Tiddas were an all-female

folk Folk or Folks may refer to: Sociology *Nation *People * Folklore ** Folk art ** Folk dance ** Folk hero ** Folk horror ** Folk music *** Folk metal *** Folk punk *** Folk rock ** Folk religion * Folk taxonomy Arts, entertainment, and media * Fo ...

trio from

Victoria, Australia Victoria, commonly abbreviated as Vic, is a state in southeastern Australia. It is the second-smallest state (after Tasmania), with a land area of ; the second-most-populated state (after New South Wales), with a population of over 7 million; ...

.Tiddas at loreoftheland.com
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Biography

1990–1992: Career beginnings and ''Inside My Kitchen''

Originally the three women, Amy Saunders (a Gunditjmara woman from Portland), Lou Bennett (a Yorta Yorta Dja Dja Wurrung woman from Echuca) and Sally Dastey (from West Heidelberg) combined their vocal talents as backing singers for Aboriginal band Djaambi, led by Saunders' brother Richard Frankland in 1990. The group were invited to perform at a musical celebration for women's artistic achievement, 'Hot Jam Cooking', in

Richmond, Victoria Richmond is an inner-city suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, east of the Melbourne central business district, located within the City of Yarra Local government areas of Victoria, local government area. Richmond recorded a population of 2 ...

. Their performance was well received and inspired Ruby Hunter to dub the trio Tiddas, which is

Koori Koori (also spelt koorie, goori or goorie) is a demonym for Aboriginal Australians from a region that approximately corresponds to southern New South Wales and Victoria. The word derives from the Indigenous language Awabakal. For some people ...

for the "sisters". After performing together for over a year the band came to the attention of Paul Petran, host of ABC National Radio show 'Music Deli', who assisted Tiddas to record their debut EP, '' Inside My Kitchen'' in 1991. ''Inside My Kitchen'' was released in October 1992 and received two nominations, for ARIA Award for Best New Talent and ARIA Award for Best Indigenous Release, at the

ARIA Music Awards of 1993 The Seventh Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards (generally known as the ARIA Music Awards or simply The ARIAs) was held on 14 April 1993 at the Entertainment Centre in Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States a ...

. Note: At the 1994 results ARIA incorrectly lists the album title as ''Sing About Love'' at Best Indigenous Release, but lists it as ''Sing About Life'' for Breakthrough Artist – Album nomination. The single peaked at number 145 on the

ARIA charts The ARIA Charts are the main Australian record chart, music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling songs and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA beca ...

1993–1997: ''Sing About Life'' and ''Tiddas''

Tiddas quickly became live favourites, touring with Sweet Honey in the Rock and

Midnight Oil Midnight Oil (known informally as "The Oils") are an Australian rock band composed of Peter Garrett (vocals, harmonica), Rob Hirst (drums), Jim Moginie (guitar, keyboard) and Martin Rotsey (guitar). The group was formed in Sydney in 1972 by H ...

, adding didgeridoo player Tim "Froggie" Holtze for their first studio album ''Sing About Life'' which was released in November 1993. The album peaked at No. 36 on the

,Australian (ARIA) chart peaks: *Top 50 peaks: *Top 100 peaks to December 2010: *"Ignorance Is Bliss": N.B. The HP column indicates the highest position reached. *All ARIA complete: N.B. The High Point number in the NAT column represents the release's peak on the national chart. achieved gold record sales in Australia (35,000 copies sold), was nominated 'Breakthrough Artist – Album', and won 'Best Indigenous Record' at the

ARIA Music Awards of 1994 The Eighth Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards (generally known as the ARIA Music Awards or simply The ARIAs) was held on 30 March 1994 at the State Theatre in Sydney. Radio and TV personality Richard Stubbs hosted the ce ...

. National and international tours followed, including several WOMAD concerts. ''Sing About Life'' was released in the United States in September 1995, spurring tours of North America and Europe. The group's second studio album was produced by Joe Camilleri titled '' Tiddas'' and was released in Australia in August 1996 reaching No. 26 on the

. The album was nominated for 'Best Indigenous Release' at the

ARIA Music Awards of 1997 The 11th Annual Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards (generally known as the ARIA Music Awards) were held on 22 September 1997 at the Capitol Theatre in Sydney. The event was hosted by Australian actor–comedian Paul McDer ...

. The first single, " Ignorance is Bliss", was reputedly inspired by an argument with

Bob Geldof Robert Frederick Zenon Geldof (; born 5 October 1951) is an Irish singer-songwriter and political activist. He rose to prominence in the late 1970s as the lead singer of the Irish rock band the Boomtown Rats, who achieved popularity as part ...

while touring in 1993. Backing musicians on the album included the Black Sorrows' Jen Anderson on violin, Joe Camilleri on sax (on "Waving Goodbye"), Peter Luscombe on drums, Steve Hadley on bass, and Weddings, Parties, Anything's Mark "Squeezebox Wally" Wallace on piano accordion. A second single "Walk Alone" was released in 1997.

