Australian Crawl

**Australian Crawl** (often called **Aussie Crawl** or **The Crawl** by fans) were an Australian rock band. They were founded by James Reyne (lead vocals/piano/harmonica), Brad Robinson (rhythm guitar), Paul Williams (bass), Simon Binks (lead guitar) and David Reyne (drums). The band was founded in Melbourne in 1978. David Reyne soon left. He was replaced by Bill McDonough (drums, percussion). Later, Bill's brother, Guy McDonough joined the band as vocals and rhythm guitar. The band was named after the front crawl swimming style. This swimming style is also called the Australian crawl.

Australian Crawl made surf music. They sponsored a surfing competition in 1984. Their band also talked about social issues, like materialism, alcoholism, car accidents, and romance.

Their first album was released in 1980. This album was called _The Boys Light Up_. The song was No. 4 in music popularity. After this album, they had two more No. 1 albums. These albums were _Sirocco_ in 1981 and _Sons of Beaches_ in 1982. Their early singles reached the top 25 but none were in the Top Ten. They would soon have high-performing singles, however. They made the song "Reckless", which became a No. 1 hit. It came from their 1983 _Semantics_ EP.

The band was not very steady after 1983. In 1983, Bill McDonough the band. His brother, Guy McDonough, died in 1984. In 1985, Paul Williams left the band. Their made a song _Between a Rock and a Hard Place_ in 1985. This song was very expensive to make. It cost $400,000 AUD. Sales for this song were disappointing. The band disbanded in 1986. In 1996, the band was put into the 1996 Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) Hall of Fame. The founding guitarist Brad Robinson had lymphoma at the time. He was not able to be at the Hall of Fame induction. He died two weeks later.

## Members

Chronological list:
- Simon Binks – guitars (1978–1986)
- David Reyne – drums (1978)
- James Reyne – vocals, guitars, keyboards, harmonica (1978–1986)
- Brad Robinson (d. 1996) – guitars, keyboards (1978–1986)
- Paul Williams – bass guitar (1978–1985)
- Bill McDonough – drums (replaced David Reyne) (1978–1983)
- Guy McDonough (d. 1984) – vocals, guitar (1980–1984)
- Graham "Buzz" Bidstrup – drums (replaced Bill McDonough) (1983)
- John Watson – drums (replaced Bidstrup) (1983–1986)
- Mark Greig – guitars (replaced Guy McDonough) (1984–1986)
- Harry Brus – bass guitar (replaced Williams) (1985–1986)

## Discography

- _The Boys Light Up_ (1980)
- _Sirocco_ (1981)
- _Sons of Beaches_ (1982)
- _Semantics_ (1983 EP / 1984 LP)
- _Phalanx_ (1983)
- _Between a Rock and a Hard Place_ (1985)
- _The Final Wave_ (1986)

### ARIA Music Awards

Australian Crawl were inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1996.

|-
| 1987
| Art Scarff for _The Final Wave_ by Australian Crawl
| Best Cover Art
|
|-
| 1996
| Australian Crawl
| ARIA Hall of Fame
|

### TV Week / Countdown Awards

|-
| rowspan="5" |1980
| "Downhearted"
| Best Single Record
|
|-
| rowspan="2" | _The Boys Light Up_
| Best Australian Record Cover Design
|
|-
| Most Popular Record
|
|-
| Themselves
| Most Popular Group
|
|-
| James Reyne (Australian Crawl)
| Most Popular Male Performer
|
|-
| rowspan="3" |1981
| _Sirocco_
| Best Australian Album
|
|-
| Themselves
| Most Popular Group
|
|-
| James Reyne (Australian Crawl)
| Most Popular Male Performer
|
|-
| 1982
| Themselves
| Most Popular Group
|
|-
| rowspan="3" | 1983
| Mark Opitz for work with Australian Crawl
| Best Record Producer of the Year
|
|-
| Themselves
| Most Popular Group
|
|-
| James Reyne (Australian Crawl)
| Most Popular Male Performer
|
|-

## Other websites

- Universal Music's 'Australian Crawl' website.
- Official website of James Reyne

## Infobox (musical artist)

- **name**: Australian Crawl
- **alt**: Four males holding guitars, a fifth male at centre holds microphone stand.
- **caption**: Australian Crawl live
- **landscape**: yes
- **alias**: Clutch Cargo
- **origin**: Mornington Peninsula, Victoria, Australia
- **genre**: Pop music, Pop, Rock music, rock, Pub rock (Australia), pub rock
- **years active**: 1978–1986
- **label**: EMI Records, EMI, Geffen Records, Geffen, Virgin Records, Virgin
- **associated acts**: The Party Boys, The Angels (Australian band), The Angels, Kevin Borich, Kevin Borich Express, GANGgajang, Chantoozies
- **past members**: Simon Binks
David Reyne
James Reyne
Brad Robinson (Australian musician), Brad Robinson
Paul Williams
Bill McDonough
Guy McDonough
Graham Bidstrup, Graham "Buzz" Bidstrup
John Watson
Mark Greig
Harry Brus