Facebook Twitter Instagram YouTube
    Nostalgia Central
    • Home
    • Blog
      • Lists
    • Television
      • TV by Decade
        • TV – 1950s
        • TV – 1960s
        • TV – 1970s
        • TV – 1980s
        • TV – 1990s
      • Comedy
      • Drama
      • Kids TV
      • Variety
      • News & Sport
      • Advertisements
    • Music
      • Music by Decade
        • Music – 1950s
        • Music – 1960s
        • Music – 1970s
        • Music – 1980s
        • Music – 1990s
      • Artists – A to K
        • Artists – A
        • Artists – B
        • Artists – C
        • Artists – D
        • Artists – E
        • Artists – F
        • Artists – G
        • Artists – H
        • Artists – I
        • Artists – J
        • Artists – K
      • Artists – L to Z
        • Artists – L
        • Artists – M
        • Artists – N
        • Artists – O
        • Artists – P
        • Artists – Q
        • Artists – R
        • Artists – S
        • Artists – T
        • Artists – U
        • Artists – V
        • Artists – W
        • Artists – X
        • Artists – Y
        • Artists – Z
      • Artists – 0 to 9
      • Genres
      • Music on Film & TV
      • One-Hit Wonders
      • Playlists
      • Online Radio
    • Movies
      • Movies by Decade
        • Movies – 1950s
        • Movies – 1960s
        • Movies – 1970s
        • Movies – 1980s
        • Movies – 1990s
      • Movies – 0 to 9
      • Movies – A to K
        • Movies – A
        • Movies – B
        • Movies – C
        • Movies – D
        • Movies – E
        • Movies – F
        • Movies – G
        • Movies – H
        • Movies – I
        • Movies – J
        • Movies – K
      • Movies – L to Z
        • Movies – L
        • Movies – M
        • Movies – N
        • Movies – O
        • Movies – P
        • Movies – Q
        • Movies – R
        • Movies – S
        • Movies – T
        • Movies – U
        • Movies – V
        • Movies – W
        • Movies – X
        • Movies – Y
        • Movies – Z
    • Pop Culture
      • Fads
      • Toys & Games
      • Fashion
      • Decor
      • Food & Drink
      • People
      • Technology
      • Transport
    • Social History
      • 1950s Year by Year
      • 1960s Year by Year
      • 1970s Year by Year
      • 1980s Year by Year
      • 1990s Year by Year
      • Events
    Nostalgia Central
    Home»Music»Artists - L to Z»Artists - T
    Artists - T Music - 1980s Music - 1990s 3 Mins Read

    TISM (This Is Serious Mum)

    Share
    Facebook Twitter Pinterest WhatsApp Reddit Email

    Masters of disguise for over 15 years, the seven individuals who make up TISM never revealed their faces nor their identities – save to a very select few who remained ridiculously loyal.

    With such costumes as four-foot-high face-covering Louis XIV wigs, six-foot helium inflated, condom-like sheaths and, of course, their trademark balaclavas, TISM have shocked and humoured audiences with foot-tapping melodies, catch-cry lyrics and more than 20 ways to hide their faces . . . and sometimes just their faces.

    Formed in 1982, TISM – or This Is Serious Mum – proceeded to write over 100 songs (or so their press release boasted), instantly discarding them due to lack of interest. Later in 1983, in a single show, they performed both their debut and farewell gig.

    18 months later, their recording output began with the single Defecate On My Face (1986) – A song inspired by the alleged sexual inclinations of Adolf Hitler and Eva Braun.

    Their first EP, Form And Meaning Reach Ultimate Communion, came out a couple of months later. Their first album (a double LP), Great Trucking Songs Of The Renaissance, was released in 1988 and featured such singles as The Ballad Of John Bonham’s Coke Roadie and I’m Interested In Apathy.

    Their second double album, Hot Dogma, came out in 1990 on Phonogram – their first release on a major label. Interestingly, the song titles were printed in Chinese and equally interestingly, the following year TISM were sacked by Phonogram. Undaunted, the band continued to build their live audiences, with their stage show approaching legendary status.

    Their antics ranged from roasting a pig on a spit to covering a venue’s scaffolding with a wild array of drying laundry (replacing the on-stage amps with stacks of washing machines and clothes dryers while a group of elderly women ironed clothes).

