The Chosen Few (1970s Australian band)

The Chosen Few
The Chosen Few
Origin	Mornington Peninsula, Victoria, Australia
Genres	Punk rock
Years active	1978–1979, 1998–1999
Labels	A Few, Buckwheat Headlock/Existential Vacuum, Au Go Go, Hate
Past members	Ian Cunningham; Cal McAlpine; Iain Weaver; Bruce Friday; Bill Blanche; Jeff Hussey;

The Chosen Few were an Australian punk band which formed in 1978. Three founding band mates were all from an earlier hard rock band, Deathwish: Ian John Cunningham on bass guitar (later on lead vocals), Calum "Cal" McAlpine on drums and Bruce Friday on guitar.^[1] They were soon joined by Iain Weaver on lead vocals (died 1995).^[1] The Chosen Few formed in the Mornington Peninsula and played a combination of covers of United States-influenced punk (MC5, Stooges) and hard driven original numbers inspired by Lobby Loyde and the Coloured Balls and The Saints.

In 1978 The Chosen Few released a six-track extended play, The Jokes on Us.^[1] It was recorded in a studio in Smith Street, Collingwood,^[1] with Baron Rolls as audio engineer. The band played regularly around the Melbourne and Adelaide punk scenes but disbanded in May 1979. They joined Bohdan X (ex-JAB) as Bohdan and the Instigators but they broke up by late 1980.^[2]

There was a short lived reunion of The Chosen Few in 1998 with a new line up: Cunningham, now on lead vocals, and McAlpine, were joined by Bill Blanche on bass guitar and Jeff Hussey on lead guitar. Two albums were released in that year: Do the Manic (Buckwheat Headlock Productions/Existential Vacuum Records, US) and A Root and a Beer (Au Go Go Records).^[1] They were followed by a double-CD album, Really Gonna Punch You Out (Hate Records, Italy), in 2001.

The band revived briefly in 2018 with the following membership: Ian Cunningham (lead vocals), Jeff Hussey (guitar), Calum Hussey (guitar), Brad Barry (bass) and Alessandro Coco (drums). The band rehearsed for a couple of months intending to play at a punk festival but that event did not eventuate.

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Li, Simon. "Reviewed". I-94 Bar. Archived from the original on 17 December 2010. Retrieved 31 March 2014.
^ McFarlane, Ian (1999). "Encyclopedia entry for 'JAB'". Encyclopedia of Australian Rock and Pop. St Leonards, NSW: Allen & Unwin. ISBN 1-86508-072-1. Archived from the original on 23 August 2004. Retrieved 25 August 2013.

[Li-1] Li, Simon. "Reviewed". I-94 Bar. Archived from the original on 17 December 2010. Retrieved 31 March 2014.

[McFarlane-2] McFarlane, Ian (1999). "Encyclopedia entry for 'JAB'". Encyclopedia of Australian Rock and Pop. St Leonards, NSW: Allen & Unwin. ISBN 1-86508-072-1. Archived from the original on 23 August 2004. Retrieved 25 August 2013.

[1]

[2]