DISCOGRAPHY AND A BRIEF HISTORY
The first line-up included Tom Kazas, Smiley Byrnes, Nick (Chesh) Potts on keyboards/harmonica and Brandon Saul.They played their first gig at a party called "Freakout" at the notorius 181 Campbell St, Redfern. I'm not sure when Brandon left and Alan Hislop came into the picture (can anyone help me with this?). However at some stage, Alan joined the Moffs to play drums. Apparently, this line-up met through Nick, who knew Alan through Suicidal Flowers, a long-standing band that played intermittantly though the 1980's. He met Tom and Smiley through the Sydney mod scene. At the time, Tom was studying philosophy at the University of New South Wales.
Smiley Byrnes, Prince of Wales Hotel, Melbourne 1987
Their first demo tape called "11 to 5", which is impossible to get, contained gems like 'Tombstone!', 'Confusion', 'Horto' and a version of the Beatles 'Tomorrow Never Knows'.
This line-up also recorded a 7" single with a great picture sleeve
Another day in the Sun / Clarodomineaux
The band were doing gigs around Sydney and Lismore, and being managed by Greg "Quick" Squirl. Greg Kasch mixed at some of these early gigs.One of the most intriguing thing about the band at this time was undoubtably their haircuts! In photos of this time, Nick, Smiley and Alan all have their eyes totally obscured by thick fringes (think - outgrown Brian Jones haircuts)!
Song list from an unknown gig in 1983. The set included songs from their first demo tape as well as covers of Pink Floyd's "Astronomie Domine". Does anyone know what "Untitled Protest" and "Groovy" are?
When they started to move away from the bluesier style of music, Nick moved onto No Man's Land (another 80's Sydney band that features a scary-looking singer with masses of hair-sprayed black hair called Dave Slade and current Celibate Rifles bass player, Jim Leone as well as stints with Suicidal Flowers. He was replaced by Mick Duncan who had previously been in No Man's Land.
No Mans Land, promo, Sydney 1987
In 1985, this line-up released a classic 5 track EP simply called The Moffs
.
It contains one of their best-ever songs, Look to Find. An article from UK Fanzine "Bucketfull Of Brains" tells the story of the band at this time and gives their first single rave reviews.
More moves in the band saw Mick being replaced by Damon Giles (who had been in mod-style band, Stupidity)and Alan making way for Smiley's little brother,Andrew Byrnes, on drums.
This line-up recorded a 7" single with another groovy Moffs-y picture sleeve.
Flowers / By the Breeze
Damon left and began to do stints with Suicidal Flowers and the final line-up was formed, which was the most stable and included Tom, Smiley, Andrew and keyboardist Scott Barnes. They released a 7" single (black and white sleeve)
The Traveller / Quaker's Drum
and an LP Labyrinth (December 1987)
Labyrinth is a classic psychedelic and atmospheric album that should have been a hit but never quite got there. Songs like "Stealing Cake (to eat the moon)" and "Tapestry" should have been on movie soundtracks with a back-drop of an old, dark country mansion at sunset. The songs on "Labyrinth" consist of layers of sound that have been carefully crafted to achieve what still stands up well in 1998.
The Moffs played shows for a few more years and eventually stopped playing as a band. In 1994, a compilation CD called "Psychedelicatessen" was released, which included 13 tracks from previously released vinyl and an unreleased track recorded in 1987.
Return to main page