The Screaming Tribesmen
Template:Short description Template:Use dmy dates Template:Use Australian English Template:Infobox musical artist
The Screaming Tribesmen were an Australian rock band formed in Brisbane, Queensland in 1981 by mainstay Mick Medew on lead vocals and lead guitar. With various line-ups they released three studio albums, Bones and Flowers (October 1987), Blood Lust (1990) and Formaldehyde (1993), before disbanding in 1998. They reformed in 2011 for performances until June 2012. Australian musicologist, Ian McFarlane, described how they, "fashioned a memorable brand of 1960s-inspired pop rock that combined equal parts existential lyric angst, melodic inventiveness and strident guitar riffs."
History
The Screaming Tribesmen were formed in Brisbane in 1981 by mainstay Mick Medew on lead vocals and lead guitar, (ex-31st), with John Hartley on bass guitar and Murray Shepherd on drums (both ex-the Fun Things).<ref name="McFarlane" /><ref name="Holmgren" /> They had met when their bands performed on the same bill at local venues.<ref name="McFarlane" /> The Screaming Tribesmen developed "a grassroots following" and their early material included the 31st's tracks, "Igloo" and "A Stand Alone", which had been co-written by Medew and Ron Peno.<ref name="McFarlane" /><ref name="ASCAP Igloo" />
Peno explained writing his lyrics, "['Igloo'] actually came from me reading Franz Kafka's Metamorphosis. It was me talking about an igloo being all white and positive, the Shoeshine Boys being negative... I dunno, one of those silly things I was going through when I was very young."<ref name="Barman inter" /> Peno felt the early line-up of the Screaming Tribesmen, "didn't work out", and left in 1981 to join another local group, the End.<ref name="Nimmervoll DP" /><ref name="Gardner" />
The Screaming Tribesmen's debut four-track extended play, Screaming Tribesman, appeared on EMI's Custom Records label in early 1982.<ref name="McFarlane" /> Steve Gardner of Divine Rites described how its, "production has a rough and ready punk style and the songs vary from the 60's R&B of 'Turn on Your Love Light' to the fairly straight punk of 'Trans 43'.<ref name="Gardner" /> It was followed by a second four-track EP, I Don't Wanna Know, in 1983.<ref name="McFarlane" /><ref name="Holmgren" /> Their first two singles, "Igloo" (October 1983) and "A Stand Alone" (November 1984) were produced by Chris Masuak via Citadel Records.<ref name="McFarlane" /><ref name="Holmgren" /><ref name="NLA Igloo" /> By the end of 1983 Medew had relocated the band to Sydney, with Hartley and Shepherd returning to Brisbane early in the following year.<ref name="McFarlane" /><ref name="Holmgren" />
Medew formed a new line-up in July 1984 with Masuak (ex-Radio Birdman, the Hitmen) on guitar, piano and backing vocals; Mark Kingsmill on drums and Tony Robertson (both ex-the Hitmen, New Christs) on bass guitar.<ref name="McFarlane" /><ref name="Holmgren" /> Kingsmill left to join Hoodoo Gurus a month later, Chris Welch played a few shows & left to join Died Pretty replaced by Michael Charles on drums, and Robertson left on the same day as Chris Welch was replaced by Bob Wackley on bass guitar (Template:Abbr Bob Hood, ex-Razar, Grooveyard) in November.<ref name="McFarlane" /><ref name="Holmgren" /> In September 1985 they issued their next four-track EP, Date with a Vampyre, also produced by Masuak.<ref name="McFarlane" /><ref name="Holmgren" /> Gardner observed, "[the] title track of this record features a crunching riff that hooks hard over the top of a stuttering drumbeat and is one of the great songs of the mid 80s. The other 3 tracks aren't quite as strong, but the overall effect is good enough to make this record one of the indisposable classics of the period."<ref name="Gardner" /> Warwick Fraser (ex-Feather, Hoi Polloi) replaced Charles in 1986 on drums.
