title: Neighbours

text: In 2007, the show underwent a revamp, which included a switch to recording in HDTV, the introduction of a new family, the departure of several existing characters and a new version of the show's theme song and opening titles. In addition, episode titles were abandoned, having been in use for the previous three years. Daniel Bennett, the new head of drama at Network Ten, announced that the crux of the Ramsay Street story would go "back to basics" and follow a less sensational path than of late with the emphasis on family relations and suburban reality. Executive producer Ric Pellizzeri said new writers, actors and sets would bring the soap back to its glory days. He added "We moved too far into event-driven stories rather than the character-driven stories that made "Neighbours" what it is". The relaunch failed to attract more viewers in Australia. Pellizzeri left the series at the end of 2007 and former "Neighbours" scriptwriter, Susan Bower, became the new executive producer. In 2008, "Neighbours" was branded "too white" by black and Asian viewers in Britain and in Australia there was talk of a "White Australia policy" when it came to casting actors for soaps. In response to the criticism, Bower made a decision to add more ethnically diverse extras, small walk-on roles and speaking parts, as well as introducing the character of Sunny Lee (played by Hany Lee), an exchange student from South Korea.


title: Neighbours

text: On 18 March 2010, "Neighbours" celebrated its 25th anniversary. In April, Channel 5 in the UK launched a search to find a female actress to play the part of Poppy Rogers. The search was similar to the "Dolly" magazine competition in Australia. August saw "Neighbours" air its 6,000th episode. Digital Spy revealed that the week-long 6,000th episode celebrations would see the wedding of regular characters, Donna Freedman (Margot Robbie) and Ringo Brown (Sam Clark). It was later announced that an attempt on the life of long term regular, Paul Robinson (Stefan Dennis) would be the focus of the actual 6,000th episode. Bower said "Last week I saw episode 6,000. This marks Australian television history. The 6,000th episode falls on a Friday so the whole week is a special one. As Stefan Dennis – Paul Robinson – was in the first episode 25 years ago, it was decided that his character play a most important role in this very special event".


title: Neighbours

text: In late 2010, the TV Tonight website reported "Neighbours" was to reduce crew operations in 2011 so production could be upgraded. The changes meant that the location manager and catering team were no longer required, studio shoots would be reduced from three cameras to two, and location shooting would be restricted. Of the changes, FremantleMedia said ""Neighbours" is undergoing a work flow upgrade to accommodate advances in technology and production techniques to ensure we are at the forefront of professionalism and efficiency." They added that the show's production model had been in place since 1985 and that it was time to evolve it. On 14 March 2011, "The Australian" reported that "Neighbours" has become the first television show available to watch on a free iPhone application. Viewers are able to watch whole episodes within three hours of them airing on Eleven. Nick Spooner, the head of Ten digital media said "This is part of what we call our 'three-screen approach' – broadcast, online and mobile – and it is intended to build viewer engagement with a show and our brand. This is a way for us to stay in touch with our audience and to keep them coming back." To celebrate the wedding of Prince William of Wales and Kate Middleton, "Neighbours" filmed a specially commissioned scene for the UK episode airing on the same day as the wedding. The episode, which had already aired in Australia, marked the first time an Australian show recorded extra scenes for a UK broadcaster.


title: Neighbours

text: On 25 October 2011, it was announced Bower would leave "Neighbours" in December 2011 to move into a new international role with FremantleMedia. Of her departure, Bower told Colin Vickery of the "Herald Sun", "I love "Neighbours", it is a wonderful show and because of this I felt it was important that fresh eyes and brains take over to keep this Australian icon contemporary. Having said that, I'm really excited about the new role and thank FremantleMedia for this wonderful opportunity." Former "City Homicide" producer, Richard Jasek, took over Bower's role, while Alan Hardy took over the role of producer. On 4 December 2013, it was confirmed that Jasek would be leaving "Neighbours" and Jason Herbison had been promoted to series producer. FremantleMedia's head of drama Jo Porter became executive producer, while Laurence Wilson became the associate producer. The show celebrated its 7,000th episode on 24 October 2014. In March 2015, "Neighbours" celebrated its 30th anniversary and twelve former cast members returned for the anniversary episodes that revolved around an Erinsborough Festival. Network Ten and Channel 5 aired a documentary special titled "Neighbours 30th: The Stars Reunite", which featured interviews with current and former cast members, including Kylie Minogue, Jason Donovan and Guy Pearce, reflecting on their time on the show. Natalie Lynch succeeded Wilson as producer in early 2016.


title: Neighbours

text: In 2017, there was speculation that "Neighbours" would cease production following the breakdown of its deals in the United Kingdom, and Network Ten entering voluntary administration. On 9 October 2017, Stewart Clarke of "Variety" reported that Channel 5 and FremantleMedia had agreed a new deal that would see the yearly episode count increased from 240 to 258, as well as plans for new primetime specials. The deal meant that from 2018, "Neighbours" would run across the full year for the first time in its history, including over December and January. Herbison stated, "We value our global audiences and are delighted to stay on this journey together. Come the end of 2018 we will also make history by becoming the first Australian drama series to screen all year round." Following the departure of Sonya Rebecchi in 2019, actor Eve Morey stated that the killing off of her character was a measure to reduce production costs for the programme as part of its new negotiations. When the cast and crew returned from their annual production break on 13 January 2020, they filmed a scene addressing the Australian bushfires for the episode airing on 15 January. The scene features the characters Sheila Canning (Colette Mann), David Tanaka (Takaya Honda) and Aaron Brennan (Matt Wilson) discussing the fires and a charity event Sheila is organising. Channel 5 directed its viewers to a dedicated information page on their website at the end of the episode. "Neighbours" suspended production for two days amid the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020, after a crew member came into contact with someone who had the virus. Production shut down early for the scheduled Easter break before resuming after four weeks on 27 April 2020, making "Neighbours" the first mainstream scripted show to resume production during the pandemic. In order to adhere to government guidelines and social-distancing, "Neighbours" created separate areas to spread out the cast and crew. They removed intimate scenes between characters and editing allows producers to give the illusion of large crowds and groups. Daily temperature checks for cast and crew will also be carried out. Herbison said that the pandemic would not be included in storylines. He stated, "We are currently plotting episodes that won't air until much later in the year, so anything we write now might feel very outdated. Further to this, there's a creative question: will our viewers want to switch on "Neighbours" and relive it again, or is our job to provide escapism? I tend to feel it's the latter."


title: Neighbours

text: In February 2022, it was announced that Channel 5 would be dropping the serial from its schedule later that year, and that production would cease if an alternative British broadcaster was not secured. In response to the threat to the series' future, a fan-run petition on Change.org asking Channel 5 to reconsider its decision was launched, which was signed by over 50,000 people, including cast member Lucinda Cowden. The petition reached 50,000 signatures after one week. This also sparked "#saveneighbours" to trend on social media. Former star Jason Donovan and "Home and Away" actor Shane Withington also expressed their support for the soap on Twitter. "Neighbours" actor Jackie Woodburne said in an interview with "The Project" that the cast were "in shock" upon hearing the news, while Alan Fletcher said the soap needs "a hero" to save it and Cowden explained that "the idea of no longer playing Mel is devastating." Numerous current and former cast members, such as Annie Jones, Natalie Bassingthwaighte and Geoff Paine, expressed their sadness online, specifically Rob Mills, who called on the Morrison Government to step in and help. After the decision to cut the show's funding by British broadcaster Channel 5, an online campaign was launched trying to get Barry Crocker's version of the "Neighbours" theme song to number one in the UK charts. This success had the tune at number one on the iTunes chart for almost 24 hours. An article in the Sydney Morning Herald noted that following the merger of Viacom and CBS, Channel 5 in the UK and Channel 10 in Australia became owned by the same corporate umbrella. Despite the soap being the 4th most popular in the UK (behind the country's traditional top 3 soaps), the funding arrangements meant that one part of ViacomCBS was cross-subsidising another.


title: Neighbours

text: On 3 March 2022, it was confirmed that the show would end after 37 years on air, after production company Fremantle could not obtain a new UK broadcaster. Dennis said of the cancellation, "Simply put, it is all about the quickly changing landscape in the way we view our favourite TV shows. Drama on free-to-air television is dying a rapid death because nowadays viewers are used to being able to watch what they want when they want. Ultimately, "Neighbours" is a product in the big business of film and television and like any other business, if a product isn't making money, it will make way for one that will. All TV shows come to an end – even the likes of long-time legends such as "Coronation Street" and "Days of Our Lives" will eventually cease. Survival of these shows is in the viewers' hands."


title: Neighbours

text: Cast member Georgie Stone revealed that she discovered the cancellation on Twitter and was initially unsure whether to believe it, until she was contacted by a producer who told her it was true. The final episode was initially intended to be aired on 1 August 2022 in both the UK and Australia, after 10 Peach decided to close the broadcasting gap between the two countries by airing double episodes from 13 June. It was later announced that the finale would air on 28 July at 7:30 pm on Network 10 and 10 Peach simultaneously in Australia as a one-and-half-hour-long episode. It was broadcast on 29 July 2022 in the UK as a one-hour-long episode.


title: Neighbours

text: On 17 November 2022, it was announced that Fremantle and Amazon Freevee had reached a deal that would allow "Neighbours" production to restart in 2023. New episodes will be free to stream from the UK and US from the second half of 2023, and Network 10 will retain the rights to broadcast the serial first in Australia. Archive episodes will also be released prior to the relaunch. Lauren Anderson of Amazon Studios said, "With the power of streaming, we're able to offer a catalogue of thousands of Neighbours episodes for new audiences to discover this legendary series and current fans to relive their favourite moments. We look forward to immersing the audience in new Ramsay Street experiences when we relaunch the show next year for Amazon Freevee and Prime Video customers." Herbison will continue as executive producer, with Dennis, Fletcher, Woodburne and Moloney returning to the cast, all of whom were informed of the revival when Herbison visited their houses and told them in-person. Fletcher, Woodburne and Moloney all expressed their pleasure of the revival either during interviews or on social media. Other cast members were not informed prior to the announcement of the show's return. It has been revealed that "Neighbours" will be produced for at least the next two years, with 200 new episodes being released per year.


title: Neighbours

text: "Neighbours"' focus is the fictional Ramsay Street, a residential cul-de-sac in the fictional Melbourne suburb of Erinsborough. The street was named after the grandfather of original character Max Ramsay (Francis Bell). Other locations include Erinsborough High School, the garage (local mechanic), hospital, and the Lassiter's complex, which contains the Lassiter's Hotel, Waterhole bar, Harold's Café, the lawyers office Rebecchi Law, and the police station. Ahead of the 25th anniversary the Erinsborough village set underwent a makeover. The café and bar remained the same, but the centre of the complex was upgraded. Lassiter's Hotel was given a new logo and gained a second floor with outdoor seating area. The hospital and police station received new facades, a used car lot was created near the garage and a new university set was created.


