Melanie Susan Oxley is an Australian musician, singer-songwriter and primary school teacher. Oxley was a member of the dance pop group, The Sparklers (from 1985 to 1989), which in October 1988 released their debut album, Persuasion.
Since 1989 Oxley teamed with keyboardist, Chris Abrahams to perform and record as a soul pop duo, Melanie Oxley & Chris Abrahams. They have released four studio albums, Welcome to Violet, Coal, Jerusalem Bay and Blood Oranges. At the ARIA Music Awards of 1993 Welcome to Violet was nominated for ARIA Award for Best Independent Release.
Biography
Early life
Melanie Susan Oxley is the daughter of Eric and Jan Oxley. Eric, an art teacher, was originally from Manchester and had migrated to Sydney before the Oxley family settled in the rural northern beach community of Kingscliff in 1965. Oxley's older brothers are Peter and Jeremy Oxley (born ca. 1961), who founded Australian pop-rock band The Sunnyboys, and her younger brothers are Damien and Tim (singer, guitarist, drummer in The Humdingers, The Verys, The Dearhunters, and Roger Loves Betty).
1984-1988: Paris Green and The Sparklers
Oxley performed with Louis Tillett's jazz influenced blues-rock band Paris Green in 1984, alongside Charlie Owen. She performed backing vocals on The Triffids' 1984 EP, Raining Pleasure. In early 1985 she worked for the Johnny Kannis Band with Richard Jakimyszyn on guitar, Tony Juke on keyboards and guitar, Kannis on lead vocals, Tony Robertson on bass guitar, Don Raffael on saxophone and Destroyer on drums. Also that year she was briefly in Sweet Nothing. Later that year, Oxley formed a dance pop band, The Sparklers, in Sydney with Chris Abrahams (ex-Benders) on keyboards; her brother Peter Oxley on bass guitar; Bill Bilson (The Sunnyboys) on drums; and Mark Walker (Hoi Polloi, Sweet Nothing) on guitar – who was replaced by Colin Bloxsom, a year later. The Sparklers released two singles before Abrahams left, he was replaced by Phil Grove. The Sparklers released an album, Persuasion, in October 1988 with Oxley writing all tracks except one co-written with Abrahams.
Persuasion was produced by Leszek Karski on Mighty Boys Records before the group disbanded in 1989. Oxley also performed backing vocals for Johanna Pigott's band Scribble, appearing on their 1986 album Pop Art, as well as on Ed Kuepper's 1986 album Rooms of the Magnificent. Other 1980s work includes The Spliffs House of Seven (1988) and Penguins on Safari's Normal Soon (1989).
1989-present: Melanie Oxley & Chris Abrahams
In 1989 Oxley formed a soul pop duo, Melanie Oxley & Chris Abrahams, with ex-The Sparklers bandmate, Abrahams (by then also a pianist-songwriter for experimental jazz trio, The Necks). She worked periodically with Abrahams, performing, writing songs and recording albums, while maintaining a career as a primary school teacher. In December 1990 the duo released a four-track EP, Resisting Calm, on Spiral Scratch Records. For the EP they used Tony Buck on drums, Mike Bukovsky on trumpet, Gerard Corben (ex-The Sparklers) on guitar, Guy Dickerson on guitar, Stuart Eadie on floor toms, Jackie Orszaczky on bass guitar and Lloyd Swanton on acoustic bass. It was co-produced by Abrahams and Oxley. National radio station, Triple J, placed the track, "Benchtop", on high rotation – a live version appeared on the compilation album, Live at the Wireless 2 (1991). Their debut studio album, Welcome to Violet, followed in October 1992 on Remote Control Records, which exemplified their "moody, emotive soul/pop" sound. At the ARIA Music Awards of 1993, Welcome to Violet was nominated for Best Independent Release. On 3 October 1994, their second studio album, Coal, appeared.