Tuff Monks were a short-lived band consisting of Nick Cave,

Mick Harvey Michael John Harvey (born 29 August 1958) is an Australian musician, singer-songwriter, composer, arranger and record producer. A multi-instrumentalist, he is best known for his long-term collaborations with Nick Cave, with whom he formed The ...

and Rowland S. Howard (each a member of the Birthday Party) with

Robert Forster Robert Wallace Forster Jr. (July 13, 1941 – October 11, 2019) was an American actor, known for his roles as John Cassellis in '' Medium Cool'' (1969), Captain Dan Holland in ''The Black Hole'' (1979), Abdul Rafai in '' The Delta Force'' (1986 ...

Lindy Morrison Belinda "Lindy" Morrison (born 2 November 1951) is an Australian musician originally from Brisbane, Queensland. She was the drummer in indie rock group the Go-Betweens from 1980 to 1989, appearing on all of the band's releases from their first L ...

and

Grant McLennan Grant William McLennan (12 February 19586 May 2006) was an Australian alternative rock singer-songwriter-guitarist. He co-founded the Go-Betweens with Robert Forster in Brisbane in 1977. In addition to his work with the Go-Betweens (1977–89, ...

(each a member of

the Go-Betweens The Go-Betweens were an Australian indie rock band formed in Brisbane, Queensland, in 1977. The band was co-founded and led by singer-songwriters and guitarists Robert Forster and Grant McLennan, who were its only constant members throughout ...

). Their only release was the 1982 7" 45 rpm single "After the Fireworks", on the Australian label, Au Go Go Records. The lead track was co-written by Cave, Forster and McLennan. Note: For additional work user may have to select 'Search again' and then 'Enter a title:' or 'Performer:' The collaboration came about when the Go-Betweens and the Birthday Party found themselves by happen-stance with overlapping booked studio time at AAV studio, Melbourne. The Birthday Party were having trouble completing their album, '' Junkyard'' (May 1982), and the two bands decided to join forces on a song during downtime. The idea to join forces, as well as the lyrics of "After the Fireworks" are Cave's, while the drums are distinctly Morrison's. The band's name was coined by Cave's then-girlfriend,

Anita Lane Anita Louise Lane (18 March 1960 – 27 April 2021) was an Australian singer-songwriter who was briefly a member of the Bad Seeds with Nick Cave and Mick Harvey and collaborated with both bandmates. Lane released two solo albums, ''Dirty Pearl' ...

. The collaboration performed live only once, at Richmond's Tiger Lounge venue doing a cover version of "

Ring of Fire The Ring of Fire (also known as the Pacific Ring of Fire, the Rim of Fire, the Girdle of Fire or the Circum-Pacific belt) is a region around much of the rim of the Pacific Ocean where many volcanic eruptions and earthquakes occur. The Ring o ...

". "After the Fireworks" was released as a single in the same year by

Keith Glass Keith Robert Glass (born 17 September 1946) is an Australian country music singer-songwriter, guitarist, musical theatre actor, record label owner, producer and journalist. In April 1967 he formed a soul music group, Cam-Pact, which released fou ...

, owner of the label Missing Link, who explained that he did so to recoup money he had lost on the Birthday Party in studio time.

" he Birthday Partywere in AVV. It was costing top dollar—$1,000 a night... One night they came up with After the Fireworks"because they had nothing better to do. So I said, "We'll use it as a vehicle to parlay against accrued costs"... I think Nick Cave came up with the idea to put it out as the Tuff Monks... It sold quite a few copies." – Keith Glass

Harvey later denied that the band even knew that the single was going to be released. Instead, he stated that the band members were surprised to learn of its impending release.

"That single was like a jam session we had in the studio which lasted about 2 hours and we never even finished... How on earth they could release it I really don't know. It's ludicrous, a travesty... The whole point of the exercise was no one was meant to be credited. It was just meant to be 'The Tuff Monks', no explanation, nothing." – Mick Harvey

Glass does not agree with Harvey's version, he takes credit for the single's cover picture and for the B-side material, which consists of a dub version of the A-side. The B-side track is named "After, After the Fireworks". The song appeared on the CD release of '' Drunk on the Pope's Blood'' (the 1982 split LP between the Birthday Party and

Lydia Lunch Lydia Lunch (born Lydia Anne Koch; June 2, 1959)Martin Charles Strong. ''The Great Indie Discography''. 2003, page 85 is an American singer, poet, writer, actress and self-empowerment speaker. Her career began during the 1970s New York City no ...

), the Birthday Party's 5–disc box set, ''The Definitive Missing Link Recordings 1979-1982'', the second disc of the re-released CD edition of the Go-Betweens' album, '' Send Me a Lullaby'' (2002), and on an Australian various artists' compilation album, ''No Worries'', on Hot Records.The Go-Betweens: Discography
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Personnel

* Nick Cave – lead vocals *

– guitar *

– piano * Rowland S. Howard – guitar *

– guitar *

– drums Credits:

References

{{Authority control Australian post-punk groups Musical groups established in 1982 Musical groups disestablished in 1982 1982 establishments in Australia