Yet another ABSOLUTELY Unofficial, ARCANELY archaic And POSITIVELY Fan Based Trib Page By YOUR Ever Faithful Leftenant, Me, Reg?
The below from Paula's SPECTACULAR "Labyrinth" - A Moffs Tribute Site
Influenced by bands like Pink Floyd (Piper at the Gates of Dawn in particular), King Crimson, early Yardbirds, the Byrds, the Beatles and various blues & psychedelic bands and artists from the '60's, the Moffs, a Sydney band, were around from 1983 to 1989 and they released a whole lot of vinyl on the Citadel label. Their shows were wonderfully laid back - you could easily sit on the floor with your eyes closed and just groove along to their music, or you could take a whole lot of illicit substances and REALLY get into it. They were surreal, atmospheric and groovy; think of jangly guitars, bass guitar octave runs, Farfisa organs and the occasional bells and chimes.
Hand-coloured Photo of Tom, Nick and Smiley
They played mainly at inner-city Sydney venues like the Trade Union Club, the Strawberry Hills, the Paddington Green, the Hopetoun and the Lansdowne, which were the cornerstone of all good live indie music in Sydney in the 1980's.
They also toured other Australian cities like Melbourne, Adelaide and Brisbane.In Melbourne they played the glorious Montsalvat, usually only reserved for special jazz performances.
Nick wearing his Roger McGuinn glasses, 1983
The band had several line-up changes, but revolved around the core of singer/guitarist Tom Kazas and bass player David (Smiley) Byrnes. In case you're wondering about the name, yes, Smiley DOES have a huge grin on his face when he plays bass!
Tom Kazas in 1983
DISCOGRAPHY AND A BRIEF HISTORY
The first line-up included Tom Kazas, Smiley Byrnes, Nick (Chesh) Potts on keyboards/harmonica and Brandon Saul.They played their first gig at a party called "Freakout" at the notorius 181 Campbell St, Redfern. I'm not sure when Brandon left and Alan Hislop came into the picture (can anyone help me with this?). However at some stage, Alan joined the Moffs to play drums. Apparently, this line-up met through Nick, who knew Alan through Suicidal Flowers, a long-standing band that played intermittantly though the 1980's. He met Tom and Smiley through the Sydney mod scene. At the time, Tom was studying philosophy at the University of New South Wales.
Smiley Byrnes, Prince of Wales Hotel, Melbourne 1987
Their first demo tape called "11 to 5", which is impossible to get, contained gems like 'Tombstone!', 'Confusion', 'Horto' and a version of the Beatles 'Tomorrow Never Knows'.
This line-up also recorded a -below- 7" single with a great picture sleeve Another day in the Sun / Clarodomineaux
The band were doing gigs around Sydney and Lismore, and being managed by Greg "Quick" Squirl. Greg Kasch mixed at some of these early gigs.One of the most intriguing thing about the band at this time was undoubtably their haircuts! In photos of this time, Nick, Smiley and Alan all have their eyes totally obscured by thick fringes (think - outgrown Brian Jones haircuts)!
Song list from an unknown gig in 1983. The set included songs from their first demo tape as well as covers of Pink Floyd's "Astronomie Domine". Does anyone know what "Untitled Protest" and "Groovy" are?
When they started to move away from the bluesier style of music, Nick moved onto No Man's Land (another 80's Sydney band that features a scary-looking singer with masses of hair-sprayed black hair called Dave Slade and current Celibate Rifles bass player, Jim Leone as well as stints with Suicidal Flowers. He was replaced by Mick Duncan who had previously been in No Man's Land.
No Mans Land, promo, Sydney 1987
...to be continued...