1927 formed in Melbourne in 1987 as a pop rock band. Guitarist and keyboardist Garry Frost had previously left the Sydney-based pop rock group Moving Pictures in 1984, following their second album, Matinée. Frost co-wrote the 1981 hit "What About Me?" for Moving Pictures, a song that also became a number-one hit for Shannon Noll in 2004. In late 1986, Frost was working on songs in his home studio for a new band project. While watching the talent segment "Red Faces" on Nine Network’s variety series Hey Hey It's Saturday, he saw Eric Weideman perform a cover of The Police’s "Roxanne." Impressed by Weideman's performance, Frost drove about 880 km (550 mi) from Sydney to Melbourne to recruit him as the lead vocalist, guitarist, and keyboardist.
Before joining 1927, Weideman played in various cover bands, including Mixed Feelings, and had started a brief solo career. Reflecting on that time, he said, "I had only just started performing on my own. I was playing at a pub in Melbourne... Then a friend of mine dared me to go on 'Red Faces'." Garry's brother, Bill Frost, joined them on bass guitar, along with James Barton on drums. The band’s name, 1927, was drawn from a hat of suggestions and was inspired by one of Garry's favorite sayings, "I haven't done that since 1927."
