Operator Please

Operator Please

Operator Please in 2008. L - R: Henderson, McConnell, Wilkinson, Commandeur, Gardiner
Background information
Origin Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia
Genres Indie rock, indie pop, pop rock, new wave, dance-punk, teen pop
Years active 2005–2011
Labels Virgin/EMI
Brille
Associated acts Colour Coding
Website operatorpleaseband.com
Past members Amandah Wilkinson
Taylor Henderson
Tim Commandeur
Chris Holland
Ashley McConnell
Sarah Gardiner
Stephanie Joske
Kieran Richards

Operator Please were an Australian pop band, originating on the Gold Coast of Queensland, in 2005. Their final line-up consisted of vocalist and guitarist Amandah Wilkinson, drummer Tim Commandeur, keyboardist Chris Holland, bassist Ashley McConnell and violinist Taylor Henderson.

The original members met and formed Operator Please as students of Elanora State High School in order to compete in the school's "Battle of the Bands" competition.[1] In 2007, Operator Please released singles "Get What You Want", "Leave It Alone", "Just a Song About Ping Pong" and their debut studio album, Yes Yes Vindictive. "Just a Song About Ping Pong", their most successful single to date, was nominated for two ARIA Awards in 2007, winning one for Breakthrough Artist – Single.[2]

History

Operator Please was formed in early 2005 by lead singer Amandah Wilkinson in an attempt to compete in her high school's annual "Battle of the Bands" competition. After winning the contest, the five members, aged 17 to 19, started working on getting their name out through an independently produced EP, On the Prowl. Their second EP, Cement Cement, generated interest both locally and internationally, from a combination of word of mouth and exposure on the Australian youth radio network Triple J (which featured their first single, "Crash Tragic", taken from the EP, on high rotation for quite some time).[3] Within months, and with the help of a record label sponsored showcase in NYC, they had agreed a deal with Virgin/EMI Records for Australia, and for the UK with indie label Brille Records.[4]

"Just a Song About Ping Pong" was one of the most added songs at Australian commercial radio with the Hot 30 and Nova radio stations nationally leading the charge. The music video for the song was played on music programmes around Australia, UK, and Europe including MTV,[5] Channel V,[6] and ABC's rage.[7] It was featured on the front page of MySpace and YouTube.[8] Operator Please has since been labelled as "our favorite new band" and "the next big thing" by celebrity blogger Perez Hilton.[9][10]

Since the announcement that the band were to play the Reading and Leeds Festivals in the UK in August, Operator Please continued to play industry showcases in the UK.[11] The single "Just a Song About Ping Pong", released in Australia on 28 July 2007, was added to national UK radio station BBC Radio 1 and London station XFM, following an NME feature which named them one of EMI's buzz bands. The single debuted in the ARIA Singles Chart on 6 August 2007at No. 15, and topped out at No. 12.[12] The single is nominated for two ARIA Awards in 2007: Best Pop Release and Breakthrough Artist – Single,[13] and won the award for Breakthrough Artist – Single. Also, this was on the same night of their television performing debut performing that single.

The band recorded their debut studio album, titled Yes Yes Vindictive at The Groves, on the Central Coast, New South Wales, Australia,[14] which was released on 10 November. It charted at number 28 on the ARIA Albums Chart on the week beginning 19 November.[15] A track titled "Zero! Zero!" was heard on the Top Shelf program of Australian radio station Triple J on 2 October.[16] The band also opened for Arctic Monkeys and Kaiser Chiefs on their Australian tours[17] and then went on tour in the UK, Europe, and Asia.[18][19] The band finally released Yes Yes Vindictive in the UK on 17 March 2008. The band toured as a support act for The Futureheads and Lightspeed Champion; and played many festivals across Europe including Glastonbury Festival. They have also covered two songs: "Push It" by Salt-n-Pepa and "Whip It" by Devo; videos of these can be seen on YouTube.

Operator Please spent most of 2009 composing their second album. They confirmed that two songs, "Logic" and "Back and Forth" will be in the album. The band stated that the new album will have a more electronic feel than Yes Yes Vindictive. A demo version of "Back and Forth" was used on an update video of their progress on album number 2[20] which featured Wilkinson writing text onto paper and small slides of instruments, as well as shots of Commandeur and Wilkinson. On 15 January 2010, the band revealed their first single, "Logic", from the new album. "Logic" was released as a single on 8 February 2010. On the official website, "Logic" was available as a free download. Also on 8 February, the album title was revealed as Gloves, and fans could pre-order it signed. On 13 February, the video for "Logic" premiered on Video Hits.

Gloves was released on 23 April 2010 in Australia and 31 May 2010 in the rest of the world. Three more singles have been released from the album since its release: "Back and Forth", "Like Magic" and "Volcanic". All three have also had accompanying music videos. In June 2010, the band completed their first headlining tour since late 2008; supported by Perth band Tim & Jean and Sydney band Chaingang. Shortly afterwards, they would play a variety of festivals, including Splendour in the Grass and Canberra festival Stonefest. They also played the Australian leg of the 2011 Big Day Out festival. March and April 2011 saw the band tour Australia, this time as the main support for Sydney musician Sparkadia. "Catapult" was released in January 2011 as the fifth and final single from Gloves.

