 Machinations formed in 1980 in Sydney with the line up of Tim Doyle on guitar; Fred Loneragan on lead vocals; and Tony Starr on keyboards, vocals, and drum machine.Doyle and Starr had started song writing together at the end of 1979 using electronic instruments.Their school friend, Loneragan, joined, and in early 1980 Machinations played their first show at Garibaldi's in Darlinghurst.