title: Neighbours

text: Pin Oak Court, in Vermont South, is the real cul-de-sac that doubles for Ramsay Street. All of the houses featured in the show are real and the residents allow "Neighbours" to shoot external scenes in their front and back yards and on occasions, in their garages. "Neighbours" has been filmed in Pin Oak Court since the series began in 1985 and it has since become popular with tourists. Tours to the cul-de-sac run throughout the year. The interior scenes are filmed at the Global Television studios in Forest Hill, the adjoining suburb in which Pin Oak Court is located.


title: Neighbours

text: Through much of the show's run, it was not stated in which Australian city Erinsborough was located. The rivalry between Sydney and Melbourne meant that scripts did not mention that Erinsborough was a suburb of the latter city, until 1994. Since 2016, the show has begun filming more scenes in and around the city. Other Australian locations mentioned and sometimes seen in the series include the fictitious suburbs of West Waratah, Eden Hills, and Ansons Corner. Real-life Australian towns in the state of Victoria such as Colac, Frankston and Shepparton are sometimes referred to. Oakey in Queensland is also mentioned and sometimes seen.


title: Neighbours

text: On 27 August 2010, "Neighbours" filmed scenes in Sydney's Darling Harbour and on board a cruise ship. The episodes marked only the third time that the show has filmed scenes outside of Victoria. In October 2011, "Neighbours" filmed scenes in Port Douglas, Queensland and around the Great Barrier Reef region. Two storylines were filmed in Geelong and the Gold Coast in 2016. In March 2019, "Neighbours" filmed scenes at the 2019 Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras for an episode airing in 2020. The serial also had its own float during the parade. Later that year, scenes for Paul Robinson (Stefan Dennis) and Terese Willis' (Rebekah Elmaloglou) wedding were filmed at a resort in Queensland.


title: Neighbours

text: Filming locations outside of Australia have included Kenya, the United States and the United Kingdom, which has seen "Neighbours" episodes filmed there on a number of occasions. In February 1990, Lyme Park in Cheshire doubled as the Ledgerwood estate set in Yorkshire. Derek Nimmo guest-starred as the fictitious Lord Ledgerwood in two of the episodes. In November 1992, the characters Rick Alessi (Dan Falzon) and Debbie Martin (Marnie Reece-Wilmore) visit London to attend a Michael Jackson concert. However, producers could not film at the concert after negotiations with Jackson's tour management failed. The second London-based storyline was broadcast in late March 2007. Susan Kennedy (Jackie Woodburne) and Karl Kennedy (Alan Fletcher) are shown taking a ride on the London Eye and being married on a boat on the River Thames.


title: Neighbours

text: Three further storylines shot on location in London aired in March 2017, March 2018, and September 2019. The show was due to film in Ireland for the first time in March 2020, before the shoot was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The following year, a sixth storyline was filmed on location in London, featuring Amanda Holden and Sophie Ellis-Bextor alongside regular cast member Jemma Donovan (Harlow Robinson).


title: Neighbours

text: Through its entire run in Australia, "Neighbours" was screened as a 22-minute episode each weeknight in an early-evening slot. In its final run, it aired at 6:30 pm on 10 Peach (formerly Eleven). Until 2018, "Neighbours" was broadcast from early January to early December, before going off air for around four to five weeks during the Christmas and New Year period. From 2018 the show aired all year round, although a three-week Christmas break occurred in 2021–2022. The last month's worth of episodes shown are available to watch on the "Neighbours" official Australian website, as a part of Network Ten's Catch Up TV service. 10 Peach also broadcast the last five aired episodes shown in an omnibus edition each Sunday.


title: Neighbours

text: When the show began in 1985, the first season was broadcast on the Seven Network, at 5:30 pm in Sydney, at 6:00 pm in Melbourne and Adelaide and at 7:00 pm in Brisbane. The show's transmission in other areas was varied and many regional channels declined to purchase the series. When the show debuted on Network Ten in 1986 it screened at 7:00 pm. On 9 March 1992 the show moved to 6:30 pm to avoid direct competition from rival soap opera "Home and Away" on the Seven Network. Repeat episodes of "Neighbours" episodes from the 1988–1991 period were broadcast between 2000 and 30 June 2003 on Network Ten. These episodes were seen at 3:30 pm, before moving to 11:30 am. During 2008, Ten HD broadcast the previous week's episodes in an omnibus edition each Sunday. These omnibus editions did not return in 2009, as Ten HD was replaced by One HD from March 2009.


title: Neighbours

text: In August 2010, Sydney's "Daily Telegraph" reported that "Neighbours" would be moving to Ten's new digital channel, to make way for a new current affairs show. They said "It's part of a re-branding of Ten's free-to-air channel, targeting the older demographic. The 'younger' shows, like "Neighbours", will go on to one of Ten's digital channels". It was later confirmed that the show would be moving to digital channel, Eleven. Network Ten's programmer, David Mott said "We believe "Neighbours" is perfectly suited to Eleven's audience strategy and will find a successful and enduring home on Eleven". "Neighbours" moved to Eleven on 11 January 2011, the channel's launch day. Throughout 2013, Eleven had broadcast repeat episodes of "Neighbours" from the 2007 period, titled "Old School Neighbours", during weekday mornings. In 2015, Network Ten had broadcast an encore of the previous day's episode at 7:00 am weekdays. In 2018, for the first time in the series' history, the show's classification became PG, due to the series' increasingly adult subject matter.


title: Neighbours

text: On 15 July 2021, David Knox of TV Tonight confirmed that from 26 July "Neighbours" would begin airing four times a week. This marked the first time in the show's history that it had not aired five episodes per week. Knox said the new schedule was likely an attempt at getting the Australian episodes to synchronise with the UK broadcast, which had fallen behind due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The move caused some viewers to speculate that the soap was on the verge of being cancelled, but April Rose Pengilly (who plays Chloe Brennan) confirmed that the rumours were not true. On 23 November 2021, a spokesperson from Channel 5 confirmed that "Neighbours" episodes would continue airing five times a week in 2022, while 10 Peach would be keeping the episodes at four, putting the UK ahead of Australia.


title: Neighbours

text: When "Neighbours" returns in 2023, episodes will debut on Network 10, before later being added to Amazon Prime Video.


title: Neighbours

text: "Neighbours" has been sold to over 60 countries and is one of Australia's most successful media exports.


title: Neighbours

text: "Neighbours" has been very successful in the United Kingdom, and has proved to be more popular there than in Australia. It was broadcast on BBC One for over 21 years from October 1986 until February 2008. The series started airing on 27 October 1986, as part of BBC One's revamped daytime schedules. "Neighbours" went out with a lunchtime broadcast and then a morning broadcast repeat the following day. Michael Grade, the channel's then controller, was advised by his daughter to move the morning broadcast repeat to a late afternoon slot, as she and her friends kept missing it due to their being at school, which took place from 4 January 1988. The show then started attracting larger audiences, peaking at over 21 million viewers on 26 January 1990, an aggregated figure that combined the lunchtime debut and the teatime repeat. Towards the late 2000s, "Neighbours" was normally attracting an average of 3 million viewers for its lunchtime showing and 2.6 million viewers for its early-evening repeat. It was frequently the highest-rating daytime programme in the UK, outside of news bulletins.


title: Neighbours

text: In 2008, the UK broadcast moved to rival channel Channel 5 following the BBC's decision not to keep the show after being asked to pay £300m over eight years by FremantleMedia (three times the show's usual fee). Both Channel 5 and FremantleMedia were owned at that time by the German RTL Group. The last "Neighbours" episode to be shown on BBC One aired on 8 February 2008. The first episode to be shown on Channel 5 was watched by 2.4 million viewers on 11 February 2008 (an audience share of 14.2%), a drop of 300,000 from the BBC's average. However, the move boosted Channel 5's usual share for the 5.30 pm slot by three and a half times. UK viewers are able to catch up with episodes with Channel 5's video catch up service, My5, similar to the catch up service in Australia. Channel 5 also had a deal with YouTube, allowing viewers to watch episodes for free on the video sharing site after they have been transmitted. From 4 January 2016, Channel 5 began broadcasting episodes on the same day as Australia. Channel 5's commissioning editor Greg Barnett explained that closing the transmission gap would reduce spoilers and the number of viewers watching the show illegally online. From mid-2016, the show also began airing every week-night on Nickelodeon as part of their Nick at Nite programming block, broadcasting the same episode that was seen earlier on Channel 5. In March 2017, it was reported that negotiations to continue "Neighbours" on Channel 5 had become "very fraught", and it was possible that the show could stop airing in Britain. In late 2021, Channel 5 moved "Neighbours" to a 6 pm timeslot, as it extended its news coverage to a one-hour-long broadcast from 5 pm. The 1:45 pm showing was unchanged.


title: Neighbours

text: On 5 February 2022, a report from "The Sun", later confirmed by Digital Spy, stated that "Neighbours" had been cancelled in the UK after Channel 5 pulled its funding for budget reasons. In an official statement, a channel spokesperson said ""Neighbours" will no longer air on Channel 5 beyond this summer. It's been a much-loved part of our schedule for more than a decade, and we'd like to thank the cast, Fremantle and all of the production team for their fantastic work on this iconic series." "Neighbours" concluded on Channel 5 in July 2022. The channel's spokesperson confirmed that 5 wants to increase its investment in original UK dramas.


title: Neighbours

text: New episodes of "Neighbours", along with archive episodes, will be released on Amazon Freevee from 2023 in the United Kingdom.


title: Neighbours

text: In Ireland, RTÉ began broadcasting "Neighbours" on 2 January 2001. The show aired weekdays at 2:00 pm on RTÉ One and was repeated at 6:00 pm on RTÉ Two. Episodes were also available via catch-up on RTÉ Player. Prior to the move from BBC One to Channel 5 in the UK, RTÉ broadcast Neighbours at the same pace as the BBC. From the move to Channel 5, RTÉ sat one episode behind the UK broadcast. In 2007, RTÉ secured a long-term deal with FremantleMedia to continue broadcasting the show in Ireland after it moved from the BBC to Channel 5. While RTÉ had only broadcast "Neighbours" since 2001, it had been popular with Irish viewers since it debuted on BBC One in October 1986, due to the widespread availability of BBC One in the Republic of Ireland. To mark the ending of the show, RTÉ have made several classic episodes available to viewers in Ireland on the RTÉ Player.


