Strange Tenants

Trackimage Playbut Trackname Playbut Trackname
Soldier boy 02:35 Tools
Hard times 03:14 Tools
Something like that 03:12 Tools
Grey Skies 03:40 Tools
Two steps back 03:22 Tools
Living life 02:05 Tools
Killer zombies 03:47 Tools
Saturday night 02:21 Tools
One-thirty 02:41 Tools
Al Capone 02:58 Tools
Police Town 03:16 Tools
Ground point zero 04:32 Tools
Calling all rude boys 03:28 Tools
The final show 02:20 Tools
Moonstomp 04:15 Tools
These boots 04:08 Tools
I can't keep up 02:23 Tools
Ship of Fools 02:44 Tools
Mr & Mrs 03:06 Tools
Rude Celebration 02:46 Tools
She asked me 06:05 Tools
Steamroller 03:39 Tools
Cannon fodder 04:20 Tools
The firm 03:37 Tools
Don't stay out late 02:45 Tools
House of Horrors 03:23 Tools
LIving in Hell 04:21 Tools
Further Down 03:55 Tools
They Always Let You Down 03:32 Tools
Ballroom Skank 02:43 Tools
Grey Skies (Over Collingwood) 03:37 Tools
Got a Lot to Learn 04:21 Tools
Straightjacket 02:46 Tools
When Ska Was King 04:06 Tools
Half A Crown 02:27 Tools
City Life 03:05 Tools
Phoenix City 03:26 Tools
Guns Of Navarone 02:57 Tools
Do The Ska 02:50 Tools
You Can't Count On Me 02:35 Tools
Chase Another Dream 03:40 Tools
Straight Jacket 02:37 Tools
Things Are Looking Good 02:06 Tools
Stir It Up 04:58 Tools
Rub Up Push Up 02:49 Tools
We've Had Enough 02:49 Tools
Inner City Cool 03:12 Tools
We Are The Firm 03:06 Tools
Sweeney Reggae 04:25 Tools
Dreaming Of You 02:57 Tools
Copasetic 03:35 Tools
Shoulder To Shoulder 03:40 Tools
One Thirty 02:47 Tools
Rude Boys Out of Jail 02:11 Tools
Big Red Bus 03:45 Tools
Pee Pee Cluck Cluck 03:52 Tools
Teenage Zombie 03:52 Tools
World Is Upside Down 02:24 Tools
Boots 03:26 Tools
Evicted 02:59 Tools
I Don't Want to Fight Your War 02:59 Tools
Mr and Mrs 03:12 Tools
Shanty Town 02:46 Tools
House Of Bamboo 02:22 Tools
Soul Limbo 02:17 Tools
My Imagination 03:05 Tools
Grey Skies Over Collingwood 03:05 Tools
Solomon Gundie 02:54 Tools
Born On The Waterfront 02:55 Tools
Dr Lester 03:17 Tools
Nite Klub 03:12 Tools
Monkey Man 02:30 Tools
Dancing Mood 02:37 Tools
Coventry Via Kingston 02:27 Tools
You Can't I Count On Me 02:52 Tools
Night Train 02:38 Tools
Dallas Texas 03:05 Tools
Get Me Down 03:10 Tools
Half A Cow 02:27 Tools
Surfy Music 02:25 Tools
Love Is Blind 02:25 Tools
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Over 20 years on, as their legendary status has grown, most people are aware that Strange Tenants were the pre-eminent Australian SKA band of the 1980s. What is often overlooked today, however, is that at their peak, they were one of the most popular and successful live bands of any style. In the early 1980s, hundreds, sometimes thousands of fans - referred to by the music press as "the Tenants' army" - swarmed to their gigs up and down the east coast of Australia. Strange Tenants also did national tours with international acts such as U2, Style Council and UB40. Performing at Sydney's Horden Pavillion in 1985, Paul Weller (The Jam and Style Council) introduced them on stage as "Australia's hardest working band". Founded by the 'Ska brothers', Ian and Bruce Hearn, towards the end of 1981, the band was initially called The Catch, but they ditched this name in favor of Strange Tenants just prior to their first gig, at the Lygon Street Festa in Melbourne on 7 November 1981. They became overnight sensations on the Melbourne inner city live scene and received rave reviews upon the release of their self-titled debut mini album, recorded only weeks after their first gig. Their record success on alternative radio stations gave the band a national profile and almost immediately they started touring nationally. In between their frenetic touring schedule - performing around 1200 gigs during 1982-86 - the band managed to record and release four singles, three mini albums and two full albums through their own BlueBeat label. One of their mini albums 'Take One Step', which featured some classic tracks including 'Grey Skies' and 'Two Steps Back', sold around 20 thousand copies - then and probably still, the most records ever sold by an independent band. In the two-tone tradition, but long before it became fashionable in Australia, Strange Tenants infused their music with social commentary and staunchly left-wing politics, evidenced by their anti-war songs 'Soldier Boy', 'Cannon Fodder' and 'Ground Point Zero', their anti-fascist anthem 'Two Steps Back' and their classic song about poverty, 'Hard Times'. While not all their fans necessarily embraced their politics, everyone knew that they were a band which stood for something. While clearly a band of excellent musicianship, song-writing and vocal talent, their impact on the cultural landscape was made deeper and more durable because they were a band of substance. Never seeking 'pop stardom' Strange Tenants had an honesty and earthiness about them which created a special bond between them and their legion of loyal fans. Despite their amazing independent achievements, unaided by management, record or publishing companies, by the end of 1986, exhaustion and boredom began to take its toll and the guys decided that they could do no more and so, although never formally dissolving, they simply stopped playing. Over the years since, they have performed occasional gigs and in the early 1990s even managed to record and release an album 'Aint that Enough', under the name of Ian Hearn and the Strange Tenants. Today, when you play their music, mostly recorded before the widespread use of endless overlay tracks, drum machines and modern sampling techniques, listen to the quality of the songs, the honesty of the lyrics, the freshness of the musicianship and their standout vocal talents. They were the complete package! If you close your eyes and listen carefully you can almost imagine what it must have been like at their gigs in the 1980s, packed with hordes of rudies, mods, punks and skins, all skanking to Strange Tenants at venues like Melbourne's legendary BlueBeat Club, The Aberdeen or Chevron hotels, Adelaide's Tivoli or Bridgeway Hotel, Sydney's Caringbah or Manlyvale hotels, or at one of their famous ska-becue's at Brisbane's Glen Hotel. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.