Coloured Stone

Coloured Stone was founded in 1977 by frontman Bunna Lawrie on the Kooniba Mission in Australia's Northern Territory. Lawrie, along with two of his brothers, started out as a cover band playing small towns and settlements. One of the band's first successes came in 1978 when their tune "Dancing in the Moonlight" won a local songwriting contest. The group began putting together a body of material and in 1981 they migrated, literally by playing music along the way, to Sydney. The band rose to prominence with their 1984 debut release, Kooniba Rock. This and its 1985 follow-up, Island of Greed, landed them spots on Australian national radio and led to their extensive tours. Throughout the '80s the group released numerous albums in Australia, and one American release, Black Rock From Red Center, which came out on Rounder Records in 1987. In the '90s the group slowed their recording and touring schedule but they managed to release a few albums including a greatest hits compilation in 1997 Bunna Lawrie's Best of Coloured Stone. In 1999 Lawrie became the first Aboriginal Australian to receive the coveted Don Banks Music Award, a prize usually reserved for Australian classical musicians.