About Pseudo Echo
Pseudo Echo are an Australian New wave band formed in 1982 by Brian Canham , Pierre Gigliotti , and Tony Lugton . Later members included Anthony Argiro , Vince Leigh , and James Leigh . In the 1980s, Pseudo Echo had multiple Australian top 20 hits with "Listening", "A Beat for You", "Don't Go", "Love an Adventure", and "Living in a Dream". Their 1986 cover of "Funky Town" was an international success, peaking at No. 1 in Australia and New Zealand and becoming a top ten hit in Sweden, Canada, the United States, and in the United Kingdom.
Their 1984 debut album, Autumnal Park, peaked at No. 11 on the Australian Kent Music Report. Love an Adventure followed in 1985 and reached No. 14. Their third album, Race , peaked at No. 18. In 1990, the group disbanded. They reformed in 1998 and released the albums Ultraviolet , Acoustica, and After Party . Australian rock music historian Ian McFarlane described the band as "combin flash clothes, blow-wave hairstyles, youthful exuberance and accessible synth-pop to arrive at a winning combination".
Pseudo Echo was formed in Melbourne in 1982 by two high school friends Brian Canham on vocals, guitars, and keyboards, and Pierre Gigliotti on bass guitar and keyboards. They were later joined by Tony Lugton on guitars and keyboards. The group were named for a sound effect available on their keyboards and were initially influenced by New Romantics bands, Duran Duran, Spandau Ballet, and Ultravox. Molly Meldrum, television presenter and talent co-ordinator for the pop music series Countdown, saw the group at a gig and aired them on his show with a demo version of "Listening" in June 1983. Originally the three-piece group had used a drum machine until Anthony Argiro joined on drums in July.
The band were signed to EMI Records and "Listening" – re-recorded and produced by Peter Dawkins – was issued in November as their debut single. It peaked at No. 4 on the Australian Kent Music Report Singles Chart. Their debut album, Autumnal Park, produced by Dawkins and John Punter, was released in June 1984 and peaked at No. 11 on the Kent Music Report Albums Chart. The album was released as Pseudo Echo for the North American market. It yielded the singles "A Beat for You" , "Dancing Until Midnight", and "Stranger in Me". Another track from Autumnal, "His Eyes", was used in the horror film, Friday the 13th: A New Beginning . In October 1984, Tony Lugton left the band due to musical differences, and was replaced by James Leigh on keyboards. Lugton eventually joined synth rock band Talk That Walk.
In November 1985, Pseudo Echo released their second album, Love an Adventure. It was co-produced by Brian Canham and Mark S. Berry. Another line-up change occurred after its recording with Argiro replaced by James' brother Vince Leigh on drums. The album reached No. 14 in Australia. Three of its singles reached the Top 20 including "Don't Go" , "Love an Adventure" , and "Living in a Dream" . A fourth single, "Try" , peaked at No. 60. In November 1985, Canham was part of the supergroup the Incredible Penguins, who recorded a cover of the John Lennon and Yoko Ono hit "Happy Xmas " for charity; it peaked at No. 10 in December.
In November 1986, Pseudo Echo released a cover version of the Lipps Inc. disco song "Funky Town", which spent seven weeks at number one from December. "Funky Town" brought Pseudo Echo their biggest international chart success. It reached No. 6 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States, No. 8 on the UK Singles Chart in July 1987, No. 1 in Canada, and No. 1 in New Zealand. While not initially included on Love an Adventure, "Funky Town" was included on reissues of the album that were released following the success of the single. In September 1986, James and Vince Leigh appeared in the music video for John Farnham's single, "You're the Voice" despite not contributing to its audio recording.
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