Machinations

Out of all the musical revolutions, the Australian invasion of the early ‘80s is often the most overlooked despite the fact that Men at Work, Midnight Oil, and INXS became international superstars. Furthermore, other regional artists such as the Church, Icehouse, and Pseudo Echo also scored hits of their own. Perhaps they were overshadowed by England's own new wave chart-toppers at the time even though Australia was easily able to match their output. Lost in the deluge of post-punk acts from Australia was Machinations, a group heavily inspired by the synthesizer-based new romantic sounds emanating from the U.K. Machinations was formed in Sydney, Australia in 1980 by Fred Loneragan (vocals), Tim Doyle (guitar), Nick Swan (bass), and Tony Starr (keyboards). The band released their first single, "Average Inadequacy", in 1981. Their 1983 debut LP Esteem was distributed in the U.S. and featured their most well-known track, "Pressure Sway". Big Music followed in 1985, but Machinations failed to achieve as much commercial success, either at home or abroad, as many of their peers. Nevertheless, the band had a cult following in dance clubs, by far their strongest supporters. However, Machinations broke up after 1988's Uptown, the members joining other local groups. They reunited in 1997. ~ Michael Sutton