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Geeza are an Australian rock band formed in late 1973 in Sydney by Tony Cini, Alan Watts, Gabriel Vendetti, Ian Marshall, Lee Martin, Allan Fraiel and Ian Webb. Early in their career they performed as The Geeza Rock'n'Roll Show. The current lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist, Terry Halliday, has led the band through several incarnations since 1975 with founding members Cini, Watts, Marshall and Webb departing. The remaining four members released Geeza's only album to date, Streetlife, in late 1977. The album spawned a top 100 single, "Run 'n' Hide" on the Australian Kent Music Report Singles Chart. The group disbanded in 1979, before being reformed by Halliday in 2010, as the sole member from their 1970s line-up.

History [link]

Early history [link]

Geeza was formed in Sydney's western suburbs in late 1973 by vocalists Tony Cini and Alan Watts, guitarists Gabriel Vendetti and Ian Marshall, bass guitarist Lee Martin (aka Martin Adamson) and drummers Allan Fraiel and Ian Webb.^[1] The band performed largely at school dances during their early career and were known for their showmanship. The band's cabaret-style theatrical performances included exploding phone boxes and other extravagant props that were used to win over audiences across Sydney.^[2]

In September 1975, the band underwent a significant change of style. Cini, Watts, Marshall and Webb departed the band and Terry Halliday (aka Terry Meaney) joined as the band's new lead vocalist and front man. Halliday altered Geeza's performances and modified the group's name to The Geeza Rock 'n' Roll Show to emphasise their rehearsed and grandiose gigs. The group started playing some songs in drag, which then led to the writing of the track "Dragon Queen" by Adamson, Vendetti, Fraiel and Meaney.^[3]

The band went on to perform live on the back of a flatbed truck as it drove around Parramatta in late 1975, in a similar manner to AC/DC who did the same early the next year. Geeza signed with Living Sound Music. The band's first single, "Vambo", was a cover version of The Sensational Alex Harvey Band's 1973 track "Vambo Marble Eye".^[2] It was released by Living Sound in April 1976 and they had shortened their name to Geeza.^[2]

[edit] Streetlife to break-up

"Vambo" had garnered enough attention in Geeza to warrant the recording of their first and – as of January 2012 – only studio album, Streetlife. So late in 1976, the group returned to Atlantic Studios to record, which was released in mid-1977.^[1] Streetlife spawned two singles, "Run 'n' Hide" and "Song to Warilla", the former of which peaked at number 56 on the Australian Kent Music Report Singles Chart.^[4][5] The album was produced by Mario Millo (ex-Sebastian Hardie, Windchase) at.^[2] "Run 'n' Hide" was written by Martin and the album was issued by Laser Records.^[6][7]

Immediately following the release of Streetlife, bassist and songwriter Martin departed the band and was replaced by Steve Gronow. Geeza then went on to support the Ted Mulry Gang on their three-month national tour to support their LP, Disturbing the Peace, from April to June 1978. Following the tour, Fraiel and Gronow left the band and were replaced by John Adams and Scott Cornell, respectively, from Railroad Gin. Halliday left later that year, to be replaced by Barrington Davis (ex-Powerpact, Kahvas Jute). Early in 1979, Vendetti, Cornell and Adams then left, being replaced by Xerxes Salazar, Dominic Goffredo (who had filled in for Cornell previously) and Warwick Hoffman respectively.

The line-up of Davis, Salazar, Goffredo and Hoffman wrote and recorded 8 new tracks, however these tracks were not released as Geeza broke up soon after recording.^[8]

Reformation [link]

In 2010, former lead vocalist Terry Halliday contacted the other members of Geeza's 1977 lineup (Gabriel Vendetti, Lee Martin and Allan Fraiel) in an attempt to reform the band. However, the other members were unavailable and so gave Halliday permission to reform Geeza with an all new lineup. Halliday then contacted guitarist Brad Johns, bass guitarist Martin Skipper, drummer Tony Meaney and saxophonist Martyn Wright, who all joined the band for a number of performances during 2010.

However, this lineup would not last, as Johns and Skipper departed the band before the end of the year and they were replaced in late 2011 by Chris Stopforth and Brooke Webb, respectively.

