Scripts by Pigott for TV include Sweet and Sour (created with Tim Gooding), Heartbreak High (also co-wrote theme with Hunter and other songs) and Mortified (created by Angela Webber). Films include: Broken English (co-written with Gregor Nicholas and James Salter) and Alex (original music with Hunter, and lead vocals on soundtrack).
Pigott was educated at the Presbyterian Ladies' College, Sydney in Croydon together with schoolmate Angela Webber. Following matriculation from high school in the 1970s, Pigott studied Architecture at the University of Sydney.
XL Capris was an indie-punk band formed in 1978 by Johanna Pigott (bass guitar, vocal, keyboard, guitar) aka 'Alligator Bagg', Tim Gooding (guitar, vocal) aka 'Errol Cruz', Julie Anderson (drums) aka 'Nancy Serapax' and Kimble Rendall (guitar, vocal) aka 'Dag Rattler'. Early practice sessions were in the front room of a Birchgrove house where Gooding (and later Rendall) lived. Their first single was a punk version of Tommy Leonetti's "My City of Sydney" (1979), which had a promo video showing the four in bed together. Pigott was lead vocalist and bass guitarist in the video. The single received some radio airplay but was not a commercial success. Second 1979 single "Skylab (Son of Telstar)" was written by Rendall but had even less success.
Their next single, "World War Three" (October 1980), produced by Todd Hunter and was written by Pigott and Hunter. Rendall left to form Le Hoodoo Gurus, became a music video director and then a second unit director for the latter two Matrix series movies. He was replaced by Hunter (guitar), Michael Churnside (bass) joined, Anderson left to be replaced by Barry Blackler (drum), Michael Farmer (drum) also joined.
First album was Where's Hank? (March 1981, produced by Hunter). Gooding wrote ten songs including two with Pigott: "Red Bikini Runaway"(single, April 1981) and "Hi Rise Heart". Pigott also wrote "Evelyn". 'Hank' was a German shepherd owned by Rendall: "Hank went to live on a farm at Nambucca Heads". Based on Rendall's and Pigott's recollections, the album title Where's Hank? is a pun on a 1980s TV ad for a chocolate bar: 'Where's George?' The response is ... 'gone for a Tosca!'
For the second album Weeds (October 1981, produced by Hunter) Pigott and Hunter wrote six songs including the single "Igloos", Pigott wrote "Please Excuse Me" and Gooding also wrote six songs. Hunter returned to Dragon late in 1981 and XL Capris dissolved in 1982.
Street poster art featuring XL Capris include: Toby Zoates' 1978 screenprint, XL Capris for the B-side of 1981 single "Red Bikini Runaway" called "K-Tel City" (Gooding) and has the band on the bonnet of a car crashing into a TV game show; and Paul Worstead's 1979 screen prints, Settlement Dance - Scarlet, XL-Capris and XL-Capris, Settlement - Beginning of School Holiday Dance.
Pigott briefly joined Sardine v on bass guitar (1982). Video for their 1982 single "Sudan" shows Pigott heavily disguised in a burqa-like black costume strumming bass to Stephanie Rilen's plaintive vocals and Ian Rilen's guitar.
Scribble (1983–1987) was a post punk synth pop band based around Pigott (vocals, guitar, keyboard) with session musicians and band members including Hunter, Mark Bell, Lee Borkman, Mike Caen, Bill Heckenberg, Geoff Lungren and Tim Powles. They released Scribble (a seven track mini-LP) in 1983 including single "Silly Girl" (Pigott) / "Mr Calico" (Pigott, Hunter). "Silly Girl" video showed a wistful Pigott singing and playing guitar. "Adaptability" aka "Cartoon Connection (theme)" (Pigott, Hunter, Gooding) was a 1984 single. Two albums were: So Far 1983-1985 (LP 1985) and Pop Art (LP 1986), which had ten tracks, including singles: "Sunday School", "Don't Give Your Heart Away" and "Alligator" (all by Pigott, Hunter). "Alligator" was later performed by Fleur Beaupert on Heartbreak High episodes No. 133 and No. 145 (Series 6, 1998). Pigott's nickname from XL Capris had been 'Alligator Bagg'. The Pop Art cover depicts a stylised version of Pigott. Although achieving some cult interest there was little commercial success for Scribble.
In 1984, Pigott and Hunter wrote Pigott's "Turn It Up" on various artists' album The Nine O'Clock Muse. In 1993, Genni Kane (of the Flying Emus) and Johanna Pigott released "Starlight Hotel" (Genni Kane, Pigott, John Kane, Hunter) as a CD single. In 2005, Pigott sang a verse of "ComeDown" by KingJustice on their album What the World Needs Now.
During 1983, Pigott and Hunter wrote Dragon's come back hit single "Rain". Pigott remembers, "I went from a little underground band to finding myself up the back of the Entertainment Centre hearing 10,000 people sing the chorus of my song." The song reached No. 2 but was blocked by Austen Tayshus' No. 1 hit "Australiana". Pigott sang "Rain" with Rockmelons on their album Form 1 Planet (1992) with Hunter (and Rockmelons' Bryon Jones) providing backing vocals. Hunter and Pigott co-wrote other Dragon songs including "Cry" and Pigott was a session musician on Dragon's 1989 album, Bondi Road. Re-formed in 2006, Dragon perform acoustic versions of their earlier work including "Rain".
John Farnham had asked Hunter and Pigott to write him a song, they provided a number-one hit single, "Age of Reason" (30 July 1988 for four weeks) also on his Age of Reason album which debuted at number one (July 1988). The demo version had been recorded with Todd's brother Marc Hunter singing lead. Pigott became the first Australian woman to write an Australian number one hit.
Hunter and Pigott wrote Keith Urban's first single "Only You" (1990), which also appeared on his first album, Keith Urban (1991).
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