Bam Balams were an Australian rock band which formed in 1984 and disbanded in 1992. They were led by singer-songwriter and guitarist, Brendan "Wig" Kibble (ex-Vampire Lovers). The group issued one album, Genuine Rock & Roll Medicine Show (Green Fez, 1988), an EP and six singles. Their records did well in the Australian independent charts but they did not appear on the ARIA Charts. They toured nationally but did not perform overseas.
History
Bam Balams were formed in Sydney in April 1984 with the line-up of Brendan "Wig" Kibble (ex-Vampire Lovers) on lead vocals and guitar; Dave Stead on guitar and backing vocals; Steve Cole on bass guitar and backing vocals; and Matt Manchester on drums, backing vocals. Dave Stead left the band in 1985, and was replaced by Brad Fitzpatrick. The group got their name from a track on Supersnazz (1969) by the Flamin' Groovies, In 1987, the original line up split up (Fitzpatrick, Cole, and Manchester went on to form The Hexbreakers, who cut a single 'Faraway Years' for Green Fez Records).Kibble formed a second line-up in 1987 with Amr Z. Abdallah (later of ARIA No 1 chart toppers Ratcat) on bass guitar, Steve Carlin on guitar, and Warren Elford on drums, which recorded a single, "Surfin' in the Swamp" (March 1988), for Citadel Record's Green Fez label. In 1990, the line-up changed again with Terry Stanley on bass guitar, and Tim Denny on drums, they remained until the band split in 1992. The gained popularity overseas including Spain, France and Italy; but they had never toured outside Australia.
According to Australian musicologist, Ian McFarlane, "[w]hile many of their Sydney-based contemporaries exploited Detroit-inspired hard rock, ... 1960s acid-punk ... or 1960s psychedelia", Bam Balams played a mix of garage rock, swamp rock-swamp pop, R&B, rockabilly, jangle pop and 1950s-1960s style country music.