Ian Moss

Infobox musical artist

| |
Name = Ian Moss
| Landscape =
Background = solo_singer
Birth_name = Ian Moss
Alias =
Born = March, 1955
Died =
Origin = Alice Springs, Australia
Instrument = Voice, Guitar
Genre = Rock
Blues
Occupation = Musician
Singer
Songwriter
Years_active = 1973 -
Label = Liberation Music, Mushroom Records
Associated_acts =Cold Chisel
Catfish
URL = [http://www.mosstrooper.com.au Official Site]
Current_members =
Past_members =
Notable_instruments =

Ian Moss is an Australian rock musician, best known as the lead guitarist and occasional singer with Cold Chisel. In that group's initial ten year career, Moss recorded eight albums, three of which were #1 national hits. His solo career began with a #1 album and single and five ARIA Awards. Since then his career has been more low-key, interspersed with periodic tours and albums with a reformed Cold Chisel.

Early life and Cold Chisel

Born in Alice Springs to Gavin Payne and Mrs De Gaspri in March 1955, Moss originally took piano lessons but switched to guitar at age 11. After attending high school in Adelaide he met songwriter and organist Don Walker [http://www.abc.net.au/southwestwa/stories/s1242563.htm "Ian Moss from Cold Chisel to Solo Performer", ABC South West WA 12 November, 2004] and together they joined bass player Les Kaczmarek in a band called Orange. Within months the line-up also included drummer Steve Prestwich and singer Jim Barnes and the group's name became Cold Chisel. While Moss' main role in the band was as its guitarist, he would often be called upon to take on lead vocals as well when Barnes would quit, as he did on a regular basis [Creswell, Toby "Jimmy Barnes: Too Much Ain't Enough" (1993)] . After periods spent in Adelaide, Armidale and Melbourne, Cold Chisel settled in Sydney in mid-1977 and finally won a recording contract with WEA late that year. While Barnes remained the group's identifiable front man and lead vocalist, Moss also added lead vocal to several of the band's songs, the first of which was "One Long Day", the B-side of the "Khe Sanh" single and the closing track on side one of the debut album. His vocals feature on some of the band's best known songs, including the hits "My Baby", "When the War is Over" and "Saturday Night" and on "Bow River", which Moss wrote and the track that has since become his signature tune. "Bow River" was the only Cold Chisel song Moss performed when he returned to live work as a solo artist in 1988 and remains the only one he consistently performs to the present. Moss also sang lead on Cold Chisel's version of "Georgia" which became a staple of their live shows, although the only recording of this is on the 1984 album "Barking Spiders Live: 1983".

Already established as a singer and musician, by late in the band's career Moss had also gained status as a songwriter, contributing "Never Before" for the "East" album, the track that was chosen as the first to be aired by Triple J when it swtiched from AM to FM in 1980. Songs on later albums included "Bow River" on "Circus Animals" and "Twentieth Century's" "Janelle". He also featured on recordings by other artists, playing a guitar solo on the track "Skin" from the album "Icehouse" by Sydney New Wave band Flowers and an uncredited appearance on Richard Clapton's "The Great Escape", that also featured Jimmy Barnes.

olo career

After Cold Chisel disbanded in 1983, Moss retired from the music industry for several years before launching a solo career in 1988. His first single, "Tucker's Daughter", co-written with Don Walker, was released on Mushroom Records in March 1989 and was a No. 1 hit. Another Walker composition, "Telephone Booth", also went Top 10. "Matchbook", released in August, reached number one on the album charts, remaining at the peak spot for three weeks. Two further singles, "Out of the Fire" and "Mr. Rain" were also minor hits and at the ARIA Awards early the following year Moss won five awards including Best Male Artist and Album of the Year.

1991's "Worlds Away" featured the same style of commercial pop-rock as "Matchbook" but was less successful and Moss did not record another album of his own for five years. In the meantime, however, he played in Don Walker's Catfish, contributing to the "Ruby" album. He also made guest appearances on albums by The Black Sorrows and Richard Clapton, and made a cameo on Jimmy Barnes' Heat, the first time he had worked with Barnes in ten years.

His "Petrolhead" album from 1996 was an album of hard-edged raw blues and was followed a year later by a live album. Neither made an impact on the national chart, but during 1998, after fifteen years Cold Chisel reunited to record a new album, "The Last Wave of Summer" and perform live once again. The reunion was a huge success, resulting in sold out concerts with both the album and several singles becoming chart hits. Another Cold Chisel tour in 2003 proved to be just as successful.

During 2005, Moss was invited to record an album of acoustic songs for Liberation Music and "Six Strings" was the result. To support the release he undertook an extensive tour with former Noiseworks and INXS singer Jon Stevens. The same year he worked with Barnes again on "Double Happiness".

Ian Moss' sixth album "Let's All Get Together" was released in 2007.

Ian performed live and sang from his album "Let's All Get Together" on ABC TV's "The Sideshow With Paul McDermott" on Saturday 1st September 2007

Discography

with Cold Chisel:

entire catalogue, see Cold Chisel

solo:

Infobox Discography
Type = studio
Name = Matchbook
Released = 1989
Label = Mushroom Records
Producer =
Format = LP, Cassette, CD
Chart position= 1
Certification =
Sales =
Singles = "Tucker's Daughter", "Telephone Booth", "Out of the Fire", "Mr Rain"
from Album =
Writer =
Tracks =
Other info =

Infobox Discography
Type = studio
Name = Worlds Away
Released = 1991
Label = Mushroom
Producer =
Format = Cassette, CD
Chart position=
Certification =
Sales =
Singles = "Slip Away", "Never Give Up"
from Album =
Writer =
Tracks =
Other info =

Infobox Discography
Type = studio
Name = Petrolhead
Released = 1996
Label = Mushroom
Producer =
Format = CD
Chart position=
Certification =
Sales =
Singles =
from Album =
Writer =
Tracks =
Other info =

Infobox Discography
Type = live
Name = Live
Released = 1997
Label = Mushroom
Producer =
Format = CD
Chart position=
Certification =
Sales =
Singles =
from Album =
Writer =
Tracks =
Other info =

Infobox Discography
Type = studio
Name = Six Strings
Released = 2005
Label = Liberation Music
Producer =
Format = CD
Chart position=
Certification =
Sales =
Singles =
from Album =
Writer =
Tracks =
Other info =

Infobox Discography
Type = studio
Name = Let's All Get Together
Released = 2007
Label =
Producer =
Format = CD
Chart position= 49
Certification =
Sales =
Singles =
from Album =
Writer =
Tracks =
Other info =

Other appearances:

*Flowers - "Icehouse" (1980)
*Richard Clapton - "The Great Escape" (1982)
*Catfish - "Ruby" (1991)
*The Black Sorrows - "Better Times" (1992)
*Jimmy Barnes - "Heat" (1993)
*Richard Clapton - "Distant Thunder" (1993)
*Don Walker - "We're All Gonna Die" (1995)
*Richard Clapton - "Diamond Mine" (2004)
*Jimmy Barnes - "Double Happiness (2005)

References

External links

* [http://www.ianmoss.com.au/ Official website]
* [http://www.coldchisel.com.au/bioim.html Bio at official Cold Chisel website]