A Musical History of IDEA

 

iDeA morphed out of “La Bouche”, a four piece band formed in Sydney in 1982 when Rod Boucher moved from Adelaide to audition for a kid’s TV show ‘Simon Townsend’s Wonderworld’. After failing the audition, David Smallbone, who became their manager, suggested forming a band based in Sydney.

 

Bill Nielson (bass/keys) and Steve Lyne(drums) were contacted and “La Bouche” began. After a few months of gigging around Sydney, Darryl Thompson came up to Sydney from Melbourne to audition for “Avion” with the Waller brothers, stayed with the Bouchers and instead of joining “Avion” joined “La Bouche”.

 

We four wrote many songs together rehearsing in the Nielson’s lounge, toured across Australia in churches, schools, youth nights, clubs, pubs, unis, community festivals and supported several overseas acts on tour. While “La Bouche” was the support act for Canadian Bruce Cockburn, the music paper ‘Juke’ sent along a Reviewer who absolutely destroyed us in his write up, one by one. It was difficult criticism to take but it rang some bells.

 

Rod said that we needed to change, so we went totally electronic as synthesised guitars and drums were just emerging and the electronic revolution was upon us. We changed our name to ‘iDeA’, our instruments, our staging and our songs to become prophets rather than funsters. Some existing bookings were very unimpressed when we turned up so different, yet we were still a strong act.

 

Once again, we threw ourselves into work, composing, rehearsing, playing and touring, often coming home to our growing families very early in the morning. We remember the massive (and brilliant) iDeA banners that we took to gigs and that one of the US artists asked us not to use as support band. 

 

In 1986, one of the American artists that we supported, Tim Miner, who was starting a well-supported new music production company in the States, invited us overseas. Rod was convinced that this was the next step in the ‘iDeA” musical adventure so the Bouchers gave away all their belongings, packed their clothes into 6 suitcases and as the Thompsons headed to Melbourne, the Bouchers headed to Adelaide for Christmas to wait for the air tickets . . . that never came.

 

Rod was 39, Bill 34, Darryl 29 and Steve 24, so we’d seen some rock’n’roll decades. After several months of desperation and a few shows, with the Thompsons and Bouchers waiting at St Joseph’s House of Prayer in Goulburn and a final tour in 1986 with Larry Norman, we gave up. Steve married, started a family, a sales business and is still writing and recording percussive based pieces. Steve and Bill formed a duo “Swim” for a few years. Bill went on to demonstrate and teach electronic music in schools and TAFE, generate sound-track material for children’s games and release two albums with a third in the works. Darryl and family left Goulburn, went back to Melbourne and continued to pursue a range of artistic endeavours with churches, organisations like Fusion and others, then started teaching in 2000, all the while playing in bands, recording, encouraging, supporting and keeping the flame alive. Rod and family continued on their life adventure of drama, community, productions, touring and performances over the globe.

 

From 1982-1986, five rich musical journeys joined, from years of previous playing and promoting through a very concentrated and explosive creative period into a lifetime of musical adventures. We released 3 recording projects: “Turn Up The Tapes” a political comment single; “Stone Sharpens The Blade” a mini album through Powderworks including our version of “Eve of Destruction” for its 20 year anniversary; a national “40 Hour Famine” promotional EP and film clip “Now Is The Time”. We recorded many more of our original compositions but these were the projects that saw the light at the time.

 

Our personal faith inspired each of us in composing, playing and touring as we went about being a beacon in a dark world, yeast in the dough of life, salt in the cultural soup, in a very modern style. We created from our heart and soul with everyday language. Unfortunately, many detractors were looking for more religious words to give a clue to our purpose. It is a fine line to tread.