The Whitlams

Named after Australia’s onetime prime minister Gough Whitlam, the Sydney-formed ensemble The Whitlams rose among the country’s stronger alternative successes of the late 1990s thanks to its piano-led pop sound.

Originally conceived in 1991 as a side project by two local players—Stevie Plunder, born Anthony Hayes in 1963, and Tim Freedman, born in 1964—the group drew on musicians who had previously appeared with outfits such as The Hummingbirds and The Sunnyboys.

Although the lineup shifted repeatedly across the decade, Plunder and Freedman remained its constants, steadily building a hometown audience through energetic performances. Their early releases, Introducing The Whitlams in 1993 and Undeniably The Whitlams in 1995, nevertheless attracted little beyond a devoted cult following.

Plunder’s death in January 1996, after he fell from a cliff in the Blue Mountains outside Sydney, left the band’s prospects uncertain. Freedman elected to carry on, however, once a track from the second album, “I Make Hamburgers,” began to receive notable radio exposure.

The Whitlams resurfaced in late 1997 with Eternal Nightcap, an album recorded in tribute to Plunder. By then the central trio comprised Freedman on vocals and piano, Bill Heckenburg on drums, and Cottco Lovett on bass, supported by an array of additional contributors. The record achieved unexpected commercial traction, driven chiefly by the wistful, piano-centered single “No Aphrodisiac,” which explored the strains of long-distance romance, while another cut, “You Sound Like Louis Burdett,” also enjoyed substantial airplay.

In 1998 the band collected three ARIA awards—the Australian equivalent of the Grammy—including Best Independent Release for Eternal Nightcap.