- Human Nature (band)
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For other uses, see Human nature (disambiguation).
Human Nature Origin Sydney, New South Wales, Australia Genres Pop, Motown,
Vocal groupYears active 1989–present Labels Sony Music (1996-present) Website Official website Members Michael Tierney (vocals)
Andrew Tierney (vocals, keyboards)
Toby Allen (vocals)
Phil Burton (vocals, keyboards, guitar)Human Nature are an Australian pop vocal group. The group was originally formed as a doo-wop band in 1989 while the current members were at school together in Sydney. So far, the band has had 17 Top 40 hits and five Top 10 hits in Australia since 1996 when their first album Telling Everybody was released. Three of Human Nature's albums have reached multi-platinum certification in Australia with four others reaching platinum. The group has certified sales of 1.6 million records in Australia.[1] They have also had minor chart success in the United Kingdom[2] and New Zealand.
Contents
History
Early career
Brothers Andrew and Michael Tierney joined with Toby Allen and Phil Burton while at Hurlstone Agricultural High School- representing their school in a combined regional schools concert at the Bankstown Town Hall on November 27, 1989. The quartet were known as The 4 Trax, a name that they retained until they began their recording career. The band performed "Earth Angel"- a 1950s hit for The Penguins.
Before being in Human Nature, Toby Allen worked as a perfume salesman while studying to be an accountant, Andrew Tierney was studying to be a physical therapist, Phil Burton was studying to be a music teacher and once stacked beer for a living. The youngest member of the band Michael Tierney was studying for his Higher School Certificate in high school.
After an initial stint as buskers and wins in a number of club talent quests, The 4 Trax started performing professionally in clubs and built up a following winning- several awards as club entertainers. They started sending demos off to record labels. The band was signed to Sony Music Australia after walking into the office of Sony CEO, Denis Handlin, and performing an a cappella version of "People Get Ready". A recording contract was offered immediately. The band changed their name to Human Nature at a suggestion from Michael Tierney.
Career highlights
Human Nature released its first album Telling Everybody on 2 December 1996 and it went on to earn triple-platinum status. The first single from the album was "Got It Goin On" which established the band's success with "Tellin' Everybody", "Wishes", "Don't Say Goodbye", "Whisper Your Name", and "People Get Ready" also released as singles. The group also helped build their reputation by working as support acts for Michael Jackson and Céline Dion on their respective Australian tours.
The band teamed up with John Farnham for "Every Time You Cry" which was one of the biggest hits of 1997, and due to the success of the previous tours, were asked personally by both Celine Dion and Michael Jackson to continue to support them throughout their European tours in June–September 1997. The band played to crowds often numbering over 100,000 people, and also took the stage for three nights at Wembley Stadium. Upon their return to Australia in October Human Nature embarked on their first ever national concert tour.
Counting Down released in 1998 continued the band's momentum, and debuted at number one on the ARIA charts and generated five gold singles in Australia - "Last To Know", "Don't Cry", "Cruel", "Be There With You" and "Eternal Flame" a cover version of the 1989 hit by The Bangles. The band also appeared in an Australian concert tour of symphonic versions of Beatles songs conducted by Sir George Martin.
In 1999 Human Nature appeared in a tour of the musical version of the television series Happy Days.
The band released a self-titled album in 2000 with lead single "He Don't Love You" reaching Top 20 in the UK Singles Chart[2] and being the second best selling Australasian single in Australia for that year. The album was recorded in Sydney, London, Stockholm, Los Angeles and New York and featured a songwriting session with Gary Barlow of Take That.
In September 2000 the band performed the Australian National Anthem at the 2000 Summer Olympics with Julie Anthony and James Morrison. The band also appeared in Australian soap opera Neighbours in November 2000 and performed "He Don't Love You" at Erinsborough High's debutant ball and sang "Wishes" a capella at the ball's after party.
A greatest hits album, Here & Now: The Best of Human Nature, followed in late 2001. The accompanying single "Always Be With You" also made the Australian top 30, with the appearance of comic character Guido Hatzis in the accompanying video.
Throughout 2002 and into early 2003, Allen took on the role of MC in a major production of the musical Cabaret. This portrayal earned him a Helpmann Award. In 2003, they also performed the national anthem at the second State of Origin Rugby League match.
Human Nature's fourth studio album Walk the Tightrope was released on 26 April 2004. The first single "When You Say You Love Me" was written by Darren Hayes, formerly of Savage Garden, and it reached the Top 10 in Australia in 2004. The album also featured "Love Is Blind" written by Barry Gibb of the Bee Gees, a cover of "Guilty" by Barry Gibb and Barbra Streisand, and a cover version of "To Be With You", a 1992 hit by glam metal band Mr. Big.
Mid 2005 saw Allen again hit the musical theatre scene, playing Kenickie in an arena version of the musical Grease.
For their fifth studio album, Human Nature decided to release an album of Motown covers, Reach Out: The Motown Record, on 6 November 2005. It peaked at number one on the Australian charts and has reached 5 times platinum, with sale of over 350,000. They toured extensively around Australia in 2006 on The Motown Show theatre tour with special guest Doug Parkinson, and members Burton and Allen both starred in reality TV shows during 2005/06: Burton in the Nine Network's Celebrity Overhaul 2 and Allen on Channel 7's Dancing With The Stars, plus both of them on Channel 10's Australia's Brainiest Musician in March 2006 (Burton came first, and Allen second).
