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Although it’s a very rare occurrence
to catch this groundbreaking Australian act performing live,
Ratcat remain in the IMC hall of fame for dragging Australian
music culture out of a boring and stagnant pub rock ‘80s
phase and bringing pop/punk guitar rock to the masses.
Being at the forefront of an international musical change
of direction that saw the boundaries between indie and commercial
success smashed to oblivion, Ratcat’s rise to popularity
was the result of public demand and not the industry that
attempts to control such demand. Completely taken by surprise,
Ratcat released the ground-breaking Tingles EP in 1990 (after
many independent record releases via the Waterfront Label)
which, with no fanfare whatsoever, made a steady climb to
the top of the National Top 40 after seven months of release.
In fact, it was the highest selling EP of the year.
Soon after Ratcat released the widely acclaimed Blind Love
album, which shot straight to #1 on the ARIA Album charts.
Amazingly they also scored a duel #1 on the ARIA Singles
chart with the track “Don’t Go Now”. History
writes that the last band to have done this was INXS back
in the ‘80s and, as far as we can recall, the next
was to be Savage Garden not so long ago. The difference,
of course, was that Ratcat came from a musical background
that broke all rules!
Although we could continue for many paragraphs about Ratcat’s
amazing feats, their success was mirrored internationally
by Nirvana six months later, and the impact they had on the
Australia music scene in the early ‘90s is undeniable.
After breaking up in the mid ‘90s, Ratcat main man,
Simon Day has continued to perform regularly with his new
bands, including 51 Monday and The Charismatics. His latest
incarnation, Simon Day and the Prostitutes, are fast garnering
a big live following and can often be found strutting their
stuff on an inner-city stage or two.
Ratcat have performed the odd rare show, with their last
unforgettable performance being at Homebake in December 1998.
Perhaps we may see Ratcat perform one day again soon – you’ll
only find out here though!
Tourdates
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