Together with his elder brother Bill McDonough, he grew up in Mount Eliza on Mornington Peninsula south east of central Melbourne.
[2] Clutch Cargo was renamed Australian Crawl[5] and David Reyne (drums) soon left to be replaced by Bill McDonough.
Guy McDonough joined Australian Crawl in October 1980, supplying rhythm guitar, vocals, and songwriting.
McDonough booked into rehab with family support but then decided to not finish his program and returned home to follow a naturopathic procedure provided by a 'qualified' friend.
Unfortunately this was an error of judgment as this treatment exacerbated his health situation rather than improve it, leading him to contract viral pneumonia and to be admitted to hospital in Melbourne, forcing Australian Crawl off the road.
McDonough was in the Intensive Care Unit for many weeks, and improved enough to return home; but due to extreme physical deterioration from months in hospital and a weakened immune system, he contracted a secondary infection and was placed back into the Intensive Care Unit.
[10] Prior to his death, Guy McDonough recorded a series of demos with his brother, Bill McDonough (drums), Sean Higgins (keyboards) and Nigel Spencer (bass) (all former bandmates in The Flatheads),[2] Mick Hauser (saxophone) and Michael Bright (guitar).