Chris Bailey is the co-founder and singer of rock bandThe Saints. He was born in Nanyuki, Kenya to Irish parents. Bailey grew up in Belfast, Northern Ireland until the age of seven, when his family emigrated to Australia. His family settled in Inala, in Brisbane, Queensland and he and his sister Margaret attended Inala State High School, Oxley State High School and Corinda State High School where Ed Kuepper and Ivor Hay were also students. They formed the band, The Saints in 1974. Their first hit was in the UK with the classic punk anthem " Stranded". The band slowly evolved toward a more sophisticated sound on their next few albums. After several years of solo adventure, Bailey revived The Saints to record Howling in 1996. This album was followed by Everybody Knows the Monkey, Spit the Blues Out, Nothing is Straight in My House, Imperious Delirium and "King of the Sun" which were all recorded under the name of The Saints.
Career
A cover of The Easybeats' "The Music Goes Round My Head" was issued as a single in December 1988 and featured on the soundtrack to the film Young Einstein. In 1991, Bailey formed the Chris Bailey Combo which included Paul Hester, Nick Seymour and Dror Erez, as well as a revolving cast of guest players. Demons was Bailey's second solo album, recorded in Memphis, Tennessee, where he had been sent by TVT Records. Savage Entertainment was released in October 1992, and in 1993 Bailey wrote and recorded together with Concrete Blonde's Johnette Napolitano, which included a rework of the song "All Fools' Day". Bailey's fourth solo album 54 Days... at Sea was recorded in Malmö, Sweden and was released in 1994. It featured Bolivian folk musicians Mundo Folk, whom Bailey had seen busking when visiting friends in Sweden the previous year. Swedish musicians Eddie Nyström, Magnus Börjeson and Stellan Colt provided the rock base for the album. For the Earth Music compilation, issued in June 1994, Bailey contributed a cover of Tim Finn's "Not Even Close". When Mushroom Music celebrated their 25th anniversary in 1998, Bailey was one of the invited artists to perform on a stage at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in front of an audience of about 100,000 people. He performed two of his most famous songs, "Ghost Ships" and "Just Like Fire Would", solo and also a duet with Paul Kelly: "Wide Open Road", a tribute to the late David McComb of The Triffids. 2003 saw Bailey make a guest appearance, singing the chorus vocals on "Bring It On", on Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds album Nocturama. Bailey then toured America with the group and performed with them on the Late Show with David Letterman. At the 2005 Queensland Poetry festival in Brisbane, at the Judith Wright Centre of Contemporary Arts, Chris Bailey headlined the event. Chris Bailey and the General Dog is another one of Bailey's constellations, their latest record being Bone Box in 2005. During the spring of 2007, Bailey undertook a solo tour of France, on occasion as a double act with French rock artist Mickaël Furnon, alias Mickey, from rock group Mickey 3D.
