When you have as big a celebrity fan as Stephen King, you must be doing something right! The three-piece from Finley, New South Wales, Australia, often jump genres from disco-pop (Stevie, Calypso) to mutant dance (Arse Huggin' Pants) - in the course of a single album, no less. And yet, they still manage to rock like mofos (Shazam!, Outta My Head, and - of course - their cover of Black Betty).
The three band members Mark Maher or "Kram" (drums and vocals), Damien Whitty or "Whitt" on guitar and Janet English on bass/vocals come from the small town Finley in southern New South Wales where they jammed together in their youth.
The band moved to Melbourne, Australia where Kram was studying at the Victorian College of the Arts School of Music. The band played its first gig at a loungeroom for a friend's party. The band soon became part of Melbourne's punk scene playing gigs at venues like the Tote Hotel in Collingwood, Victoria. They released their first single Circle K on Au-Go-Go Records with an EP titled P'tang Yang Kipper Bang Uh! following in 1992. The band's first album Shashavaglava was released in 1992. 'Shashavaglava' means 'dickhead' in Croatian. This album featured the songs Old Man Sam and a cover of English comedians The Goodies' song Run.
Spiderbait signed with Polydor Records and released their first album with the new label, their second album overall, named The Unfinished Spanish Galleon of Finley Lake in 1995. The album reached #14 on the Australian charts with singles Monty and Jesus receiving extensive airplay on Triple J. The album title refers to an unfinished project by the Finley Rotary Club, which became a venue for teenage drinking in their home town.
Their third album Ivy and the Big Apples was released in 1996, reached #3 and sold over 180,000 copies in Australia. Their first single Buy Me a Pony received extensive airplay on Triple J resulting in listeners voting it as their favourite song of the year. The second single Calypso also achieved commercial airplay, and reached #13 in the Australian singles charts in 1997.
In 1998, Janet English and her then boyfriend Quan Yeomans of Regurgitator recorded an album as Happyland. Around the same time, Kram and Richie Lewis of Tumbleweed released their own side-project the Hot Rollers - so named as both member's mothers were hairdressers. The Hot Rollers only album (self-titled) was released through Polydor.
Spiderbait returned together in 1999 with the album Grand Slam which also debuted at #10 on the Australian album charts.
Despite good airplay for the Grand Slam singles Shazam! and Stevie, their 2001 album The Flight of Wally Funk was a commercial flop, only selling 20,000 copies. The album was recorded in Whitt's living room.
Spiderbait recorded the Tonight Alright album in Los Angeles with producer Sylvia Massy who had worked with acts such as the Red Hot Chili Peppers, R.E.M., Tool, System of a Down and Skunk Anansie. The first single Black Betty was a cover version of the old Leadbelly song which became a hit in 1977 when covered by Ram Jam. The single reached #1 after 10 weeks in the singles chart in May 2004 (after debuting at #12), and stayed there for three weeks, becoming their biggest selling single ever. The film clip featured a hot rod similar to the car on the ZZ Top Eliminator. The song also made the soundtrack to the Electronic Arts video game Need for Speed: Underground 2. Tonight Alright was released on 28 March 2004, and debuted and peaked at #14. The second single Fucken Awesome debuted in the top 30 on June 28 2004. Interscope Records signed the band in 2004 to distribute Tonight Alright in the US and UK.
At the 2004 ARIA awards, Kram performed as part of the supergroup The Wrights, featuring members of many other Australian rock bands.
In September 2005 they released a Greatest Hits collection to reveal their back catalogue to younger fans who were caught up by Black Betty. This debuted at #6 and received a Gold Accreditation.
The band went on hiatus March 2005 after bassist Janet English gave birth to her daughter and planned a cycling tour across Europe. More recently Kram had announced plans of a solo album to be released sometime in 2006. On 18 November 2006 the band performed at the Queensland Council of Unions organised Rock the Vote! concert in Brisbane after a nine month hiatus from touring.
The band recorded a cover of "Ghost Riders in the Sky" as the main theme for the film Ghost Rider (2007), starring Nicolas Cage. A small excerpt is played during the film, and then in its entirety as the first song when the credits roll. The band's song "Glokenpop" is featured in the 2009 game LittleBigPlanet for the PlayStation Portable. Kram released his debut solo album, Mix Tape, in March 2009. In 2010, Magnapop's album Chase Park featured a cover of Spiderbait's song "Jesus" from The Unfinished Spanish Galleon of Finley Lake. In December of that year, they supported Guns N' Roses at a Sydney gig. The band recorded a cover of "Rock-a-Bye Your Bear" for the compilation ReWiggled - A Tribute to the Wiggles.[41]
2013–present: End of hiatus and self-titled album
In an interview with Triple J in February 2013, Kram announced that Spiderbait were in the studio, working on their first album in seven years, saying "We're doing a new record and we're about halfway through. We're just writing demos at the moment and it's coming along well. We're back in our Motorhead and Metallica metal phase—I'm all double kick at the moment."