1998–2000: ''Lethal By the Kilo'', ''Show Us Ya Tiddas'' and split

In 1998, the girls sang on " Yil Lull" which was released as Singers For The Red Black & Gold. The third studio album, ''Lethal By the Kilo'', was recorded in Melbourne's ABC studios in late 1998. The album received almost no promotion from the record company and failed to chart. On 11 September 1999, Tiddas recorded a live performance at Continental Café which was released as ''Show Us Ya Tiddas'' later in 1999. In May 2000 Tiddas announced they were to break up, and spent months on a national tour to say farewell to their fans. In

2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

Tiddas were awarded a Deadly Award for 'Outstanding Contribution to Aboriginal Music'.

2018: Reformation and NIMA Hall of Fame

In 2018, the trio announced they were reuniting for a one-off national tour to celebrate the release of

Archie Roach Archibald William Roach (8 January 1956 – 30 July 2022) was an Australian (Gunditjmara and Western Bundjalung people, Bundjalung) singer-songwriter and Aboriginal Australian, Aboriginal activist. Often referred to as "Uncle Archie", Roach wa ...

's "lost" album, '' Dancing with My Spirit'', which was recorded in the 1990s and released in April 2018. In August 2019, Tiddas were inducted into the National Indigenous Music Awards Hall of Fame.

Members

* Sally Dastey * Amy Saunders * Lou Bennett

Discography

Studio albums

Live albums

Extended plays

Singles

Awards and nominations

ARIA Awards

The

ARIA Music Awards The Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards (commonly known informally as ARIA Music Awards, ARIA Awards, or simply the ARIAs) is an annual series of awards nights celebrating the Australian music industry, put on by the Austr ...

are a set of annual ceremonies presented by

Australian Recording Industry Association The Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) is a trade association representing the Australian recording industry which was established in the 1970s by six major record companies, EMI, Festival Records (Australia), Festival, Sony Music ...

(ARIA), which recognise excellence, innovation, and achievement across all genres of the

music of Australia The music of Australia has an extensive history made of music societies. Indigenous Australian music forms a significant part of the unique heritage of a 40,000- to 60,000-year history which produced the iconic didgeridoo. Contemporary fusions o ...

. They commenced in 1987. Tiddas has received one

from six nominations , - , rowspan="2",

1993 The United Nations General Assembly, General Assembly of the United Nations designated 1993 as: * International Year for the World's Indigenous People The year 1993 in the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands had only 364 days, since its ...

, , rowspan="2", '' Inside My Kitchen'' , , Best New Talent , , , - , Best Indigenous Release , , , - , rowspan="2",

1994 The year 1994 was designated as the " International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations. In the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, 1994 had only 364 days, omitti ...

, , rowspan="2", '' Sing About Life'' , , Best Indigenous Release , , , - , Breakthrough Artist - Album , , , - , rowspan="1",

1995 1995 was designated as: * United Nations Year for Tolerance * World Year of Peoples' Commemoration of the Victims of the Second World War This was the first year that the Internet was entirely privatized, with the United States government ...

, , rowspan="1", "Changing Times" , , Best Indigenous Release , , , , - , rowspan="1",

1997 Events January * January 1 – The Emergency Alert System is introduced in the United States. * January 11 – Turkey threatens Cyprus on account of a deal to buy Russian S-300 missiles, prompting the Cypriot Missile Crisis. * January 1 ...

, , rowspan="1", '' Tiddas'' , , Best Indigenous Release , , , -

Australian Women in Music Awards

The Australian Women in Music Awards is an annual event that celebrates outstanding women in the

Australian Music Industry The Australian music industry refers to the collection of individuals, organisations, businesses and activities that are involved in the creation, production, distribution and promotion of music in Australia. The music industry encompasses a wide r ...

who have made significant and lasting contributions in their chosen field. They commenced in 2018. , - ,

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

, Tiddas , Auriel Andrew Memorial Award ,

Deadly Awards

The Deadly Awards, (commonly known simply as The Deadlys), was an annual celebration of Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander achievement in music, sport, entertainment and community. They ran from 1996 to 2013. , - ,

1996 1996 was designated as: * International Year for the Eradication of Poverty Events January * January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...

, "themselves" , Band of the Year , , - ,

, " Ignorance is Bliss" , Single Release of the Year , , - ,

1999 1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...

, " My Island Home" , Excellence in Film or Theatrical Score , , - ,

, "themselves" , Outstanding Contribution to Music , , -

National Indigenous Music Awards

The National Indigenous Music Awards (NIMA) recognise excellence, dedication, innovation and outstanding contribution to the

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (abbreviated as NT; known formally as the Northern Territory of Australia and informally as the Territory) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian internal territory in the central and central-northern regi ...

music industry. They commenced in 2004. , - ,

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

, themselves , Hall of Fame Inductee , , -

References

{{Authority control ARIA Award winners Indigenous Australian musical groups Victoria (state) musical groups Musical groups established in 1990 Musical groups disestablished in 2000