{"id":12,"date":"2024-01-06T08:40:17","date_gmt":"2024-01-06T08:40:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/denniswilson.com.au\/site\/?page_id=12"},"modified":"2024-04-25T06:54:39","modified_gmt":"2024-04-25T06:54:39","slug":"biography","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/denniswilson.com.au\/site\/biography\/","title":{"rendered":"Biography"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

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After making his first record at age 16 and his first TV appearance at 17 and recording with the Bee Gees and other Australian artists, Dennis formed the band\u00a0Mecca\u00a0<\/a>with bass player Bob Daisley, and recorded a single, \u201cBlack Sally\u201d in 1969. This song was covered by the Human Instinct in New Zealand and has recently been part of the soundtrack of the movie \u201cRain\u201d, which features music by Neil Finn.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dennis and Bob Daisley were joined by guitarist Tim Gaze and drummer Dannie Davidson to form\u00a0Kahvas Jute<\/a>\u00a0in 1970. The band recorded the album \u201cWide Open\u201d shortly after they formed, with Dennis writing and singing most of the songs, and playing dual lead guitar with Tim. \u201cWide Open\u201d now rates as one of the top five most collectable Australian records. At the age of 21, while with Kahvas Jute, Dennis was voted Number 5 Rock Guitarist in Australia in a national magazine poll. Bob Daisley was voted Number 6 Bass Player.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 1973 Dennis moved to England with Dannie Davidson, where they played as Kahvas Jute, with bass players Mick Smith and David O\u2019List (formerly guitarist with the Nice). During this time Dennis also worked as a sound engineer with the famous English blues band Chicken Shack.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 1974 Dennis returned to Australia and played with Kahvas Jute for about a year, during which they played with Bo Diddley, as his backing band for a national tour, after which he co-founded\u00a0Chariot<\/a>, a band which toured constantly for four years, releasing two singles, and becoming a well-known act nationally, during which time Dennis furthered his reputation as one of Australia\u2019s foremost electric guitarists.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 1979 the\u00a0Dennis Wilson Band<\/a>\u00a0was formed, and meanwhile Dennis released a solo single \u201cBobby and the Space Invaders\u201d which was also released in Britain and Europe. This was supposed to be a commercial which Dennis had written for the Space Invaders game, but the record company decided to release it as a single. In 1980 producer Charles Fisher flew Dennis to America where he stayed for just over two months writing and recording new songs for his album \u201cWalking On Thin Ice.\u201d These tracks were recorded at the House of Music in West Orange New Jersey, and featured musicians were Mark Radice on keyboards, who had played with Aerosmith, and Leo Damien on drums, who played with Robert Palmer. Bass was played by New Jersey musician Richard Bunkowitz. Other tracks on this album were recorded at Trafalgar Studios in Sydney, produced by Charles Fisher and featuring Jackie Orszaczky on bass, Steve Hopes on drums and Cos Russo on keyboards.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some months after arriving back in Australia Dennis formed the\u00a0Deltoids<\/a>, a band based on blues and rockabilly, which became very popular in the new pub rock scene. At the same time Dennis was playing on many sessions for other artists and producers, such as Alan Caswell, Loaded Dice, Electric Pandas, Screaming Tribesmen, Ol\u2019 55 and many others. He also wrote music for a scene in the Cannes award winning Australian movie \u201cGoing Down\u201d, and composed and recorded a song for the ABC TV series \u201cFour Corners.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 1982 Dennis joined\u00a0Swanee<\/a>, John Swan\u2019s band. Swan, older brother of Jimmy Barnes, had just recorded a new album and had formed a new band, which Dennis played with for about four years. Between touring and recording with Swanee, Dennis continued to play gigs with the Deltoids. While he was with Swanee, Dennis played on two albums, \u201cBushido\u201d, and \u201cReady For Action\u201d, a live album. Swanee recorded \u201cTurn Away,\u201d written by Dennis, on the \u201cBushido\u201d album. This song was also released by Swanee as a single. The Deltoids continued to play gigs, with a changing lineup, which included some of Sydney\u2019s finest rhythm sections; drummers Mark Kennedy, Hamish Stewart, John Watson, Loppy Morris, Brian Morris, Rob Grosser and more, bass players John Strangio, Jackie Orszazcky, James Rattray and sometimes Bob Daisley would drop in and jam when he was in Australia. Dennis also played with\u00a0 Le<\/a> <\/a>Bop<\/a>, a band of session players, and played on Jackie Orszaczky\u2019s \u201cJump Back Jack\u201d album. During this period Dennis\u2019s song \u201cWalking On Thin Ice\u201d was included in the repertoire of \u201cMy Old School\u201d, a touring band formed by ex-Steely Dan musicians Elliott Randall and Jeff \u201cSkunk\u201d Baxter.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

During the late 1980\u2019s Dennis joined the Doc Span Band with Doc on harmonica and vocals, James Rattray on bass and Mark Kennedy on drums. In 1990 Dennis joined ex-Mi-Sex singer Steve Gilpin\u2019s band\u00a0Under Rapz<\/a>. This band continued until Steve Gilpin\u2019s untimely death in 1992. Dennis also won the first North Coast Music Industry Association Award for Song of the Year for his composition \u201cCalling You\u201d, recorded with Steve Gilpin, who won the award for Vocalist of the Year for the same recording.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dennis formed a band called\u00a0Catch 22<\/a>\u00a0in 1993. This band featured Swiss harmonica legend Pfuri Baldenweg, namesake of the Hohner \u201cPfuri\u201d model harmonica. They played mostly original songs by Dennis and Pfuri, who also played assorted exotic and home-made instruments. During the next few years Dennis played a re-union concert with the original Kahvas Jute lineup, and recorded some new material with Bob Daisley and Dannie Davidson. He also played lap steel and acoustic guitar on Olivia Newton-John\u2019s hit single \u201cNo Matter What\u201d.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

During the mid 1990\u2019s Dennis began doing solo performances with an acoustic guitar. He has continued since then to perform both as a solo act and with a band. Dennis also played lead guitar with Brian Cadd on several concerts.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 1999 Dennis composed, performed and recorded music for several episodes of Steve Irwin\u2019s\u00a0Crocodile Hunter<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0 Crocodile Hunter\u2019s Croc Files<\/a>, which soon became the number one rating shows on Discovery Channel. Dennis did more Croc Files music in 2000, and also composed music for the film \u201cDancing On Glass\u201d. Dennis has since continued performing as a solo artist and with his band, and has also taught at the Northern Rivers Conservatorium and the Southern Cross University.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dennis has also engineered recordings by Steve Russell, Jack Thorncraft, Margot Heidenreich, The Stingrays, So What and others.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2003<\/strong> Dennis recorded \u201cAin\u2019t It Strange\u201d, a CD of original songs, on which he plays acoustic guitar, lap steel and acoustic slide guitar. He is joined by Greg Lyon on bass and Alan Park on keyboards.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/body>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"