No Fixed Address

No Fixed Address is an Australian Aboriginal reggae rock band. It formed in 1979 in North Adelaide. The band members came from an Aboriginal mission in Ceduna. Bart Willoughby is the lead singer and played drums. Ricky Harrison plays rhythm guitar and was the band's main songwriter. Leslie Lovegrove Freeman is the lead guitarist. John Miller plays bass guitar. All the original members were related through family ties.

History
No Fixed Address began as a pub rock group in South Australia. It played its first concert on National Aboriginal Day held at Taperoo in 1979. In 1980, the band made a movie called Wrong Side of the Road with another band, Us Mob. The movie was about the different receptions they received in Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities. With the recording of the movie's soundtrack, No Fixed Address and Us Mob became some of the first Aboriginal rock bands to be recorded.

In 1982, the band released its first album, From My Eyes. The album was launched at the Hilton Hotel by Prime Minister Bob Hawke. The band toured Australia in 1982, in support of Peter Tosh. After this, the band became the first Aboriginal band to travel overseas. They played at nine cities in Great Britain.

The band's didgeridoo player, Billy Inda, played the didgeridoo on a song from Goanna's album, Spirit of Place, in 1982. The song, "Solid Rock", peaked at No. 3 in October on the Kent Music Report Singles Chart. It is the first charting rock song to feature the didgeridoo.

The band released "We Have Survived" in 1984. The song has become an unofficial anthem for many of Australia's indigenous peoples. It was added to the National Film and Sound Archive's Sounds of Australia registry in 2008.

No Fixed Address has broken up several times. The first time was in 1984, when Willoughby joined his cousin Bunna Lawrie's band, Coloured Stone. They reformed in 1987 to tour through Europe. They played at the East Berlin Festival in the same year. In late 1988, Willoughby joined Yothu Yindi and as result the group broke up again. The band reformed again in 2008.

In August 2011, No Fixed Address and Coloured Stone were both listed in the Hall of Fame at the first National Indigenous Music Awards.

Members
 Bart Willoughby – drums, vocals, guitar, didgeridoo (1979–1985, 1987–1988, 2008–current)
 Selwyn Burns – guitar 
 Joe Geia – vocals, percussion, didgeridoo (1982–1983)
 Les Graham – guitar (1979–1983)
 Ricky Harrison – guitar (1979–1985)
 Joe Hayes – bass (1982)
 Billy Inda – percussion, didgeridoo (1982)
 Chris Jones – guitar (1982–1985)
 Les Lovegrove – guitar (1987–1988, 2008)
 Rick Lovegrove – guitar (1987–1988, 2008)
 Louis McManus – guitar (1984–1985)
 John 'John' Miller – bass (1979–1985, 1987–1988, 2008)
 Nicky Moffatt – bass (1983–1985)
 Veronica Rankine – vocals, saxophone, flute (1979–1985)
 Peter Meredith – guitar (1983–1984)
 Billy Goreham – bass (1982 -1983)

Discography

Albums
 Wrong Side of the Road (Soundtrack with Us Mob) – Black Australia/EMI (1981) AUS No. 67
 From My Eyes – Rough Diamond/Astor/PolyGram (RDM 8804) (1982) AUS No. 77

Singles
 "From My Eyes"/"We Have Survived" – Rough Diamond (RDS 3511) (1982)

References

Other websites
AFI Screen Biographies 
Wrong Side of the Road 
 Listen to 'We Have Survived' on Australian Screen

Indigenous Australian musicians
Australian rock bands
Musical groups established in 1979