Operator Please were an Australian pop band, originating in the Gold Coast, Queensland in 2005. Their final line-up consisted of vocalist and guitarist Amandah Wilkinson, drummer Tim Commandeur, keyboardist Chris Holland, bassist Ashley McConnell and violinist Taylor Henderson. The original members met and formed Operator Please as students of Elanora State High School in order to compete in the school's "Battle of the Bands" competition. In 2007, Operator Please released singles "Get What You Want", "Leave It Alone", "Just a Song About Ping Pong" and their debut studio album, Yes Yes Vindictive. "Just a Song About Ping Pong", their most successful single to date, was nominated for two ARIA Awards in 2007, winning one for Breakthrough Artist – Single.
History
Operator Please was formed in early 2005 by lead singer Amandah Wilkinson in an attempt to compete in her high school's annual "Battle of the Bands" competition. After winning the contest, the five members, aged 17 to 19, started working on getting their name out through an independently produced EP, On the Prowl. Their second EP, Cement Cement, generated interest both locally and internationally, from a combination of word of mouth and exposure on the Australian youth radio network Triple J. Within months, and with the help of a record label sponsored showcase in New York City, they had agreed a deal with Virgin/EMI Records for Australia, and for the UK with indie labelBrille Records. "Just a Song About Ping Pong" was one of the most added songs at Australian commercial radio with the Hot 30 and Novaradio stations nationally leading the charge. The music video for the song was played on music programmes around Australia, UK, and Europe including MTV, Channel V, and ABC's rage. It was featured on the front page of MySpace and YouTube. Operator Please has since been labelled as "our favorite new band" and "the next big thing" by celebrity blogger Perez Hilton. Since the announcement that the band were to play the Reading and Leeds Festivals in the UK in August, Operator Please continued to play industry showcases in the UK. The single "Just a Song About Ping Pong", released in Australia on 28 July 2007, was added to national UK radio station BBC Radio 1 and London station XFM, following an NME feature which named them one of EMI's buzz bands. The single debuted in the ARIA Singles Chart on 6 August 2007at No. 15, and topped out at No. 12. The single is nominated for two ARIA Awards in 2007: Best Pop Release and Breakthrough Artist – Single, and won the award for Breakthrough Artist – Single. Also, this was on the same night of their television performing debut performing that single. The band recorded their debut studio album, titled Yes Yes Vindictive at The Groves, on the Central Coast, New South Wales, Australia, which was released on 10 November. It charted at number 28 on the ARIA Albums Chart on the week beginning 19 November. A track titled "Zero! Zero!" was heard on the Top Shelf program of Australian radio station Triple J on 2 October. The band also opened for Arctic Monkeys and Kaiser Chiefs on their Australian tours and then went on tour in the UK, Europe, and Asia. The band finally released Yes Yes Vindictive in the UK on 17 March 2008. The band toured as a support act for The Futureheads and Lightspeed Champion; and played many festivals across Europe including Glastonbury Festival. They have also covered two songs: "Push It" by Salt-n-Pepa and "Whip It" by Devo; videos of these can be seen on YouTube. Operator Please spent most of 2009 composing their second album. They confirmed that two songs, "Logic" and "Back and Forth" will be in the album. The band stated that the new album will have a more electronic feel than Yes Yes Vindictive. A demo version of "Back and Forth" was used on an update video of their progress on album number 2 which featured Wilkinson writing text onto paper and small slides of instruments, as well as shots of Commandeur and Wilkinson. On 15 January 2010, the band revealed their first single, "Logic", from the new album. "Logic" was released as a single on 8 February 2010. On the official website, "Logic" was available as a free download. Also on 8 February, the album title was revealed as Gloves, and fans could pre-order it signed. On 13 February, the video for "Logic" premiered on Video Hits. Gloves was released on 23 April 2010 in Australia and 31 May 2010 in the rest of the world. Three more singles have been released from the album since its release: "Back and Forth", "Like Magic" and "Volcanic". All three have also had accompanying music videos. In June 2010, the band completed their first headlining tour since late 2008; supported by Perth band Tim & Jean and Sydney band Chaingang. Shortly afterwards, they would play a variety of festivals, including Splendour in the Grass and Canberra festival Stonefest. They also played the Australian leg of the 2011 Big Day Out festival. March and April 2011 saw the band tour Australia, this time as the main support for Sydney musician Sparkadia. "Catapult" was released in January 2011 as the fifth and final single from Gloves. Although the band have not officially split, they have been inactive since 2011 and the band members are currently part of other projects; Wilkinson has adopted the moniker Bossy Love, collaborated with other musicians and released her debut EP Me + You in October 2013; Holland and Commandeur formed the duo Colour Coding and released their debut EP Proof in March 2012, later announcing a hiatus for that project in November 2013. Singer Amandah Wilkinson later formed Bossy Love with John Baillie Jnr of Dananananaykroyd.
Discography
Studio albums
2007: Yes Yes Vindictive AUS No. 28, UK No. 157
2010: Gloves AUS No. 20
Extended plays
2006: On the Prowl
2007: Cement Cement
Singles
Operator Please's first single "Just a Song About Ping Pong" reached its peak of No. 12 on the ARIA Singles Chart and reached No. 10 on the UK Indie Chart. The following single "Get What You Want" debuted at No. 40 on 5 November and later peaked at No. 27. Their debut album Yes Yes Vindictive peaked at No. 9 on the UK Indie Album Chart.
Departed members
There are three former official band members: Kieran Richards, Stephanie Joske and Sarah Gardiner. Gardiner, an original member and co-writer on Yes Yes Vindictive, left the band in early 2008 after a two-month break from touring. Joske also co-wrote many of the tracks from Yes Yes Vindicitive including "Just a Song About Ping Pong" and "Get What You Want", though chose to leave the band in 2006 to pursue classical violin. She appears on the early EPs and played with the band up until their signing with EMI.