Their next EP, Top of the Town, had six tracks; it was released in September 1986 on the boutique, Rattlesnake Records label, which was co-produced by Masuak with Alan Thorne.<ref name="McFarlane" /><ref name="Holmgren" /> Ian McFarlane, an Australian musicologist described it as, "a more lightweight guitar-pop sound, and failed to live up to expectations."<ref name="McFarlane" /> In January 1987 they toured eastern Australia before starting to record their first full-length album in the following month, Bones and Flowers (October 1987), with Masuak and Thorne co-producing.<ref name="McFarlane" /><ref name="Holmgren" /><ref name="Darbela" /> The title, "referred to the mix in the band's music – between loud, hard-edged rock, and 'pretty songs'."<ref name="Zakharov" /> McFarlane felt they had "returned to their hard rock roots."<ref name="McFarlane" />
Bones and Flowers provided two singles, "I've Got a Feeling" (September 1987) and "Casualty of Love" (March 1988).<ref name="McFarlane" /> The band toured the United States in support of the album,<ref name="Gardner" /> while at home they had a run of Alternative hits. In the US their work had regular airplay on the College Radio circuit.<ref name="Gardner" /> Their first music video, "I've Got a Feeling",<ref name="Zakharov" /> featured on US MTV's 120 Minutes.<ref name="Gardner" /> It reached No. 1 on the KROQ charts in Los Angeles and No. 7 on BillboardTemplate:'s Modern Rock chart.<ref name="McFarlane" /> Gardner felt, "you are likely to have been put off by the arena-rock treatment they give the song, but if you listen closely, you can hear the usual brilliant guitar line basis that the [group] use for most of their best songs."<ref name="Gardner" />
In April 1989 Fraser, Masuak and Wackley all left the group.<ref name="McFarlane" /><ref name="Holmgren" /> Medew formed a new line-up with members of Melbourne band, Radio Luxembourg, Jeff Silver on bass guitar and Ritchie Hine on drums and former Kings of the Sun guitarist, Glenn Morris.<ref name="McFarlane" /><ref name="Holmgren" /> This line-up released a five-track, EP, Take Cover, with cover versions in late 1989.<ref name="McFarlane" /><ref name="Holmgren" /> The group's second album, Blood Lust, appeared in March 1991.<ref name="McFarlane" /><ref name="Holmgren" /> McFarlane observed, "[it] included a couple of the band's heaviest ever songs like 'High Priestess', 'Frozen Tracks', 'Something Dangerous' and 'Queen of the Night Time World'."<ref name="McFarlane" />
Morris departed and was briefly replaced by Brian Mann on guitar, during 1989 and 1990, who was replaced in turn by Ash Geary before Morris returned at the end of 1992.<ref name="McFarlane" /><ref name="Holmgren" /> In late 1991 Hine was replaced by Celibate Rifles' Paul Larsen on drums.<ref name="McFarlane" /><ref name="Holmgren" /> The group released another album, Formaldehyde (July 1993), co-produced by Rob Younger, the Screaming Tribesmen and Mike Wood.<ref name="McFarlane" /><ref name="Holmgren" /> Tony Cardinal (ex-Candy Harlots) replaced Larsen on drums.<ref name="McFarlane" /><ref name="Holmgren" />
Medew continued to tour, write and record with various line-ups.<ref name="McFarlane" /><ref name="Holmgren" /> He resumed performing as Mick Medew and the Rumours featuring ex-the Screaming Tribesmen and Lost Boys, Chris Dixon and Ash Geary, with bass player, Paul Hawker. In 1997 the Screaming Tribesmen were reformed by Medew with Cardinal and Andy Newman on bass guitar and keyboards (ex-Trans 262, Rattlesnake Shake, Manifestations).<ref name="McFarlane" /><ref name="Holmgren" /> McFarlane noted that they, "fashioned a memorable brand of 1960s-inspired pop rock that combined equal parts existential lyric angst, melodic inventiveness and strident guitar riffs."<ref name="McFarlane" /> Adrian Cunningham determined, "Unfortunately, as time went on the band descended into b-grade hard rock and denim clichés. But they will be forever lionised for the cavernous guitar and haunting melody and lyrics of 'Igloo'."<ref name="Cunningham" />
In January 2011 Medew performed a set of the Screaming Tribesmen songs in Sydney with former guitarist and song writing partner, Masuak. In September of that year, the line-up of Fraser, Masuak, Medew and Wackley reformed for a series of shows on the Australian east coast beginning with the Gathering Festival, Brisbane.<ref name="Tijs" /> They subsequently performed in Melbourne and Sydney,<ref name="Tijs" /> on the back of CD re-issues, Date with a Vampyre / Top of the Town and Bones and Flowers via Australian label, Grown Up Wrong. The band played at the Azkena Rock Festival in Spain and toured France throughout June 2012 and disbanded soon after.
