The Birthday Party (originally known as The Boys Next Door) were an Australian

post-punk Post-punk (originally called new musick) is a broad genre of punk music that emerged in the late 1970s as musicians departed from punk's traditional elements and raw simplicity, instead adopting a variety of avant-garde sensibilities and non-roc ...

band, active from 1977 to 1983. The group's "bleak and noisy soundscapes," which drew irreverently on

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...

free jazz Free jazz is an experimental approach to jazz improvisation that developed in the late 1950s and early 1960s when musicians attempted to change or break down jazz conventions, such as regular tempos, tones, and chord changes. Musicians during ...

, and

rockabilly Rockabilly is one of the earliest styles of rock and roll music. It dates back to the early 1950s in the United States, especially the Southern United States, South. As a genre it blends the sound of Western music (North America), Western music ...

, provided the setting for vocalist Nick Cave's disturbing tales of violence and perversion. Their 1981 single " Release the Bats" was particularly influential on the emerging

gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

scene. Despite limited commercial success, The Birthday Party's influence has been far-reaching, and they have been called "one of the darkest and most challenging post-punk groups to emerge in the early '80s." In 1980, The Birthday Party moved from

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

to London, where they were championed by broadcaster

John Peel John Robert Parker Ravenscroft (30 August 1939 – 25 October 2004), known professionally as John Peel, was an English disc jockey (DJ) and radio presenter. He was the longest-serving of the original BBC Radio 1 DJs, broadcasting regularly fr ...

. They subsequently released two albums: '' Prayers on Fire'' (1981) and '' Junkyard'' (1982). Disillusioned by their stay in London, the band's sound and live shows became increasingly violent. They broke up soon after relocating to

West Berlin West Berlin (german: Berlin (West) or , ) was a political enclave which comprised the western part of Berlin during the years of the Cold War. Although West Berlin was de jure not part of West Germany, lacked any sovereignty, and was under mi ...

in 1982. The creative core of The Birthday Party – singer and songwriter Nick Cave, multi-instrumentalist and songwriter

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 singer, songwriter and guitarist

Rowland S. Howard Rowland Stuart Howard (24 October 1959 – 30 December 2009) was an Australian rock musician, guitarist and songwriter, best known for his work with the post-punk group The Birthday Party and his subsequent solo career. Early life Rowland Stua ...

– later went on to acclaimed careers.

History

Early years and The Boys Next Door (1973–1978)

The nucleus of the band first met at the private boys school Caulfield Grammar School, in suburban

, in the early seventies. A rock group was formed in 1973, with Nick Cave (vocals),

(guitar), and

Phill Calvert Phillip Calvert (born 11 January 1958) is an Australian rock drummer and producer best known for his playing in the post-punk band The Birthday Party with Nick Cave. History At the private boys school Caulfield Grammar in the early 1970s Cal ...

(drums), with other students John Cocivera, Brett Purcell and Chris Coyne (on guitar, bass and saxophone respectively). Most were also members of the school choir. The band played under various names at parties and school functions with a mixed repertoire of

David Bowie David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known professionally as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer-songwriter and actor. A leading figure in the music industry, he is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the ...

Lou Reed Lewis Allan Reed (March 2, 1942October 27, 2013) was an American musician, songwriter, and poet. He was the guitarist, singer, and principal songwriter for the rock band the Velvet Underground and had a solo career that spanned five decades. ...

Roxy Music Roxy Music are an English rock music, rock band formed in 1970 by Bryan Ferry—who became the band's lead vocalist and principal songwriter—and bassist Graham Simpson (musician), Graham Simpson. The other longtime members are Phil Manzanera ...