title: Neighbours

text: In New Zealand, "Neighbours" was broadcast primarily on the TVNZ network. The show was initially broadcast by TVNZ on 25 July 1988, but by 1996 it was removed from the schedule. TV4 (now Bravo) picked the show up and began broadcasting it from 1997. They dropped it in 2000 and it returned to TVNZ in 2002. Repeats of the previous day's episode of "Neighbours" were formerly shown at 2:30 pm weekdays, and later on TVNZ 2 at around 4:30 am Tuesdays to Fridays. The show moved to 5:25 pm weeknights on TV One in late 2007. After a couple of months, the show moved to 3:50 pm weekdays. The show eventually moved back to TV2, screening weeknights at 6:00 pm and, later, 6:30 pm before moving back to 6:00 pm. Its final timeslot was at 4:30 pm on TVNZ 1. The finale aired, in its 90-minute iteration as "Neighbours: The Final Farewell", in a primetime slot on TVNZ 1, on 2 September 2022.


title: Neighbours

text: In Iceland, "Neighbours" has been aired on Stöð 2 since 1986 with Icelandic subtitles. The show is currently on weeknights at 8:35 pm.


title: Neighbours

text: In Belgium, "Neighbours" has aired since 1988 as "Buren", with Dutch subtitles on Één, the main TV network of VRT, the Flemish public broadcaster. On 14 June 2021, after more than 30 years on Eén, commercial broadcaster VTM 2 began broadcasting the series.


title: Neighbours

text: In Kenya, "Neighbours" is broadcast on the KTN network Monday to Friday at 12:30 pm with an omnibus on Sunday mornings.


title: Neighbours

text: In Canada, CFMT-TV in Toronto broadcast "Neighbours" on weeknights at 11:00 pm, starting in September 1990. From 20 May 1991, CFMT moved the show to 4:00 pm. After announcing its cancellation, CFMT decided to keep "Neighbours" on its schedule throughout September 1994, following numerous letters and telephone calls. From April 2017 to April 2019, "Neighbours" aired on OutTV. Episodes were broadcast on weekdays at 2:30 pm ET and 5:30 pm ET, with an omnibus on Saturdays. Episodes aired on the same day as the Australian broadcast and were also available for streaming.


title: Neighbours

text: In the United States, "Neighbours" premiered on KCOP-TV in Los Angeles on 3 June 1991 at 5:30 pm weekdays. KCOP planned to cancel the show by the end of the month due to low ratings, but brought it back due to viewer demand at a 9:30 am daily time slot from 1 July to 30 August 1991. New York City station WWOR-TV showed "Neighbours" weekdays 5:30 pm from 17 June to 17 September 1991. Sixty-five selected episodes were aired from the beginning to where Charlene leaves Ramsay Street in 1988 in both markets. In April 2004, the show began broadcasting nationally on the television channel Oxygen. A spokeswomen from the channel said "Now our viewers can join in on the good, the bad and the endlessly entertaining lives of our Aussie neighbours." The episodes started from the Scully family's arrival in 1999 and were aired for a six-week trial basis. The show was broadcast in the afternoon with two episodes being shown back to back at 1:00 pm and 2:00 pm. After a couple of weeks, and only 65 episodes aired, the show was moved to a late-night time slot and it eventually left the air. On 7 July 2014, Todd Spangler from "Variety" reported that FremantleMedia International had signed a deal with U.S. subscription service Hulu giving it exclusive rights to the most recent season of "Neighbours". The soap began airing from 14 July, with new episodes airing daily from Monday through to Friday, on Hulu and Hulu Plus services. The episodes were four weeks behind the Australian broadcast. All episodes of "Neighbours" were later removed from Hulu.


title: Neighbours

text: From 2023, new episodes will be released on Amazon Freevee in the United States, and on Amazon Prime Video in New Zealand and Canada, with archive episodes also due to be added to these services.


title: Neighbours

text: "Neighbours" initially aired on Seven Network. It struggled to attract high ratings, leading to its cancellation by the network four months after it premiered. The series was then picked up by Network Ten. After the usual break in broadcast over the summer non-ratings period, the series made its debut on Ten in 1986. Ten revamped the show, adding several new, younger cast members including Jason Donovan as Scott Robinson and Kylie Minogue as Charlene Mitchell. When the show began on Ten it initially attracted low ratings, so the Network worked hard to publicise the series. Ten's publicity drive was designed to promote the show in a "star"-focused campaign recalling that of the Hollywood star system where stars were packaged to feed into a fan culture. This paid off, and by the end of 1987, ratings had improved for the show. The episode featuring Scott and Charlene's wedding achieved the highest ever ratings for "Neighbours", and it became one of the highest rating soap episodes ever in Australia. The same episode attracted 19.6 million viewers when it was aired in the United Kingdom.


title: Neighbours

text: By the early 1990s, Australian audiences had decreased, although viewing figures had recovered slightly by the end of the decade. In 1992, due to the decline in ratings, producers began to overhaul the show to win back viewers. They brought in more "fresh-faced teens", moved out older characters and gave some of their parent characters "un-neighborly subplots". Executive producer Ian Bradley said the changes were an attempt to return to the show's original concept. In 1994, Network Ten told "TV Week" that they would be introducing a "younger, livelier look with six regular characters under the age of 18" in a bid to generate interest. It was then that they introduced the characters of Stonefish Rebecchi, played by Anthony Engelman, and Serendipity Gottlieb, played by Raelee Hill.


title: Neighbours

text: In 1996, Kimberley Davies, who played Annalise Hartman, quit the series. Then Caroline Gillmer fell ill and her character Cheryl Stark was temporarily recast with former "Prisoner" actress Colette Mann. This made producers nervous that viewing figures might decrease, so they implemented a series of plots to keep viewers interested. These included a cameo from Clive James and an explosion, which destroyed the doctor's surgery in the Lassiter's complex.


title: Neighbours

text: In the 2000s, rival soap opera "Home and Away" emerged as more popular than "Neighbours" in Australia. As of 2004, "Neighbours" was regularly attracting just under a million viewers per episode. In 2007, "Home and Away" was averaging 1.4 million viewers in Australia to "Neighbours"' 700,000. During the revamp of 2007, the episode broadcast on 23 July 2007 saw the introduction of a new family, updated sets, new theme music and graphics. Ratings for that episode averaged 1.05 million viewers in the 6:30 pm. slot. It was the first time the programme's viewing figures had topped 1 million in 2007. By the end of 2007 it was reported that producers had hoped the "Neighbours" revamp would push the ratings up to between 900,000 to 1 million an episode. It had, however, resulted in a more modest boost, with ratings hovering at about 800,000 a night. The same viewing period had shown an increase in ratings for "Home and Away", which was now averaging 1.4 million viewers every night.


title: Neighbours

text: In February 2008, new executive producer Susan Bower announced that she would be implementing further changes to the programme. Bower promised to retain the return to traditional "Neighbours" values, but with an injection of drama that remains recognisable and relevant. Ratings rose to almost 900,000 in mid-2008, but generally ratings begin to fall towards the end of each year, usually averaging around 700,000. On 17 July 2009, during the aftermath of the Parker family's car accident and the dramatic death of Bridget Parker (Eloise Mignon), "Neighbours" achieved higher ratings than "Home and Away". "Neighbours" achieved 998,000 viewers and placed 6th for the night, while "Home And Away" placed 7th.


title: Neighbours

text: In January 2010, "Neighbours" returned to Australian screens to an audience of 563,000. On 20 January, the ratings fell to a low of 426,000, making it one of the programme's lowest ever ratings in Australia. A July 2010 report showed figures had dropped 20%, from having 1.2 million viewers in 1991 to a low of 618,000 in 2010. A Network Ten spokesperson commented "Most of the show's budget is covered by its UK deal with Channel 5 and the 50-odd other countries it is seen in, so it's not a financial problem for Ten despite the low ratings. And Ten needs the show to score the Australian content and drama points required for it to hold on to a broadcasting licence". On 29 October 2010, "Neighbours<nowiki>'</nowiki>" ratings dropped to a low figure of 386,000 viewers. Viewing numbers for Network Ten that night were down across all programmes. The show's highest figure of the week was 590,000 on 25 October 2010.


title: Neighbours

text: Since moving to digital multichannel Eleven, "Neighbours" has traditionally rated between 250,000 and 350,000 viewers. The show attracted 254,000 viewers for its first episode broadcast on 11 January 2011. This was half the number of viewers that watched it on Network Ten; the "Herald Sun" reported that it was a good result as "bosses were only expecting 133,000." "Neighbours" became Eleven's most-watched show and the third highest rating show on digital multichannels that night. Programming chief David Mott stated, "Last night's strong result for "Neighbours" already suggests the audience will follow the folks from Ramsay Street to their brand new neighbourhood on Eleven." On 24 January 2011, "Neighbours" achieved 330,000 viewers, and three days later, 355,000 viewers tuned in, becoming the show's highest rating yet on Eleven at the time. The show had more viewers than the "Ten Evening News" in the 16–39 and 18–49 demographics. On 13 June 2011, "Neighbours" was watched by 455,000 viewers, making it the highest rating show on digital multichannels that night, and breaking its previous ratings record on the channel. On 27 May 2013, episode 6651 of "Neighbours" was watched by an audience of 405,000 viewers, which was the highest rating the series had achieved in nearly two years. "Neighbours" began going through a ratings decline in 2016, with episodes now averaging below 200,000 viewers. Executive producer Jason Herbison told TV Tonight, "We know that our show is performing really solidly in the UK. We're not sure why it's not here [in Australia] but we're taking a real look at it." He further added, "We're all trying to figure out what we need to do in order to keep our audience." The first episode screened on Eleven in March 2018 gained only 118,000 viewers.


title: Neighbours

text: In 2021, "Neighbours" audience figures were around 1.5 million per episode in the UK. The finale was viewed by 4.02 million viewers in the UK when catchup and recordings were counted.


title: Neighbours

text: The finale, which aired on Network 10 on 28 July 2022, was watched by a total of 1.2 million viewers (live viewers in Australia alone), making it the most-watched program of the evening. These figures were the highest the program had received since 2009.


title: Neighbours

text: "Neighbours" storylines frequently focus on family problems, intergenerational clashes, school problems, romances and domestic issues. Despite the restrictive 6:30 pm time slot, "Neighbours" has also covered many serious problems such as teenage pregnancy, marital breakdown, imprisonment, career problems, financial problems, pregnancy, abortion, terminal illness, eating disorders, alcoholism, adultery, drug use and drug trafficking, robbery, stalking, kidnapping, accidental death, hit-and-runs, murder, shootings, stabbings, and incest. In the 2000s and 2010s, the show dealt with issues such as homosexuality, gambling, prostitution, surrogacy, and exotic dancing. Health issues were also focused on, including multiple sclerosis, bipolar disorder, epilepsy, amnesia, congenital diaphragmatic hernia, and Alzheimer's disease. In September 2014, the show featured a natural disaster storyline, in which a tornado descended on Erinsborough and Ramsay Street.


