The Gadflys are an Australian group, formed by brothers Phil and Mick Moriarty and active from 1982 to the present day. They released their debut single "Don't Sleep in the Subway" / "(Do the) Apathy" in 1983. The group began as a punk and '80s New Wave pop group who built a solid 'live' following in Sydney and Canberra, playing dancy orignals and covers. In this early period '82 -'85 they incorporated electric clarinet into a basic 3-piece electric band line-up.

Splitting in 1985 they reformed in 1989 as an became an acoustic 3-piece with Andy Lewis on double bass, Mick Moriarty on classical guitar and Phil Moriarty on clarinet. Adding violin to the sound in 1992 the band set about amassing enough original tunes to fill 3 sets, recording 3 albums and 2 EPs over the next four years web|url=https://www.thegadflys.com.au/#bio%7Ctitle=Bio%7Cwebsite=The Gadlys|access-date=11 August 2022}}</ref> The group spent three years on Paul McDermotts satirical TV show Good News Week and have backed artists such as Neil Finn, Steve Harley, Glen Tilbrook, Diesel and Yothu Yindi.^[1]

In 2019, the group released their first album in 19 years.^[1]

History

Prior to The Gadflys, brothers Phil and Mick Moriarty went through Canberra punk bands The Slammers and Brainiac Five before the first iteration of The Gadflys appeared. Due to job changes and age issues, there was some shuffling in the line-up. It eventually firmed up with Elmo Reid on bass and Pete Velzen on drums.^[2]

The band split in 1985, before Phil and Mick reformed it in 1989 as a three-piece with Andy Lewis on double bass. This second iteration of The Gadflys saw the shift in style from punk to what Phil Moriarty coined as "Mongrel Jazz", saying, "It was kind of because I played clarinet which, unlike saxophone, is not really a rock instrument. We were influenced by bands like The Violent Femmes and The Pogues."

Discography

References