Biography
It was in their hometown of Ballarat, Australia, during 1987 that siblings Matt and Becky Thomas launched the Mavis's. Initially a four-piece, the group expanded to five members while touring with guitarist Andrew Craw, then relocated to Melbourne in 1990 and steadily cultivated a devoted local audience. Guitarist Nick Gill came aboard in time for the band's first single, the 1991 double A-side "Roller-coaster"/"Witch Hunt."
Bass duties passed from Katherine McNulty to Josh Alexander, after which the EPs Spindrift (1993) and Poseidon (May 1994) appeared. Rising interest prompted the Mavis's to sign with Mushroom's White label in 1995, resulting in the December release of the single "Moon Drone Gold." Their debut album, Venus Returning, arrived in July 1996, reached number 33 on the national chart, and yielded the singles "Box," "Thunder," and "Lost"; "Thunder" placed at number 92 on national youth radio network Triple J's 1996 Hottest 100 list.
"Naughty Boy," issued in November 1997, surfaced on the second album, Pink Pills, the following April. More mature in tone than its predecessor, the record featured the second single and biggest commercial success, the pop-driven "Cry," along with "Lever" in June. "Cry" climbed to number 13 nationally, earned gold certification in Australia for sales exceeding 35,000 copies, and preceded the EP Cry Remixes, which debuted at number 12 in April. The band later re-recorded the Pink Pills track "Puberty Song" for a November single release. They supported Green Day on the American act's 1998 Australian tour, while "Naughty Boy" ranked number 37 on the 1997 Triple J Hottest 100 and "Cry" placed at number 61 the next year.
Several cover versions followed, beginning with "Walk on By" for the To Hal and Bacharach tribute album in April 1998 and continuing with a rendition of Duran Duran's "Planet Earth" for Undone: The Songs of Duran Duran in October 1999. In February 2000 the group supplied a take on ABBA's "Bang-A-Boomerang" for the original soundtrack to the film The Wog Boy and simultaneously released the new single "Happiness." Another contribution arrived in May 2000 with a version of Jim Keays' 1974 single "The Boy From the Stars" for the Sample People soundtrack. The final single, "Coming Home," appeared in July 2000, followed by the eight-track compilation So Far in June 2001. Three months later the Mavis's chose to disband in order to explore individual musical paths, after which a farewell tour took place.
Bass duties passed from Katherine McNulty to Josh Alexander, after which the EPs Spindrift (1993) and Poseidon (May 1994) appeared. Rising interest prompted the Mavis's to sign with Mushroom's White label in 1995, resulting in the December release of the single "Moon Drone Gold." Their debut album, Venus Returning, arrived in July 1996, reached number 33 on the national chart, and yielded the singles "Box," "Thunder," and "Lost"; "Thunder" placed at number 92 on national youth radio network Triple J's 1996 Hottest 100 list.
"Naughty Boy," issued in November 1997, surfaced on the second album, Pink Pills, the following April. More mature in tone than its predecessor, the record featured the second single and biggest commercial success, the pop-driven "Cry," along with "Lever" in June. "Cry" climbed to number 13 nationally, earned gold certification in Australia for sales exceeding 35,000 copies, and preceded the EP Cry Remixes, which debuted at number 12 in April. The band later re-recorded the Pink Pills track "Puberty Song" for a November single release. They supported Green Day on the American act's 1998 Australian tour, while "Naughty Boy" ranked number 37 on the 1997 Triple J Hottest 100 and "Cry" placed at number 61 the next year.
Several cover versions followed, beginning with "Walk on By" for the To Hal and Bacharach tribute album in April 1998 and continuing with a rendition of Duran Duran's "Planet Earth" for Undone: The Songs of Duran Duran in October 1999. In February 2000 the group supplied a take on ABBA's "Bang-A-Boomerang" for the original soundtrack to the film The Wog Boy and simultaneously released the new single "Happiness." Another contribution arrived in May 2000 with a version of Jim Keays' 1974 single "The Boy From the Stars" for the Sample People soundtrack. The final single, "Coming Home," appeared in July 2000, followed by the eight-track compilation So Far in June 2001. Three months later the Mavis's chose to disband in order to explore individual musical paths, after which a farewell tour took place.
Albums