Alice Cooper Alice Cooper (born Vincent Damon Furnier, February 4, 1948) is an American rock singer whose career spans over five decades. With a raspy voice and a stage show that features numerous props and stage illusions, including pyrotechnics, guillot ...

and the Sensational Alex Harvey Band, among others. Saxophonist Chris Coyne went on to join the Paul Kelly Band in the 1980s. After their final school year in 1975 the band decided to continue as a four-piece group, with friend

Tracy Pew Tracy Franklin Pew (19 December 1957 – 7 November 1986) was an Australian musician, and bassist for The Birthday Party. He was later a member of The Saints, and worked with Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds. As a member of the Birthday Party, Pe ...

picking up the bass. Greatly affected by the

punk Punk or punks may refer to: Genres, subculture, and related aspects * Punk rock, a music genre originating in the 1970s associated with various subgenres * Punk subculture, a subculture associated with punk rock, or aspects of the subculture s ...

explosion of 1976 which saw Australian bands The Saints and

Radio Birdman Radio Birdman is an Australian punk rock band formed by Deniz Tek and Rob Younger in Sydney in 1974. The group influenced the work of many successful, mainstream bands, and are now considered instrumental in Australia's musical growth. Hist ...

making their first recordings and tours, The Boys Next Door, as they were now called, began performing punk and proto-punk

cover version In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song release ...

s, such as "

Blitzkrieg Bop Blitzkrieg Bop is a song by American punk rock band, Ramones, released in February 1976 as their debut single in the United States. It appeared as the opening track on the band's debut album, ''Ramones'', released two months later. The song, w ...

" and " Gloria", and a few original songs. By November 1977 their set was dominated by fast original new wave material, such as "Sex Crimes" and "Masturbation Generation". The Boys' second guitarist,

, joined in 1978, and about this time the group's sound changed dramatically. The addition of Howard's guitar was a catalyst (his later use of

audio feedback Audio feedback (also known as acoustic feedback, simply as feedback) is a positive feedback situation which may occur when an acoustic path exists between an audio input (for example, a microphone or guitar pickup) and an audio output (for exa ...

being a hallmark of the group) but there were other changes, as well: their sound drew upon

and

, but defied categorization. Many songs were driven by prominent, repetitive

bassline Bassline (also known as a bass line or bass part) is the term used in many styles of music, such as blues, jazz, funk, Dub music, dub and electronic music, electronic, traditional music, traditional, or classical music for the low-pitched Part ( ...

s and frenetic,

minimalist In visual arts, music and other media, minimalism is an art movement that began in post–World War II in Western art, most strongly with American visual arts in the 1960s and early 1970s. Prominent artists associated with minimalism include Don ...

drumming. In producer/engineer

Tony Cohen Anthony Lawrence Cohen (4 June 19572 August 2017) was an Australian music record producer and sound engineer. He worked with Nick Cave's groups the Birthday Party, and then the Bad Seeds from 1979 to 2001. In mid-1986 he had followed Cave t ...

they found a collaborator sympathetic to their experimentation and their refusal to repeat themselves, and in manager

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 ...

they found an enthusiastic financial backer. Glass' label Missing Link Records released all of the early Birthday Party records.

Name change and relocations (1978–1982)

The Boys Next Door's best known song, " Shivers", written by Howard, and first performed and recorded by his band The Young Charlatans, was banned by radio stations because of a reference to suicide. After recordings and moderate success in Australia (including hundreds of live shows) they headed for London in 1980, changed their name to The Birthday Party and launched into a period of innovative and aggressive music-making. Some sources say the band took its new name from the

Harold Pinter Harold Pinter (; 10 October 1930 – 24 December 2008) was a British playwright, screenwriter, director and actor. A Nobel Prize winner, Pinter was one of the most influential modern British dramatists with a writing career that spanne ...

play '' The Birthday Party''; others (including Ian Johnston's Cave biography) state it was prompted by Cave misremembering, or intentionally misattributing, the name to a non-existent birthday party scene in the

Dostoyevsky Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky (, ; rus, Фёдор Михайлович Достоевский, Fyódor Mikháylovich Dostoyévskiy, p=ˈfʲɵdər mʲɪˈxajləvʲɪdʑ dəstɐˈjefskʲɪj, a=ru-Dostoevsky.ogg, links=yes; 11 November 18219 ...

novel ''

Crime and Punishment ''Crime and Punishment'' ( pre-reform Russian: ; post-reform rus, Преступление и наказание, Prestupléniye i nakazániye, prʲɪstʊˈplʲenʲɪje ɪ nəkɐˈzanʲɪje) is a novel by the Russian author Fyodor Dostoevsky. ...

