Baby Animals

Baby Animals
Origin	Perth, WA
Genres	Hard rock
Years active	1989 - 1996, 2007 - present
Labels	imago, Liberation Blue, BMG
Associated acts	The Boys Swingshift Red Phoenix Truck
Website	http://www.thebabyanimals.com
Members	Dario Bortolin Suze Demarchi Dave Leslie Mick Skelton
Past members	Frank Celenza Eddie Parise

Band members

• Current Line up
  • Dario Bortolin (bass)
  • Suze Demarchi (vocals, guitar)
  • Dave Leslie (guitar)
  • Mick Skelton (drums)

• Former members
  • Matt Cornell (bass) 2009
  • Frank Celenza (drums) 1989 - 1996, 2007 - 2009
  • Eddie Parise (bass) 1989 - 1996, 2007 - 2009

Band information

Baby Animals was formed around Suze Demarchi after her return to Australia following a stint in the UK where she recorded a number of singles. Eddie Parise and Frank Celenza were drawn from Perth pop-metal act The Boys and Dave Leslie was a long-time member of Sydney band Swingshift, that had originally been a Cold Chisel tribute act before eventually switching to original material. Their first live show was in Sydney in late 1989 as Woody's Heroes (named for manager John Woodruff) before the name change. The demo track "Break My Heart" appeated as the B-side of The Angels' "Dogs are Talking" single and a national tour with them followed. Following this the band played several shows with Jimmy Barnes and released the single "Early Warning". Their self-titled debut was recorded during 1991 and released that September. It began as a sleeper but eventually got to #1 on the national albums charts almost a year after it was released, eventually selling over half a million copies and becoming the biggest-selling debut album ever by an Australina artist, a title it held until 2003’s Get Born by Jet overtook it.

Throughout 1991 and 1992 the Baby Animals toured internationally with Bryan Adams, Van Halen, Black Crowes and won ARIA Awards for Album of the Year and Breakthrough Artist for both their album and the single "Early Warning".

The 1993 album Shaved and Dangerous was more progressive than the previous album and featured contributions from Extreme guitarist Nuno Bettencourt, whom Demarchi would marry the following year. After a US tour with Robert Plant, an Australian tour was cancelled due to vocal problems. A third album was begun but the Imago label collapsed and Baby Animals split in 1996.

Baby Animals reformed in 2007 to record an acoustic album of their previous hits for Liberation Blue's Acoustic Series. Celenza and Parise were replaced ahead of a national tour in 2009 by Mick Skelton and Matt Cornell; Cornell was soon replaced with Dario Bortolin. The group has toured sporadically since, most frequently during 2012 and 2013 as they geared up for the release of a long-anticipated come back album, This is Not the End, which has the band moving in a bluesier direction. It peaked at #19 on the ARIA Album Chart. In mid-2017 they toured with The Screaming Jets and released a live album shortly after.

The band continues to tour regularly. Dave Leslie has also been a member of Truck since 2020.

Discography

Albums:

	1991	Baby Animals	imago
	1993	Shaved and Dangerous	BMG
	2008	Il Grande Silenzio	Liberation Blue
	2013	This is Not the End	Social Family
	2017	Baby Animals Live	Bloodlines
	2019	Greatest Hits	Bloodlines

Singles:

	1991	Early Warning	imago
	1991	Rush You	imago
	1991	Painless	imago
	1992	One Word	imago
	1992	Impossible to Fly	BMG
	1993	Don't Tell Me What to Do	BMG
	1993	Lights Out at Eleven	BMG
	2013	Email	Social Family
	2013	Stitch	Social Family
	2018	Tonight	Bloodlines
	2019	How Do I Make You	Bloodlines
	2019	Marseilles	Bloodlines

EPs:

	1992	Ain't Gonna Get	imago
	1992	At The End of the Day	BMG