Geisha Singer Chris Doheny Passes Away, Aged 64

When Chris Doheny was young, his father told him that if he were to succeed in life, he needed to have realistic goals.

So Chris wrote down his three aims:

To appear on Countdown.

To own a grand piano.

To play at the Myer Music Bowl.

By the time he’d turned 24, Chris Doheny had achieved all three.

Singing an iconic TV theme was not on his list, but Chris did that as well.

Chris, who found fame in the ’80s band Geisha, has died at the age of 64. He was killed in a car crash near his home in South Australia last Friday night.

Chris’s friend and contemporary Scott Carne from Kids In The Kitchen posted the tragic news on Facebook, calling Chris “a top bloke and amazing singer”.

Chris’s rock ’n’ roll journey started with a band called The Officials, who landed on a 3XY compilation in 1982.

“They had run a competition called Undiscovered to pick a dozen unsigned bands and put them on an album,” Chris recalled. “We would have done anything to get on that record.

“There was a big party at 3XY to celebrate the release. The most exciting thing was that Molly Meldrum was going to be there.

“We were all waiting around, and Molly did turn up. He nearly fell into the room, pissed as a fart. I was so excited about getting the chance to meet him, but I didn’t get to. He slurred his way through a speech and was then taken away. I thought, ‘That’s Molly Meldrum. Cool.’”

After The Officials, Chris formed a band called Geisha Detail. They played their first show at the Chelsea Hotel in April 1983. The name was later shortened to Geisha, and they signed a major deal with EMI.

Geisha were discovered in 1984 by EMI’s Michael Matthews, who was intrigued by the band’s blank demo tape. “They [EMI] thought we had a great sense of humour, but it wasn’t planned,” Chris laughed, recalling the tape stuff-up.

“Probably if we’d sent them the music, they might not have been interested.” 

Michael became the best friend Chris’s music ever had, relentlessly promoting his new releases.

Geisha released their debut single, Fool’s Way, in 1985. The video was shot in the famous car park at the University of Melbourne, where part of Mad Max was also filmed.

Kabuki became the band’s signature song, becoming a smash hit on the Melbourne charts. Screaming girls were camped outside Chris’s mum’s house. “Mum would take them inside and give them scones and cups of tea.”

The Music’s Christie Eliezer recounts the tale of how Kabuki nearly broke the band internationally. “The head of Manhattan Records in America loved the song, flew out to Sydney to catch one of their shows, and signed them up that night for an American deal. Unfortunately, due to a leadership change at EMI Australia, the US label cooled off.”

Geisha’s biggest national hit came in 1986 when Part Time Love Affair reached number 24 and was a Top 5 hit in Melbourne.

When Geisha split in 1988, after their second album Midnight To Dawn, Chris found success as a songwriter. His song In My Life was featured on Daryl Braithwaite’s comeback classic Edge.

“It was originally intended for Geisha, but when it looked like the third Geisha album may never get released, I started writing for other artists,” Chris explained.

“Ross Fraser, John Farnham’s producer, loved the song and asked if they could put a hold on it for John’s next album. Also at this time, Simon Fenner [Daryl’s manager] liked the song, too. In the end, it went to Daryl because Simon genuinely loved the song and was so passionate about the comeback album they were making.”

The original version of In My Life later turned up on No Second Prize, Geisha’s “lost” third album, which was released in 2007.

No Second Prize also featured a classic ballad, Nobody’s Angel, which Chris wrote with Mark Holden and Eric Pressly (who has worked with Stevie Nicks, Belinda Carlisle and Sheryl Crow).

“It was the first of a few scheduled writing days with Mark, and he had suggested that we go to Eric’s house and spend the day writing together. 

“On the way, we bought a large bottle of vodka to get the creative juices flowing. I had met Mark probably once before, and it was only briefly, so the booze was also good to get over our initial inhibitions and get down to writing.

“Eric was a congenial guy who wrote with a bass in hand, while Mark paced backwards and forwards across the room, looking at the ceiling and humming and singing out loud his ideas.”

At the start of the ’90s, Chris formed a band called All The Young Dudes with Pierre Pierre from Pseudo Echo, releasing a mini-album.

Chris then started a hard rock band, Dragonfly, with Kids In The Kitchen bass player Craig Harnath. Their single River of Love was a Top 10 hit on Melbourne radio.

Chris re-formed Geisha in 2007 with guitarist and music journalist Joe Matera, who had seen the original band play a New Year’s Eve show in his hometown of Shepparton in 1986.

“The first time I heard Geisha, I was blown away by not only the voice, but also Chris’s masterful songwriting,” Joe says. “It was unlike any other I had previously heard. I have always thought he was one of this country’s most underrated songwriters.”

In 2009, Geisha released a comeback single called Birthday, which Chris wrote with Craig Harnath. It was produced by legendary American producer Tom Werman (Cheap Trick, Mötley Crüe, Ted Nugent, Twisted Sister).

The new recordings won a legion of international fans, including Elliot Easton from The Cars, who gushed: “Geisha rock!”

Steve Make Me Smile Harley said, “Geisha play proper rock with attitude.”

And Ken Stringfellow from The Posies and Big Star raved: “Geisha, in enlisting one of the great rock producers in Tom Werman, brings us a vintage and classic take on a power ballad … reminiscent of early Stones.”

Chris’s biggest commercial success was 1994’s More Than A Game, the theme to The Footy Show, Channel Nine’s AFL show.

More Than A Game was written by The Footy Show’s producer Harvey Silver and Darren Sanicki, who is now one of Australia’s leading entertainment lawyers. The track was co-produced by Josh Abrahams (Addicted To Bass).

“In his prime, I think his voice was up there with Farnham,” Sanicki said. “He was so good and a good guy.”

Rhett Bartlett, footy archivist and son of AFL legend Kevin Bartlett, said Chris’s voice “was simply perfect for that powerful footy anthem that builds to a glorious chorus”.

Chris followed More Than A Game with the solo single Can You Hear The Rain.

Legend has it that Chris was also the voice of The D-Generation’s infamous Late Show parody of Things of Stone and Wood’s Happy Birthday Helen called (Got No More) Melbourne Clichés.

Chris was also the voice of Julian Assange’s cover of John Farnham’s You’re The Voice.

At the time of his passing, Chris was planning a 40th anniversary edition of Geisha’s self-titled debut, which was produced by Peter Dawkins and engineered by Richard Lush.

Greg Phillips, the editor of Australian Musician, summed up Chris’s career: “Few voices in Australian music carried the blend of charisma, vulnerability and sheer rock ’n’ roll spirit quite like Chris Doheny.”

In 2012, Chris released a cover of Foo Fighters’ Times Like These.