One of Things of Stone and Wood 's earliest gigs was at the 21st birthday party for Helen Durham – Arnold 's then-girlfriend . The group took up long term residencies in Melbourne and followed with interstate touring on the pub and club circuit . In September 1991 they issued their debut single , " The Hopeful " , on Things Records , which was produced by James Black ( Greg Champion ) . Black was also their manager and had been a guitarist or keyboardist in Russell Morris Band , Mondo Rock and The Revelators . In 1992 the band had signed with Sony and recorded their debut album , '' The Yearning '' . In September 1992 , the album 's lead single " Share this Wine " was released which reached the ARIA Singles Chart top 50 . The album 's second single , " Happy Birthday Helen " , was released in November and reached No . 9 . Arnold , who later married Durham , had written the track for her 22nd birthday : " Happy Birthday Helen " was parodied on Australian Broadcasting Corporation 's TV series , '' The Late Show '' , in 1992 as " We 've Just Run Out of Melbourne Cliches " . Arnold heard in advance that it was due to appear , " I got worried , but it was all quite flattering . Their video is hilarious " . " Happy Birthday Helen " was listed at No . 91 on the Triple J Hottest 100 in 1993 . '' The Yearning '' was released in February 1993 and peaked at No . 8 on the ARIA Albums Chart . At the ARIA Music Awards of 1993 Things of Stone and Wood won ' Best New Talent ' for " Share this Wine " . During 1993 they supported national tours by Australian artists Midnight Oil , Paul Kelly , and by Irish folk-rocker , Luka Bloom . Late that year they toured Europe . Arnold won ' Songwriter of the Year ' at the 1993 APRA Awards . At the ARIA Music Awards of 1994 '' The Yearning '' was nominated for ' Breakthrough Artist – Album ' and ' Best Cover Art ' ( for Marcelle Lunam 's artwork ) . '' The Yearning '' received critical acclaim from AllMusic 's Jonathan Lewis , " shown a strong social conscience in their lyrics ; in particular , they condemned the apparent rise of racism in Australia " . It was accredited with a gold certificate
ARIA Music Awards of 1993
ARIA Music Awards of 1993
Things of Stone and Wood