The Manikins
Encyclopedia
The Manikins were a protopunk
and new wave
band from Perth, Australia
.
Hotel in mid-1977. They lay claim to the title of Perth's first punk band. The original Cheap Nasties' lineup was Kim Salmon
(guitar/vocals), Neil Fernandes (guitar/vocals), Ken Seymour (bass/vocals) and Mark Betts (drums). Salmon left the Cheap Nasties in December 1977, to form The Scientists
.
The rest of the band, with Robbie Porritt joining as lead vocalist, continued as The Manikins. The raw sound of the Cheap Nasties gradually gave way to a poppier
, new wave-oriented musical direction.
Dave Faulkner, ex-The Victims, joined for a brief period as keyboard player
(1979–1980). He would later be a founding member and the mainstay of the Hoodoo Gurus
. Seymour also left, to be replaced by Dan Dare.
The band had several residencies in Perth, in particular the Broadway Tavern in Nedlands
. The band relocated to Melbourne in the early 1980s, but broke up soon afterwards in 1981.
Later in 1986 Mark Betts registered the Manikins name and formed a new version of the band with a female vocalist, Christine Bodey and releasing new romantic synth style recordings between 1986 and 1988.
Protopunk
Protopunk is a term used retrospectively to describe a number of musicians who were important precursors of punk rock in the late 1960s to mid-1970s, or who have been cited by early punk musicians as influential...
and new wave
New Wave music
New Wave is a subgenre of :rock music that emerged in the mid to late 1970s alongside punk rock. The term at first generally was synonymous with punk rock before being considered a genre in its own right that incorporated aspects of electronic and experimental music, mod subculture, disco and 1960s...
band from Perth, Australia
Perth, Western Australia
Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia and the fourth most populous city in Australia. The Perth metropolitan area has an estimated population of almost 1,700,000....
.
History
The band formed in August 1976 as the Cheap Nasties. Their debut gig was at The RivervaleRivervale, Western Australia
Rivervale, near the Swan River in Australia, is a suburb of Perth, Western Australia and 5 km from Perth's central business district.Rivervale was known as Barndon Hill until 1884....
Hotel in mid-1977. They lay claim to the title of Perth's first punk band. The original Cheap Nasties' lineup was Kim Salmon
Kim Salmon
Kim Leith Salmon is an Australian indie rock musician and songwriter, who attained fame in June 2004, when he was inducted into the West Australian Music Industry Association Hall of Fame....
(guitar/vocals), Neil Fernandes (guitar/vocals), Ken Seymour (bass/vocals) and Mark Betts (drums). Salmon left the Cheap Nasties in December 1977, to form The Scientists
The Scientists
The Scientists are an influential post-punk band from Perth, Australia, led by Kim Salmon, initially known as Exterminators and then Invaders. The band had two primary incarnations: the Perth-based punk band of the late 1970s and the Sydney/London-based swamp rock band of the 1980s...
.
The rest of the band, with Robbie Porritt joining as lead vocalist, continued as The Manikins. The raw sound of the Cheap Nasties gradually gave way to a poppier
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
, new wave-oriented musical direction.
Dave Faulkner, ex-The Victims, joined for a brief period as keyboard player
Keyboardist
A keyboardist is a musician who plays keyboard instruments. Until the early 1960s musicians who played keyboards were generally classified as either pianists or organists. Since the mid-1960s, a plethora of new musical instruments with keyboards have come into common usage, requiring a more...
(1979–1980). He would later be a founding member and the mainstay of the Hoodoo Gurus
Hoodoo Gurus
Hoodoo Gurus are an Australian rock band, formed in Sydney in 1981, by the mainstay Dave Faulkner and later joined by Richard Grossman , Mark Kingsmill , and Brad Shepherd...
. Seymour also left, to be replaced by Dan Dare.
The band had several residencies in Perth, in particular the Broadway Tavern in Nedlands
Nedlands, Western Australia
The City of Nedlands is a Local Government Area in the inner western suburbs of the Western Australian capital city of Perth, located about west of Perth's central business district...
. The band relocated to Melbourne in the early 1980s, but broke up soon afterwards in 1981.
Later in 1986 Mark Betts registered the Manikins name and formed a new version of the band with a female vocalist, Christine Bodey and releasing new romantic synth style recordings between 1986 and 1988.
Singles
- "I Never Thought I'd Find Someone Who Would Be So Kind"/"Radio World" - Independent (7") (SMX-46904) (November, 1978)
- "Premonition"/"Laugh Too Loud" - Independent (7") (SMX-46969) (August, 1979)
- "Love at Second Sight"/"Nuisance"/"All I Care About" - Independent (7") (SMX-55051) (October, 1980)
Albums
- Live Locally - Inner City Sound (cassette) (1979)
- Last Gasp - Inner City Sound (cassette) (1981)
- The Manikins - Two Tribes Records (compilation CD) (2004)
Singles
- "What Are You On?"/"Dictator's Dream" (July, 1986)
- "Cruel World"/"Dracula's Slut" (November, 1987)
- "Scent"/"Life Underground" (May, 1988)