Solo and Company
Deborah Conway's solo output has included touring following an album's release with some of her session musicians. In October 1991, Conway released her first solo album, String of Pearls, which peaked at No. 20 on the ARIA Albums Chart. The album was produced by Richard Pleasance, Joe Hardy and Michael den Elzen. Singles from the album include "It's Only the Beginning" which reached No. 19 on the ARIA Singles Chart in August, "Under My Skin" (December) and "Release Me" (February 1992). For her work on the album, she won 'Best Female Artist' at the ARIA Music Awards of 1992. To support the releases, Deborah Conway and the Mothers of Pearl was formed with Alan Harding (keyboards), Peter Jones (drums, ex-Drawcards and Rose Amongst Thorns), Bill McDonald (bass guitar) and Willy Zygier (guitar). Conway and Zygier became domestic partners and have written and performed much of Conway's subsequent material.
Conway released her second album Bitch Epic in 1993, which peaked at No. 18 and was produced by Jim Rondinelli and Zygier. The cover features an upper body shot of a topless Conway, covered in Nutella (a hazelnut spread) and cream, as she is about to eat a slice of cake thereby illustrating the concept of Gluttony (see album cover at right) for ABC TV mini-series Seven Deadly Sins (1993). Conway, Paul Kelly, Vika and Linda and Renée Geyer, provided vocals and song writing for the related soundtrack. An eight-track extended play of live songs was added to Bitch Epic to form 1994's Epic Theatre, which was produced by Zygier. Her backing band were Zygier, Harding, McDonald and Hughie Benjamin (ex-Yothu Yindi) on drums.
Ultrasound, an experimental band, with Conway, Zygier, McDonald and Hester, recorded and produced their self-titled album, Ultrasound (1995). At the end of the year, Conway and Zygier relocated to England with their newborn daughter. Conway recorded a new album My Third Husband with Dave Anderson producing and, after returning to Australia in mid-1997, it was released in October.
In May 2000, Conway released her fourth studio album, Exquisite Stereo, on Shock Records. Her backing band, Deborah Conway and the City of Women, was Zygier, Cameron Reynolds (samples), Edmond Ammendola (bass guitar) and Dave Williams (drums) – the latter two are members of Augie March. This was much more of a rock record than previous releases, it "was a mature album featuring a wide variety of styles, from acoustic love song ("You Come to Earth") and Radiohead-styled epics ("Interzone") to full tilt rockers ("I Lay Down on My Pillow and Cried All Night")".
Following Exquisite Stereo, Conway played the lead role of Patsy Cline in the Australian stage production of Always... Patsy Cline and recorded a covers album of Cline's songs, called PC (2001), which was produced by Zygier and Reynolds. She supported the release by touring as Deborah Conway and the Patsy Clones which contained Zygier and Reynolds, and Gerry Hale.
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