The Screaming Abdabs - 'We Don't Wanna: The Paris Theatre Tape 1978'

Led by the charismatic and iconoclastic Carmel Strelein, the Screaming Abdabs were a Sydney band that shone briefly but brightly in the city’s early punk scene. Carmel, known for her wild individual style that included a shaved head, tattoos and outlandish customised clothing, helped form the band in 1978 and was driven by the Glitter Band, John Waters’ Pink Flamingoes and the Sex Pistols.

A 1978 unreleased Screaming Abdabs recording with a B-side of six 1979 wild solo tracks by Abdabs drummer Richard "City Ram" Waddy is about to be released on the Wallaby Beat label/blog.

In late 1977 Carmel and Ian Hartley, editor of punk zine Spurt!, placed an ad looking for people to start a new punk band. Guitarist Bruce Tindale and drummer Richard Waddy answered the ad. Just like nobody can remember his surname, no one can quite remember how bass player Nick entered the fold but a band was born and was soon working on a set of originals and covers.

In their short time Screaming Abdabs played a number of shows, including headlining the Paris Theatre on April 12, 1978 alongside The Press and Johnny Dole & the Scabs. The songs from the new album are taken from a recording of that show.

Unfortunately with the departure of Nick the band fell apart before the end of 1978. Richard adopted the name City Ram Waddy and Carmel moved to San Francisco, where she became involved in the drag and punk community and established a successful hair salon called the Pink Tarantula.

Tragically, in 1997 Carmel was murdered in a contract killing instigated by her ex-husband. More about her early life, San Francisco years, and the circumstances surrounding her horrific death are detailed in this noir-style SF Weekly article by Jack Boulware.

Have a listen to the track "Norbie, Sorta Love Story" below and read a short interview with Wallaby Beat’s Luke Marinovich about this extraordinary band.

Noisey: From the outset their focus on musical style, lyrical content, and visual presentation was to be Australian. Do you think this was rather unique at the time when a lot of other bands were aping US and UK bands?
Luke Marinovich: From the get-go there were guiding concepts at play, one of which was to “be Australian”. In the fanzine that comes with the LP, Bruce Tindale talks about how it wasn’t as black and white as Sydney bands falling into US- and UK-influenced camps, but that those were dominant touchstones and as a result the Abdabs were intentionally trying to do something different. Part of that was using Australian equipment, incorporating Australian musical reference points, and singing in an Australian accent about things that had happened in their own lives, using language that’s idiomatic to Australia. On their own those things aren’t necessarily unique, but the driving concept that brought them all together is quite remarkable.

Their style was also very minimal but ambitious. I love that they’d use two bass drums and no cymbals. Would you agree they were a band that was both talented and had limitations.
“Talent” probably isn't the right way to think about it - they were a punk band, after all. I can’t speak for them, but by their own admission they were young and inexperienced, and as a result made an energetic racket that constantly teetered on the edge of falling apart. But through all that you can clearly hear musical minds and forceful personalities at work. The other important thing to remember is that they benefited from having people like Ian Hartley around them who were a little bit older, and perhaps helped to push things along in terms of creative ambition. An example is Rick Waddy’s drumming, which was meant to approximate the two-drummer sound of The Glitter Band, but with a Frankenstein drum kit held together by gaffer tape. So their style is a result of these strong aesthetic ambitions being channelled through the constraints that come with being a young, broke punk band.

Carmel’s life is both fascinating and tragic. In putting together the record have you had a chance to talk to many people who knew her? Her life would make an amazing film script.
One of the inspiring things about being involved with this project has been learning about Carmel’s story. From all accounts, she was a recognisable figure in the early Sydney punk scene, and even people who didn’t actually know her still remember her vividly. She saw all of the now-legendary bands, sang in the Abdabs, wrote for Spurt! fanzine, was photographed for overseas publications, and even appeared in a Rose Tattoo video, but despite all that, little of her Sydney punk years had been documented in any cohesive way. The SF Weekly article is incredible and exhaustive, but only alluded to her punk past. Some of her American friends have contacted us to share their excitement at learning about that part of her life, so that has been very gratifying.

'We Don't Wanna: The Paris Theatre Tape 1978' is available Jan 11 through Wallaby Beat. For more information, flyers and photos check out the Wallaby Beat site.