The Riptides
| The Riptides | |
|---|---|
| Origin | Brisbane, Queensland, Australia |
| Genres | Indie pop, power pop |
| Years active | 1979–1983; 1987–1991; 2007 |
| Associated acts |
The Go-Betweens Leftovers Flaming Hands Last Chance Café Elks Humans GANGgajang Angels Mondo Rock Divinyls |
| Website | The Riptides website |
The Riptides were a band from Brisbane Australia and worked largely as a vehicle for the song-writing talents of Mark "Cal" Callaghan. The band also featured a number of notable musicians.
The Riptides formed in 1977 as The Grudge, with their members comprising students from the Architecture Department of the University of Queensland. In 1978, The Grudge changed names to, firstly, The Neon Steal and then The Numbers. In September 1978, The Numbers issued a limited edition (500 copies) EP, Sunset Strip on The Go-Betweens' Able label.
In early 1979, Robert Vickers left The Numbers, travelling to New York City where he joined The Colors; in 1983, he joined The Go-Betweens. Mark Callaghan switched to bass, and The Numbers became The Riptides (in order to avoid confusion with a Sydney band also called The Numbers). The band remixed the Sunset Strip EP and reissued it in July 1979 (in a pressing of 2000 copies). Andrew Leitch then replaced Alan Rielly on guitar and keyboards and the band recorded a new single, "Tomorrow's Tears"/"Some Other Guy", released on February 14, 1980 on the Flat label. The band appeared on Countdown to promote the single. The Riptides moved to Sydney during the winter of 1980.
In March 1981, Michael Hiron (ex-Leftovers, Flaming Hands) joined on bass, which allowed Callaghan to switch to guitar. Scott Matheson had also left the band by that stage. The new four-piece line-up entered the studio with producer Graham `Buzz' Bidstrup (ex-Angels) in mid-1981 to record the six-track mini-album Swept Away which was released in November. "Only Time" was released as a single, also in November 1981. With the release of Swept Away, Dennis Cantwell and Andrew Leitch both left the band. Callaghan and Hiron laid low for a time before re-emerging in early 1982 with a new line-up comprising Russell Parkhouse (keyboards), Howard Shawcross (bass; ex-Last Chance Café, Elks) and Graeme `Hutch' Hutchinson (drums; ex-Leftovers). Hiron moved to lead guitar.
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