On 29 October 2006, Human Nature won their first ARIA - highest selling album - after 15 nominations; Tierney joked saying they were the "John Wood" of the ARIAs.[citation needed]
With Reach Out being such a success, the quartet decided their sixth studio album would be along similar lines. Dancing In The Street: The Songs Of Motown II was released on 13 October 2006, and debuted at number one.
Mid-2007 saw Human Nature return to Australian arena stages with the Dancing In The Street Arena Tour, with special guests Paulini and The Naturelles.
The 24 November 2007 saw Human Nature hit No.1 on the ARIA Australian Albums Chart with Get Ready, the third Motown-themed album, which this time featured appearances by several original Motown artists including Smokey Robinson, Martha Reeves, Mary Wilson of The Supremes and The Temptations. Smokey Robinson flew to Australia around the release of the album and performed with the group on Dancing With The Stars and Channel Seven's Sunrise.
All three Motown albums have now sold close to a million copies in Australia. Human Nature's total album sales in Australia number almost two million.
At the start of 2008, Human Nature headed over to perform for the first ever time in the United States, with a two-month engagement at Atlantic City's Tropicana Casino. In April 2008, Human Nature took the stage with The Supremes' Mary Wilson on the television show It Takes Two. They performed two duets from their Get Ready album: "It Takes Two" and "River Deep, Mountain High".
Towards the end of that year, Human Nature teamed up with old friend Eliot Kennedy (the producer of many songs on their self-titled album) to record an album with the Prague Philharmonic Orchestra. The album, "A Symphony Of Hits", was released on 10 November 2008. Human Nature followed up the release of this album with three performances at the Sydney Opera House with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra in early December. Early 2009 saw further shows in Melbourne with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra and in Perth with the West Australian Symphony Orchestra.
In May 2009, Human Nature began a year-long engagement in Las Vegas at the Imperial Palace Hotel and Casino, performing 6 nights a week. They are the first Australian band to have a residency on the strip. The group made a brief return to Australia in December 2009 to perform a "homecoming" show with Smokey Robinson at the Wyndham Estate winery in the NSW Hunter Valley wine region.
On 11 May 2010, Human Nature announced that the Imperial Palace had signed them for a further two years, and had also given the group the honour of renaming the Imperial Palace Showroom after them. They currently perform six nights a week in the "Human Nature Theatre". The mayor of Las Vegas, Oscar Goodman, decreed that 11 May 2010 would be known as "Human Nature Day".
Human Nature released their ninth studio album- "Vegas: Songs from Sin City" in November 2010. The album contains covers of many classic Vegas songs or songs by Vegas headliners past and present. It also contains a duet with current Vegas headliner Barry Manilow. On 27 November 2010, they performed a medley of the two Elvis Presley covers from the album ("A Little Less Conversation" and "Viva Las Vegas") - complete with Vegas Showgirls - on the final Hey Hey It's Saturday show, and received a presentation award for their 21st anniversary of performing (November 27 also happened to be the exact date of the anniversary).
December 2010 saw Human Nature touring Australia backed by state symphony orchestras. They once again performed with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra and the West Australian Symphony Orchestra, and also performed for the first time with the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra, the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra and the Queensland Symphony Orchestra.
In July 2011 Human Nature recorded their Las Vegas show for the PBS network, and it is scheduled to air on PBS in the USA in December.
As of November 2011, Human Nature are continuing to perform at the Imperial Palace in Las Vegas, and are firming up plans for their first ever tour of the USA in Spring 2012.
Band members
As of 2011, the band consists of:
- Andrew Tierney
- Michael Tierney
- Toby Allen
- Phil Burton
This is the same lineup that performed as the 4Trax in 1989.
Discography
Main article: Human Nature discographyAlbums
- 1996: Telling Everybody
- 1997: Whisper Your Name Australian Tour Pack
- 1999: Counting Down
- 2000: Human Nature
- 2001: Here & Now: The Best of Human Nature
- 2004: Walk the Tightrope
- 2005: Reach Out: The Motown Record
- 2006: Dancing in the Street: the Songs of Motown II
- 2007: Get Ready
- 2008: The Motor City Collection
- 2008: A Symphony Of Hits
- 2009: Reach Out (this was a compilation of songs from all 3 Australian Motown tribute albums, and was only available on US iTunes and in Barnes and Noble stores in the USA)
- 2010: Vegas: Songs from Sin City
DVDs/VIDEOS
- 1997: "Telling Everybody- The Story" (VHS)
- 2002: Here and Now (DVD)
- 2007: Reach Out, Live at the Capitol (DVD)
References
- ^ ARIA Accreditations Australian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved 3 April 2011
- ^ a b Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 263. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
External links
Categories:- ARIA Award winners
- Australian pop music groups
- Australian buskers
- New South Wales musical groups
- Australian boy bands
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