Andy Qunta

MelodicRock Classics is pleased to announce a partnership with English singer, songwriter, composer and musician Andy Qunta to deliver a Deluxe Edition of his one and only solo album ‘Legend In A Loungeroom’, originally recorded in 1989.

Andy has one of the most interesting and complex bio’s of any artist. Andy Qunta (pronounced Coonta) is a citizen of the world and an artist with a long list of credits going back to the early 70s. His first band was Factory, then joining the Hazel O’Connor band.

He met Manfred Mann vocalist Chris Thompson in New Zealand in 1982, which lead to a writing partnership that continues today.

That same year Andy become the keyboard player for Australian melodic rock legends Icehouse, helping to propel them through their most popular and critically acclaimed phase, as well as writing the hit ‘Crazy’ from the ‘Man Of Colours’ album, before departing in 1988.

Andy with Chris Thompson, along with singer Maggie Ryder (Eurythmics) and lyricist Keith Reid (Procul Harum/Whiter Shade of Pale) wrote the now iconic song ‘You’re the Voice’, originally made into a mega-hit by John Farnham, but also covered by Heart, Chris Thompson, David Foster and countless others.

Andy’s other songs have also been recorded by mega-artists including John Waite (Take Me Home), Manfred Mann’s Earth Band (Tribal Statistics) and John Farnham (Don’t Tell Me It Can’t Be Done).

In 1989, Andy headed to Los Angeles to record a solo album, titled ‘Legend In A Loungeroom’. The album featuring a lineup including Tony Qunta, Jeff Skunk Baxter (Doobie Bros, Steely Dan), Guy Pratt (Icehouse, Pink Floyd), Scott Page (Pink Floyd, Supertramp), Steve Milbacher, Paulinho da Costa (Madonna, Sting), Tim Pierce (Meatloaf, Crowded House), & Denny Fongheiser (Tracy Chapman, Heart).

A video for first single, ‘Thing About You’ was shot in Sydney and Melbourne. The song started getting heavy airplay in Australia before legal wrangles with Executive Producers cause project to be shelved. The album was dead in the water before being released in Europe on German label, without the artist’s knowledge.

Andy would later do an independent self-release of the album with altered artwork, which MelodicRock Classics was a big fan of. Being an even bigger fan of Andy’s co-writes with John Farnham, the idea of a Deluxe Edition re-issue was floated, with the label pitching the idea of using some songwriter demos as bonus tracks.

What wasn’t expected was the number of the demos uncovered by Andy, which lead to this ‘special event’ double CD coming to fruition, with some mega-star performances featured.

So the project quickly expanded to a double disc – with the original album given a refresh remaster by JK Northrup and preserved on Disc One, with the Bonus Demos gathered on Disc Two, featuring the vocals of Andy, Chris Thompson, Maggie Ryder and others, plus guest musicians such as Brett Garsed (Nelson, John Farnham), Steve Hogarth (Marillion), Guy Pratt (Icehouse, Pink Floyd, Madonna) and more.

Andy Qunta Social Links

http://melodicrockclassics.com/andyq.html

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https://m.youtube.com/channel/UCMUSbab2oaeyhn1F_pPdxvg