Although the band have not officially split,[21] they have been inactive since 2011 and the band members are currently part of other projects; Wilkinson has adopted the moniker Bossy Love, collaborated with other musicians and released her debut EP Me + You in October 2013;[22] Holland and Commandeur formed the duo Colour Coding and released their debut EP Proof in March 2012, later announcing a hiatus for that project in November 2013.[23]

Discography

Studio albums

Extended plays

Singles

Year Song ARIA Singles Chart Triple J Hottest 100 UK Indie Singles Chart UK Singles Chart Album
2007 "Just a Song About Ping Pong" 12 27 10 — Yes Yes Vindictive
"Get What You Want" 27 77 1 121
"Leave It Alone" 62 — 3 133
2008 "Two for My Seconds" 93 — — —
2010 "Logic" 47 — — — Gloves
"Back and Forth" 84 — — —
"Like Magic" — — — —
"Volcanic" — — — —
2011 "Catapult" — — — —

Operator Please's first single "Just a Song About Ping Pong" reached its peak of No. 12 on the ARIA Singles Chart[12] and reached No. 10 on the UK Indie Chart.[24] The following single "Get What You Want" debuted at No. 40 on 5 November and later peaked at No. 27.[12] Their debut album Yes Yes Vindictive peaked at No. 9 on the UK Indie Album Chart.

Departed members

There are three former official band members: Kieran Richards, Stephanie Joske and Sarah Gardiner. Gardiner, an original member and co-writer on Yes Yes Vindictive, left the band in early 2008 after a two-month break from touring. She can now be found on the Adult Website "Abby Winters" under the alias of Tricia L.[25][26] Joske also co-wrote many of the tracks from Yes Yes Vindicitive including "Just a Song About Ping Pong" and "Get Want You Want", though chose to leave the band in 2006 to pursue classical violin. She appears on the early EPs and played with the band up until their signing with EMI.

Performances

Festivals

Operator Please Performing at Valley Fiesta, Brisbane, Australia.

Television

Awards and nominations

ARIA Awards

Year Award Work Result
2007 Breakthrough Artist – Single "Just a Song About Ping Pong" Won
Best Pop Release "Just a Song About Ping Pong" Nominated
2008 Breakthrough Artist – Album Yes Yes Vindictive Nominated
Best Pop Release Yes Yes Vindictive Nominated

References

  1. ↑ "Operator Please". Triple J. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 15 November 2007.
  2. ↑ Braithwaite, Alyssa (8 October 2007). "Ping Pong proves a winner for indie band Operator Please". News Limited. Retrieved 15 November 2007.
  3. ↑ "A&R Worldwide Reports" (PDF). Radio & Records. Retrieved 22 August 2007.
  4. ↑ Mathewson, Catriona (2 August 2007). "Give us more Operator Please". The Courier Mail. Retrieved 21 August 2007.
  5. ↑ "The NME Chart". MTV UK. Retrieved 21 August 2007.
  6. ↑ "Top 50 Most Requested Songs". Channel [V]. Retrieved 21 August 2007.
  7. ↑ "Playlist Saturday, 18 August 2007". ABC. Retrieved 21 August 2007.
  8. ↑ "Operator Please - Just A Song About Ping Pong". YouTube. Retrieved 22 July 2007.
  9. ↑ "Listen To This: Our New Obsession". Perez Hilton. Retrieved 21 August 2007.
  10. ↑ "Listen To This: The New Wave!". Perez Hilton. Retrieved 21 August 2007.
  11. ↑ "Operator Please UK Tour Dates". Music-News Unsigned. Retrieved 21 August 2007.
  12. 1 2 3 "Singles Charts". Australian Record Industry Association. Retrieved 21 August 2007.
  13. ↑ "ARIA Nominees Announced". SameSame.com.au. Retrieved 21 September 2007.
  14. ↑ "Believing the hype.". The Courier Mail. Retrieved 8 February 2007.
  15. ↑ Australian Top 50 ARIA Albums Chart. Australian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved on 18 November 2007.
  16. ↑ "Zero Zero (Operator Please)". JPlay. Retrieved 3 October 2007.
  17. ↑ "Kaiser Chiefs / Wolf And Cub / Operator Please". Rave Magazine. Retrieved 22 July 2007.
  18. ↑ "All Shows for Operator Please". MySpace. Retrieved 21 August 2007.
  19. ↑ The Ones to Watch?, stv.tv blog, 7 September
  20. ↑ Operator Please Album number 2 update, Operator Please's YouTube Channel, 9 April 2009
  21. ↑ "Has Operator Please Called It Quits? No!". Home & Hosed - New Australian Music blog. ABC. Retrieved 12 December 2013.
  22. ↑ "Bossy Love Announces Debut Ep 'Me + You' Out October 21st 2013". Contactmusic. Retrieved 12 December 2013.
  23. ↑ "Colour Coding - It is a little sad to announce, but we...". Colour Coding on Facebook. Retrieved 12 December 2013.
  24. ↑ "Uk Indie Singles Charts". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 27 August 2007.
  25. ↑ "top forty news". top forty.com. Retrieved 18 April 2008.
  26. ↑ "nme.com news". nme.com. Retrieved 18 April 2008.
  27. ↑ "Operator Please Play Valley Fiesta". B5Media. Retrieved 29 October 2008.
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