Dear Enemy
There are at least two artists by this name:
1. A currently active metal band from Atlanta, Georgia
2. A disbanded Australian synth pop and indie rock group of the 80s
1. Dear Enemy formed in early 2005 from the ashes of some of Atlanta's best-known local groups, determining that they needed to join together to form a new metal project. They were motivated by a single desire: to completely eliminate egos and distractions by making the hardest, most direct music they can, with the broadest possible appeal. In nature, the "Dear Enemy" effect occurs when powerful rivals agree to cooperate for the greater good rather than slug it out, still remaining at odds yet challenging that energy positively.
The difference between their past efforts and Dear Enemy became evident on the group's 2005 demo, produced by Brian Parker. Songs like "Days Of Regret" and "Rise Up" go straight for the jugular, as jackhammer riffs and precision rhythms explode into melodies that leave you no choice but to pump your fist and sing along.
Already in their short life as a band, Dear Enemy has opened for such national acts as Chevelle, Three Days Grace, Dark New Day, Hoobastank, Nonpoint, Silent Civilian, Burn Season and more. They continue to make waves reaching fans all over the world with their unique promotional techniques, their persistance, and their overdriven work ethic. It doesn't hurt that the band is known as one of the most approachable in the scene. The future looks bright for this powerhouse quintet and the sky is the limit to what they can do with their hard hitting riffs, memorable vocal melodies and undeniable live show.
In the meantime, Dear Enemy plans to follow its own motto, and keep its friends close, and its enemies dear. Except by the time everyone gets a listen...the band may not have any enemies left.
2. Dear Enemy was an Australian group that got started in 1982. Breaking up in 1988, the band is one of the best cases for the term 'one hit wonder' since that term's invention. Their classic tune "Computer One" achieved a number of things, not just mixing synthpop with spirited indie rock but also being an astonishingly close predictor of the future given how the narrator seeks the help of a powerful computational friend after his girlfriend left him and treats the machine akin to a spiritual guide almost (the song's mingling of man with machine being like the songs of Kraftwerk and OMD). Nonetheless, the group was a rock n roll band at heart, interested in pursuing a far more conventional sound in most of their other work, and the dichotomy proved their undoing.
The Australian band took their name from the 'Ginger Meggs' comic strip, in which the hero receives letters from his rival which are always addressed to 'Dear Enemy'. Coming out of Melbourne, the group formed in 1982 and had an original lineup of vocalist Ron Martini, guitarists Chris Langford and Les Barker (ex-Benders), keyboardist Martin Fisher (ex-Little Heroes), bassist Peter Leslie (also ex-Little Heroes), and drummer Ian Morrison. Prior to life as "Dear Enemy", they had played together as a covers band called Stonewall.
The band picked up a strong following on the live circuit shortly. In 1983, the guys signed a recording contract with the American label EMI/Capitol, making history one of the first Australian bands signed direct to an overseas label. The band recorded their debut album, titled 'Ransom Note' in the U.S. under the guidance of producer Peter McIan, who had been responsible for releases by Men at Work and Mondo Rock. In fact, the band were signed with the specific condition that Peter McIan oversee the recording sessions. The album generated three singles that the group felt were destined to be hits.
The first of which, "Computer One", was written in America by Langford and Fisher, and the track had a mellow, melancholic tone in which indie rock and synthpop became mixed, with a music video involving all sorts of computer-related items created. As stated before, the somewhat prophetic tune caught on to a huge audience across the world and proved to be Dear Enemy’s one and only major hit, peaking at #5 on the Australian charts in late 1983. While the guys naturally celebrated, it soon became clear that their smash success ended up being something like a 'black sheep hit', expectations piled on them as they went on.
The band's second single, "The Good Life", stalled at #39 a few months later, providing something of a bad omen. The slide continued with the third single, "Kids On The Street", failing to chart. 'Ransom Note' itself sold more than 25,000 units and reached #15 on the national album charts, which the band celebrated, but critics then and now have panned the album for being heavily uneven in quality terms from song to song. At any rate, the band were between a rock and a hard place yet felt determined to push themselves back into mainstream popularity.
Dear Enemy released a new single a few months later, with the track, "New Hero", being featured on the soundtrack to the Australian motion picture 'Street Hero'. The single only reached #93, however. A couple of lineup changes, with Joey Amenta replacing Barker in April 1985, and two more flop singles, "Stay" and "You're Right, You're Right", followed over the next four years before Dear Enemy’s system crashed, The guys called it a day at the end of 1988.
Dear Enemy did record tracks for a second album during this period, but contract and legal problems meant that the album didn't see the light of day. Ron Martini also released a CD entitled Big Night Out in 1996 with backing band The Missiles Of Love. Ian Morrison went onto perform with Goanna.
In 2000 EMI released a CD Best of Dear Enemy (Ransom Note and Beyond) which was a compilation of all the band's releases, this was followed in 2004 by a Best of, which was basically Ransom Note and the inclusion of the single "New Hero". Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.
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