Doug Anthony All Stars
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The Doug Anthony All Stars (DAAS) were an Australian musical comedy group comprising Tim Ferguson, Richard Fidler and Paul McDermott. The group's name refers to Doug Anthony, a country politician from the Northern Rivers district of New South Wales, who became the leader of the conservative Country Party in the 1970s and was Deputy Prime Minister under Malcolm Fraser.
DAAS started out busking on the streets of Canberra, and attracting passers-by with Paul McDermott's bizarre stunts, which included setting himself on fire or leaping into charity clothing bins. Eventually, the group entered the Adelaide Fringe Festival. After this, they entered the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.
Around that time, DAAS released their first album, Let It Swing, sold only at the group's gigs.
Following their appearance at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, the group enjoyed enormous success in the United Kingdom, making appearances on numerous BBC comedy shows. However, when they returned to Australia in the late 1980s, they were still relatively unknown.
This changed when they were invited to appear on the ABC's new comedy show, The Big Gig. This show lead to a rise in popularity, and the group released a book, entitled Book, which was a collection of dark short stories, quite in contrast to their lively and comedic stage shows.
DAAS' second album, DAAS Icon, was released in 1990.
The group appeared weekly on The Big Gig until 1991, when they starred in their own TV show, DAAS Kapital, a futuristic half-hour long sitcom about their adventures in an underwater history museum. DAAS Kapital ran for two seasons, despite being critically panned. In 1992, they also recorded a television special for the BBC in London, DAAS Love.
The Edinburgh Years, a film by DAAS, was released in 1993.
In 1994, the group returned to London, and made four appearances on a TV variety show for Channel 4, Viva Cabaret.[1]
The group split up later that year.
[edit] After the split
All three have since presented radio and television programs:
(Tim Ferguson) "Don't Forget Your Toothbrush" "Unreal TV"
(Paul McDermott) "Good News Week" "Triple J Breakfast" "Strictly Dancing"
(Richard Fidler) "Mouthing Off" "Race Around the World" "Vulture"
In 2003, after Holly Robinson (daughter of Good News Week producer Ted Robinson) died of cancer, a special gala comedy event was held, called "For Holly". At Holly's request, DAAS performed at both her funeral and "For Holly", their first appearance as a trio for some years. They performed "Throw Your Arms Around Me", a song by Hunters & Collectors that DAAS frequently covered in their later years.
[edit] Discography
Bliss Bliss was a very early recording sold only at gigs. With only four tracks. It is very, very rare.
Let it Swing This was a very early release from the Dougs, from the late 80s. It was available at their shows, and then later through their fanclub, Hateline. It is very difficult to get an original copy, but there are a lot of bootlegged copies floating around.
Icon Icon was released in LP, CD and cassette versions in about 1990, by DAAS Corp. It's catalog number is 466852 2.
Bottle Bottle was the single that accompanied Icon. It was in at least CD and cassette versions in about 1990, by DAAS Corp. The single contained Bottle and the Doug's version of "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood".
Hippie This is a promo only 7" single that was sent out to radio stations when Icon was released. It is very rare.
Stairways to Heaven This CD was a release from Andrew Denton's The Money Or The Gun program, and it contins 25 versions of Blue, one of which was done by DAAS with Barry Crocker.
Live in Endinbrough Live In Edinburgh was a bootleg recorded by DAAS in the early-90s. It was available at their shows and through their fanclub.
Dead & Alive The Dead & Alive CD (also available in video format was recorded in London in 1993.It was released through East West and it's catalog number was 4509 94179-2.
Throw your arms around me This was a promo only single that was sent out to radio stations when Dead & Alive was released. It is very rare.
Blue Blue was an album the Doug's recorded in the early 90s, but it was never commercially released, for various reasons. Therefore, it is fairly impossible to get an original copy, but bootlegs are fairly easy to obtain.
Last concert The Last Concert CD and cassette was a taping of one of the Doug's last shows in 1995.
