Biography
Little Heroes were formed from the remnants of The Secret Police. The Secret Police were a popular Melbourne rock band, comprising vocalist/guitarist/songwriter Roger Hart(aka Roger Wells), bassist Neil Walker was replaced by John Taylor, drummer Bruce Pumpa, guitarist Andrew Callender, and saxophonist Peter Linley. Secret Police did not issue any records, although posthumously the band contributed the tracks "Emotion" and "Everybody Looks Lonely at Night" to Missing Links' 1981 compilation album The Melbourne Club. In 1980 Hart, Taylor and Pumpa joined keyboardist David Crosbie to start a new band called The Little Heroes.
The new line-up competed in the Victorian State heat of the 1980 Battle of the Sounds, finishing a creditable second. The result was enough to advance The Little Heroes to the national final in Sydney, which they won, earning $5000. This resulted in the band recording and releasing their debut single "She Says"/"Coming Home" in November 1980. On the strength of this independent release they were signed to the Giant Records/CBS label to record their debut album.
Prior to recording the album the band recruited a new drummer, Huk Treloar (ex-Bleeding Hearts) to replace Pumpa. The band's self titled debut album was released in August, 1981 and reached #81 on the Australian album charts. It produced the singles "For a Bleeding Heart"/"She Says" (March, 1981), "Last Number One"/"Catch Me" (June, 1981), and "India Was Calling Me"/"Pretty Shadow" (September, 1981) all of which failed to chart. In August 1981 Alan 'Clutch' Robertson replaced Treloar on drums.
In early 1982, now signed to EMI Records, the band started the recording of their second album Play by Numbers at Melbourne's Armstrong Studios with Australian producer Dave Marrett. The first single from the Armstrong sessions was "One Perfect Day". Released in May 1982 "One Perfect Day" reached #12 nationally and #6 in Victoria. The Armstrong recording sessions also produced the second single "Young Hearts" which reached #42 on the national singles charts.
Martin Fisher (ex-Breakers) then replaced Crosbie on keyboards, and Peter Leslie replaced Taylor on bass. The new lineup (Hart, Robertson, Leslie, Fisher) completed the recording of Play by Numbers at 301 Studios in Sydney with Dave Marrett. The album was released in August 1982 and peaked at #37 on the national album charts. The album yielded a third single "Saturday (Afternoon) Inside" released In October 1982 but failed to chart.
Fisher and Leslie left to join Dear Enemy and were replaced by Paul Brickhill (ex-MEO-245) on keyboards and bass player Rick Loriot (ex-Inserts). Loriot left after a few months and was replaced by Anthony Tavasz (ex-Modesty).The band added guitarist Paul Bell which allowed Hart more freedom as lead vocalist. Hart, Robertson, Bell, Brickhill, Tavasz traveled to the United Kingdom in June 1983 to record their third album Watch the World at Farmyard Studios with UK producer Rupert Hine (The Fixx, Howard Jones). The album was released in September 1983 and reached #50 nationally. The first single "Watch the World" was released in August 1983 reaching #73, with the second single "Bon Voyage" released in November reaching #51. A third single "Modern Times" was released but failed to chart.
In March 1984 Roger Hart/Wells announced he was leaving the band and as a result the Little Heroes formally disbanded.
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