The Reels
The Reels is an Australian rock–indie pop group which formed in Dubbo, New South Wales, in 1976, disbanded in 1991, and reformed in 2007. Their 1981 song "Quasimodo's Dream" was voted one of the Top 10 Australian songs of all time by a 100-member panel from Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA) in 2001. The Reels had top-10 Australian Kent Music Report Singles Chart success with covers of Herb Alpert's "This Guy's in Love With You" (No. 7, 1982) and Creedence Clearwater Revival's "Bad Moon Rising" (No. 11, 1986). Rock music historian Ian McFarlane described them as "one of the most original and invigorating pop bands to emerge from the Australian New Wave movement of the late 1970s".
Early years
Native Sons, consisting of John Bliss on drums, Craig Hooper on lead guitar and synthesiser, and Dave Mason on vocals, formed in the country town of Dubbo, New South Wales in 1976. Mason is the son of NSW parliamentarian, John Mason, who was the state's Liberal Party leader during 1978–1981.
The Reels (album)
The Reels is the self-titled debut album by Australian band The Reels, released in 1979. It was produced by Mark Opitz who also produced albums for Cold Chisel and AC/DC. 2 editions of the album were released, the Australian one having two more tracks and a re-arranged tracklisting. The single "Love Will Find a Way" was the group's first well known song, charting in the top 40 in Australia.
In June 2008, Missing Link Records owner and country musician, Keith Glass, told The Sydney Morning Herald that his favourite Australian album of the previous 50 years was The Reels: "[they] changed my life. From the first night I saw them on Countdown and went to the gig straight afterwards, they enchanted me. So clever, so cutting and quite XTC now I look back on it. The jerky new wave sounds and the image took me in from day one".