title: Neighbours

text: In 1985, "Neighbours" started out with three households created by Watson – the Ramsays, the Robinsons and the Clarkes. Watson said that he wanted to show three families living in a small street, who are friends. Max Ramsay (Francis Bell), his wife Maria (Dasha Blahova) and their sons Shane (Peter O'Brien) and Danny (David Clencie) lived at No.24 Ramsay Street. Single father, Jim Robinson (Alan Dale) lived next door with his children, Paul (Stefan Dennis), Julie (Vikki Blanche), Scott (Darius Perkins) and Lucy (Kylie Flinker). His mother-in-law, Helen Daniels (Anne Haddy) also lived with him. Bachelor Des Clarke (Paul Keane) invited Daphne Lawrence (Elaine Smith) to live at No. 28 with him and they were later married. The Robinsons and the Ramsays had a long history in the street and they were often involved in an ongoing rivalry. When Network Ten picked up the show and revamped it, they brought in new and younger actors including Kylie Minogue as Charlene Mitchell and Jason Donovan, who replaced Darius Perkins as Scott Robinson. Many families, including the Alessi, Bishop, Hancock, Hoyland, Rebecchi, Scully, Timmins and Willis families have moved in and out of the street over the years.


title: Neighbours

text: When storylines for certain characters become tired, the scriptwriters simply move one family out and replace it with a new one. By the time "Neighbours" concluded, Ramsay Street was a mixture of older characters like Paul Robinson (Stefan Dennis), Toadfish Rebecchi (Ryan Moloney), and Karl (Alan Fletcher) and Susan Kennedy (Jackie Woodburne), as well as newer characters such as the Canning and Brennan families. Watson originally wanted to show young people communicating with older people, which means that the cast is a mix of young actors in their teens or early 20s and older, more experienced hands. The last remaining original character, Helen Daniels, departed the show in 1997 due to the ill-health of Anne Haddy. In 2004, original cast member Stefan Dennis returned to "Neighbours" full-time as Paul Robinson. Paul was the only original character to be a regular in the series from this point until the final episode.


title: Neighbours

text: In February 2009, it was announced that producers would be introducing a new generation of the Ramsay family to the show, over a decade after the family had last appeared. Kate (Ashleigh Brewer), Harry (Will Moore) and Sophie Ramsay (Kaiya Jones) made their first appearances in May 2009.


title: Neighbours

text: As the show continued, more diverse sexualities and gender identities began to be explored. Following a number of gay male characters in the preceding decade, Lana Crawford (Bridget Neval) became the first lesbian character in 2004. In 2010, the first regular gay character, Chris Pappas (James Mason) was introduced. In 2018, Aaron Brennan (Matt Wilson) and David Tanaka (Takaya Honda) were married, the first same-sex marriage to feature in an Australian television drama following the legalisation of same-sex marriage in Australia. The first transgender character, Mackenzie Hargreaves (Georgie Stone), was introduced in late 2019, after Stone approached the producers with a pitch for the character.


title: Neighbours

text: Throughout its run, "Neighbours" has featured several guest appearances from celebrities playing themselves or characters. Early cameos included former Skyhooks musician Red Symons, Warwick Capper, Molly Meldrum, Chris Lowe of Pet Shop Boys, and Clive James. During the 2000s and 2010s, the series featured appearances from The Wiggles, Shane Warne, former Spice Girls singer Emma Bunton, "Little Britain"s Matt Lucas and David Walliams, The Veronicas, Daryl Braithwaite, wrestler Dave Bautista, Lily Allen, Russell Brand (performing his own monologue), Katherine Kelly Lang, André Rieu, Paula Abdul and Jamie Lawson.


title: Neighbours

text: The theme tune to "Neighbours" was composed by Tony Hatch whose then wife, Jackie Trent, wrote the lyrics. Since 1985, there have been eight versions of the theme tune. Barry Crocker performed the song until 1992. The song has been voted the world's most recognised television theme song and the lyrics were quoted by John Smith, then British Shadow Chancellor, in a House of Commons debate on Government economic policy. From 2007, the theme tune to "Neighbours" was sung by Sandra de Jong. In February 2013, Network Ten and FremantleMedia announced that they were searching across Australia and the United Kingdom for a singer to record a new version of the theme tune. The competition resulted in a tie and the new theme was sung as a duet by Daniel Boys and Stephanie Angelini. That version of the theme tune began airing from 15 April 2013. A new retro-inspired theme tune sung by Garth Ploog debuted on 5 January 2015 as part of the show's 30th anniversary celebrations. The final version of the theme, sung by "Neighbours" actress and professional singer Bonnie Anderson, debuted on 25 March 2020.


title: Neighbours

text: Since "Neighbours" began in 1985, it used its opening titles sequence to introduce the major characters featuring in the show. The sequences often feature the characters in family or domestic groups. Each episode's titles sequence was preceded by a recap of events from recent episodes featuring the characters who were to appear in the new episode.


title: Neighbours

text: In 2002, "Neighbours" debuted an all new style of titles with a remixed version of the theme tune. The titles showed characters together in groups according to gender and against a standardised backdrop, a change from the previous ones which were taken outside. 2007 saw "Neighbours" debut an updated theme, a new logo and new "optimistic, contemporary" titles. A photo booth montage was played and characters were seen rowing boats, walking along piers and eating outside. The sequence also contained shots of upcoming scenes. In August 2009, "Neighbours" introduced a new titles format. The first episode of each week begins with a trailer previewing the week's events. The usual recap of storylines switched to after the opening titles of each episode for the first time since 1998. The end of episode teasers returned and are now made in-house by the "Neighbours" production team.


title: Neighbours

text: In September 2009, Susan Bower announced that "Neighbours" would introduce new opening titles for the 25th anniversary and they would feature a bit of "bling". The titles were created by Visual Playground, who shot a series of scenes featuring the cast in settings familiar to viewers. The titles made their debut on 18 March 2010. A new set of opening titles made their debut on 15 April 2013, along with a new version of the theme tune. Visual Playground once again created and produced the titles. The titles depict the Ramsay Street residents gathering outside their houses for a street party. A writer for Visual Playground explained that they "invented a bokeh graphic device that uses the play of light in a formation to locate the houses in the cul-de-sac. Six overlapping circles represent the six houses of Ramsay St and the off street cast members. All the circles together reinforce the sense of community that makes up "Neighbours"." A new retro-inspired logo, theme tune and opening titles debuted on 5 January 2015 as part of the show's 30th anniversary celebrations. The new logo is a reimagined contemporary version of the original "Neighbours" logo from 1985. The titles show characters in a variety of familiar settings around Erinsborough and ends with a look at Ramsay Street from above.


title: Neighbours

text: On 9 January 2017, a new set of opening titles debuted. The titles featured the cast members posing in front of green screen, instead of on the sets. Viewers also noticed that actors Ryan Moloney, Colette Mann and Zoe Cramond had their names misspelled. The spelling errors were corrected by the production team and the edited titles debuted the following day. The opening title sequence was updated in April 2017, following the arrival of the new Rebecchi family. The style of the titles was not changed, but most of the cast shots were re-filmed. On 21 May 2018, a new title sequence debuted. They are a return to the previous style of a live-action sequence filmed on the set. This style remained with periodic updates in subsequent years. In January 2022, new location shots of Melbourne and its surroundings were introduced to the title sequence, reflecting the series' ambition to expand its filming locations.


title: Neighbours

text: "Neighbours" has received a wide variety of awards and nominations throughout its run. The show has received 89 Logie Award nominations, of which it has won 31. It was inducted into the Logie Hall of Fame in 2005. It has also been nominated for "Most Popular Daytime Programme" at the UK's National Television Awards in five of the six years from 2000 to 2006. In 1997, the show won an award for Best Episode in A Television Drama Serial at the Australian Film Institute Awards. Two "Neighbours" actors have been nominated for Rose D'Or awards, once in 2004 for Ryan Moloney and again in 2005 for Jackie Woodburne. "Neighbours" has also won six Australian Writers' Guild awards.


title: Neighbours

text: Since the show's inception, several spin-offs have been produced, including books, music, DVDs and internet webisodes. In 1991, an officially licensed video game of "Neighbours" was created by Ian Copeland and developed by Zeppelin Games under their Impulze label for the ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64, Atari ST, and Amiga; it was re-released by Zeppelin in 1992 on budget price. In the game, the player took on the role of Scott Robinson and had to skateboard around four whole courses.


title: Neighbours

text: Episodes of "Neighbours" have been released on several DVDs. "Neighbours: Defining Moments" was the first DVD box set released in 2002. It is a compilation of fifteen classic episodes and a photo gallery. The "Neighbours: The Iconic Episodes Volume 1" DVD box set was released in 2008 and contains twenty-three episodes, the 1000th episode party celebration special and a photo gallery. "Neighbours: The Iconic Episodes Volume Two" contains twenty-four episodes over three discs. One disc is dedicated to the character of Charlene. In 2012, early episodes of "Neighbours" were released on three DVD box sets in Germany. From April 2012, Shock Entertainment began releasing DVD box sets of "Neighbours" episodes in broadcast order from the beginning. As of October 2014, five box sets have been released.


title: Neighbours

text: "Neighbours" has released several internet webisode series via their YouTube channel. The first series was titled "Steph in Prison" and coincided with Stephanie Scully's (Carla Bonner) return to "Neighbours" in April 2013. The following year, "Brennan on the Run" focusing on Mark Brennan's (Scott McGregor) time in witness protection was released. "Neighbours vs Zombies" was launched in October 2014 and featured the returns of many former characters who had previously died in the show. In October 2017, the five-part "Neighbours vs Time Travel" series was released. It features Paul Robinson (Stefan Dennis) going back to 1985 and giving his younger self some advice, which alters the future.


title: Neighbours

text: The first full-length spin-off, a five-part series entitled "", was distributed on video on demand and catch up TV services My5 and 10 Play in November 2019.


title: Neighbours

text: The serial's format has occasionally been licensed to international networks by the original producers Reg Grundy Organisation/Fremantle. Based on the "Neighbours" story and character outlines from 2012, "Komşular" began screening in Turkey in 2017.


title: Neighbours

text: Moreover, FremantleMedia Italia, which is part of Reg Grundy Organisation/Fremantle (company), in association with the Italian national broadcaster RAI, produces a serial "Un posto al sole" (English: A Place in the Sun), broadcast since 1996 in Italy on Rai 3. "Un Posto al Sole" is based on an original format, developed by Wayne Doyle with Adam Bowen, Gino Ventriglia e Michele Zatta, with different settings, characters, stories, and contents in comparison to Neighbours. During the creation process of "Un Posto al Sole" in 1996, the producer company Reg Grundy Organisation/Fremantle (company) replicated the same working method and organization of the already well-established Neighbours to produce Un Posto al sole, transferring knowledge to its Italian leg and its Italian partner Rai Fiction. In fact, in 1996, "Un Posto al Sole" was considered the first serial of its genre (daily drama) to be produced in Italy.


