Forty years ago Aussie band Pseudo Echo scored their biggest and most unexpected hit when they released their cover of Funky Town.

To mark that anniversary they’re heading off on a massive tour around the country and will play Perth’s Rosemount Hotel on 7th February before heading south to Margaret River the following day.

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“It’s kind of surreal to think it’s been that long — one day I was forming a band, and now, 40 years have passed,” reflects Brian Canham on the anniversary of Funky Town. “Even more incredible is that the song and the album still resonate — I’m unbelievably proud of the serendipity behind it, and it’s wonderful to be celebrating it together with our fans on tour.”

Canham formed the band back 1982 and they made their mark in the world of electronic pop music. The original line-up included Canham on vocals, kyboards and guitar, high school friend Pierre Pierre on bass guitar and keyboards, Tony Lugton on guitars and keyboards and Anthony Argiro on drums.

The band made history when they performed their song Listening on the iconic TV show Countdown, they were the first band to be featured on the show who didn’t have a record contract.

Soon they were signed to EMI and delivered their debut EP Autumnal Park and alongside Listening it had the hits A Beat for You, Stranger in Me and Dancing Until Midnight. The world had bands like Duran Duran, Spandau Ballet and A Flock of Seagulls, but here in Australia we had Pseudo Echo.

They were all about the keytars, big hair, lots of eyeshadow and moody lighting. Line up changes saw brothers Vince and James Leigh replace Lugton and Argiro. The band’s second album was even bigger with Don’t Go, Love an Adventure and Living in a Dream.

Then in late 1986 they put out their rock dance hybrid take on the Lipps Inc disco song Funky Town, not only was it a massive smash here in Australia, it was a hit around the globe, eclipsing all their other work. Which is a shame really cause those other songs are amazing!

Back in 1987 when some of us were still in high school this was the most requested song at the roller rink.

In 1988 the band put out their third album which moved them into a more traditional Aussie pub rock sound, and it left fans of their earlier work wondering what happened to those keytars that we loved.

Pseudo Echo’s unexpected left turn into pub rock is up there with NKTOB’s gagsta rap album, Moby’s hardcore punk detour, Snoop Dogg’s spiritual reggae record and Soundgarden vocalist Chris Cornell’s entire album made with Timberland.

The band called it quits in 1990. Canham went on to become a successful producer, and he later formed the band Brill. The Leigh brothers spent some time backing Tina Arena before creating a new band called Vertigo, which was later adjusted to Invertigo.

Pseudo Echo reformed in 1998 and since then have been touring with a changing line up, today lead singer Brian Canham is the only original member. We saw them a few years ago when they supported Culture Club – and they were excellent!

Tour dates

Tickets are on sale now.