The Poor

Band Members

• Line-Up
  • Julian Grynglas (guitar)
  • Gavin Hansen (drums)
  • Skenie (Anthony Skene) (vocals)
  • Matt Whitby (bass)

• Former Members
  • James Young (drums)
  • Craig Ridsdale (guitar) 1988 - 1991)

Website

thepoor.com.au

Formed

Darwin, NT, 1988

Band Information

The Poor is a hard rocking, hard drinking hellraising Darwin band which descended like a tropical storm on the music scene, met with a surge of success, including a brush with international fame and then subsided. Starting life as The Poor Boys in the pubs of mid-80s Darwin as a five piece act with Chris Ridsdale on second guitar, the band carved out a mean, raw heavy rock sound grounded in the hard boogie and blues style.

Shifting base to Sydney in the early 90s, the band shed Ridsdale and issued a brace of EPs that helped to establish them as a brash and dynamic act. Setting their sights wider afield, they dropped the "Boys" from their name and headed to the US where they gained a minor chart hit with their first single there, "More Wine Waiter Please".

A tour with Young's uncles' band AC/DC followed both there and in Australia, along with a much publicised national jaunt of their own with Allegiance and the Who Cares album debuted at #4 on the national chart. Their experiences in the States turned The Poor into a tight and professional unit but further success eluded them and their profile decreased.

Nevertheless, the band surprisingly kept its feet on the ground and continued, returning to basics and smaller venues where their core following had remained loyal. The Poor remained sporadically active as an aggressive and wild live act for some time. Hansen from Blackseed eventually replaced Young, but The Poor split at the end of the 90s.

The band reformed to play a one-off show in August 2006; Skenie and Hansen formed Lump in 2003. The Poor reformed once again to tour with W.A.S.P. in 2008 and played a one-off show in Melbourne on December 6. In mid-2009 it was announced that The Poor, now based on the Gold Coast, was back together once again and preparing to record a swag of material. Round One, the first of what is promised to be at least two albums of new material, was released in October. The release was followed by a national tour that included several shows with The Screaming Jets and an appearance at the Big Day Out on the Gold Coast in January 2010.

Round 2 was released in mid-2010. In April 2011 the Poor toured the east coat with ZZ Top and Rose Tattoo.

Discography

Album:

	1994	Who Cares	Epic
	2009	Round One	Riot!
	2010	Round 2	Riot!

Singles:

	1994	More Wine Waiter Please	Epic
	1994	Poison	Epic
	1994	Man o War	Epic
	1998	Simple Livin	BlahBlahBlah

EPs:

	1992	Rude, Crude and Tattooed (as The Poor Boys)	Epic
	1993	Underfed (as The Poor Boys)	Epic