title: Neighbours

text: Kenny Everett parodied the show in the final series of "The Kenny Everett Television Show" (1987–88). Titled "Cobbers", the sketches featured a group of stereotypical Australians dressed in swimwear conflicting with Everett's suit-wearing middle class British personality.


title: Neighbours

text: "Neighbours" has been cited as the cause of language change in the United Kingdom, including the adoption of Australian colloquialisms such as "no worries". A speech pattern, high rising terminal, sometimes called "Australian Question Intonation", has been linked to the popularity of "Neighbours" in Britain, however linguists have traced its origin to California in the 1970s.


title: The Doobie Brothers

text: The Doobie Brothers are an American rock band formed in 1970 in San Jose, California, known for their flexibility in performing across numerous genres and their vocal harmonies. Active for five decades, with their greatest success in the 1970s, the group's current lineup consists of founding members Tom Johnston (guitars, vocals) and Patrick Simmons (guitars, vocals), alongside Michael McDonald (keyboards, vocals) and John McFee (guitars, pedal steel, violin, backing vocals), and touring musicians including John Cowan (bass, vocals), Marc Russo (saxophones), Ed Toth (drums), and Marc Quiñones (percussion). Other long-serving members of the band include guitarist Jeff "Skunk" Baxter (1974–1979), bassist Tiran Porter (1972–1980, 1987–1992) and drummers John Hartman (1970–1979, 1987–1992), Michael Hossack (1971–1973, 1987–2012), and Keith Knudsen (1973–1982, 1993–2005). They performed gospel influenced songs such as "Take Me in Your Arms (Rock Me a Little While)" and "Jesus is Just Alright".


title: The Doobie Brothers

text: Johnston provided the lead vocals for the band from 1970 to 1975, when they featured a mainstream rock sound with elements of folk, country and R&B. Michael McDonald joined the band in 1975 as a keyboard player and second lead vocalist, to give some relief to Johnston, who was suffering health problems at the time. McDonald's interest in soul music introduced a new sound to the band. Johnston and McDonald performed together as co-lead vocalists for one album, "Takin' It to the Streets", before Johnston retired fully in 1977. Frequent lineup changes followed through the rest of the 1970s, and the band broke up in 1982 with Simmons being the only constant member having appeared on all of their albums. In 1987 the Doobie Brothers reformed with Johnston back in the fold; McDonald, who had previously made several guest appearances since their reformation, returned to the band full-time in 2019 for their 50th anniversary tour.


title: The Doobie Brothers

text: The group's fourteen studio albums include six top-ten appearances on the "Billboard" 200 album chart, including 1978's "Minute by Minute", which reached number one for five weeks, and won the band a Grammy for Best Pop Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group, while the single "What A Fool Believes" from the album won three Grammys itself. The band has released six live albums, and numerous greatest hits compilations, including 1976's "Best of The Doobies", which was certified diamond by the RIAA for reaching album sales of ten million copies, the band's best selling album. The band's sixteen "Billboard" Hot 100 top-40 hits include "Listen to the Music", "Jesus is Just Alright", "Long Train Runnin'", "China Grove", "Black Water" (#1 in 1974), "Takin' It to the Streets", "What A Fool Believes" (#1 in 1979), and "The Doctor", all of which remain in heavy rotation on classic hits radio.


title: The Doobie Brothers

text: The Doobie Brothers were inducted into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 2004, and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on November 7, 2020. The group has sold more than 40 million albums worldwide.


title: The Doobie Brothers

text: Drummer John Hartman arrived in California determined to meet Skip Spence of Moby Grape and join an aborted Grape reunion. Spence introduced Hartman to singer, guitarist, and songwriter Tom Johnston and the two proceeded to form the nucleus of what would become the Doobie Brothers. Johnston and Hartman called their fledgling group "Pud" and experimented with lineups (occasionally including Spence) and styles as they performed in and around San Jose. They were mostly a power trio (along with bassist Greg Murphy) but briefly worked with a horn section.


title: The Doobie Brothers

text: In 1970, they teamed up with singer, guitarist, and songwriter Patrick Simmons and bassist Dave Shogren. Simmons had belonged to several area groups (among them "Scratch", an acoustic trio with future Doobies bassist Tiran Porter) and also performed as a solo artist. He was already an accomplished fingerstyle player whose approach to the instrument complemented Johnston's rhythmic R&B strumming.


title: The Doobie Brothers

text: While still playing locally around San Jose, the group adopted the name "Doobie Brothers". Their friend Keith "Dyno" Rosen, who lived with or next-door to the band, came up with the name after the band had difficulty coming up with one on their own. According to Tom Johnston, Rosen said, "Why don't you call yourself the Doobie Brothers because you're always smoking pot?" Hartman has said he wasn't involved with choosing the name, and didn't know that "doobie" meant a marijuana joint until Rosen told him. Everyone in the band agreed that "Doobie Brothers" was a "dumb" or "stupid" name. Simmons has said the band intended to use the name only for a few early performances until they came up with something better, but they never did.


title: The Doobie Brothers

text: The Doobie Brothers improved their playing by performing live all over Northern California in 1970. They attracted a particularly strong following among local chapters of the Hells Angels and got a recurring gig at one of the bikers' favorite venues, the Chateau Liberté in the Santa Cruz mountains, playing there through the summer of 1970 (although some of these concerts did not include all band members and were of an impromptu nature). A set of demos, which showcased fuzz-toned dual lead electric guitars, three-part harmonies and Hartman's drumming, caught the ear of Warner Brothers' staff A & R representative Ted Templeman, and eventually earned the group a contract at Warner Bros. Records before the year was out.


title: The Doobie Brothers

text: The band's image originally reflected that of their biggest fans—leather jackets and motorcycles. Released in April 1971, their self-titled debut album departed significantly from that image and their live sound of the period. Produced at Pacific Recorders in San Mateo, the album, which failed to chart, emphasized acoustic guitars and reflected country influences. The leadoff song "Nobody", the band's first single, has surfaced in their live set several times over the ensuing decades. Most recently, this song was re-recorded and added to their 2010 album "World Gone Crazy".


title: The Doobie Brothers

text: In the late spring/summer of 1971 their record label sent the Doobies out on their first national tour in tandem with the group Mother Earth, the "Mother Brothers Tour". Also in 1971, the group toyed with the idea of adding a second drummer, supplementing Hartman's drumming on some of their shows with that of United States Navy veteran Michael Hossack while still touring behind their first album.


title: The Doobie Brothers

text: Moving to Warner Brothers' newly acquired Amigo Studios in North Hollywood starting in late October 1971, the band recorded several songs for their next album with Shogren on bass, guitar, and background vocals, but Shogren left after disagreements with the group's producer, Ted Templeman. Shogren was replaced in December 1971 with singer, songwriter and bass guitarist Tiran Porter, while Hossack was added to the lineup at the same time as a regular. Porter and Hossack were both stalwarts of the Northern California music scene, Porter having previously played in Scratch with Simmons. Porter brought a funkier bass style and added his husky baritone to the voices of Johnston and Simmons, resulting in a rich three-part blend.


title: The Doobie Brothers

text: The band's second album, "Toulouse Street" (which contained the hits "Listen to the Music" and "Jesus Is Just Alright"), brought their breakthrough success after its release in July 1972. In collaboration with manager Bruce Cohn, producer Ted Templeman and engineer Donn Landee, the band put forward a more polished and eclectic set of songs. Pianist Bill Payne of Little Feat contributed keyboards for the first time, beginning a decades-long collaboration that included many recording sessions and even a two-week stint touring with the band in early 1974.


title: The Doobie Brothers

text: A string of hits followed, including Johnston's "Long Train Runnin'" and "China Grove", from the 1973 album "The Captain and Me". Other noteworthy songs on the album were Simmons' country-ish ode "South City Midnight Lady" and the explosive, hard rocking raveup "Without You", for which the entire band received songwriting credit. Onstage, the latter song sometimes stretched into a 15-minute jam with additional lyrics completely ad-libbed by Johnston. A 1973 appearance on the debut episode of the television music variety show "Don Kirshner's Rock Concert" featured one such performance of the tune.


title: The Doobie Brothers

text: In the midst of recording sessions for their next album, 1974's "What Were Once Vices Are Now Habits", and rehearsals for a 1973 fall tour, Hossack abruptly departed the band, citing burnout from constant touring. Drummer, songwriter and vocalist Keith Knudsen (who previously drummed for Lee Michaels of "Do You Know What I Mean" fame) was recruited promptly in September 1973 and left with the Doobies on a major tour a few weeks later (Hossack subsequently replaced Knudsen in the band Bonaroo, which served as an opening act for the Doobies shortly thereafter). Both Hossack's drums and Knudsen's voice are heard on "Vices".


title: The Doobie Brothers

text: In 1974, Steely Dan co-lead guitarist Jeff "Skunk" Baxter learned that his band was retiring from the road and that Donald Fagen and Walter Becker intended to work almost exclusively with session players in the future. In need of a steady gig, he joined the Doobie Brothers as third lead guitarist in the middle of their current tour. He had previously worked with the band in the studio, adding pedal steel guitar to both "Captain" ("South City Midnight Lady") and "Vices" ("Black Water", "Tell Me What You Want") and was already playing with the band as a special guest during that year's tour.


title: The Doobie Brothers

text: "Vices" included the band's first No. 1 single, Simmons' signature tune "Black Water". It topped the charts in March 1975 and eventually propelled the album to multi-platinum status. Johnston's lyrical "Another Park, Another Sunday" (as a single, it featured "Black Water" as the B-side) and his horn-driven funk song "Eyes of Silver" also charted the year before at numbers 32 & 52, respectively.


title: The Doobie Brothers

text: During this period and for several subsequent tours, the Doobies were often supported on stage by Stax Records legends The Memphis Horns. Live recordings with the horn section have aired on radio on the "King Biscuit Flower Hour", but none have been officially released. The Memphis Horns also appeared as session players on multiple Doobies albums.


title: The Doobie Brothers

text: By the end of 1974 Johnston's health was suffering from the rigors of the road. He was absent when the band joined The Beach Boys, Chicago, and Olivia Newton-John on "Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve" that December. By then, the western-themed "Stampede" had been completed for release in 1975. It featured yet another hit single, Johnston's cover of the Holland–Dozier–Holland-written Motown hit "Take Me in Your Arms" (originally sung by Kim Weston and also covered by the Isley Brothers, Blood Sweat and Tears and Mother Earth). Simmons contributed the atmospheric "I Cheat the Hangman", as well as "Neal's Fandango", an ode to Santa Cruz, Jack Kerouac and Neal Cassady. Ry Cooder added his slide guitar to Johnston's cowboy song, "Rainy Day Crossroad Blues".