''. In a 2008 interview, Rowland S. Howard gave his own recollection: "The name The Birthday Party came up in conversation between Nick and myself. There's this apocryphal story about it coming from a Dostoyevsky novel. It may have had various connotations, but what he and I spoke about was a sense of celebration and making things into more an occasion and ritual". They resided in London, but were disillusioned with the state of the music scene, only finding like-minded groups in the Fall and

the Pop Group The Pop Group are an English rock band formed in Bristol in 1977 by vocalist Mark Stewart, guitarist John Waddington, bassist Simon Underwood, guitarist/saxophonist Gareth Sager, and drummer Bruce Smith. Their work in the late 1970s crosse ...

. They took trips back to Australia and tours through Europe and the U.S. before relocating to

in 1982. Above the barely-controlled racket, Cave's vocals ranged from desperate to simply menacing and demented. Critics have written that "neither

John Cale John Davies Cale (born 9 March 1942) is a Welsh musician, composer, singer, songwriter and record producer who was a founding member of the American rock band the Velvet Underground. Over his six-decade career, Cale has worked in various styl ...

nor

Alfred Hitchcock Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock (13 August 1899 – 29 April 1980) was an English filmmaker. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in the history of cinema. In a career spanning six decades, he directed over 50 featur ...

was ever this scary," and that Cave "doesn't so much sing his vocals as expel them from his gut". Though Cave drew on earlier rock and roll shriekers—especially

Iggy Pop James Newell Osterberg Jr. (born April 21, 1947), known professionally as Iggy Pop, is an American singer, musician, songwriter and actor. Called the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Godfather of Punk", he was the vocalist and lyricist of ...

and

Suicide Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Mental disorders (including depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, personality disorders, anxiety disorders), physical disorders (such as chronic fatigue syndrome), and s ...

Alan Vega Boruch Alan Bermowitz (June 23, 1938 – July 16, 2016), known professionally as Alan Vega, was an American vocalist and visual artist, primarily known for his work with the electronic protopunk duo Suicide. Life and career Boruch Alan Berm ...

—his singing with the Birthday Party remains powerful and distinct. His lyrics also drew on

Arthur Rimbaud Jean Nicolas Arthur Rimbaud (, ; 20 October 1854 – 10 November 1891) was a French poet known for his transgressive and surreal themes and for his influence on modern literature and arts, prefiguring surrealism. Born in Charleville, he start ...

and

Charles Baudelaire Charles Pierre Baudelaire (, ; ; 9 April 1821 – 31 August 1867) was a French poetry, French poet who also produced notable work as an essayist and art critic. His poems exhibit mastery in the handling of rhyme and rhythm, contain an exoticis ...

. The single " Release the Bats" came out during the emergence of the gothic scene. This song about "vampire sex" was promoted by an advertisement with the words "Dirtiness is next to antigodliness". Their 1982 album '' Junkyard'' was inspired by American

Southern Gothic Southern Gothic is an artistic subgenre of fiction, country music, film and television that are heavily influenced by Gothic elements and the American South. Common themes of Southern Gothic include storytelling of deeply flawed, disturbing or ...

imagery, dealing with extreme subjects like an evangelist's murdered daughter.

Final years (1982–1983)

For The Birthday Party, things had changed. Calvert was ejected in 1982; he was reportedly "unable to nail down the beats for 'Dead Joe' to everyone's satisfaction", and Harvey moved to drums. When Pew was jailed for drunk driving and petty theft early in 1982, Chris Walsh,

Barry Adamson Barry Adamson (born 11 June 1958)Biography
. Barryadamson.com. is an English pop and rock music ...

and Howard's brother

Harry Harry may refer to: TV shows * ''Harry'' (American TV series), a 1987 American comedy series starring Alan Arkin * ''Harry'' (British TV series), a 1993 BBC drama that ran for two seasons * ''Harry'' (talk show), a 2016 American daytime talk show ...

replaced him for live appearances and brief studio work. Pew rejoined the band in July. The ''

Mutiny Mutiny is a revolt among a group of people (typically of a military, of a crew or of a crew of pirates) to oppose, change, or overthrow an organization to which they were previously loyal. The term is commonly used for a rebellion among member ...

'' EP contained lyrics evoking

blasphemy Blasphemy is a speech crime and religious crime usually defined as an utterance that shows contempt, disrespects or insults a deity, an object considered sacred or something considered inviolable. Some religions regard blasphemy as a religiou ...

