THE SPLIFFS

The Spliffs were formed in Townsville in 1985 by university friends, Ian Christensen on lead vocals, Andrew Reid on drums, Tim Corcoran on guitar and vocals, Jamie Forsberg on lead guitar and John Watson on bass guitar. They entered a local heat of a battle of the bands competition, where they played their four-song repertoire to win. Besides original material they covered 1960s guitar pop. The Spliffs' debut single, "You Know What They'll Say", was released in 1986, Watson recalled, "We recorded it in a garage in Kuranda, and then had to sit around glueing the sleeve covers together, the usual independent method." The single was pressed at 500 copies and was sold at gigs and cool indie shops around Australia.

The group relocated to Sydney at the end of that year, where the Harbour Agency picked them up and helped them to get a lot of gigs. The group issued a seven-track mini album, 'House of Seven', in 1987, which was produced by Alan Thorne (Hoodoo Gurus, Paul Kelly, Weddings Parties Anything). Their single, "Sixteen" (1988), was nominated for the ARIA Award for Best Independent Release at the ARIA Music Awards of 1989. The band supported acts like Hoodoo Gurus, Mental As Anything and The Saints. Bass player and manager John Watson went on to form Eleven A Music Company which managed acts such as Silverchair, Missy Higgins and Gotye. In 2022 Swedish label One Way Ticket re-released their debut first single.

 

Members

Jamie Forsburg (guitar), John Watson (bass), Ian Christensen (vocals), Tim Corcoran (guitar), Andrew Reid (drums)

SINGLES
''You Know What They'll Say / Thanx To You / I Know A Girl'' 1986 Black & White Music 
''Never Say Goodbye / You Know What They'll Say'' 1987 Revolution 
''Merry Go Round / Are You Happy Now?'' 1987 Revolution 
''Sixteen / Survival Road'' 1988 Revolution 

ALBUMS
'House Of Seven' 1987 Revolution 

References

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Spliffs