Roxus

Roxus
Background information
Origin Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Genres AOR / Hard FM
Years active 1987 (1987)–1994 (1994)
Labels

Melodian, Mushroom


Savage Records, West 57th,
NY, NY
Associated acts Juno Roxas
Past members Juno Roxas
Dragan Stanić
John 'Stones' Nixon
Joseph 'Joe Cool' La Ferlita
Andy Shanahan
Darren Danielson
Graig Harnath

Roxus were an Australian AOR band which existed between 1987 and 1994. Members included Juno Roxas - lead vocals, Dragan Stanić - guitar, Darren Danielson - drums, John 'Stones' Nixon - bass guitar and Andy Shanahan - keyboards. Their style used melodic keyboards with guitar-driven hard rock and elements of glam metal. Their debut album, Nightstreet (September 1991),produced by Mark Opitz (The Angels, AC/DC. Divinyls, Cold Chisel), peaked at No. 5 on the ARIA Albums Chart. Their most successful single, "Where Are You Now?" (writers - Juno Roxas, Robin Randall, Judithe Randall) (July 1991), reached No. 13 on the ARIA Singles Chart.

In 1992, American AOR maestro Jeff Paris was hired to produce what was to be Roxus' second LP. Recorded at Platinum recorders in Melbourne Australia, the sessions engendered 4 tracks-"Invisible Man", "What You Don't Know", "Stop Playin' With My Heart" and "All The Way". These dates were cut short by and large due to the unanimous decision to replace Danielson with a drum machine after time restrictions became an issue, with Danielson unable to provide adequate rhythm tracks.

Roxas and Stanic returned to Los Angeles with Paris, to mix the four completed songs, hiring David Bianco (The Black Crowes, Tom Petty, Mick Jagger, USA For Africa) as engineer. The album however, was never completed and on New Year's Eve, 1992, Roxus played their last show before disbanding in the wake of a change in the musical landscape.(Grunge) In 1993 Danielson and Nixon joined Melbourne-based rockers, Chocolate Starfish.

History

Roxus formed as Bah Ragah in 1987 in the Melbourne south-eastern suburb of Springvale with Joseph La Ferlita (Joe Cool) on guitar; Darren Danielson (ex-Windsor Jamm) on drums; John 'Stones' Nixon (Windsor Jamm) on bass guitar; Juno Roxas on lead vocals (Party Pies); and Andy Shanahan on keyboards.[1] Roxus gained a considerable live following.[1] Australian rock music historian, Ian McFarlane, found the group played a "blend of tuneful, Van Halenesque hard rock and Living Colour-inspired funk around the Melbourne pub circuit ... [with their] carefully cultivated image of black leather, ripped jeans, cowboy boots, bandannas and big hair".[1] In 1989 Roxus supported international bands, Poison and Bon Jovi, on their respective Australian tours.[1][2] Also that year Dragan Stanić replaced Joe Cool on guitar. The band came to the attention of music commentator and promoter, Ian (Molly) Meldrum, who signed them to his Melodian Records label via Mushroom Records.[1] The group issued two singles, "Stand Back" in July and "Body Heat" in November.[3] In 1990, they released a live EP, That Girl, including live versions of the tracks "Stand Back" and "Body Heat".[1][2]

In April 1991 Roxus supported US band, Warrant, on their Australian tour.[1] In September that year their debut album, Nightstreet, was released,[1][2] which reached No. 5 on the ARIA Albums Chart.[4] In July they issued their most successful single, "Where Are You Now?", which is a power ballad that received considerable radio airplay and peaked at No. 13 on the ARIA Singles Chart and No. 11 on the AMR Singles Chart.[4][5] In August, they followed up with "Bad Boys", which reached No. 39 on the ARIA chart,[4] and in December, "Midnight Love" was released.

Afterwards

After Roxus had disbanded Juno Roxas went solo and recorded the album, Far From Here, on Melodian in 1994.[1] He has worked as a musician and producer in both Los Angeles and Melbourne.[3] Stanić continued playing locally in a range of projects including De-Arrow, Among Thieves and Kream.[3] By March 1993 Danielson and Nixon had joined Melbourne rockers, Chocolate Starfish.[6] Shanahan became a lecturer at RMIT University in Sound Production.[3]

Discography

Albums

  1. "Rock 'n' Roll Nights" (4:08)
  2. "My Way" (3:58)
  3. "Bad Boys" (3:01)
  4. "Midnight Love" (3:50)
  5. "Where Are You Now?" (4:21)
  6. "Nightstreet" (2:59)
  7. "This Time" (4:51)
  8. "First Break of the Heart" (4:37)
  9. "Stand Back" (3:43)
  10. "Jimi G" (4:42)

Extended plays

  1. "That Girl" (4:40)
  2. "Body Heat" (5:45)
  3. "Morning Light (4:23)
  4. "Stand Back" (4:22)

Singles

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 McFarlane, 'Roxus' entry. Archived from the original on 30 September 2004. Retrieved 2 March 2013.
  2. 1 2 3 Swift, Michael. "Roxus". AllMusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved 17 February 2010.
  3. 1 2 3 4 "Where Are They Now? – Roxus". Newsletter No. 44. Bmusic.com.au. 1–7 December 2002. Archived from the original on 3 December 2009. Retrieved 3 March 2013.
  4. 1 2 3 Hung, Steffen. "Discography – Roxus". Australian Charts Portal. Hung Medien (Steffen Hung). Retrieved 2 March 2013.
  5. ↑ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970-1992. St Ives, NSW: Australian Chart Book. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  6. ↑ Holmgren, Magnus. "Chocolate Starfish". Australian Rock Database. Passagen (Magnus Holmgren). Retrieved 2 March 2013.
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