URBAN ASPIRINES: The Lime Spiders: Beethovens Fist 1990

Sunday, September 13, 2020

The Lime Spiders: Beethovens Fist 1990

Lime Spiders are a legendary Australian Psych/ Punk Rock band! They've gained international success over an amazing career & remain a sonic tonic in the music world.

From the early days of the 25th Hour EP, to the Cave Comes Alive, Volatile, and the under-rated

Beethoven's Fist album, the Spiders created some incredible rock music. In their later years the band released a best of (Nine Miles High), and the powerful 'Live at the Espy' album.
The Lime Spiders had numerous members over the years, however the longest serving members of the band were Mick Blood, Tony Bambach, Ged Corben, Richard Jakimyszyn, Phil Hall, Dave Sparks & Richard Lawson.

The Spiders hold the honour of their music video for Weirdo Libido being the first video ever played on ABC TV's Rage program, and that single spent a number of weeks in the Australian Top 50 charts.

The Lime Spiders were formed in 1979 by Michael Patrick "Mick" Blood on lead vocals, who cites

their influences as being 1960s garage bands with psychedelic rock. Early fellow members included Eric Roman Grothe on guitar, Dave Guest on bass guitar, and Darryl John Mather on guitar. The band's name relates to a non-alcoholic cocktail – a combination of vanilla ice cream and lime soft drink (soda). The group's first show was supporting The Lonely Hearts on Christmas Eve 1979, which Mather later recalled: "We were absolutely horrible. So horrible that people didn't get it. I don't think I got it, either. We came back properly in late 1980".

By February 1981 the line-up had stabilised with Blood, Guest and Mather joined by Geoff Cleary on drums. In August that year the group added Richard Jakimyszyn on lead guitar, with Bill Gibson

(later bassist for The Eastern Dark) often acting as MC and adding backing vocals and tambourine. The band played regularly, mostly around Sydney's inner city venues, but by February the following year they had split up. During September that year they reconvened with a new drummer, Stephen Rawle (ex-Room 101), replacing Cleary. The group entered a Battle of the Bands competition at the Southern Cross Hotel, the major prize being the recording and release of a single on Green records. The competition ran over three months and included 64 bands: The Lime Spiders won the competition, with one of their opponents in the final being The Most, who would later come to figure significantly in their story.

Their debut studio album, The Cave Comes Alive! was released in June 1987 and reached the top 60

on the Kent Music Report Albums Chart. Their most successful single, "Weirdo Libido", was released in January that year and reached the top 50 on the related Kent Music Report Singles Chart.
In April its music video was the first ever shown on Australian Broadcasting Corporation TV music series rage. The track was used on the 1988 feature film Young Einstein's soundtrack.

The group disbanded in 1990 and in 1999 Australian musicologist, Ian McFarlane, noted they had provided "raucous sound mixed screaming vocals and wild, fuzz-tone guitar riffs to arrive at a mutant strain of acid punk that bordered on heavy metal".
Lead singer Mick Blood still performs Lime Spiders songs with session musicians, these are essentially Mick Blood solo performances.

A look back at the 1979 time reel has Mad Max at the flicks, St George and Carlton claiming the footy silverware and kids hitting pinnie parlours to fight off Space Invaders. It was also the time that a young garage outfit from western Sydney called The Lime Spiders made their live debut.

Throughout the 1980’s, the band toured hard – from inner-city pubs to regional clubs, forging a reputation as one of Australia’s best live outfits. They carried that on-stage prowess into the studio,

cutting several (now iconic) singles along the way. Songs like ‘Slave Girl’ and ‘Weirdo Libido’ both copped heavy rotation and enabled the band to tour North America and Europe, to an ever-growing legion of fans.
Although 1987’s ‘The Cave Comes Alive’ and the follow-up ‘Volatile’ are both long-time fan favorites, it is the criminally ignored ‘Beethoven’s Fist’ album from 1990 which many consider their pièce de résistance. This record stands as one of the most complete rock n roll albums to come out of Australia in recent times.

After a lengthy period of inactivity, founding member Mick Blood has assembled a new Lime Spiders line-up that are set to hit Australian stages in December. It is an opportunity for fans to celebrate the 40th anniversary with shows locked in for Brisbane, the Gold Coast, Sydney and

Melbourne. For Blood though, it is a personal triumph to even set foot on a stage again and do what he does so well. Life has dealt Mick Blood some bad hands in recent years: hospitalized in 2014 with a brain injury after a vicious and random assault, he was then diagnosed with prostate cancer. Not surprisingly, Blood then battled severe depression and attempted suicide. Yet his great love of rock n roll, which is a saviour to so many of us – has provided him with the courage and perseverance to move forward.

Lime Spiders ‎– Beethoven's Fist

Label: Fun After All

Format: Vinyl, LP, Album

Country: Australia

Released: Nov 1990

Genre: Rock

Style: Punk Rock

TRAXS

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