You Am I: Австралиялық панк-рок тобының тарихы

Australian punk rock band

You Am I are an Australian power pop band, fronted by its lead singer songwriter and guitarist, Tim Rogers. They formed in December 1989 and are the first Australian band to have released three successive albums that have each debuted at the number one position on the ARIA Albums Chart: Hi Fi Way (February 1995), Hourly, Daily (July 1996) and #4 Record (April 1998). Nine of their tracks appeared on the related ARIA Singles Chart top 50 with "What I Don't Know 'bout You" (February 1998), their highest charting, at No. 28. At an early gig, a fan provided "a big spiritual spiel about ' I am you you am i '. The band took that as the inspiration for the working title" for the group's name. You Am I were dropped by record label BMG after "the company refused to support a tour of the US." Recorded in Daptone Studios in New York, the album has been described as having 'lashings of Big Star esque power pop'.

In December 2020, You Am I were listed at number 41 in Rolling Stone Australias '50 Greatest Australian Artists of All Time' issue. On 24 February 2021, You am I released "The Waterboy", the lead single from their 11th studio album, The Lives of Others. The album entered the Australian charts at No. 2, marking their first Top 3 album since Dress Me Slowly in 2001.

After recording Sound as Ever in August 1993, You Am I had performed "a handful of American showcase gigs."

In 1999, front man Tim Rogers released his first solo album What Rhymes With Cars And Girls. In the four years between Deliverance and You Am I's next album, Convicts, both Lane and Rogers kept busy with their own solo projects. Lane performed at the 2004 ARIA Music Awards as part of the supergroup The Wrights, featuring members of many other Australian rock bands, and in 2005 released an LP with The Pictures, Pieces of Eight. Rogers released two albums with The Temperance Union in this period — Spit Polish in 2004 and the Dirty Ron/Ghost Songs double album in 2005.

Jaimme Rogers and Nick Tischler were in an early incarnation of the band, lasting December 1989 to the end of 1990. This line up is not known to have recorded any music. Mark Tunaley was the band's first "official" drummer, and is You Am I's only drummer to date to employ heavy metal style of drumming, which included double bass drum parts. He left the group shortly after the recording of Sound As Ever, due to differing perceptions of the band's direction. His sole songwriting contribution to the band ('Off The Field') was left off the US release of the album. Greg Hitchcock, formerly of The Verys, was a touring member of the band for the Hourly, Daily era. He played guitar and electric piano with the band for some time up until #4 Record. He was never formally a member of the band, but appeared in the video clips for 'Soldiers', 'Good Mornin' and 'Tuesday' (though ironically not in the 'Trike' clip, on which he actually played the organ solo). Rogers later said that he was never quite comfortable with the electric piano on stage because he felt the band lost its spontaneous feel.

The annual music poll Triple J Hottest 100 was inaugurated in 1989 and is based on the public votes of Australian youth radio station Triple J listeners. You Am I has scored 14 songs in the annual Hottest 100. In July 2009 "Berlin Chair" came in at No. 52 on their Hottest 100 songs of all time.