Angry Anderson: Difference between revisions

Gary "Angry" Anderson AM is an Australian rock singer, television presenter/reporter and actor. He is best known as the vocalist with the hard rock band Rose Tattoo since 1976 but he is also recognised for his acting roles and his charity work. On Australia Day, 1993, he was made a Member of the Order of Australia for his role as a youth advocate.

Born Gary Anderson on 5 August 1947 in Melbourne to an Australian father and Mauritian mother, first came to notice as the singer with Buster Brown, a band he fronted between 1973 and 1975. Along with himself, the original line-up also featured drummer Phil Rudd, who would leave the group in 1974 to join AC/DC and also with Paul Grant as guitarist who still plays locally in Melbourne. Buster Brown released an album, Something to Say in 1975, before disbanding the same year.

Rose Tattoo had been formed by Peter Wells of the heavy metal band Buffalo. Anderson replaced the group's original singer Tony Lake and when drummer Michael Vandersluys departed soon afterwards, he was replaced by Dallas Royal, who had been Rudd's replacement in Buster Brown.

Anderson led Rose Tattoo for six studio albums until disbanding the group in 1987, by which time he was the only member remaining from the first touring line-up. During 1986, as the group was winding down following the recording of the album Beats From a Single Drum, Anderson joined The Party Boys for an Australian tour, but never recorded with them. The previous year he appeared as the character Ironbar Bassey in the film Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome. By this time Anderson had established himself as an advocate on social issues and made regular appearances on the Channel Nine program A Current Affair as a human interest reporter.

In 1987 he had his biggest hit when the ballad "Suddenly" from the Beats from a Single Drum album was used as the wedding theme for the Neighbours episode in which the popular characters Charlene Robinson and Scott Robinson married. The track reached #1 in Australia and # 3 in Britain. Beats from a Single Drum had been planned as Anderson's debut solo release but had been billed as a Rose Tattoo album due to contractual obligations however after the success of "Suddenly" it was re-released in 1988 as an Angry Anderson album.

With the dissolution of Rose Tattoo, Anderson pressed on with a solo career, releasing the album Blood From Stone in 1990 that produced the hit single "Bound for Glory". He performed this song during the legendary pre-match entertainment at the 1991 AFL Grand Final between Hawthorn and West Coast, appearing on top of a Batmobile. In 1992 he appeared in the highly successful Australian arena-style revival of "Jesus Christ Superstar" as Herod.

In the early years of the 2000s he participated in and organised a string of charity events. In 2002 Anderson played with former members of The Angels at the Bali Relief concert in Perth, Western Australia, held in aid of victims of the Bali bombing. Angry is heavily involved in the work of the Dunn Lewis Youth Development Foundation, which is a lasting legacy of two of the 88 Australian lives lost in the bombings.

Today, Anderson is a single father of four, and lives in Sydney. Having lost four former bandmates (Royal, Wells, Ian Rilen and Lobby Lloyde), Anderson became an advocate for men's health. He currently appears in a TV campaign proming awareness of prostate cancer.

In a July, 2007, Angry Anderson was criticised after espousing his views on Muslim immigration to Australia:
"It's not ill-conceived to look at certain people and question when they come out here what they bring with them," Anderson told The Daily Telegraph. "We have strict quarantine laws and it should be the same when it comes to cultures that do not want to integrate. We should be very careful about where certain Muslims come from and what they believe. If you come here, you should behave yourself – it's as simple as that," he said. "If people come and live in any country and their way of life is so different they need their own special laws, then possibly they have to pick somewhere else to live. The idea of any Muslim being photographed for a passport or a licence with one of those shrouds on – sorry, it just can't happen."^[1][2]

It is claimed Anderson was the source of slurs against star Tania Zaetta following a concert tour to entertain Australian troops in Afghanistan in 2007. An allegation was made, reportedly by Anderson, that Zaetta had sex with troops whilst on tour. Zaetta angrily denied the allegations, and Anderson denied making the claims. Zaetta's agent Max Markson said of Anderson in a recent interview "I like Angry. He's a good man, but I think he should just come out and say sorry and move on.". ^[3]

with Rose Tattoo:

• entire catalogue, see Rose Tattoo

with Buster Brown:

• Something to Say (1975)

solo:

• Beats from a Single Drum 1988
• Blood From Stone 1990

• Fat Pizza (2003)
• Finding Joy (2002)
• Scuff the Sock (1987) (TV)
• Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome (1985)
• Bullamakanka (1984)

• Angry Anderson at IMDb
• Rose Tattoo Official Website
• Angry's Official Myspace
• Dunn Lewis Development Foundation