Things of Stone and Wood

History

Things of Stone and Wood formed in Melbourne in 1989 with Michael Allen on bass guitar and backing vocals; Greg Arnold on lead vocals and acoustic guitar; Justin Brady on violin, mandolin and harmonica; and Tony Floyd on drums and percussion. Both Allen and Arnold were former members of Thirteen at Midnight, an indie rock group. That band had formed in 1986 and included Russell Hall on bass guitar and Byron Smith on guitar, they had issued a single, "She Sells Sanctuary" (1986), and an album, Warring Tribes (1988) on Cleopatra Records.

One of Things of Stone and Wood's earliest gigs was at the 21st birthday party for Helen Durham – Arnold's then-girlfriend. The group took up long term residencies in Melbourne and followed with interstate touring on the pub and club circuit. In September 1991 they issued their debut four-track extended play, The Hopeful, on Things Records, which was produced by James Black (Greg Champion). Black was also their manager and had been a guitarist or keyboardist in Russell Morris Band, Mondo Rock and The Revelators. In 1992 the band recorded their debut album, The Yearning, with Black producing – it was issued in March of the following year and peaked at No. 8 on the ARIA Albums Chart. The group had signed with Sony Records and released a single, "Share this Wine", ahead of the album in September 1992, which reached the ARIA Singles Chart top 50.

The album's second single, "Happy Birthday Helen", was issued in December, as a five-track EP, and reached No. 9. Arnold, who later married Durham, had written the track for her 22nd birthday:

[it] was just a gift for Helen ... it was never intended to be released. But when I played it to Mikey he said, "This is a ripper, we've got to do this song" ... The drive along the Yarra is all true ... We kissed on the bridge that fell down ... was actually London Bridge on the Great Ocean Road ... It was such an intensely personal love song, so it was weird hearing the song everywhere.

"Happy Birthday Helen" was parodied on Australian Broadcasting Corporation's TV series, The Late Show, in 1992 as "We've Just Run Out of Melbourne Cliches". Arnold heard in advance that it was due to appear, "I got worried, but it was all quite flattering. Their video is hilarious". "Happy Birthday Helen" was listed at No. 91 on the Triple J Hottest 100 in 1993. At the ARIA Music Awards of 1993 Things of Stone and Wood won 'Best New Talent' for "Share this Wine". During 1993 they supported national tours by Australian artists Midnight Oil, Paul Kelly, and by Irish folk-rocker, Luka Bloom. Late that year they toured Europe. Arnold won 'Songwriter of the Year' at the 1993 APRA Awards. At the following year's ARIA awards The Yearning was nominated for 'Breakthrough Artist – Album' and 'Best Cover Art' (for Marcelle Lunam's artwork). The Yearning received critical acclaim from AllMusic's Jonathan Lewis, "shown a strong social conscience in their lyrics; in particular, they condemned the apparent rise of racism in Australia". It was accredited with a gold certificate.

Their follow-up album, Junk Theatre, released in March 1995 was also produced by Black. It peaked at No. 8 but dropped out of the top 50 after four weeks. Australian rock music historian, Ian McFarlane felt it "highlighted the band's eternal capacity for adventurous folk-pop arrangements, mellifluous melodies and Arnold's astute and sometimes acrid lyrical observations". Its lead single, "Wildflowers", appeared in September 1994, which reached the top 50, and was the most played Australian single on radio during October. The next single, "Churchill's Black Dog", appeared in February 1995 and reached the top 40. At the end of that year the band left Sony.

Their third album, The Man with the Perfect Hair, appeared in November 1995 on their own independent label, Things Records and was co-produced by Black and the group. The title is a reference to The 7.30 Report's host, Kerry O'Brien. McFarlane noted it was "[a]imed at the dedicated ToSaW fan, [which] comprised a pleasantly relaxed, single-take, 'unplugged' session that featured new songs, reworked B-sides and a dodgy Beatles cover, 'I've Just Seen a Face'". Their musical style followed a Beatle-esque path, Brady left and the group became a three-piece. In October 1996 the group's fourth album, Whirligig, was released, which was co-produced by Things of Stone and Wood, Black and Simon Holmes (The Fauves). McFarlane described it as "another batch of joyful folk-pop such as the Beatlesque 'Blink'". After a tour in late 1998 the band went on a hiatus as individual members pursued other projects. Allen had already issued his debut solo album, Aeroplane (June), and followed with his second, Softness Isn’t Admired Enough (August 1999). In 1999 Arnold formed a new band, Tricycle, with Anita Hustas on double bass and Ian Kitney on drums, which issued their debut album, Super (September).

Things of Stone & Wood reformed in 2001, releasing a compilation album, So Far: Best of Things of Stone & Wood 1992-2002 (2002), which featured a new single Ship of the Damned. The lineup of Allen, Arnold and Floyd were joined by Richard Tankard on guitar. A new album, Rollercoaster, followed in 2003. Arnold wrote most of the songs for the group. By 2006 the group had disbanded again – except irregular 'one-off' performance reunions. Arnold released his solo album, Lost Marie, in 2007. He is a music lecturer at Northern Melbourne Institute of TAFE, and worked as a producer recording work by Junior, Chloe Hall, Carus & the True Believers, Georgia Fields, Stonefield and Skipping Girl Vinegar.

For their 25th Anniversary ToSaW reunited again and played the Port Fairy Folk Festival. In May 2014 they toured Australia playing dates in Brisbane, Adelaide, Sydney, Melbourne and Hobart.

In June, Arnold and his wife Helen will move to Europe so Helen can continue her work with Red Cross. ToSaW will continue as a side project, only playing when Greg is in Australia.

Members

Studio albums

Live and compilation albums

Extended plays