History
Formation and early years
Tactics were formed as a post-punk, pop group in 1977 in Canberra.McFarlane1980: ''My Houdini'' album
In December 1980 Tactics released their first album, ''My Houdini'', via Green Records label, which McFarlane felt was "full of frantic energy, scratchy guitars, uneasy melodies, challenging songs and astute lyrical observations." It was co-produced by the group with Martin Bishop. Australian writer, Clinton Walker, recognised it as a definitive recording of that period:''My Houdini'' was a landmark Australian indy. It may hardly be remembered today, but that's probably because the sheer originality of Dave Studdert’s vision – and the shrillness of his voice – still asks too much of an audience.Walker, p. 91.''My Houdini'' featured a wider range of instrumentation than the band’s live sound, with Spielman playing piano on the recording; additionally saxophones and flutes by Danny Field were used for some tracks. The album included a re-worked version "Buried Country" from ''Long Weekend'', as well as some slower, more reflective songs "The Usual", "Frozen Park" and "A Settler's Complaint", which were not usually played in the band's live set. Patrick Emery of I-94 Bar interviewed Studdert in October 2006 and asked about working on the album with Bishop, the vocalist recalled, "We were a pretty full-on and intense band. I was incredibly focused, and so were the other guys. He ishopput us in a situation where we had to watch what he was doing, every five minutes, otherwise he'd do something we didn't want him to do ... we recorded during the day, played gigs at night and there was a lot of intensity and grinding poverty. So it was a pretty intense process. And he was a pretty intense guy too, but not necessarily in a positive way."
1981–1983: from ''Glebe'' to hiatus
In 1981 Marsh was replaced by Garry Manley on bass guitar. Tactics' second album, ''Glebe'', was released in November 1981. McFarlane highlighted the "departures from the earlier sound, featuring a stronger reggae/dub influence." Studdert told Emery that "From a marketing point of view the record was a wrong move but while recognising that it was, I don't regret it for one moment. I love the album, and I'm really happy that we did it and I know the reasons why we did a record that was so different to ''My Houdini''. We weren't thinking in those terms about marketing, and we never had." There were more line-up changes in 1982 with Studdert, Douglas and Manley joined by Michael Farmer on drums and Duncan McKenzie on keyboards. A live album, ''The Bones of Barry Harrison'', was released in August 1982, which included live recordings from 1979 to 1982. However, McFarlane felt "the overall effect was lessened due to the low-fi sound on offer." During 1983 Dave Studdert broke up the band.1984–1989: from return to ''The Great Gusto''
A year-and-a-half after the band broke up Tactics were re-formed in 1984 in Sydney by Studdert and Douglas with Nicky Baruch on vocals, keyboards, percussion and flute; Tony Donohue (ex-Same) on drums and David "Snajik" Miller on bass guitar. A single, "Fat Man", was released in July 1985 on Waterfront Records. Their third studio album, ''Blue and White Future Whale'', was released in November 1986. It was a departure from Tactics' earlier recordings, lacking "the frantic staccato rhythm that drives the band's earlier work."‘Tactics: The Sound of the Sound Vol. 2’ (review)Now Tactics, Post-Tactics, and retrospective releases
In late 1989, three days after ''The Great Gusto'' was mixed, Studdert left Australia for the UK at the invitation of English independent label Red Flame. He played with a number of bands in London before forming the eight-member band Mumbo Jumbo, which released recordings in the mid-1990s. In late 1996 Mumbo Jumbo undertook a brief tour in Australia which coincided with the release of a Tactics anthology ''The History of the Sky''. In 1999 Dave Studdert, Garry Manley and Lex Robertson formed the nucleus of a band called The Inside Up which toured Australia in 2000-1. The members of The Inside Up dispersed in 2003. In late 2006 Memorandum Recordings released a double-CD anthology of Tactics' first two albums (''My Houdini'' and ''Glebe'') as well as some live recordings and unreleased songs from that period. All the tracks were re-mastered for the release, and the ''Glebe'' album was completely remixed from the original multi-track masters. Just prior to CD release Tactics reformed for two gigs; the line-up was Dave Studdert, Garry Manley and Ingrid Spielman, with the addition of Matt Galvin (guitar), Nic Cecire (drums), Lex Robertson (keyboards) and Pete Kelly (trumpet).Members
*''David Studdert'' - Lead vocals & rhythm guitar (all albums) - 1977-2019. *''Angus Douglas'' - Lead guitar (''My Houdini'', ''Glebe'', ''The Bones...'') - 1977-84. *''Robert Whittle'' - Drums, vocals (''My Houdini'', ''Glebe'', ''The Bones...'') - 1977-82. *''Geoff Marsh'' - Bass, vocals (''My Houdini'', ''The Bones...'') - 1979-81. *''Ingrid Spielman'' - Piano (''My Houdini'', ''Glebe'', ''The Bones...'', ''Early Shift at Charles de Gaulle'') - 1980-82 (recording sessions); Sept 2006, March 2008 and August 2019 (live band). *''Garry Manley'' - Bass & guitar (''Glebe'', ''The Bones...'', ''The Great Gusto'', ''Early Shift at Charles de Gaulle'') - 1981-83 (bass); 1989-90 (guitar); Sept 2006, March 2008 & August 2019 (bass in live band). *''Duncan MacKenzie'' - organ - 1982. *''Michael Farmer'' - drums - 1982. *''Nicky Baruch'' - Vocals, keyboards, percussion, flute (''Glebe'', ''Blue & White Future Whale'') - 1982-86. *''David 'Snajik' Miller'' - Bass (''Blue & White Future Whale'', ''The Great Gusto'') - 1984-86; 1989-90. *''Tony Donohoe'' - Drums (''Blue & White Future Whale'') - 1984-86. *''Michael Sherman'' - Trumpet (''Fatman'', ''Committee of Love'' singles) - 1986. *''Lex Robertson'' - Keyboard (''Early Shift at Charles de Gaulle'') - 1989-90; Sept 2006, March 2008 & August 2019 (live band). *''Pete Kelly'' - Trumpet - 1989-90; Sept 2006 & March 2008 (live band). *''Adam 'Sloth' Burrell'' - Trumpet - 1989-90. *''Robbie Weaver'' - Trumpet (''The Great Gusto'') - 1988-1989. *''Nic Cecire'' - Drums (''Early Shift at Charles de Gaulle'') - Sept 2006, March 2008 & August 2019 (live band). *''Matt Galvin'' - Guitar (''Early Shift at Charles de Gaulle'') - Sept 2006 & March 2008 (live band). *''Wayne Connolly'' - Guitar (''Early Shift at Charles de Gaulle'') - August 2019 (live band). *''Jili Serra'' - Guitar, harmonica, bass - August 2018 (Tactics live band in France); Sydney, August 2019 (live band). *''Geoffrey Datson'' - Guitar (Tactics live band in France), August 2018. * others along the way: ''Hamish Reid'' (bass) & ''Errol Gooding'' (sax).Discography
Studio albums
Live albums
Compilations
Extended PLays
References
;General * Note: Archived n-linecopy has limited functionality. * ;Specific {{DEFAULTSORT:Tactics (Band) Musical groups established in 1977 Musical groups disestablished in 1989 Australian post-punk groups Australian new wave musical groups Australian Capital Territory musical groups