Screaming Tribesmen

The Screaming Tribesmen was an Australian garage rock band formed in Brisbane by Mick Medew, John Hartley & Murray Shepherd. After their I Don't Wanna Know EP and a string of successful singles, including "A Stand Alone" and their first Australian hit, "Igloo" which was penned by Medew and Died Pretty frontman Ron Peno, the band moved base to Sydney, home of their label Citadel Records. After relocation to Sydney, and a number of line-up changes the band settled on its most successful lineup of Medew, ex-Radio Birdman & The Hitmen guitarist Chris Masuak, bass player Bob Wackley & drummer Warwick Fraser (ex-Feather & Hoi Polloi) who replaced Michael Charles after the recording of the Date With A Vampyre EP. The Vampyre EP reigned at the top of the Australian independent charts for over 40 weeks, while the band toured constantly in support. The follow-up Top of the Town EP released on the boutique Rattlesnake Records label saw a change in direction for the band as it morphed into the sound of their first full length release Bones and Flowers. The band toured the US on the strength of the album and at home they enjoyed a run of Australian Alternative No. 1 hits as well as gaining Stateside attention with regular airplay on the US College Radio circuit. Their 1988 single "I've Got a Feeling" featured heavily on US MTV's 120 Minutes, hitting No. 1 on the KROQ charts in LA and No. 7 on Billboard's modern rock chart. Internal disputes after their US successful tour saw the lineup dissolve after a performance in front of 200,000 people at Sydney's Bondi Beach at a protest concert, Stop the Ocean Pollution. Medew formed a new lineup featuring members of Melbourne band Radio Luxembourg, Jeff Silver and Ritchie Hine and former Kings of the Sun guitarist Glenn Morris. This line-up released two albums, a collection of covers "Take Cover" and "Blood Lust". Morris departed and was replaced by Brian Mann, while Ritchie Hine was replace by Celibate Rifles sticksman Paul Larsen. Mick Medew continued to tour, write and record with various line-ups until 1992, when he retired the name, re-emerging after a decade long hiatus as Mick Medew and the Rumours featuring ex-Screaming Tribesmen and Lost Boys Chris Dixon and Ash Geary, with bass player Paul Hawker.

Links To Peel
Peel started playing the band's single Igloo in 1984. However it seems he wasn't keen on their other material, as Igloo seems to be the only record he played from the band.

Other Shows Played
(The following list was compiled only from the database of this site and Lorcan's Tracklistings Archive and is certainly incomplete. Please add further details if known.)

1984 1985 1986
 * Peel March 1984: Igloo (7") Citadel
 * 24 April 1984: Igloo (single) Sonics
 * 25 September 1984: Igloo (single) Sonics
 * Peel Late Sep Early Nov 1984: Igloo (single) Sonics
 * 14 August 1985: Igloo (12") What Goes On
 * Peel 047 (BFBS): 'Igloo (12"-Move A Little Closer)' (What Goes On)