title: The Doobie Brothers

text: By the start of the Spring 1975 promotional tour for "Stampede", Johnston's condition was so precarious that he required emergency hospitalization for a bleeding ulcer. With Johnston convalescing and the tour already underway, Baxter proposed recruiting a fellow Steely Dan alum to fill the hole: singer, songwriter and keyboardist Michael McDonald. Simmons, Knudsen, Porter and McDonald divided Johnston's singing parts on tour while Simmons and Baxter shared lead guitar responsibilities.


title: The Doobie Brothers

text: Under contract to release another album in 1976, the Doobies were at a crossroads. Their primary songwriter and singer remained unavailable, so they turned to McDonald and Porter for material to supplement that of Simmons. The resulting LP, "Takin' It to the Streets", debuted a radical change in their sound. Their electric guitar-based rock and roll gave way to a more soft rock and blue-eyed soul sound, emphasizing keyboards and horns and subtler, more syncopated rhythms. Baxter contributed jazz-inflected guitar stylings reminiscent of Steely Dan, along with unusual, complex harmony and longer, more developed melody. Above all, McDonald's voice became the band's new signature sound. "Takin' It to the Streets" featured McDonald's title track and "It Keeps You Runnin'", both hits. (A second version of "It Keeps You Runnin'", performed by Carly Simon, appeared on her album "Another Passenger", with the Doobies backing her.) Bassist Porter wrote and sang "For Someone Special" as a tribute to the absent Johnston. A greatest hits compilation, "Best of the Doobies", followed before year's end. (In 1996, the Recording Industry Association of America certified "Best of the Doobies" "Diamond" for sales in excess of 10 million units.)


title: The Doobie Brothers

text: Their new sound was further refined and McDonald's dominant role cemented with 1977's "Livin' on the Fault Line". It featured a cover of the Motown classic "Little Darling (I Need You)" and "Echoes of Love", which had been written by Willie Mitchell for, but not recorded by, Al Green. Mitchell (then of the Memphis Horns) and Earl Randle had both worked with Green a good bit. Simmons added some music and lyrics, co-writing the finished version with Mitchell and Randle; the song was later covered not just by the Pointer Sisters but by Lyn Paul, the ex-New Seekers vocalist. The album also featured the song "You Belong to Me" (co-written by McDonald and Carly Simon, who had a hit with her own version of the tune). To help promote "Fault Line", the band performed live on the PBS show "Soundstage". Baxter used an early type of guitar synthesizer (made by Roland) on many of the tracks (especially the title track and "China Grove"). The combination of McDonald's cerebral approach to harmony, funkier beats and R&B vocal flavor, along with Baxter's guitar pyrotechnics, pushed the band away from the more proletarian biker-bong-boogie style that made them popular originally. The use of complex jazz chords, built on McDonald's thoroughly composed keyboard parts and tempered by strong pop hooks, resulted in an album that, though not really jazz, had a distinctly urban contemporary finish, adding the flavor of the "cool jazz" era to a pop setting.


title: The Doobie Brothers

text: Both "Streets" and "Fault Line" reflected Johnston's diminished role in the group following his illness. Restored to fitness and briefly back in the fold, he contributed one original song to "Streets" ("Turn It Loose"), and also sang a verse on Simmons' tune "Wheels of Fortune". He also made live appearances with the band in 1976 (documented in a concert filmed that year at the Winterland in San Francisco, excerpts of which appear occasionally on VH1 Classic), but was sidelined once again that fall due to exhaustion. None of Johnston's songs appeared on "Fault Line", though he had written and the band had recorded five of his compositions for the album. Regardless, he received credit for guitars and vocals and was pictured on the album's inner sleeve band photo. He soon left the band he co-founded, embarking on a solo career that eventually yielded one modestly successful 1979 Warner Brothers album, "Everything You've Heard is True", which featured the single "Savannah Nights", and the less successful album "Still Feels Good" in 1981.


title: The Doobie Brothers

text: During this period of transition, the band also elevated former roadie Bobby LaKind to onstage backup vocalist and percussionist. In the studio, LaKind first contributed percussion to "Streets" but had been a member of the band's lighting crew since 1974. Additionally, in early 1978, the band appeared as themselves in two episodes of the ABC sitcom "What's Happening!!", performing "Little Darlin' (I Need You)", "Black Water", "Takin' It to the Streets", and "Take Me in Your Arms".


title: The Doobie Brothers

text: After almost a decade on the road, and with seven albums to their credit, the Doobies' profile was substantially elevated by the success of their next album, 1978's "Minute by Minute". It spent five weeks atop the charts and dominated several radio formats for the better part of two years. McDonald's song "What a Fool Believes", written with Kenny Loggins, was the band's second No. 1 single and earned the songwriting duo (along with producer Ted Templeman) a Grammy Award for Record of the Year. The album won a Grammy for Pop Vocal Performance by a Group and was nominated for Album of the Year. Both "What a Fool Believes" and the title track were nominated for Song of the Year, with "What a Fool Believes" winning the award. Among the other memorable songs on the album are "Here to Love You", "Dependin' On You" (co-written by McDonald and Simmons), "Steamer Lane Breakdown" (a Simmons bluegrass instrumental) and McDonald's "How Do the Fools Survive?" (co-written by Carole Bayer Sager). Nicolette Larson and departed former bandleader Johnston contributed guest vocals on the album.


title: The Doobie Brothers

text: "Minute by Minute"'s triumph was bittersweet because it coincided with the near-dissolution of the band. The pressure of touring while recording and releasing an album each year had worn the members down. Baxter and McDonald had been in creative conflict for some time. McDonald desired a direct, soulful and polished rock/R&B sound, while Baxter insisted on embellishing guitar parts in an increasingly avant-garde style. (Both McDonald and Baxter elaborated on the matter in the documentary series "Behind the Music", which aired on VH1 in February 2001.) Just as "Minute by Minute"'s success became apparent, Hartman, Baxter, and LaKind left the band. A two-song set on the January 27, 1979, broadcast of "Saturday Night Live" (with guest host Michael Palin) marked the final television appearance of this lineup, and a brief tour of Japan marked the band's last live performances in this configuration (Hartman subsequently joined Johnston's touring band in 1979 and taped an appearance with him that aired on "Soundstage" in 1980).


title: The Doobie Brothers

text: Looking to capitalize on the momentum provided by the success of "Minute By Minute", the remaining Doobies (Simmons, Knudsen, McDonald and Porter) decided to embark on a national tour with a reconstituted lineup. In 1979 Hartman was replaced by session drummer Chet McCracken and Baxter by multi-instrumental string player John McFee (late of Huey Lewis's early band Clover); Cornelius Bumpus (who had been part of a recent reunion of Moby Grape) was also recruited to add vocals, keyboards, saxophones, and flute to the lineup. This lineup toured throughout 1979, including stops at Madison Square Garden and New York City's Battery Park for the No Nukes benefit shows with like-minded artists such as Bonnie Raitt, Crosby, Stills & Nash, James Taylor, Carly Simon, Jackson Browne, Bruce Springsteen and John Hall.


title: The Doobie Brothers

text: 1980 marked LaKind's return to the lineup as a full-time member and the Doobies' ninth studio album, "One Step Closer". The LP featured the hit title track and the Top 10 hit "Real Love" (not to be confused with the John Lennon composition) but did not dominate the charts and the radio as "Minute by Minute" had, largely due to an oversaturation of the "McDonald sound" by many other artists (such as Robbie Dupree's hit "Steal Away", which copied the "McDonald sound" nearly note for note) on the radio at the time—not to mention McDonald's numerous guest vocal appearances on hits by other artists, such as Kenny Loggins, Christopher Cross, Lauren Wood and Nicolette Larson. The album itself was also noticeably weaker musically than the previous three with the band sounding tired and seemingly devolving to little more than McDonald's "backup band" (according to contemporary sources). "Ted and Michael became one faction against Pat and the rest of us", Porter said in an interview. Long frustrated with the realities of relentless touring and yearning for a stable home life, as well as battling an admitted cocaine problem, Porter left the band after the recording of "Closer". Session bassist Willie Weeks joined the band and the Doobies continued touring throughout 1980 and 1981 (post-Doobies, Weeks has performed with the Gregg Allman Band, Eric Clapton, and many others).


title: The Doobie Brothers

text: Also during the 1981 tour, veteran session drummer Andy Newmark stepped in briefly for Knudsen, who was then in rehab. And by the end of 1981, even Simmons had left the band. Now faced with the prospect of calling themselves The Doobie Brothers with no remaining original members and a "leader" in McDonald who was ready for a solo career, the group elected instead to disband after a rehearsal without Simmons, according to an interview with McDonald for "Listen to the Music", the Doobie Brothers' official video history/documentary released in 1989. He went on to say that by that point they could not have gotten further away from the Doobies sound if they had tried. Simmons, already at work on his first solo album, "Arcade", rejoined for a 1982 farewell tour on the condition that this truly would be the end of the Doobie Brothers. At their last concert at the Greek Theatre in Berkeley, California on September 11, 1982, they were joined onstage by founding member Tom Johnston for what was presumed to be the final rendition of his staple, "China Grove". Former members Porter, Hossack and Hartman subsequently took the stage for an extended version of "Listen to the Music". Knudsen sang lead vocals while Johnston, Simmons and McFee traded licks on guitar. The live album "Farewell Tour" was released in 1983 and the Greek Theatre concert was released in 2011 as "Live at the Greek Theatre 1982".


title: The Doobie Brothers

text: The Doobies did not work together for the next five years, though various members got together in different configurations for annual Christmas season performances for the patients and staff at the Stanford Children's Hospital in the Bay area. Simmons released a commercially disappointing solo album, "Arcade", in 1983. During the mid-1980s, Johnston toured U.S. clubs with a band called Border Patrol, which did not release any recordings. Hossack and (briefly) Simmons worked with the group. Around 1986, Johnston and Simmons began working on an album together (according to a 1989 interview with Simmons), but abandoned the project soon after with no known finished tracks. In 1983, Knudsen and McFee formed the band Southern Pacific and recorded four albums that found success in the country charts (former Creedence Clearwater Revival bassist Stu Cook joined the band in 1986 and former Pablo Cruise guitarist David Jenkins in 1988). Out of print for many years, Simmons' "Arcade" was reissued on compact disc in 2007 by specialty label Wounded Bird Records, which is also the home of Southern Pacific's and Tom Johnston's catalogs. Post-Doobies, McDonald became established as a bearded solo artist. His voice dominated adult contemporary radio throughout the 1980s. He experienced a renaissance of popularity in the 21st century as an interpreter of Motown classics.


