The Sunnyboys’ 1981 debut will be revisited in a four-LP box set featuring previously unreleased vinyl material, archival recordings and a 32-page booklet, alongside the first book dedicated to the landmark album.
by Paul Cashmere
Sunnyboys will mark the 45th anniversary of their self-titled debut with a four-LP box set due November 6 through Warner Music Australia, with pre-sales now open and a new book about the album scheduled for Australian release in December. The project also precedes the band’s one-off Australian performance at Brisbane’s Roma Street Parklands on October 23, giving the 1981 record a renewed focus across recorded music, publishing and live performance.
The box set expands the original September 1981 album beyond a conventional remaster. The first LP includes the original 12-song sequence plus “Tell Me What You Say”, a song that was initially issued as a bonus on a limited yellow-vinyl edition. The remastered album also incorporates sections of a 1981 Triple J interview with Jeremy and Peter Oxley between the songs.
The second and third LPs move into the band’s early development, presenting the Studio 301 “New Kicks” demos on vinyl for the first time. Recorded earlier in 1981, the sessions document Sunnyboys while the material was still being developed in the studio.
The third record also includes the four-song Sunnyboys EP issued by Phantom Records in 1980, presented in its 1981 remixed form. That side includes the original version of “Alone With You”, one of the songs that would become central to the band’s early catalogue.
The fourth LP contains the Triple J live recording from the band’s February 1981 performance at Sydney’s Governors Pleasure. Richard Burgman recalls the concert as one of the rare occasions when the group reached what he describes as a heightened state of performance.
Across the four records there are 44 tracks representing 25 different songs in album, demo and live versions. Nineteen tracks are being issued on vinyl for the first time, while 14 do not appear on the original album.
The accompanying 32-page, 12-inch-square booklet documents the band’s rise through 1980 and 1981 using archival press clippings, gig listings, promotional artwork and contemporary reviews. It also contains the original Mushroom Records press release, a band Q&A from the period and a reproduction of an original 8 x 10 promotional photograph. A Sunnyboys fan club card is included as an additional item.
The box set coincides with the publication of Sunnyboys by longtime fan Stephen Bruel, part of Bloomsbury’s 33 1/3 series of books examining significant albums. The book is the first dedicated volume about Sunnyboys and focuses on the circumstances surrounding the making and emergence of the debut album. It is scheduled for Australian stores in early December and is available for pre-order through the band’s online store.
The original Sunnyboys album was recorded in Sydney in 1981 and produced by Lobby Loyde. Its songs established Jeremy Oxley as a distinctive young songwriter, with the material combining concise guitar-driven arrangements with the emotional directness that became a defining characteristic of the group.
The album followed the band’s self-titled 1980 EP, which is represented in the new box set by its four tracks in remixed form. Sunnyboys subsequently released Individuals in 1982 and Get Some Fun in 1984 before the original band separated. The group has since undergone several periods of reunion and inactivity, with the original members returning for performances at various points over the following decades.
The band’s catalogue has continued to receive archival attention. In 2020, the 40th anniversary of Sunnyboys’ formation was marked by Sunnyboys 40, which brought together the original 1980 EP material and previously unheard recordings from Oxley’s archives. The forthcoming box set takes a more concentrated approach by documenting the brief period surrounding the creation of the first album.
For Jeremy Oxley, the continuing interest in the record remains significant. “We were always after world domination and Australia is the world to me,” he said. “So I’m grateful that we haven’t been forgotten.”
The next public chapter will be the Brisbane performance on Friday, October 23, where Sunnyboys will appear at Roma Street Parklands with The Clouds, V.Spy V.Spy and Mick Medew and the Ursula 4. The concert provides the group with a live setting to revisit the period documented by the new box set.
“At times, some shows crossed the threshold into magic. There were a few times, a handful at best, when it was so strong I would have sworn there were five of us on stage,” Richard Burgman said of the 1981 Governors Pleasure recording. “One of those shows was the JJJ live to air recording at the Governors Pleasure in February 1981.”
The Sunnyboys four-LP box set will ship from November 6, 2026, although the supplier has advised that delivery timing may change. Orders containing multiple items will ship together.
ZED51 Date
Friday October 23, Brisbane, Roma Street Parklands
Ticket Details
Tickets are available through Oztix.
Tracklisting
Disc 1
Side A (Debut Album)
I Can’t Talk to You
My Only Friend
Trouble in My Brain
Gone
It’s Not Me
Happy Man
Side B (Debut Album)
Alone With You
Tunnel Of Love
Liar
Let You Go
I’m Shakin
Tell Me What You Say
Disc 2
Side A (New Kicks Demos)
I Can’t Talk to You
Tunnel Of Love
Physical Jerk
Gone
Thrill
I Don’t Want You
Side B (New Kicks Demos)
Guts Of Iron
Individuals
Catch My Heart
Strategy Idol
My Only Friend
Happy Man
Disc 3
Side A (New Kicks Demos)
New Kicks
Tomorrow Will Be Fine
I Wann Be Alone
Let You Go
I’m Shakin
Side B (Yellow EP)
Love To Rule
The Seeker
Alone With You
What You Need
Disc 4
Side A (Live @ Governors Pleasure)
Alone With You
What You Need
I’m Shakin’
Tunnel Of Love
I Don’t Want You
Side B (Live @ Governors Pleasure)
Happy Man
I Can’t Talk to You
The Seeker
I Wann Be Alone
Let You Go
Thrill
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