The Whitlams are popular for their unique piano pop style. The group took the initial beginnings in 1991 with Tim Freedman, Stevie Plunder, and Andy Lewis. They didn’t have a drummer and started off playing acoustically at the Sandringham Hotel in King Street.
They went on with live shows and the first album “Introducing the Whitlams” was released in August 1993. The band was named ‘Whitlams’ after the Australian Prime Minister, Gough Whitlam. They became popular on radio and their live shows gave them the acceptance required for beginners. In the following years, the band got engaged with the stages and drummer Stu Eadie joined the group.
In 1994, they started their work on their second album "Undeniably the Whitlams" which was produced by Rob Taylor. After the album was released in 1995, Andy left the group and moved to Melbourne to rejoin the Gadflys. Mike Vidale took over his position and the band then went on tour promoting the album.
The also released a quirky single, “I Make Hamburgers” in 1995 which was proving to be a turnover for the band with is increasing popularity. It got a place in the Triple J Hottest 100 list and the band was all set to gain some advantage of the popularity when things got upturned with the death of Stevie Plunder. The single “I Make Hamburgers” was receiving some popularity. Freedman decided to reform the group after a few months gap.
The ‘Eternal Nightcap’ was released in 1997 as a dedication to Plunder. Tim Freedman took utmost care which relaunching the band and took the risk of bringing in several musicians in the album. The main Whitlams line up constituted of, Freedman on vocals and piano, Bill Heckenberg on drums and Cottco Lovett on bass.
“No Aphrodisiac” and “You Sound Like Louis Burdett” became the reasons for the success of the album. They won the Best Independent Release, Song of the Year and The Best Group at the ARIA Music Awards in the year 1998. Gough Whitlam himself presented the Best Group award to the band.
The next studio album “Love This City” was also a Freedman line-up idea with several artists. It was released in 1999. Brother of Stevie Plunder, Bernie Hayes gave vocals on the song, “You Made Me Hard.” “Blow up the Pokies” is an anti-gambling anthem and was the highest ranked single from the album. This was written on the destruction that gambling caused to Andy Lewis, the founding member of the band.
“Torch The Moon” was a pure Whitlam album released in 2002 and the opened at the top of the charts. Other than Freedman, the lineup consisted of Warwick Hornby, Jak Housden, and Terepai Richmond. “Fall for You” was the hit number from this album.
In 2006, the double album “Little Cloud” was released which was about New York and the fancy lovers. The album topped the ARIA charts.
In 2008, Freedman released “Truth, Beauty & A Picture of You- Best of The Whitlams” which is a compilation of every hit number with detailed notes about the story behind each song.
In 2017, April and May, the band celebrated their 25th year with six shows across Australia in Brisbane, Melbourne, Sydney, Perth, Canberra and Adelaide. The shows had elaborate orchestras with performers from each city.