The self-titled album, Spiderbait, was released on 15 November 2013. The band played a gig on the same day, for the opening night of the Jam Gallery, a new music venue in Bondi Junction.
On 11 March 2022, the band released "My Car's a A UFO", their first new song in nine years. The song was initially recorded for their fifth album, The Flight of Wally Funk and is the lead single from the band's third compilation album, 'Sounds in the Key of J, scheduled for released on 8 April 2022.
Studio Discography
Shashavaglava (1993)
The Unfinished Spanish Galleon of Finley Lake (1995)
Ivy and the Big Apples (1996)
Grand Slam (1999)
The Flight of Wally Funk (2001)
Tonight Alright (2004)
Spiderbait (2013)
Four On The Floor
Spiderbait Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Come on, come on, I'm back to where I belong
Hello, hello, I'm back and ready to go
So come on, come on, I'm back to where I came from
So glad I made it, now I'm back again
I wanna say it, to get my message sent
I'm sick of waiting, walking out the door
Don't waste my time, I'm feeling fine
I want you to know that there's no doubt about it
Once again I'm ready to go, now don't you know
It's been too long, so come on
The lyrics of the song Four On The Floor by Spiderbait narrate the story of the singer's return to where they belong, and their readiness to move forward. The singer is ecstatic about returning to their original place, and they express their eagerness to go forward without any hesitation. The lyrics "So glad I made it, now I'm back again, I wanna say it, to get my message sent" suggest that he had been away for some time and now he is back and has something to say. He doesn't want to waste his time anymore and wants to make the most of his opportunity.
The chorus reiterates this by saying "Don't waste my time, I'm feeling fine, I want you to know that there's no doubt about it". He is determined to make the most of his time and he wants to make it count. The phrase "four on the floor" is often used in the context of dance music, where it refers to a rhythm with a steady four-beat.
Overall, the lyrics of the song convey a sense of empowerment and enthusiasm for what lies ahead, with a context of a return to a familiar environment.
Line by Line Meaning
Come on, come on, I'm back to where I came from
I am returning to my original place, so hurry up and join me
Come on, come on, I'm back to where I belong
I have come back to my rightful place, now let's get started
Hello, hello, I'm back and ready to go
Greetings, I've arrived and I'm fully prepared to commence
So come on, come on, I'm back to where I came from
Let's go, I'm returning to my starting point
So glad I made it, now I'm back again
I'm delighted to have made it back and ready to take action
I wanna say it, to get my message sent
My objective is to convey a message loud and clear
I'm sick of waiting, walking out the door
I'm tired of being patient and leaving is my only option
No hesitating, 'cos now I'm back for more
There's no reason to hesitate, because I'm back and ready for a new challenge
Don't waste my time, I'm feeling fine
I don't want my time to be wasted, I'm in good spirits
I want you to know that there's no doubt about it
I need you to understand that there's no uncertainty here
Once again I'm ready to go, now don't you know
I'm prepared to start anew, don't you realize?
It's been too long, so come on
It's been too long, it's time to get going
Contributed by Zoe N. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
sally king
awesome....these guys are so versatile, seems they stretch their music style in all directions and pull it off. I can only say keep it up guys.
Hank Hill
Criminally underrated band
sockpuppetbitme
I been rockin' out to bands like this all my life. Aussie music PUMPS!
The Adobe Empire
There aren't words for how amazing this band is.
Desert Rain
This is an awesome song, I think it's safe to say between this, their awesome cover of "Black Betty" and "Glockenpop", I'm a fan of Spiderbait, and will be checking out more of their stuff.
Pål Grøva
Never heard of this band before today. So bad ass!!!! Black betty and this song is enough to make them top my playlist!
Brian Costelloe
I don't know if the band members ever read this shit but if you do... I was there to see you guys pay homage to "The Meanies" for their 21st shindig in Melbourne's Hifi. That was awesome and even my wife (who normally only likes opera!) got into your set! Mwah!
Karan Jorgensen
The best! Never disappoint live
kicsipupi
this clip is so awesome:)
Desert Rain
@aikepah Indeed, I'm an eclectic when it comes to music here. So long as there's something about the artist that I like, regardless of the genre, I'll listen to them. Spiderbait's breadth of rock genres that they touch is something I've never seen the likes of one band do, from this heavy rocker to very pop-ish, hard to believe it's all one band.