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)
Shazam!
Spiderbait Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
You never should've ran
You want to make something
That you can take you down again
This time you say your just fine
You need a little something
That can make you smile again
Come on. It won't take long
It when you hear that sound again
It's a sin. You're looking kind of thin
You need a little bit so you
Can impress everybody
You're still in a daze
Hey you!
I know you like to prance so get up and
Dance so I can spin you round again
Take your time you're looking just fine
Let's do a little shuffle and that can make
You smile again
Come on. It won't take long
Let's sing a little song
Until the sun don't shine again
But every time you say your just
Fine you need a little bit so you can
Impress everybody
You're still in a daze
You can try hard but you never really
Had the time so take a look around see
Just what you're going to get inside
You never should've ran
The lyrics of Spiderbait’s song “Shazam!” are a call to someone who had tried to escape their problems by running away, but now their troubles have caught up with them. The singer of the song sees that this person needs something to make them feel better and tries to convince them to let loose and have some fun. The use of the phrase “shazam,” which is often used in superhero comics to indicate a sudden, dramatic event or transformation, emphasizes the idea that the person needs something powerful to help them escape their feelings of inadequacy.
The singer encourages the person to dance and sing, to let music be their escape. They recognize that this person has been trying hard but hasn’t found success or happiness in their efforts. The repeated phrase “you never should’ve ran” could indicate that the person has been trying to escape their problems for a long time, but the singer is urging them to face those issues head-on and find a way to overcome them.
Overall, the song’s message is one of support and encouragement. It suggests that sometimes we need to let go, have fun, and seek out new experiences to help us deal with life’s challenges.
Line by Line Meaning
Hey you!
Addressing the person being spoken to
You never should've ran
Regretting the person's decision to run away from something
You want to make something
That you can take you down again
The person wants to create something that ends up causing harm to them
This time you say your just fine
You need a little something
That can make you smile again
Even though the person says they are fine, they actually need something to make them happy again
Come on. It won't take long
You're never going to need
It when you hear that sound again
Encouragement to use something that doesn't take long but will provide temporary relief
It's a sin. You're looking kind of thin
You need a little bit so you
Can impress everybody
You're still in a daze
Commenting on the societal pressure to look a certain way and fit in with others
Hey you!
I know you like to prance so get up and
Dance so I can spin you round again
Encouragement to dance and have fun, forgetting about current problems
Take your time you're looking just fine
Let's do a little shuffle and that can make
You smile again
Reassurance that taking it slow is okay and dancing can bring happiness
Come on. It won't take long
Let's sing a little song
Until the sun don't shine again
More encouragement to have fun and forget about the world
But every time you say your just
Fine you need a little bit so you can
Impress everybody
You're still in a daze
Pointing out the cycle of needing to impress others and feeling lost
You can try hard but you never really
Had the time so take a look around see
Just what you're going to get inside
Emphasizing the importance of taking a break and evaluating what truly matters
You never should've ran
Reiteration of the regret for running away earlier
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: MARK MAHER, JANET ENGLISH, DAMIAN WHITTY
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Eidreff Pineda
FYI: At the end of Ninja Assassin, main on end sequence with credits appearing in order
Directed by James McTeigue
Screenplay by Matthew Sand and J. Michael Straczynski
Screen story by Matthew Sand
Produced by Joel Silver, Andy Wachowski, Larry Wachowski and Grant Hill
Executive producers: Thomas Tull, Jon Jashini, William Fay and Steve Richards
Director of photography: Karl Walter Lindenlaub, A.S.C./B.V.K.
Production designed by Graham Walker
Film editing by Gian Ganziano and Joseph Jett Sally
Ninja Assassin
Rain as Raizo
Naomie Harris as Europol Agent Mika Coretti
Ben Miles as Ryan Maslow
Rick Yune as Takeshi
Sho Kosugi as Lord Ozunu
Randall Duk Kim as Tattoo Master
and Sung Kang as Hollywood
Casting by Lucinda Syson, C.D.G.
Costumes designed by Carlo Poggioli
Music composed by Ilan Eshkeri
Co-produced by Roberto Malerba, Jessica Alan, Henning Molfenter, Carl L. Woebcken and Christoph Fisser
Visual effects supervision by Dan Glass
a Warner Bros. Pictures presentation
in association with Legendary Pictures and Dark Castle Entertainment
a Silver Pictures production
in association with Anarchos Productions
Zack Vargas
There needs to be more music like this in the world
Pelle Lidell
F**king love this tune! Re-discovered it after years of absence. The guitar sound and overall production are just perfect! Perfect mix of glam, punk and indie...
The Eccentric Magpie
bought Grand Slam all those years ago when i was about 9 years old... still one of my all time favourite albums.
Marlboro-man Mat
Awesome! Spiderbait are the best at giving an ever changing musical style.
William Sherman
Hi I just watched Ninja assassin for the first time in a while. Forgot how incredible that movie is. And this song with the end credits was so good. Kept rewinding and listening to it over and over
S R S D
Absolutely awesome film no doubt.
Mikishi Tagashi
"Fear not the weapon but the one that welds it"
"And after the breath I have killed you, will be the first breath of my life - Raizo"
Ninja Assassin 2009
Otori Shingen
i love that "first breath" line from the movie :)
Matteo DeLaPaz
@Otori Shingen same with the other one. so true and we don’t even know it.
Tammy Davis
I just heard this on Ninja Assassin too....it totally rocked the ending! I so love this song...thanks for sharing.