Members
- Mick Medew – guitars, lead vocals (1981–96, 2011–12)
- John Hartley – bass (1981–84)
- Murray Shepherd – drums, backing vocals (1981–84)
- Ron Peno – vocals (1981)
- Mark Kingsmill – drums (1984)
- Tony Robertson – bass (1984)
- Chris Welsh – drums (1984)
- Michael Charles – drums (1984–86)
- Chris Masuak – guitars, keyboards, backing vocals (1984–89, 2011–12)
- Bob Wackley – bass (1984–89, 2011–12)
- Warwick Fraser – drums (1986–89, 2011–12)
- Ritchie Hine – drums, percussion, backing vocals (1989–92)
- Glenn Morris – guitar (1989, 1992–95)
- Jeff Silver – bass guitar (1989–96)
- Brian Mann – guitar (1989–90)
- Paul Larsen – drums, percussion, backing vocals (1991–93)
- Ash Geary – guitars (1992)
- Chris Dixon – drums (1993)
- Tony Cardinal – drums (1993–98)
- Marc Dé Hugar – guitars (1995) (died January 2022)<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation
|CitationClass=web }}</ref>
- Andy Newman – bass, keyboards (1996–98)
Discography
Studio albums
| Title | Album details | Peak chart positions |
|---|---|---|
| AUS <ref name="aus" /> | ||
| Bones and Flowers | 84 | |
| Blood Lust |
|
- |
| Formaldehyde |
|
- |
Compilation albums
| Title | Album details |
|---|---|
| High Time: A Collection | |
| Anthology 1982–1993: All Hail the Tribesmen<ref name="NLA Anthology" /> |
|
| The Savage Beat of the Screaming Tribesmen<ref name="NLA Savage Beat" /> |
|
Extended plays
| Title | EP details |
|---|---|
| Screaming Tribesmen |
|
| I Don't Wanna Know |
|
| Date with a Vampyre |
|
| Top of the Town |
|
| Take Cover |
|
Singles
| Year | Title | Chart positions | Album |
|---|---|---|---|
| US Modern Rock | |||
| 1983 | "Igloo" | – | Template:N/a |
| 1984 | "A Stand Alone" | – | Template:N/a |
| 1987 | "Casualty of Love" | – | Bones and Flowers |
| 1988 | "I've Got a Feeling" | 7 | |
| 1988 | "Casualty of Love" | – | |
| 1991 | "Ayla" | – | Blood Lust |
| 1992 | "Got You On My Mind" | – | Formaldehyde |
References
- General
- Template:Cite encyclopedia Note: Archived (on-line) copy has limited functionality.
- Specific
Template:Refend Template:Reflist
External links
- Template:Official website archived from the original on 22 June 2013. Accessed 11 June 2018.
- Template:Musicbrainz artist
- Essay including MP3 on "Igloo" at Webcuts
- [[[:Template:Allmusic]] "The Screaming Tribesmen Biography & History"] at AllMusic
- Template:Discogs artist