, words which were as dark as the gothic poems of Lautréamont. The title track portrayed a dirty heaven with rats and trash. In 1982 a spin-off group with

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 ...

Honeymoon in Red ''Honeymoon in Red'' is a concept album by a band of the same name, released in 1987, primarily written by Lydia Lunch and Rowland S. Howard. ''Honeymoon in Red'' is sometimes referred to as a band or alternately as a collaboration between Lyd ...

, recorded an album which was eventually released in 1987. Harvey and Cave were reportedly so unhappy with the mixing and overdubbing done after their involvement that they requested their names be withheld from its liner notes. Howard and Pew apparently had no objections to being credited by name. A tour in January 1983 found the group return to a five-piece, with

Jeffrey Wegener Jeffrey may refer to: * Jeffrey (name), including a list of people with the name * ''Jeffrey'' (1995 film), a 1995 film by Paul Rudnick, based on Rudnick's play of the same name * ''Jeffrey'' (2016 film), a 2016 Dominican Republic documentary film ...

playing drums and Harvey returning to second guitar. Wegener did not remain with the group, however, and they returned to a four-piece soon after. Later that year, Blixa Bargeld from the German group

Einstürzende Neubauten (, 'Collapsing New Buildings') is a German experimental music group, formed in West Berlin in 1980. The group is currently composed of founding members Blixa Bargeld (lead vocals; guitar; keyboard) and N.U. Unruh ( custom-made instruments; p ...

recorded a guitar part in the studio on the track "Mutiny in Heaven". Tension between Cave and Howard soon came to a head, but it was Harvey who first left the group – their final tour saw

Des Hefner The Scavengers were a New Zealand punk rock band that formed in 1977. They moved to Melbourne, Australia, in November 1978 and became Marching Girls. History The band was formed in 1976 at Auckland Technical Institute by graphic design stude ...

on drums. The Birthday Party played their final show at the Crystal Ballroom in St Kilda on 9 June 1983 and disbanded not long after, due in part to the split between Cave and Howard, as well as work and drug-related exhaustion.

Post-breakup, legacy and influence

Several groups rose from The Birthday Party's ashes:

Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds are an Australian rock music, rock band formed in 1983 by vocalist Nick Cave, multi-instrumentalist Mick Harvey and guitarist-vocalist Blixa Bargeld. The band has featured international personnel throughout its care ...

(featuring Cave, Harvey, Adamson, Bargeld and briefly Pew),

Crime and the City Solution Crime & the City Solution are an Australian rock band formed in late 1977 by singer-songwriter and mainstay Simon Bonney. They disbanded in 1979 leaving only bootleg recordings and demos. In late 1983, Bonney travelled to London and in 1985 he ...

(featuring Harvey and Howard, later just Harvey) and

These Immortal Souls These Immortal Souls were an Australian post-punk band formed in London in 1987 by Harry Howard on bass guitar, his older brother Rowland S. Howard on guitar and vocals, Epic Soundtracks (a.k.a. Kevin Godfrey) on drums (all three ex-Crime & t ...

(featuring Howard). Pew died from injuries caused by an

epileptic seizure An epileptic seizure, informally known as a seizure, is a period of symptoms due to abnormally excessive or synchronous neuronal activity in the brain. Outward effects vary from uncontrolled shaking movements involving much of the body with los ...

in 1986. On 1 September 1992, there was a brief Birthday Party reunion as Rowland S. Howard joined Nick Cave and Mick Harvey on stage at a Bad Seeds

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...

charity show at the Town and Country Club in London to play "Wild World", "Dead Joe" and "Nick the Stripper". Due in part to their legendary status and to the continuing success of Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, The Birthday Party's back catalogue has been re-released on CD several times. Mick Harvey has overseen releases of rare or previously unissued recordings (''Live'' and ''John Peel'' CDs). The Birthday Party's initial impact was on the gothic rock genre. According to ''

New Musical Express ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...

'', "The Party have been indirectly held responsible for the rise of a visceral new

hardcore Hardcore, hard core or hard-core may refer to: Arts and media Film * ''Hardcore'' (1977 film), a British comedy film * ''Hardcore'' (1979 film), an American crime drama film starring George C Scott * ''Hardcore'' (2001 film), a British documen ...

