Tablewaiters were an Australian Post-punk band active from 1980 to 1986. They were founded by

Tony Ameneiro Tony Ameneiro (born 1959 London, UK arrived Australia 1968) is an Australian contemporary visual artist whose work focuses around his drawing and printmaking practice. Biography Ameneiro was born in London in 1959 to Spanish parents and emigrate ...

synthesiser A synthesizer (also spelled synthesiser) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis and f ...

and Graeme Synold on lead vocals; by 1981 they included Gye Bennetts on drums, Ian Robertson on bass guitar, and Ed Lee on lead guitar. By 1984 they were joined by Phillip Hyrwka who replaced Bennetts on drums. After Tablewaiters' disbandment Ameneiro pursued a career in visual arts. Tablewaiters had undertaken various national tours and supported both national and international artists:

Simple Minds Simple Minds are a Scottish rock band formed in Glasgow in 1977. They have released a string of hit singles, becoming best known internationally for "Don't You (Forget About Me)" (1985), which topped the '' Billboard'' Hot 100 in the United St ...

, The Psychedelic Furs, Split Enz,

INXS INXS (a word play, phonetic play on "in excess") were an Australian Rock music, rock band, formed as The Farriss Brothers in 1977 in Sydney, New South Wales. The band's founding members were bassist Garry Gary Beers, main composer and keyboar ...

Midnight Oil Midnight Oil (known informally as "The Oils") are an Australian rock band composed of Peter Garrett (vocals, harmonica), Rob Hirst (drums), Jim Moginie (guitar, keyboard) and Martin Rotsey (guitar). The group was formed in Sydney in 1972 by ...

Machinations Machinations are an Australian synthpop band which formed in 1980. They reached the top 20 on the Kent Music Report albums chart with '' Big Music'' in 1985. Their top 30 hits on the related singles chart are "Pressure Sway", "No Say ...

, Laughing Clowns,

Models A model is an informative representation of an object, person or system. The term originally denoted the plans of a building in late 16th-century English, and derived via French and Italian ultimately from Latin ''modulus'', a measure. Models c ...

Hunters & Collectors Hunters & Collectors are an Australian rock band formed in 1981. Fronted by founding mainstay, singer-songwriter and guitarist Mark Seymour, they developed a blend of Pub rock (Australia), pub rock and funk, art-funk. Other mainstays are John ...

, Eurogliders, and The Birthday Party.

History

The founding members, Graeme Synold and

, met in Sydney in 1980 while studying art at the

Alexander Mackie College of Advanced Education ''Alexander Mackie College'' was a tertiary education institution that trained school teachers in Sydney, Australia. It existed from 1958 to 1974 continuing as ''Alexander Mackie College of Advanced Education'' from 1975 to 1981. In January 1982 the ...

. One of the band's first appearances was as a support act to Sardine v at the Civic Hotel in Sydney in 1980. Various line up changes settled down in 1981 with Gye Bennetts on drums (ex- The Agents), Ian Robertson on bass guitar and Ed Lee on guitar, along with Ameneiro on synthesiser and Synold on lead vocals. The line up of Ameneiro, Bennetts, Lee, Robertson, and Synold recorded material for an album, ''Gate'', with

Lobby Loyde Lobby Loyde (born John Baslington Lyde, 18 May 1941 – 21 April 2007), also known as John Barrie Lyde or Barry Lyde, was an Australian rock music guitarist, songwriter and producer. He was a member of two 1960s groups: Purple Hearts, which had ...

in 1981 at the Alberts recording studio in Sydney. The album was never released because of financial problems. Various bootleg copies were in existence from the master tapes, though they are of poor quality as the recordings had not reached the mixing stage. The intended single, "Between the Lines", and "Access", was never released. There were also a previous series of recordings with Colin Newham of The Reels. Tablewaiters were managed by SCAM (suss city artist management), which also looked after Sardine v, The Sunnyboys,

and Local Product. Loyde also produced material by other SCAM artists including: ''The Sunnyboys'' (extended play, December 1980), ''Machinations'' (November 1981) and Sardine v's single, "Sabotage". Bennetts left Tablewaiters after the ''Gate'' recordings and was replaced by Phillip Hyrwka on drums. Hyrwka was previously drummer for Agents, the same band which had Bennetts earlier. Rob Barnham became Tablewaiters' regular manager. A publishing deal was signed and in 1984 they recorded and released a double A-sided 7" single, "Scattered Visions"/"Small Quiet Children", through Powderworks Records & Tapes. The cover artwork for the single was by Ameneiro. With the

pub rock Pub rock is a rock music Rock music is a broad genre of popular music that originated as " rock and roll" in the United States in the late 1940s and early 1950s, developing into a range of different styles in the mid-1960s and later, particu ...

scene in its heyday, Tablewaiters performed several nights a week, both in support spots and as a headline act. Being Sydney-based they were regulars at The Civic Hotel, The Trade Union Club, Governor’s Pleasure at the Rocks, as well as at many suburban venues. In Melbourne, they had several residencies at Macy’s in Toorak. Several tours and important support spots included playing with

, The Psychedelic Furs, Split Enz,

, Machinations, Laughing Clowns,

Hunters and Collectors Hunters & Collectors are an Australian rock band formed in 1981. Fronted by founding mainstay, singer-songwriter and guitarist Mark Seymour, they developed a blend of pub rock and art-funk. Other mainstays are John Archer on bass guitar, Do ...

, Eurogliders, and The Birthday Party.Worksheets giving performance details by Tablewaiters: * Supporting Birthday Party on 26 January 1983: * Summerfest '83 on 31 January 1983, alongside North 2 Alaskans, Le Club Foote, Mental as Anything, and Men at Work: * Psychedelic Furs support on 5 February 1983: * Split Enz support on 10 August 1983: * Split Enz support on 11 August 1983: After some more self-funded studio recording the band broke up in 1986. After Tablewaiters' disbandment Ameneiro pursued a career in visual arts. Ed Lee moved to Wollongong, where he has been in several bands there including ATE. In 1992 Ed Lee and

recorded and released a self-funded, self-titled album under the name Chihuahua Chihuahua. Bennetts was later a member of various bands including Johnny Kannis Band (1988), Roddy Radalj and The Surfin' Caesars (1989), Hitmen D.T.K. (1989–90),

The Psychotic Turnbuckles The Psychotic Turnbuckles are an Australian garage punk band that originated in Sydney, which was formed in 1984. The group's original members were "Jesse the Intruder"(vocals), "The Grand Wizard" (guitar), "El Sicodelico" (guitar), 'The Cree ...

, and Klondike's North 40.

Discography

Singles

Some of the early work was produced by Colin (Polly) Newham and

. * "Between the Lines" / "Access by Invitation" - Alberts (November 1981) * "Scattered Visions" / "Small Quiet Children" - Powderworks Records (POW 0227) (1984)

Compilations

* "Confrontation with a Mountain", on ''Fast Forward'' cassette magazine, volume 11, produced by Lobby Loyde.

References

{{Reflist, 25em

External links

''Fast Forward'' by Various Artists
at Discogs New South Wales musical groups Australian post-punk groups Musical groups established in 1980 Musical groups disestablished in 1986