Music like Real Life

Real Life are an Australian new wave and synth-pop band that achieved international chart success with their 1983 singles "Send Me an Angel" and "Catch Me I'm Falling", both of which were taken from their debut studio album, Heartland (1983). The band originally consisted of David Sterry (lead vocals and guitar), Richard Zatorski (keyboards and violin), Allan Johnson (bass), and Danny Simcic (drums). Steve Williams (keyboards) replaced Zatorski in 1986, and was replaced by George Pappas in 1995 after a long hiatus of band activity.

In late 1980, Richard Zatorski placed an ad in a Melbourne newspaper as a keyboard player looking for a guitarist with whom to write songs, and David Sterry responded. The two formed a writing partnership and began work on the material that would eventually become the first songs by Real Life. First using the name The Wires, Sterry and Zatorski started doing gigs accompanied by a primitive drum machine they named Gloria. In 1981, the pair decided to recruit more musicians, and through another newspaper ad, they found bassist Allan Johnson and drummer Danny Simcic. The group changed their name to avoid confusion with the English band Wire, and became known as A Private Life, which soon gained a loyal following, opening for bands such as INXS, Mi-Sex, The Church, Midnight Oil, and others. Unfortunately, a band from Sydney called Private Lives threatened legal action over their name, which prompted them to change it once again, this time to Real Life.