Tamam Shud
| Tamam Shud | |
|---|---|
| Also known as | Four Strangers, The Strangers, The Sunsets |
| Origin | Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia |
| Genres | Psychedelic rock, progressive rock, surf rock |
| Years active | 1964–1972, 1993–1995, 2002, 2008–present |
| Labels | CBS, Warner, Polydor |
| Past members |
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Tamam Shud is an Australian psychedelic, progressive and surf rock band, which formed in Newcastle in 1964. The initial line-up were known as Four Strangers with Eric Connell on bass guitar, Dannie Davidson on drums, Gary Johns on rhythm guitar and Alex "Zac" Zytnik on lead guitar. At the end of that year Johns was replaced by Lindsay Bjerre on guitar and vocals as they trimmed their name to the Strangers. By late 1965 they had become the Sunsets. They took the name Tamam Shud in late 1967 after replacing Connell with Peter Barron on bass guitar. The group released two albums, Evolution (1969) – after which Tim Gaze replaced Zytnik on lead guitar – and Goolutionites and the Real People (1970) before disbanding in 1972. After a lengthy hiatus they reformed in 1993 to release a third album, Permanent Culture in 1994, but disbanded again in 1995. Beginning in 2008 the group worked together periodically on new material: it took eight years to complete their fourth album, Eight Years of Moonlight (January 2016).
Tamam Shud evolved from an instrumental surf band, The Four Strangers, which formed in 1964 in Newcastle with Eric Connell on bass guitar, Dannie Davidson on drums, Gary Johns on rhythm guitar and Alex "Zac" Zytnik on lead guitar. They released a sole single, "The Rip", in that year for Astor Records before Lindsay Bjerre replaced Johns on guitar and lead vocals. In 1965, as the Strangers, they issued a single, "Sad and Lonely", on Festival Records – it was an R&B offering influenced by the Rolling Stones. Late that year they changed their name to the Sunsets.
The Sunsets travelled to Sydney to perform regular gigs at various venues: Surf City, the Star Club and the Sunset discotheque. In October 1965 they released a single, "Bye Bye Goodbye", on the Leedon label and followed with "When I Found You" in March of the following year. They issued three singles on Festival, "A Life in the Sun Theme" (January 1967), "Love's Face" (June) and "The Hot Generation" (August); as well as an EP, A Life in the Sun. Their tracks were used for two surf films, A Life in the Sun (1966) and The Hot Generation (1967), both directed by Paul Witzig. Late that year Peter Barron replaced Connell on bass guitar and the group, now based in Sydney, changed their name to Tamam Shud.
Bjerre found the Persian phrase tamám shud (translated as "ended", "finished" or "the very end") in the closing words of The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám, an 11th century poetry collection. The line-up of Barron, Bjerre, Davidson and Zytnik played "acid-surf progressive rock" influenced by "psychedelic sounds of Cream, The Jimi Hendrix Experience, Pink Floyd, Eric Burdon and The (New) Animals, plus the San Francisco stylings of The Grateful Dead" according to Australian musicologist, Ian McFarlane. They became a popular attraction at local discotheques and "head" venues, and like their contemporaries Tully, they often performed in association with a Sydney film and light show collective, Ubu.
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