History The Cruel Sea (band)

1 history

1.1 formation , years
1.2 albums: down below , not way home
1.3 mainstream success: honeymoon on , 3 legged dog
1.4 later years

history
formation , years

danny rumour (aka daniel john atkins) member of punk rock bands blackrunner, urban guerrillas, friction, ugly mirrors , bedhogs in sydney mid-1970s 1980. in 1980 formed sekret sekret played sprightly brand of punky power pop psychedelic overtones . sekret sekret play @ sydney pub, grand hotel, rumour assembling ad hoc line-up of musicians using instruments housed @ venue. lead vocalist david virgin (ex-ugly mirrors) , peter mullany (ex-johnny dole & scabs, released 4 independent singles 1984. when broke in 1987, line-up included rumour, virgin, james elliot on drums , ken gormly on bass guitar.

after sekret sekret disbanded, cruel sea formed in late 1987 elliot on drums , rumour on guitar. enlisted dee corben on bass guitar , brother, gerard ged corben (also in lime spiders), on guitar. name 1964 surf instrumental, cruel sea , united states group ventures (a cover of dakotas 1963 single, in turn inspired novel , film of same name). gigs in 1988 played @ harold park hotel, behind pool table space tight guitarists had move out of way when pool players took shot. original line-up played 20 shows , parties, dee corben left, replaced former sekret sekret bandmate, gormly. barry turnbull (ex-john kennedy s love gone wrong, widdershins) briefly substituted gormly on bass guitar. james cruickshank (the widdershins) joined on keyboards , guitars.

early albums: down below , not way home

in 1989, cruel sea invited vocalist tex perkins, lighting technician , member of beasts of bourbon, join them on-stage. perkins had written lyrics of instrumentals. band signed red eye records , released 12 extended play (ep), down below, in september. contained 9 tracks , produced phil punch (the mexican spitfires) , cruel sea. followed eleven-track album of same name, down below in december, both releases featured perkins on vocals. reckless eyeballin – instrumental track on album – later became theme song of australian tv police drama, blue heelers (1994–2006). although perkins performing beasts of bourbon, cruel sea built following on inner-city pub rock circuit atmospheric music [that] evoked feel of wide open spaces . during 1990, ged corben left focus on work lime spiders.

a single, feel released in september 1991 ahead of second album, not way home issued in december. produced tony cohen (the birthday party, beasts of bourbon) , cruel sea. album provided range of music funky louisiana swamp blues sweet soul . vocals perkins compared captain beefheart, john lee hooker , tony joe white. ep, 4 x 4, followed in march 1992 not way home released single in august. after album s release, band toured europe in support of nick cave , bad seeds. in december released, black stick single, peaked @ no. 25 on australian recording industry association (aria) singles chart. not way received nomination best group @ aria music awards of 1993.

mainstream success: honeymoon on , 3 legged dog

in 1993, cruel sea had perkins on-board full-time commitment beasts of bourbon on hold. cruel sea s third album, honeymoon on produced band, cohen , mick harvey (robert forster, anita lane) of nick cave , bad seeds. released in may, peaked @ no. 4 on aria albums chart, , sold on 140,000 copies. title song, honeymoon on reached top 50 in august. followed cover of white s 1969 song, woman soul , peaked @ no. 64. perkins performed member in country-blues trio, tex, don , charlie , released sad true (1993).

at aria music awards of 1994, cruel sea won single of year , song of year honeymoon on , album of year , best group honeymoon on , received 3 further nominations including best cover art kristyna higgins , jay manby. @ after-party, drunken guest attacked higgins, professional photographer, , fracas ensued perkins defending partner. night, 2 of aria trophies stolen. late in 1994, group toured europe, again supporting nick cave , bad seeds. followed headlining tour across europe , canada.

the next album, 3 legged dog, produced cohen, group , paul mckercher (clouds). released in april 1995 , peaked @ no. 1. cruel sea toured canada, united states , europe, followed support slot rolling stones on australian leg of voodoo lounge tour. top 50 singles 3 legged dog better lawyer (november 1994), man (april 1995) , (july). album won aria in 1995 best group , 2 nominations, album of year , , best cover art higgins , jim paton.

later years

the cruel sea s next album, rock n roll duds, compilation of b-sides , studio outtakes, released in november 1995. group had two-year hiatus in releases, perkins issued first solo album, far me (1996) , contributed beasts of bourbon s gone (1997). cruel sea returned instrumental roots , embarked on series of gigs without perkins including big day out tour.

in february 1998, perkins returned, group released single, hard times ahead of album on easy in august. album produced daniel denholm (frente!, boom crash opera), phil mckellar (grinspoon, frenzal rhomb), band , mckercher. peaked @ no. 13 , followed takin day national tour through of 1998. compilation, appeared in november 1999 , reached top 50. after success of first album, perkins released second solo album dark horses (2000).

in august 2001, abc-tv broadcast series, long way top. perkins featured on episode 6: gathering of tribes 1984–2000 discussed non-mainstream work both beasts of bourbon , cruel sea, providing poor forgotten 5% – fucked weird shit . in september next album, there s smoke, produced magoo (regurgitator, midnight oil) , band, appeared , reached top 30. followed compilation, don t work, play music in october 2002 groovy situation issued single.

individual members concentrated on side or solo projects. in 2005, perkins returned tex don , charlie , released forgiven in march. guitarist , main composer, rumour began touring , recording own roots-style instrumental band, dan rumour band, , elliot joined on drums mid-2006. in august, perkins declared on abc2 s dig radio program cruel sea no more. dan rumour band appeared on australian surf music project delightful rain released october, , documentary film of same name on australian television in december. rumour s first solo album released in october 2007 dan rumour , drift.

in spite of earlier statement, cruel sea perkins toured melbourne , sydney in 2008 before blues & roots festival performances. toured australia in 2010. full band joined bernard fanning support day on green tour of australia in october november 2013.

guitarist , keyboardist james cruickshank died on 8 october 2015 after long battle bowel cancer.