JAMES REYNE

"I just feel that I'm getting better," James Reyne says. "I'm a better singer and a better songwriter."

It's a simple statement, but also remarkable - considering that this is an artist who has sold more than two million albums and written some of the most memorable Australian songs of all time.

James Reyne's songs have provided the soundtrack to endless Australian summers, including "The Boys Light Up", "Reckless", "Beautiful People", "Lakeside", "Daughters Of The Northern Coast", "Fall Of Rome", "Hammerhead", "Motor's Too Fast" and "Slave".

James has been a part of our lives since making an unforgettable debut on Countdown in 1979, with both arms in plaster (the result of being hit by a car, crossing Swanston Street in Melbourne).

"Lucky for the Australian music industry that James Reyne chose to strut through its door in 1979," Wendy Milson and Helen Thomas wrote in their 1986 book Pay To Play. "His was exactly the profile ... an injection of chutzpah to recharge a listless business burdened with hard-to-market punk acts."