Ross Wilson & The Urban Legends

MyGen Profile Generator MyGen Profile Generator ***Sign up to Ross Wilson's personal email list at www.rosswilson.com.au *** 'Ross Wilson & The Urban Legends' are Ross Wilson's touring band. Its members are among the finest musos in Australia & New Zealand. Ross has his own website at rosswilson.com.au but this myspace entry is dedicated to info about all the Urban Legends.***VOCALS - Lead singer Ross Wilson is an Australian music success story who would be remarkable if only for writing the enduring Oz Rock classic 'Eagle Rock', a hit first for his 70s breakout act Daddy Cool. Since its release in 1971 'Eagle Rock' has been heard around the world. Recent outings saw it covered by kiddie kings 'The Wiggles' & included in the soundtrack of international box office smash horror movie 'Wolf Creek'.***However Ross is also responsible for many other great moments in Australian music. He wrote 'Cool World' & 'A Touch of Paradise' for Mondo Rock & sang the definitive versions of 'State of The Heart' & schoolie anthem 'Come Said The Boy' both written by Mondo Rock's guitarist Eric McCusker (now a member of The Urban Legends).***KEYBOARDS - Keyboard artistry is provided by John McAll who has his own MySpace entry to fill you in. John brings his jazz background & arranging skills to the ULs repertoire which consists primarily of material from Ross's long & successful career with songs from Daddy Cool, Mondo Rock & recent solo albums. A highlight of their collaboration is 'Mood Swing' from the 'Go Bongo Go Wild' album (2001) with John's piano out front in this sparse & succinct recording.***DRUMS & BASS - bass Chris Paraha, drums Davey Porter. Both originally from NZ Chris & Davey are much sought after for their adaptability. Playing regularly with outfits in Melbourne that range from funk to jazz, rock to Dr&bs Davey & Chris have carved out solid careers in the Land of Oz though they still side with the NZ All Blacks when it comes to rugby. Davey has a MySpace site.***GUITAR - While still in high school Eric McCusker started out playing guitar in Renee Geyer's 'Dry Red'. After ditching medical studies for music he did road time with Jeff St.John, Jon English, & The Captain Matchbox Whoopee Band before finding himself auditioning his gtr skills & songs for Ross Wilson's Mondo Rock in early 1980. He immediately provided the Mondos with their 1st big hit 'State Of The Heart' (later covered in the US by Rick Springfield). More Mondo hits flowed from Eric including 'No Time', 'The Queen & Me', 'Summer of 81', 'Chemistry' & 'Come Said The Boy' until Mondo Rock disbanded in 1990. Invited to join The Urban Legends circa 2003 Eric has reunited on the stage with Ross and they also participate from time to time in Mondo Rock reunions. Whatever the occasion the combination of Wilson & McCusker is musically potent . His Mondo Rock hits provide a key portion of The Urban Legends repertoire. Eric is also a writer-director of APRA, the Australian Performing Rights Association. ***THE ROSS WILSON TRIO a/k/a RW3 - Ross, Eric, Chris, & Davey perform semi-acoustic gigs as the RW3 with Ross switching from electric to acoustic guitar. The repertoire varies somewhat to that of the ULs. The familiar hits take on a new sound with this approach. Songs such as 'Hi Honey Ho' & 'Come Back Again' sound more like the country blues that inspired them.