title: The Doobie Brothers

text: The reformation of the Doobie Brothers was not intentional. On a personal quest for a worthy cause and after conquering his drug addiction, Knudsen became active in the Vietnam Veterans Aid Foundation. In early 1987, he persuaded 11 Doobie alumni to join him for a concert to benefit veterans' causes. Answering the call were Tom Johnston, Pat Simmons, Jeff Baxter, John McFee, John Hartman, Michael Hossack, Chet McCracken, Michael McDonald, Cornelius Bumpus, Bobby LaKind and Tiran Porter, plus their long-time record producer and good friend, Ted Templeman. There were no surplus bass players as Weeks had other commitments. They soon discovered that tickets were in great demand, so the concert quickly evolved into a 12-city tour that began on May 21, 1987, in San Diego. The third concert, held at the Hollywood Bowl, was reportedly the venue's fastest sell-out since the Beatles had played there just over 20 years earlier. The band performed selections from every album using a wide variety of instrumentation that they could not have previously duplicated onstage without the expanded lineup. Baxter and McFee played pedal steel and violin, respectively, during "Black Water" and "Steamer Lane Breakdown". "Without You" featured four drummers and four lead guitarists. Producer Ted Templeman played percussion and LaKind sometimes played Knudsen's drum set while Knudsen went to the front of the stage to join the chorus. Templeman also played the drum set on "What a Fool Believes", as he did on the original hit record. The tour culminated (sans McDonald, LaKind, McFee and Knudsen) at the Glasnost-inspired July 4 "Peace Concert" in Moscow, with Bonnie Raitt, James Taylor and Santana sharing the bill. Excerpts appearing later that year on the Showtime cable network included a performance of "China Grove".


title: The Doobie Brothers

text: The successful 1987 reunion sparked discussions about reconstituting the band on a permanent basis. They eventually decided to replicate the "Toulouse Street"/"Captain and Me" incarnation, settling on a lineup featuring Johnston, Simmons, Hartman, Porter and Hossack, plus more recent addition LaKind, and released "Cycles" on Capitol Records in 1989. The album featured a Top 10 single, "The Doctor". The song is very similar to "China Grove", and the connection was further enhanced by guest Bill Payne's tinkling piano. Other material on the album included Johnston's "South of the Border", Dale Ockerman's and Pat Simmons' "Take Me to the Highway", and "I Can Read Your Mind", a version of the Isley Brothers' "Need a Little Taste of Love", and a version of The Four Tops classic, "One Chain (Don't Make No Prison)", which had been covered by Santana years before. "Cycles" proved a successful comeback album and was certified Gold. Bumpus participated in the 1989 and 1990 tours, adding his distinctive voice, keyboards, saxophone and flute. His presence bridged the gap between the current band and the McDonald era; he sang lead vocals on "One Step Closer" (as he originally had on the 1980 album) while Simmons took McDonald's part. The group was further augmented on the 1989 tour by Dale Ockerman (keyboards, guitar, backing vocals), Richard Bryant (percussion, vocals) and Jimi Fox (percussion, backing vocals). After being diagnosed with terminal colon cancer, LaKind stepped down before the tour to focus on his health.


title: The Doobie Brothers

text: The success of "Cycles" led to the release of 1991's "Brotherhood", also on Capitol. The group members grew their hair back out, wore denim and leather, and attempted to revive their biker image of the early 1970s. In spite of the makeover and strong material led by Simmons' now trademark "Dangerous" (featured in the Brian Bosworth biker film "Stone Cold"), "Brotherhood" was unsuccessful, in part due to a lack of support from Capitol Records.


title: The Doobie Brothers

text: The accompanying tour (with the 1989 lineup sans Bumpus), which also featured Joe Walsh on the bill, was ranked among the ten least profitable tours of the disappointing 1991 summer season by the North American Concert Promoters Association.


title: The Doobie Brothers

text: The 1987 Doobie Brothers alumni band reunited on October 17 and 19, 1992, at the Concord Pavilion in Concord, California to perform benefit shows for LaKind's children. LaKind, terminally ill with colon cancer, joined the group on percussion for a few numbers. The concerts were recorded and subsequently broadcast on the Superstars in Concert radio series accompanied by a plea for contributions to the LaKind family fund. LaKind died on December 24, 1992 at the age of 47.


title: The Doobie Brothers

text: A brief hiatus followed during which Simmons collaborated with bassist and songwriter John Cowan (ex-New Grass Revival), Rusty Young (of Poco) and Bill Lloyd (of Foster & Lloyd) on an unreleased project called Four Wheel Drive. When the band emerged yet again in 1993, Hartman and Porter retired from the road for good but Knudsen and McFee rejoined the Doobie Brothers on a full-time basis after Southern Pacific disbanded. Joined by Ockerman, Bumpus, and Weeks, the group toured with Four Wheel Drive as the opening act. After Weeks left the tour to resume his session work, Cowan played bass for both bands. Bumpus also left to join the reunited Steely Dan, giving way to saxophonist, keyboardist, and harmonica player Danny Hull. Former band member Chet McCracken temporarily filled in for an injured Hossack in July 1993. Their 1994 tour included co-headlining appearances with Foreigner.


title: The Doobie Brothers

text: With renewed energy in the mid-1990s, the band began to experiment with different arrangements of several tunes. They even pulled from McDonald's songbook from time to time, eventually restoring "Takin' it to the Streets" to the setlist with Simmons and new bass guitarist Skylark (who joined in 1995) substituting for McDonald on lead vocals.


title: The Doobie Brothers

text: The band has toured continuously since 1993. In 1995, they reunited with McDonald for a co-headlining tour with the Steve Miller Band. The "Dreams Come True" tour featured all three primary songwriters and singers and reflected all phases of the band's career. Bumpus rejoined for the 1995 tour, with McCracken replacing the absent Knudsen and Bernie Chiaravalle sitting in for McFee. A 1996 double live album, "", featured McDonald on three of his signature tunes. McDonald remains an occasional special guest to this day and has joined the group for benefits, private corporate shows, and parties (such as the wedding reception of Liza Minnelli and David Gest).


title: The Doobie Brothers

text: On January 28, 1996 they performed during the Super Bowl XXX pre-game show at Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe, Arizona. In mid-1996, Ockerman was replaced by keyboardist Guy Allison (ex-Moody Blues and Air Supply). Saxophonist Marc Russo (ex-Yellowjackets) joined in early 1998, replacing Hull.


title: The Doobie Brothers

text: In the late 1990s, the band obtained an injunction preventing confusing or misleading uses of "The Doobie Brothers" moniker in advertisements promoting a tribute band featuring former members McCracken, Bumpus and Shogren.


title: The Doobie Brothers

text: In 1999, Rhino Records released the group's first box set, "Long Train Runnin': 1970–2000", which featured remastered tunes from the band's entire catalog, a new studio recording of the live concert staple "Little Bitty Pretty One", and an entire disc of previously unreleased studio outtakes and live recordings. Rhino's release the following year, "Sibling Rivalry", was the band's first new studio album since 1991. The material reflected contributions from both Knudsen and McFee, ranging from rock to hip-hop, jazz, adult contemporary, and country. The album sold poorly, reflecting the declining sales throughout the adult-oriented rock musical scene.


title: The Doobie Brothers

text: On June 22, 2001 while heading to a show at Caesars Tahoe in Lake Tahoe, Hossack suffered multiple fractures in a motorcycle accident on Highway 88 and had to be airlifted to a Sacramento-area hospital, where he underwent surgery. Drummer and percussionist M. B. Gordy was recruited to fill in for Hossack. After being sidelined for months, Hossack returned to the band in mid-2002. Gordy remained with the band as an auxiliary percussionist until 2005.


title: The Doobie Brothers

text: Saxophonist Ed Wynne, from the Wayne Brady Show, filled in for Marc Russo for the Doobies' 2002 summer tour.


title: The Doobie Brothers

text: On October 26, 2004 the Doobie Brothers released "Live at Wolf Trap", a live album that was recorded at Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts in Vienna, Virginia on July 25 of that year. The album features the final recordings of drummer and vocalist Keith Knudsen, who died in February 2005.


title: The Doobie Brothers

text: For its 2010 and 2012 summer tours, the band was once again paired with Chicago, as it was in 1974, 1999 and 2008.


title: The Doobie Brothers

text: In March 2010 longtime bass guitarist/vocalist Skylark resigned from the band after suffering a serious stroke. John Cowan, who had originally toured with the band in the early 1990s, returned to take Skylark's place, and has been with the band ever since. Three months later, before the band embarked on its 2010 summer tour with Chicago, Hossack was forced to sit out following a diagnosis of cancer. Tony Pia, a member of the Brian Setzer Orchestra, was recruited to substitute for Hossack. Pia became an official touring member of the band following Hossack's death in 2012.


title: The Doobie Brothers

text: On September 28, 2010 the Doobie Brothers released their 13th studio album, "World Gone Crazy", produced by their longtime producer Ted Templeman. "World Gone Crazy" was the first Doobie Brothers album Templeman produced since 1980's "One Step Closer". The album's first single, "Nobody", was free-streamed on their website.


title: The Doobie Brothers

text: By March 2012, five members of the Doobie Brothers family were deceased: percussionist/vocalist LaKind on December 24, 1992, of colon cancer; original bass guitarist / vocalist Shogren of unreported causes on December 14, 1999; saxophonist, keyboardist, vocalist, and flutist Bumpus of a heart attack on February 3, 2004 while in the air en route to California for a solo tour; drummer, vocalist, and activist Keith Knudsen on February 8, 2005 of cancer and chronic pneumonia; and drummer Michael Hossack of cancer on March 12, 2012.


title: The Doobie Brothers

text: On November 13, 2012 the Doobie Brothers released an official documentary, "Let the Music Play: The Story of The Doobie Brothers". It features interviews and rare footage from their early days of the 1970s to the present day. Johnston, Simmons, McDonald, McFee, Porter, and Baxter, along with manager Bruce Cohn, producer Ted Templeman, and members of the Johnston and Simmons families are interviewed in the film.


title: The Doobie Brothers

text: In March 2014 the Doobie Brothers, in conjunction with Sony Music Nashville, announced that their 14th studio album would be released featuring the greatest hits of their 40+-year career. The album would feature lead and backing vocals from several country artists, and Michael McDonald returned to collaborate on the album. Featured artists included Sara Evans, Vince Gill, Hunter Hayes, Casey James, Toby Keith, Love and Theft, Jerrod Niemann, Brad Paisley, Blake Shelton, Tyler Farr, Chris Young, Charlie Worsham, and the Zac Brown Band.


title: The Doobie Brothers

text: The album, entitled "Southbound", was released on November 4, 2014. The following day, the Doobie Brothers and Michael McDonald were featured musical guests on the 47th Annual CMA Awards to celebrate its release, and were joined by Hunter Hayes, Jennifer Nettles, and Hillary Scott in a performance of "Listen to the Music". At the end of the ceremony, in addition to Hayes, Nettles, and Scott, they were joined by co-host Brad Paisley for "Takin' It to the Streets".


