Lee Harding found inspiration in the bible.
Motley Crue's jaw-dropping rock'n'roll bible The Dirt, that is.
A tatty, dog-eared copy of the sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll tome was passed around Melbourne band Bedrock before it made its way to the band's singer; one Lee Harding.
Lee was enthralled at what he read, unable to put the book down, and decided he wanted to be a rock star just like Motley Crue; minus of course the ant snorting, unruly behaviour and copious law breaking.
"I read that book and it inspired me," Lee notes. "They're just good old fashioned rock stars. It changed my life."
The Lee Harding story runs like thus. Lee lives in the Melbourne seaside town Frankston. He develops a taste for rock music, coloured hair, 'being different' and ear-splittingly loud volume. At 16 Lee falls madly in love with local cover band Bedrock and sneaks into various venues to watch them each weekend.
Then Lee's dream comes true when Bedrock shuffle their line up leaving a vacancy for a lead singer.
When Lee was dragged on stage to sing half of Blink 182's Dammit the band realised they'd found their new vocalist. Luckily he already knew all the songs - a party band repertoire that ranges from Footloose to Centrefold to Jessie?s Girl to Top 40 hits by Lee's heroes Good Charlotte and Green Day.
"I?d been going to see them since I was 16," Lee says. "I saw them every single week so I knew every song and when I joined it was like joining my favourite band."
His first gig was an eye-opener to the boy who always wanted to rock.
Lee Harding was introduced to the nation via Australian Idol, when he blitzed the 2005 season of the hit TV program. Lee didn't win Idol, but he definitely captured the imagination of many viewers. Across Australia the public immediately embraced Lee, with kids even adopting his individual image.
"It was weird, kids with multi-coloured hair, arm bands and little stuck-on piercings. Funny as. I loved all that. I shook as many of those hands as I could," said Lee.
Once Lee got down to the final three it was time to think about a possible debut album. He listened to a swag of songs but one of them, called Wasabi, suited him to the ground.
"Wasabi was sent to me as a demo when we were trying to decide what our albums would be like if we won. I heard it, I thought 'It has to be on my album'."
When Lee landed himself a deal with SONY BMG, shortly after the completion of Idol, he made sure that 'Wasabi' was at the top of the recording agenda.
'They said 'Do you want to use those songs you wanted for your album'" and I said 'Wasabi, first single, please"."
Lee's intuition proved correct as Wasabi spent five weeks at number one on the ARIA singles chart during the competitive Christmas/New Year period, clocking up more than 100,000 single sales.
The Wasabi single also featured Lee?s rocked-up version of Eye of the Tiger; a hit for Survivor in 1982 from the legendary Rocky movie.
"I've wanted to do that song, that version of it since Year 11," Lee says. "I just love that song, the energy, the story of the song, it?s a classic song and you can cover it and it still sounds classic."
Now comes Lee Harding's debut album, 'What's Wrong With This Picture'. Recorded in his home town of Melbourne, it's the album Lee Harding has wanted to make all his life. Bursting with energetic slabs of his beloved "pop punk", it's far from the album you've come to expect from Idol graduates.
With songs sourced from some of the world's top songwriters, including former Cure bassist Phil Thornalley (Natalie Imbruglia?s Torn) and former Goldfinger vocalist and guitarist John Feldmann, it's an impressive calling card for a career that has only just begun.
While recording album Lee took a break to see his heroes Motley Crue perform live, giving him a fresh and very loud dose of inspiration all over again.
"Tommy Lee was amazing. He is a rock star. He's every word of it. They don't really make rock stars like that anymore," Lee says. "I'd be happy to be the next Tommy Lee!"