Band members [link]

Current members

• Terry Halliday – vocals, rhythm guitar, synthesiser (1975–1979, 2010–present)
• Chris Stopforth – lead guitar (2011–present)
• Brooke Webb – bass guitar (2011–present)
• Tony Meaney – drums (2010–present)
• Martyn Wright – saxophone (2010–present)

Past members

• Tony Cini – vocals (1973–1975)
• Alan Watts – vocals (1973–1975)
• Gabriel Vendetti – guitar (1973–1979)
• Ian Marshall – guitar (1973–1975)
• Lee Martin – bass guitar (1973–1977)
• Allan Fraiel – drums (1973–1978)
• Ian Webb – drums (1973–1975)
• Steve Gronow – bass guitar (1977–1978)
• Barrington Davis – vocals (1978–1980)
• Dominic Goffredo – bass guitar (1978–1980)
• Scott Cornell – bass guitar (1978–1979)
• John Adams – drums (1978–1979)
• Xerxes Salazar – guitar (1979–1980)
• Warwick Hoffman – drums (1979–1980)
• Brad Johns – guitar (2010)
• Martin Skipper – bass guitar (2010)

 id:vocals  value:red         legend:Vocals
 id:guitar  value:green       legend:Guitar
 id:bass    value:blue        legend:Bass
 id:drums   value:orange      legend:Drums
 id:saxophone    value:yellow      legend:Saxophone
 id:Lines   value:black       legend:Studio_Albums
 id:Lines2  value:gray(0.85)  legend:Recording_of_Live_Albums

 bar:TonyC text:"Tony Cini"
 bar:Alan text:"Alan Watts"
 bar:Gabriel text:"Gabriel Vendetti"
 bar:IanM text:"Ian Marshall"
 bar:Lee text:"Lee Martin"
 bar:Allan text:"Allan Fraiel"
 bar:IanW text:"Ian Webb"
 bar:Terry text:"Terry Halliday"
 bar:Steve text:"Steve Gronow"
 bar:Barrington text:"Barrington Davis"
 bar:Dominic text:"Dominic Goffredo"
 bar:Scott text:"Scott Cornell"
 bar:John text:"John Adams"
 bar:Xerxes text:"Xerxes Salazar"
 bar:Warwick text:"Warwick Hoffman"
 bar:Brad text:"Brad Johns"
 bar:Martin text:"Martin Skipper"
 bar:TonyM text:"Tony Meaney"
 bar:Martyn text:"Martyn Wright"
 bar:Chris text:"Chris Stopforth"
 bar:Brooke text:"Brooke Webb"

 width:10 textcolor:black align:left anchor:from shift:(10,-4)
 bar:TonyC from:01/09/1973 till:01/09/1975 color:vocals
 bar:Alan from:01/09/1973 till:01/09/1975 color:vocals
 bar:Gabriel from:01/09/1973 till:28/02/1979 color:guitar
 bar:IanM from:01/09/1973 till:01/09/1975 color:guitar
 bar:Lee from:01/09/1973 till:30/09/1977 color:bass
 bar:Allan from:01/09/1973 till:30/06/1978 color:drums
 bar:IanW from:01/09/1973 till:01/09/1975 color:drums
 bar:Terry from:01/09/1975 till:30/11/1978 color:vocals
 bar:Terry from:01/01/2010 till:end color:vocals
 bar:Steve from:01/10/1977 till:30/06/1978 color:bass
 bar:Barrington from:01/12/1978 till:31/01/1980 color:vocals
 bar:Dominic from:01/01/1978 till:31/01/1980 color:bass
 bar:Scott from:01/07/1978 till:28/02/1979 color:bass
 bar:John from:01/07/1978 till:28/02/1979 color:drums
 bar:Xerxes from:01/03/1979 till:31/01/1980 color:guitar
 bar:Warwick from:01/03/1979 till:31/01/1980 color:drums
 bar:Brad from:01/01/2010 till:31/01/2011 color:guitar
 bar:Martin from:01/01/2010 till:31/01/2011 color:bass
 bar:TonyM from:01/01/2010 till:end color:drums
 bar:Martyn from:01/01/2010 till:end color:saxophone
 bar:Chris from:01/01/2011 till:end color:guitar
 bar:Brooke  from:01/01/2011 till:end color:bass

at:01/06/1977 color:black layer:back

References [link]