TISM | Artist

This Is Serious Mum aka TISM was an Australian seven-piece anonymous alternative rock band formed 1982 in Melbourne by vocalist/drummer Humphrey B. Flaubert (vocals, drums), Jock Cheese (bass, vocals) and Eugene de la Hot Croix Bun (keyboards, vocals). The founding trio were soon joined by Genre B. Goode (vocals), Ron Hitler-Barassi (vocals), Jon St. Peenis (saxophone), Les Miserables (vocals) and Tokin' Blackman (guitar). Their debut album, Great Truckin' Songs of the Renaissance (1988), an ambitious double vinyl, achieved the lower reaches of Australia's mainstream Top 50, as did the single "Saturday Night Palsy". In 1990 TISM released their next album Hot Dogma on major label Phonogram. It failed to reach the commercial charts and TISM were fired six months later due to management issues, despite owing the label tens of thousands of dollars. TISM's biggest recording success was the 1995 album Machiavelli and the Four Seasons which shifted from alternative rock to synth-driven techno and dance, overlaid with guitar and vocals. The album was certified gold and won an ARIA Award for Best Independent Release. Never afraid to attract controversy, the band were sued numerous times for the subject matter of song favouites such as "Defecate on my Face", "john Bonham's Coke Roadie", "The Judeo-Christian Ethic", "Thunderbirds Are Coming Out" and "I Might be a Cunt, But I'm Not a Fucking Cunt". The band released seven studio albums and many excellent Singles and EP's. Standout albums include Great Truckin' Songs of the Renaissance, Form and Meaning Reach Ultimate Communion, Hot Dogma, Machiavelli and the Four Seasons and De Rigueurmortis. Singer Damien Cowell has carried on the TISM tradition under the guise of Humphrey B. Flaubert. In 2015, Cowell crowd-funded and launched his solo project and self-titled album Damian Cowell's Disco Machine, the album including notable entertainment personalities such as Kathy Lette, Tony Martin and Shaun Micallef, Lee Lin Chin, The Bedroom Philosopher, Kate Miller-Heidke, Tim Rogers and John Safran. Cowell also mounted a campaign to make TISM Australia's representative performers at The Eurovision Song Contest.

Artist Website: wikipedia/TISM tism.com.au

Featured Albums: TISM

Related Artists: This Is Serious Mum, Damien Cowell

Video Clips: (He'll Never be an) Ol' Man River, Thunderbirds Are Comin' Out, Whatareya?