Diesel (musician)
1986–1991: Band: Johnny Diesel & the Injectors
### 1986–1991: Band: Johnny Diesel \& the Injectors

By June 1986, Diesel was back in Perth and had split from Innocent Bystanders leaving fellow member Ross Watson but taking Bremond, Dalzell and Sherritt, and they formed Johnny Diesel \& the Injectors with George Dalstrom as a second guitarist.Spencer et al., (2007\) [JOHNNY DIESEL AND THE INJECTORS](http://www.whiteroom.com.au/howlspace/whoswho/PHPTracks.php?Band_ID=108700)  entry. Retrieved 4 December 2009\. The band played a mixture of [R\&B](/wiki/Contemporary_R%26B "Contemporary R&B"), [blues](/wiki/Blues_music "Blues music") and [Southern rock](/wiki/Southern_rock "Southern rock"); they developed a local following in Perth but decided to relocate to Sydney in September 1987\. Dalstrom left by the end of 1986\.

According to [music journalist](/wiki/Music_journalism "Music journalism"), [Ed Nimmervoll](/wiki/Ed_Nimmervoll "Ed Nimmervoll"), the name Johnny Diesel was either from Lizotte's days as a petrol dispenser or from a corruption of John Dalzell's name being misapplied to him as the lead singer. As explained by Lizotte, the real story is that the band's name was never meant to be permanent; it came about as the result of a casual joke concerning the band's bass player, John Dalzell. "John had one kid and another on the way," Mark explains. "A friend of ours used to refer to them as 'Johnny Diesel and his little injectors'; I thought it was funny. Then I got a call from the woman from the \[Perth] venue where we were playing one night a week... 'You're starting to draw a few people,' she said. 'I'm going to put an ad in the paper, does this nameless band have a name?' I told her we were 'Johnny Diesel and the Injectors'. It was just a joke. I wanted it to appear in the newspaper to amuse John Dalzell but the name stuck. When we got to Sydney, our Management said, 'Everyone will think you're Johnny Diesel. Are you going to go along with it?' I wasn't going to be stuck\-in\-the\-mud, so I said, yeah. Whatever... fine".Diesel Bio 2013

Johnny Diesel \& the Injectors moved to Sydney in September after taking up [management](/wiki/Band_manager "Band manager") by [Brent Eccles](/wiki/Brent_Eccles "Brent Eccles"), drummer for The Angels. The group began playing support shows for [The Choirboys](/wiki/The_Choirboys_%28band%29 "The Choirboys (band)") and [The Radiators](/wiki/The_Radiators_%28Australian_band%29 "The Radiators (Australian band)"). They came to the attention of Jane Barnes, wife of hard rocker, [Jimmy Barnes](/wiki/Jimmy_Barnes "Jimmy Barnes") (ex\-[Cold Chisel](/wiki/Cold_Chisel "Cold Chisel")), and through her recommendation, Diesel was hired to work on Barnes' third solo album, *[Freight Train Heart](/wiki/Freight_Train_Heart "Freight Train Heart")*. When Barnes took to the road to tour the album in November, Diesel was retained as lead guitarist, while Johnny Diesel \& the Injectors were the opening act. It was the beginning of a long and ongoing relationship between Diesel and Barnes. The relationship would later become personal as well as professional, with Diesel and Barnes becoming brothers\-in\-law after Diesel married Jep (Jane Barnes' sister) in 1989\.

Diesel's band signed with [Chrysalis Records](/wiki/Chrysalis_Records "Chrysalis Records") and their [eponymous](/wiki/Eponym "Eponym") debut album, *[Johnny Diesel \& the Injectors](/wiki/Johnny_Diesel_and_the_Injectors_%28Diesel_album%29 "Johnny Diesel and the Injectors (Diesel album)")*, was recorded in [Memphis, Tennessee](/wiki/Memphis%2C_Tennessee "Memphis, Tennessee") with producer [Terry Manning](/wiki/Terry_Manning "Terry Manning") from August 1988 and released in March 1989\. The album reached No. 2 on the [Australian Recording Industry Association](/wiki/Australian_Recording_Industry_Association "Australian Recording Industry Association") (ARIA) [Albums Charts](/wiki/ARIA_Charts "ARIA Charts"). The first single "[Don't Need Love](/wiki/Don%27t_Need_Love_%28Johnny_Diesel_and_the_Injectors_song%29 "Don't Need Love (Johnny Diesel and the Injectors song)")" was issued ahead of the album in October 1988 and peaked at No. 10 on the ARIA Singles Charts. The second single, "[Soul Revival](/wiki/Soul_Revival "Soul Revival")", appeared in February 1989 and reached No. 9, while the third single, "[Cry In Shame](/wiki/Cry_In_Shame "Cry In Shame")" also peaked at No. 10 in May. In all, five singles were released from *Johnny Diesel \& the Injectors*, while "[Looking for Love](/wiki/Lookin%27_for_Love_%28Diesel_song%29 "Lookin' for Love (Diesel song)")" was also a Top 40 hit, the final single "[Since I Fell for You](/wiki/Since_I_Fell_for_You "Since I Fell for You")" was a chart failure as it peaked only at No. 83\.

While touring United Kingdom in mid\-1989, they broadcast a live performance on 14 May by [BBC Radio 1](/wiki/BBC_Radio_1 "BBC Radio 1") for the *[Tommy Vance Sessions](/wiki/Tommy_Vance "Tommy Vance")*, produced by [Tony Wilson](/wiki/Tony_Wilson "Tony Wilson"). The recording was released as a four\-track [EP](/wiki/Extended_play "Extended play"), *[Live in London](/wiki/Live_in_London_%28Johnny_Diesel_and_the_Injectors_EP%29 "Live in London (Johnny Diesel and the Injectors EP)")*, in August and appeared in the ARIA top 30\.

At the [ARIA Music Awards](/wiki/ARIA_Music_Awards "ARIA Music Awards") early in [1990](/wiki/ARIA_Music_Awards_of_1990 "ARIA Music Awards of 1990"), Johnny Diesel \& the Injectors won the award for 'Highest Selling Album' (with more than 280,000 copies sold). Diesel appeared on Barnes' live album, *[Barnestorming](/wiki/Barnestorming "Barnestorming")* in 1989 and worked with Barnes on his studio album, *[Two Fires](/wiki/Two_Fires "Two Fires")*, during 1990\. In the meantime, the only recording from Johnny Diesel \& the Injectors for the year was a [cover](/wiki/Cover_version "Cover version") of [Percy Mayfield](/wiki/Percy_Mayfield "Percy Mayfield")'s "[Please Send Me Someone to Love](/wiki/Please_Send_Me_Someone_to_Love "Please Send Me Someone to Love")" for the soundtrack to the [Kylie Minogue](/wiki/Kylie_Minogue "Kylie Minogue") film *[The Delinquents](/wiki/The_Delinquents_%281989_film%29 "The Delinquents (1989 film)")*. The single reached No. 11 on the ARIA singles chart Diesel decided to go solo and disbanded the group in early 1991\.


From where does Johnny Diesel & the Injectors' popularity stem?