In 1981 Needles formed Melbourne band The Curse along with John Rowell, Graeme Scott (both later briefly members of Models), Nick Barker[1] and Adrian Chynoweth.
Needles' first acting role was playing the character Aspro in The Kid written by Michael Gow, performed at Nimrod Theatre in Sydney in 1983.
He went on to play Graham Cummerford with Jason Connery in the film The Boy Who Had Everything, for which he won the 1985 AFI Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role.
He co-starred with Jo Kennedy as Rex in Tender Hooks[5] in 1987, and in 1988 played Australian athlete John Landy in The Four Minute Mile.
[6] For his work on As Time Goes By (aka "L'Australieno") Needles received the award for "Best Actor in a Science Fiction Film" at the 1988 Fantafestival in Italy.