This is another group from Australia whose impact on the chart was fairly modest, but they did do some good songs (and I have been able to access information about these groups and their stories thanks to the http://www.top100singles.net archive). This is proof that a lot of interesting things were happening in pop music in this part of the world in the 80s too.
The Dugites formed in the late-70s in Perth, they took their from a type of highly venomous snake, and their frontwoman was Lynda Nutter. They first caught the attention of people in May 1980 when their third single “In Your Car” was released, which was the first to be a hit. The reason for this success was rather simple really, this was a rather catchy and feelgood song.
This reached no. 34, and is their biggest hit single in Australia. This was followed in October 1980 by “South Pacific” which reached no. 90. Their debut album “The Dugites” was also released in this year, and reached no. 22, eventually selling enough copies to go Gold. And they finished off this successful year with a couple of nominations at the Countdown awards, although they didn’t win any.
In May 1981 “Waiting” reached no. 40, and the video featured some of those visual effects that were rather impressive for the time. And their second album “West Of The World” made the Top 40. They also released a few other singles over the years that failed to chart, and they made a video for “Malcolm’s Got A Problem”, although that didn’t actually seem to be a single.
They returned in April 1983 with “Juno And Me”, which reached no. 60, and by this point they had added some more saxophones to their sound. In November 1983 they had what turned out to be their final hit single when “Cut The Talking” reached no. 47. In 1984, their third and final album, also called “Cut The Talking”, failed to reached the Top 40.
As far as I know, The Dugites never released any singles in the UK (the only other country where they had a hit was New Zealand), and they split in 1984, with little being heard of them for a long time afterwards. About two decades on, some of the members got together for a new project called Snakefish, and their best-of album “Hisstorical” was also released around this time.
ADAM'S NOSTALGIC MEMORIES 