Painters and Dockers

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One of Australia’s greatest rock bands, the Painters and Dockers, was formed in Melbourne in 1982. The Painters and Dockers have always been, as well as a popular rock band, a band with a conscience and a band with a cause. As the band’s name implies, they have a close affinity with the union movement and they have regularly played benefit concerts for unions such as the Maritime Union of Australia, the CFMEU, etc. They also have conducted benefit concerts for groups such as the Salvation Army and the Fred Hollows Foundation.

Paul Stewart is the lead singer of the Painters and Dockers and is the younger brother of Tony Stewart, one of the Australian journalists, known as the Balibo Five, who lost their lives in East Timor in 1975. From 1982 the band has performed benefit concerts for East Timor.

An interesting off-shoot of the Painters and Dockers is the Dili All Stars which was formed in 1992 and consisted of five members from the Dockers and five East Timorese reggae/ska performers who have lost family members in the struggle for independence. They have performed in Australia and East Timor in support of East Timorese freedom, appearing in a variety of performances such as being guests on the Johnny Farnham and Kylie Minogue Tour of Duty concert and providing music for the TV mini-series Answered by Fire.

Musician David Pace was not one of the original five members but he joined the band with Mick Morris in 1984 to play the trumpet and do backing vocals, “adding an earthy R&B edge to the band’s raucous, punk infused, power pop” according to music historian Ian McFarlane. Since 2011, David has performed, from time to time, as one of the Painters and Dockers Trio.


Sources

  • Interview with David Pace
  • St. Albans Keilor Avocate, March 30, 1994