, ranging from The

Sex Gang Children Sex Gang Children are an early gothic rock and post-punk band that formed in early 1982 in Brixton in London, England. Although the original group only released one official studio album, their singles and various other tracks have been pack ...

, through Danse Macabre to

March Violets ''March Violets'' is a historical detective novel and the first written by Philip Kerr featuring detective Bernhard "Bernie" Gunther. ''March Violets'' is the first of the trilogy by Kerr called ''Berlin Noir''. The second, '' The Pale Crimina ...

."''New Musical Express'', 25 December 1982. Cited in Jennifer Park, "Melancholy and the Macabre: Gothic Rock and Fashion," ''Gothic: Dark Glamour'' by Valerie Steele and Jennifer Park, p. 141, 143. Rock acts that have cited The Birthday Party as an influence include My Bloody Valentine,

Alex Turner Alexander David Turner (born 6 January 1986) is an English musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer. He is well known as the frontman and principal songwriter of the rock band Arctic Monkeys, with whom he has released seven albums. He ...

, and LCD Soundsystem. In 2006, American label

Three One G 31G Records, or Three One G, is a San Diego, California-based independent record label, started by musician Justin Pearson in 1994 and focusing on punk and experimental music. The label has released a number of albums and compilations in what ha ...

released ''Release The Bats: The Birthday Party As Heard Through The Meat Grinder Of Three One G'', a compilation featuring covers by various bands, including

Daughters A daughter is a female offspring; a girl or a woman in relation to her parents. Daughterhood is the state of being someone's daughter. The male counterpart is a son. Analogously the name is used in several areas to show relations between groups ...

Melt-Banana Melt-Banana is a Japanese noise rock band that is known for playing extremely fast noise rock mixed with experimental, electronica and pop-based song structures. Since forming in 1992 the band has released ten albums and toured worldwide extensi ...

and

Cattle Decapitation Cattle Decapitation is an American deathgrind band from San Diego, California, formed in 1996. The band's current lineup includes vocalist Travis Ryan, guitarists Josh Elmore and Belisario Dimuzio, bassist Olivier Pinard, and drummer David McGr ...

. In October 2007, Cave alone was inducted into the

ARIA In music, an aria (Italian: ; plural: ''arie'' , or ''arias'' in common usage, diminutive form arietta , plural ariette, or in English simply air) is a self-contained piece for one voice, with or without instrumental or orchestral accompanime ...

Hall of Fame. During his acceptance speech, Cave took it upon himself to 'induct' the Australian members of the Bad Seeds (including Harvey), plus Howard and Pew from The Birthday Party. Rowland S. Howard died on 30 December 2009 of

liver cancer Liver cancer (also known as hepatic cancer, primary hepatic cancer, or primary hepatic malignancy) is cancer that starts in the liver. Liver cancer can be primary (starts in liver) or secondary (meaning cancer which has spread from elsewhere to th ...

. In 2012 Howard's early songs were played live as a tribute in Melbourne: a four-piece band played consisting of Harvey, Calvert, Ron Rude and Rowland Howard's sister Angela.

Members

;Band members * Nick Cave – vocals, saxophone (1977–1983) *

– guitar, drums, keyboards (1977–1983) *

– guitar, vocals (1977–1983; died 2009) *

– bass, clarinet (1977–1982, 1982–1983; died 1986) *

– drums (1977–1982) ;Touring and guest musicians *Chris Walsh – bass (February 1982) *

Barry Adamson Barry Adamson (born 11 June 1958)Biography
. Barryadamson.com. is an English pop and rock music ...