    TISM set out to satirize the rock industry, succeeding both artistically and, ultimately, financially, when in 1995 they finally struck gold with Machiavelli And The Four Seasons.

    Both loved and hated within the music industry, many attempts by music journalists to garner some sanity from TISM all invariably failed. Such was the time when TISM gave a live radio interview responding to questions via writing answers on slips of paper.

    Or when they gave an interview in the middle of a football field via a megaphone, answering questions only when the 50 metres of string between the band and the journalists was stretched tightly.

    Perhaps TISM’s greatest piece of journalistic sabotage was when an unsuspecting and ill-clad writer was taken blindfolded into a huge meat freezer. Three well-clad members of the band duly answered his questions in all seriousness as the desperate writer ran frantically around the room, shouting his questions at the band in the minus 20 degrees mist.

    Ron Hitler-Barassi (Peter Minack)
    Vocals
    Leak Van Vlalen

    Guitar
    Eugene de la Hotcroix Bun (Eugene Cester)

    Keyboards, vocals
    Jock Cheese (Jack Holt)

    Bass
    Humphrey B Flaubert (Damian Cowell)

    Drum machine programming
    Les Miserables
    Performance Artist, vocals
    John St Peenis

    Performance Artist, saxophone

    Video

    Related Posts

    • Paul Hogan Show, The
      Paul Hogan Show, The
      1 9 7 5 - 1 9 7 9 (Australia) "Evenin' viewers". This was Paul Hogan in the days before he…
    • Paul Weller
      Paul Weller
      Paul Weller (born John William Weller) found his voice early, bellowing rock 'n' roll covers in working men's clubs as…
    • Quireboys, The
      Quireboys, The
      This heavy rock band formed in 1987 in Newcastle-upon-Tyne and were known as The Queerboys for their first year, until…
    • Firm, The
      Firm, The
      Former Free vocalist Paul Rodgers sang with Jimmy Page - making his first public appearance since the demise of Led…
    • UK Decay
      UK Decay
      UK Decay were a gothic punk band from Luton, Bedfordshire, who had formerly been known as The Resistors. Singer/guitarist Steve 'Abbo" Abbott,…
    • Timebox
      Timebox
      Southport art students Peter 'Ollie' Halsall, Clive Griffiths, and Chris Holmes formed a group called Take 5 which ended up…
    • Mekons, The
      Mekons, The
      The Mekons formed in late 1976 around a core of fine art students from Leeds University including Jon Langford and…
    • Plastic Bertrand
      Plastic Bertrand
      Plastic Bertrand was the alias of new wave prankster Roger Allen François Jouret, a native of Belgium who appropriated the sound…

    Australia
    Share. Facebook Twitter Pinterest WhatsApp Reddit Email
    Previous ArticleTodd Rundgren
    Next Article Tiny Tim

    Comments are closed.

    Follow us
    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • YouTube
    • Instagram
    You May Also Like
    • Beiderbecke Tapes, The
      1 9 8 7 (UK) 4 x 55 minute episodes This four-part series […]
    • Schlock (1973)
      John Landis grew up on the schlocky monster movies of the 1950s […]
    • Chordettes, The
      The Chordettes, label-mates of The Everly Brothers, were one of […]
    • JoBoxers
      JoBoxers comprised English based, expatriate American singer Dig […]
    • 633 Squadron (1964)
      Lieutenant Erik Bergman (George Chakiris), a Norwegian […]
    • Pajama Game, The (1957)
      A delectable Doris Day stars as the prettiest, smartest, female […]
    Twitter Feed
    Please note


    Nostalgia Central covers the period 1950 to 1999 and contains some words and references which reflect the attitudes of those times and which may be considered culturally sensitive, offensive or inappropriate today.
    Popular Tags
    1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1975 1976 Action Figures Amicus Arcade games Australia Beach movies Beatles Blaxploitation Board games Britpop Canada Crime Disco Disney Doo-Wop Elvis Presley Girl groups Glam Goth Hammer Heavy Metal Irwin Allen Labels Merseybeat Mod revival Motown New Romantic New Wave NWOBHM Oi! One-hit wonders Power Pop Pub rock Punk Radio Scotland Ska Soul music Surf music
    Search Nostalgia Central
    Copyright © 1998, 2022 Nostalgia Central
    • About
    • Contact
    • FAQ

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.