
To,
Here Come the Drums and the latest,
Better in the Dark. Rogue Traders surprised many of their
fans, playing their first top 10 single "One Of My Kind", a
re-working of the
INXS classic "Need You
Tonight", but this time sung live by Natalie Bassingthwaighte. They
also perform a cover of
Sinéad
O'Connor's hit "
Nothing
Compares 2 U". The setlist was as follows:
SETLIST:
(Interval)
Encore:
^ Song was not performed at all shows (sometimes replaced with
'Fashion').
They played a total of 31 dates plus 6 soundcheck dates, spanning
over 1½ months. The dates were as follows:
2008 "BETTER IN THE DARK" NATIONAL TOUR
DATES
- Tuesday April 29: The Regent Theatre, Yarram, Gippsland,
VIC
- Wednesday April 30: The Regent Theatre, Yarram, Gippsland,
VIC
- Thursday May 1: Swan Hill Town Hall, Swan Hill, VIC
- Friday May 2: Woolshed, Ballarat, VIC
- Saturday May 3: Billboard The Venue, Melbourne, VIC
- Wednesday May 7: Hallam Hotel, Hallam, VIC
- Thursday May 8: Shoppingtown Hotel, Doncaster, VIC
- Friday May 9: Ferntree Gully Hotel, VIC
- Sunday May 11: Thebarton Theatre, Adelaide, SA
- Tuesday May 13: Horsham Town Hall, Horsham, VIC
- Wednesday May 14: Wodonga Civic Centre, Wodonga, VIC
- Thursday May 15: ANU Bar, Canberra, ACT
- Friday May 16: Waves Nightclub, Towradgi, Wollongong, NSW
- Saturday May 17: Luna Park, Milsons Point, Sydney, NSW
- Sunday May 18: Penrith Panthers, Penrith, NSW
- Tuesday May 20: Revesby Workers Club, Revesby, Sydney, NSW
- Wednesday May 21: Central Coast Leagues Club, Gosford, NSW
- Thursday May 22: Panthers, Newcastle, NSW
- Friday May 23: Coffs Harbour Ex-Services Club, Coffs Harbour,
NSW
- Saturday May 24: Lismore Workers Club, Lismore, NSW
- Sunday May 25: Twin Towns Services Club, Tweed Heads, NSW
- Tuesday May 27: Nambour Civic Centre, Nambour, QLD
- Wednesday May 28: Tivoli, Fortitude Valley, Brisbane, QLD
- Thursday May 29: Rumours, Toowoomba, QLD
- Friday May 30: Sugarland Tavern, Bundaberg West, Bundaberg,
QLD
- Saturday May 31: Great Western Hotel, Rockhampton, QLD
- Sunday June 1: Airlie Beach, Bundaberg, QLD
- Thursday June 5: Brothers Leagues Club, Manunda, Cairns,
QLD
- Friday June 6: Bombay Rock, Townsville, QLD
- Saturday June 7: Andergrove Tavern, Mackay, QLD
- Sunday June 8: Andergrove Tavern, Mackay, QLD
2008 BETTER IN THE DARK" NATIONAL TOUR DATES: "Optus Under
18's Soundcheck"
- Saturday May 3: Billboard The Venue, Melbourne, VIC
- Sunday May 11: Thebarton Theatre, Adelaide, SA
- Saturday May 17: Luna Park, Milsons Point, Sydney, NSW
- Friday May 23: Coffs Harbour Ex-Services Club, Coffs Harbour,
NSW
- Sunday May 25: Twin Towns Services Club, Tweed Heads, NSW
- Wednesday May 28: Tivoli, Fortitude Valley, Brisbane, QLD
4th studio album: 2009
On
September 19,
2008, Ash revealed, via the official forum that he
would start writing the new album with his wife and writing partner
Melinda. His goal is to write forty songs in the next six months,
despite not having a lead singer yet On
June
10,
2009 Ash stated that the band had found
and employed a new lead singer but he did not reveal who it was.On
3 August,
2009, at the
request of a fan, Ash revealed the current working title:
Rogue
4.On 13th August 2009, Ash revealed that Tim Henwood had
returned to the band and Danny Spencer had left.The first single
has been confirmed as being 'Love is a war'. On Saturday night 14th
November 2009 James Ash from the Rogue Traders released via Twitter
the name of the new Singer Melinda 'Mindi' Jackson and new drummer
'
Peter Marin'. Also released was a Behind The Scenes
look of the new line up's first single 'Love Is A War'. This is due
to hit air waves this Friday 20th November 2009
'Love Is A War' will be released by digital download on 25 December
2009 (Christmas Day) and the physical single on 08 Janurary
2010.
Members
The band first had two members: James Ash and Steve Davis. During
the second album, two new members joined: Natalie Bassingwaigthe
and Cameron McGlinchey. Before the UK releases, Steve Davis left
the band and was replaced by Tim Henwood. However, he only stayed
during the UK releases before he left the band and was replaced by
Danny Spencer. After the third album, Natalie and Cameron left the
band as well. When James Ash announced Danny Spencer had left he
also announdce that Tim Henwood was coming back. The current
members are Tim Henwood, James Ash, Mindi Jackson and
Peter Marin.During the first album, there were
recordings by Ash's wife Melinda Richards, including the single
Give in to Me, and recordings by René Kisseih (
Take it
Deeper), although neither were members of the band. Richards
also did backing vocals on
Here Come The Drums &
Better In The Dark.
Discography
Awards and recognition
References
External links
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