– bass (April–May 1982) * Harry Howard – bass (June–July 1982) *

– drums (January 1983) *

– drums (May–June 1983) * Blixa Bargeld – guitar (April 1983, in-studio guest)

Timeline

ImageSize = width:1000 height:auto barincrement:20 PlotArea = left:110 bottom:60 top:06 right:10 Alignbars = justify DateFormat = dd/mm/yyyy Period = from:01/01/1976 till:01/07/1983 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal format:yyyy Legend = orientation:horizontal position:bottom ScaleMajor = increment:2 start:1976 ScaleMinor = increment:2 start:1977 Colors = id:Vocals value:red legend:Lead_vocals id:BVocals value:pink legend:Backing_vocals id:Guitar value:green legend:Guitar id:Keyboards value:purple legend:Keyboards id:Bass value:blue legend:Bass id:Drums value:orange legend:Drums id:Sax value:skyblue legend:Saxophone id:Clarinet value:coral legend:Clarinet id:Touring value:yellow legend:Touring_member id:Lines value:black legend:Studio_albums LineData = at:15/06/1979 color:black layer:back at:01/11/1980 color:black layer:back at:06/04/1981 color:black layer:back at:10/05/1982 color:black layer:back BarData = bar:Cave text:"Nick Cave" bar:Harvey text:"Mick Harvey" bar:Howard text:"Rowland S. Howard" bar:Pew text:"Tracy Pew" bar:Calvert text:"Phill Calvert" bar:Walsh text:"Chris Walsh" bar:Adamson text:"Barry Adamson" bar:HHoward text:"Harry Howard" bar:Wegener text:"Jeffrey Wegener" bar:Hefner text:"Des Hefner" PlotData= width:11 textcolor:black align:left anchor:from shift:(10,–4) bar:Cave from:01/01/1976 till:end color:Vocals bar:Cave from:01/01/1980 till:01/02/1982 color:Sax width:3 bar:Harvey from:01/01/1976 till:01/06/1982 color:Guitar bar:Harvey from:01/08/1978 till:01/02/1982 color:Keyboards width:3 bar:Harvey from:01/06/1982 till:01/01/1983 color:Drums bar:Harvey from:01/06/1982 till:01/01/1983 color:Guitar width:3 bar:Harvey from:01/01/1983 till:01/02/1983 color:Guitar bar:Harvey from:01/02/1983 till:01/05/1983 color:Drums bar:Harvey from:01/02/1983 till:01/05/1983 color:Guitar width:3 bar:Howard from:01/08/1978 till:end color:Guitar bar:Howard from:01/01/1980 till:end color:BVocals width:3 bar:Pew from:01/01/1976 till:01/02/1982 color:Bass bar:Pew from:01/01/1981 till:01/02/1982 color:Clarinet width:3 bar:Pew from:01/08/1982 till:end color:Bass bar:Calvert from:01/01/1976 till:01/06/1982 color:Drums bar:Walsh from:01/02/1982 till:01/04/1982 color:Bass bar:Walsh from:01/02/1982 till:01/04/1982 color:Touring width:3 bar:Adamson from:01/04/1982 till:01/06/1982 color:Bass bar:Adamson from:01/04/1982 till:01/06/1982 color:Touring width:3 bar:HHoward from:01/06/1982 till:01/08/1982 color:Bass bar:HHoward from:01/06/1982 till:01/08/1982 color:Touring width:3 bar:Wegener from:01/01/1983 till:01/02/1983 color:Drums bar:Wegener from:01/01/1983 till:01/02/1983 color:Touring width:3 bar:Hefner from:01/05/1983 till:end color:Drums bar:Hefner from:01/05/1983 till:end color:Touring width:3

Discography

;The Boys Next Door *''

Door, Door ''Door, Door'' is the debut album by Australian rock band The Boys Next Door. The album was recorded before the band left Australia for London in 1980, at which point they changed their name to The Birthday Party and created the body of work ...

'' (1979) ;The Birthday Party *'' The Birthday Party'' (1980) * '' Prayers on Fire'' (1981) * '' Junkyard'' (1982)

References

External links

*
From The Archives
a site with discography, concert history, videography, bibliography, etc. Also features

and related artists.
Article on The Birthday Party
fro
HowlSpace

The Birthday Party discography
fro
Nick Cave OnlineInner City Sound Website
a site dedicated to Clinton Walker's book "Inner City Sound" which lists The Birthday Party and other alternative Australian bands of that era.
Record cover art at prehistoricsounds.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Birthday Party, The Victoria (Australia) musical groups Musical groups established in 1977 Australian gothic rock groups Australian post-punk groups Mute Records artists 4AD artists Nick Cave Musical groups from Melbourne