WILD PUMPKINS AT MIDNIGHT

In 1984, Tasmanians, Debra Manskey on vocals and guitar and Michael Turner on vocals and guitar joined with New South Wales-born Dan Tuffy on bass guitar and vocals to form Wild Pumpkins at Midnight. They played blues/roots rock and their debut single, ''Birth of a Nation" was released early in 1987 on WPAM, it was followed in March by 10-track cassette, 'Scenesville' on the Dex label. They relocated to Melbourne and signed with Major Records in 1987 and released, 'Wild Pumpkins at Midnight', a five-track EP in 1988. After signing with Sydney label, Mighty Boy, they released "Watermelon Patch" as a single in March 1989 followed by albums 'Living' in April 1989 and 'This Machine Is Made of People' in August.

In 1990, at the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) Music Awards, they won 'Best Independent Release' for their album 'This Machine Is Made of People'. The next album 'Little Victories' was released in 1990, Manskey left prior to the band relocating to London in June with new drummer, Ashley Davies. Wild Pumpkins At Midnight had relocated to London by June 1990, they subsequently moved to Amsterdam, Netherlands and then were based in the village of Wageningen. Their first European release was a four-track CD EP, 'Sending a Vampire' on MDS in October 1992 and was followed by albums, 'Strangeways' (Current/MDS, April 1993) and 'Going Sick' (Current/MDS, April 1994).

In 1993, Davies had returned to Australia and was replaced by Greg Hynes and guitarist Nick Larkins had joined. From their base in Wageningen they toured a dozen European countries, including several tours to former Eastern Bloc states including Czech Republic, Slovak Republic, Hungary and Poland. They also performed in the former Yugoslavia during the war. The group returned to Melbourne in 1995 and released, 'Low-Fi Lucy's Mobile Temple' in November on the Way Over There label. They toured Australia including Big Day Out in 1996, 'Sad Trees' followed in July which had both studio and live tracks. In February 1997, Hot Records released a compilation, 'The Secret Of The Sad Tree' ahead of their European tour from June. At the conclusion of the tour, in 1998, Wild Pumpkins At Midnight disbanded.

Members

Ashley Davies (drums), Greg Hynes (drums), Nick Larkins (guitar, vocals, bass, organ, sitar), Debra Manskey (vocals, guitar), Dan Tuffy (bass, guitar, vocals), Michael Turner (vocals, guitar)

References

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wild_Pumpkins_at_Midnight