title: The Doobie Brothers

text: The Doobie Brothers performed at Music City Roots on May 13, 2015, sharing the stage with Béla Fleck and Dan Tyminski. This was the band's second performance at the venue, after an all-acoustic performance in 2011. The acoustic portion of the 2015 show featured songs that had not been heard by audiences in years, including the bluesy Chicago from their debut album and the title track from "Toulouse Street".


title: The Doobie Brothers

text: In early August 2015, keyboardist/backing vocalist Guy Allison was called to fly out to Japan to work on an album project. Little Feat co-founder and pianist Bill Payne, known for his contributions to many of the band's early studio albums, was selected to temporarily fill in for Allison in his absence. Allison briefly returned to the band after their September 5 show at Susquehanna Bank Center in Camden, New Jersey.


title: The Doobie Brothers

text: On August 20, 2015 the Doobie Brothers and Michael McDonald were the featured musical guests on "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon", where they performed a medley of "Long Train Runnin'" and "Takin' It to the Streets". The band also performed a web-exclusive performance of "What a Fool Believes" that was made available on "The Tonight Show"'s website.


title: The Doobie Brothers

text: On the afternoon of September 11, 2015, the Doobie Brothers performed at the Lockn' Festival in Arrington, Virginia, sharing the stage with the jam band String Cheese Incident. The Doobies then flew to Cherokee, North Carolina for an evening concert. In October 2015, Payne officially took over Guy Allison's duties as the Doobies' keyboardist, whilst remaining an active member of Little Feat. On November 24, 2015, the Doobie Brothers together with Journey launched a tour featuring Dave Mason. The tour started on May 12, 2016, at the Irvine Meadows Amphitheatre and concluded on September 4, 2016, when the Doobies and Journey joined the Steve Miller Band and Santana at AT&T Park. They appeared at Warren Haynes Christmas Jam on December 12, 2015, however Johnston did not appear at the show due to knee surgery. They officially announced that Payne would replace Allison on December 1, 2015.


title: The Doobie Brothers

text: In March 2016 the Doobie Brothers signed under new management with Irving Azoff. Drummer Tony Pia left the band in the summer of 2016, leaving Ed Toth as the band's sole drummer.


title: The Doobie Brothers

text: In January 2017 the Doobie Brothers announced that Chicago would once again join them for their Summer 2017 tour. The tour began on June 7 at the Concord Pavilion and wrapped up on July 30 in Virginia Beach. They appeared with the Eagles and Steely Dan at the Classic concerts for two weekends in July 2017. These concerts took place on July 15 at Dodger Stadium billed as the Classic West and July 29 Citi Field as the Classic East. The success of these concerts led an appearance at the Classic Northwest concert on September 30 held at Safeco Field, opening again for the Eagles. The band took the last leg of their 2017 world tour to Europe in late October and early November, opening for Steely Dan.


title: The Doobie Brothers

text: During 2018, they announced that they would tour again with Steely Dan. This tour began in Charlotte, North Carolina and concluded in Bethel, New York in July. Former Allman Brothers percussionist Marc Quiñones joined the band in May 2018 and on July 16, 2018, the band announced that they would perform the "Toulouse Street" and "The Captain and Me" albums in their entirety along with a selection select of hits, at the Beacon Theatre in New York City on November 15 and 16, 2018. These shows marked the first time the band performed at the theatre in 25 years. The concerts were recorded and subsequently released as a live album on June 28, 2019.


title: The Doobie Brothers

text: During the summer of 2019, the band toured with Santana. On November 18, 2019, the band performed at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville and performed the "Toulouse Street" and "The Captain and Me" albums in their entirety once again. Michael McDonald joined the band for an encore and they performed "Takin' It to the Streets". At the end of the concert, Simmons made the announcement that McDonald would re-join the band and participate in the band's 50th Anniversary tour .


title: The Doobie Brothers

text: Since the early 2000s, they have headlined and performed at many benefit concerts including former manager Cohn's B.R. Cohn Winery in Glen Ellen where they had also shared the stage with McDonald in 2006 and 2012. Cohn sold his winery in 2015 to set his primary focus on managing the band and the B.R Cohn Charity Fall Music Festival was relocated to the Sonoma Valley Field of Dreams. The festival was renamed the Sonoma Music Festival. The Doobie Brothers and McDonald, Chicago and Ringo Starr headlined the three-day event.


title: The Doobie Brothers

text: On January 15, 2020, it was announced that the Doobie Brothers were one of the six groups that would be inducted into the 2020 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The induction included living members Tom Johnston, Patrick Simmons, Michael McDonald, John McFee, Tiran Porter, John Hartman and Jeff Baxter, while drummer & vocalist Keith Knudsen and drummer Michael Hossack would be inducted posthumously. The induction ceremony was originally scheduled to take place on May 2, 2020 in Cleveland, but was postponed to November 7 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The November 7 induction ceremony was held virtually on HBO Max, with Johnston, McDonald, and Simmons pre-recording their induction speeches on behalf of the other band members who were inducted alongside them.


title: The Doobie Brothers

text: In February 2020, the Doobie Brothers had a scheduled residency at the Venetian in Las Vegas. The band was only three shows into their eight-day residency when they were forced to cancel the remaining five dates after it was mentioned that there was an illness in the band. It was later discovered that Johnston had an early version of COVID-19, the virus that would end up becoming designated as a pandemic just one month later.


title: The Doobie Brothers

text: On May 26, 2020, the Doobie Brothers officially announced that they had rescheduled their 50th Anniversary tour to 2021 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and confirmed that the line up of this tour would include McDonald for the first time in 25 years.


title: The Doobie Brothers

text: During their time in isolation throughout 2020, the Doobie Brothers released at-home performances of "Black Water", "Listen to the Music", and "Takin' it to the Streets". These performances can be found on their social media accounts, such as YouTube and Facebook. In addition, they collaborated with Dave Mason for a cover of Traffic's "Feelin' Alright" and Peter Frampton for a cover of Eric Clapton's "Let it Rain".


title: The Doobie Brothers

text: On August 6, 2021, the Doobie Brothers released the EP of four songs that would eventually be featured on their fifteenth studio album. These songs included Johnston's "Don't Ya Mess With Me" and "Oh Mexico" along with Simmons's "Better Days" and "Cannonball".


title: The Doobie Brothers

text: After just over 18 months of not being able to tour due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the band (with McDonald back in the fold) finally began their 50th Anniversary Tour at the Iowa State Fair on Sunday, August 22, 2021. The first leg of the tour concluded at the PPL Center in Allentown, Pennsylvania on October 29, 2021, and the second leg began in West Palm Beach, Florida on June 2, 2022. Bill Payne left the touring band at the end of the first leg, citing his desire to commit "100%" to Little Feat. He was not replaced, and the tour continued with McDonald returning to his original role of primary keyboardist.


title: The Doobie Brothers

text: The Doobie Brothers were featured musical guests on "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" on Thursday, September 23, 2021.


title: The Doobie Brothers

text: On October 29th, 2021, the band released "Liberté", their fifteenth full-length studio album and first album of original material in 11 years. All of the tracks on the album were co-written with John Shanks. Shanks is known for his work with Bon Jovi, Sheryl Crow, and Melissa Etheridge, to name a few.


title: The Doobie Brothers

text: Original drummer John Hartman died on December 29, 2021. The band posted a tribute to him on their website in September 2022. Former drummer Chet McCracken died on February 11, 2022.


title: Bill Nye

text: William Sanford Nye (born November 27, 1955), popularly known as Bill Nye the Science Guy, is an American mechanical engineer, science communicator, and television presenter. He is best known as the host of the science television show "Bill Nye the Science Guy" (1993–1999) and the Netflix show "Bill Nye Saves the World" (2017–2018), and for his many appearances in popular media as a science educator.


title: Bill Nye

text: Born in Washington, D.C., Nye began his career as a mechanical engineer for Boeing in Seattle, where he invented a hydraulic resonance suppressor tube used on 747 airplanes. In 1986, he left Boeing to pursue comedy—writing and performing for the local sketch television show "Almost Live!", where he regularly conducted wacky science experiments.


title: Bill Nye

text: Aspiring to become the next Mr. Wizard, Nye successfully pitched the children's television program "Bill Nye the Science Guy" to Seattle's public television station, KCTS-TV. The show—which proudly proclaimed in its theme song that "science rules!"—ran from 1993 to 1998 in national TV syndication. Known for its "high-energy presentation and MTV-paced segments", the program became a hit among kids and adults, was critically acclaimed, and was nominated for 23 Emmy Awards, winning 19, including Outstanding Performer in Children's Programming for Nye himself.


title: Bill Nye

text: Nye continued to advocate for science, becoming the CEO of The Planetary Society. He has written two bestselling books on science: "" (2014) and "" (2015). He has appeared frequently on other TV shows, including "Dancing with the Stars", "The Big Bang Theory", and "Inside Amy Schumer". He starred in a documentary about his life and science advocacy, "", which premiered at the South by Southwest Film Festival in March 2017; and, in October 2017, was named a "NYT" Critic's Pick. In 2017, the Netflix series "Bill Nye Saves the World" debuted, and ran for three seasons until 2018. His most recent series, "The End is Nye", premiered August 25, 2022, on Peacock and Syfy.


title: Bill Nye

text: Nye was born November 27, 1955, in Washington, D.C., to Jacqueline Jenkins (1921–2000), who was a codebreaker during World War II, and Edwin Darby "Ned" Nye (1917–1997), who also served in World War II and worked as a contractor building an airstrip on Wake Island. Ned was captured and spent four years in a Japanese prisoner-of-war camp; living without electricity or watches, he learned how to tell time using the shadow of a shovel handle, spurring his passion for sundials. Jenkins-Nye was among a small elite group of young women known as "Goucher Girls", alumnae of Goucher College in Towson, Maryland, whom the Navy enlisted to help crack codes used by Japan and Germany. "She wasn't Rosie the Riveter, she was Rosie the Top-Secret Code Breaker", Nye recalls. "People would ask her what she did during World War II and she'd say, 'I can't talk about it, ha ha ha!


title: Bill Nye

text: Nye attended Lafayette Elementary School and Alice Deal Junior High before attending Sidwell Friends for high school on a scholarship, graduating in 1973. He moved to Ithaca, New York to attend Cornell University and study at the Sibley School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering. His enthusiasm for science deepened after he took an astronomy class with Carl Sagan. He graduated with a BS in mechanical engineering in 1977.


title: Bill Nye

text: After graduating from Cornell, Nye worked as an engineer for the Boeing Corporation and Sundstrand Data Control near Seattle. At Boeing, he invented a hydraulic resonance suppressor tube used on Boeing 747 airplanes. He applied four times, unsuccessfully, for NASA's astronaut training program.