The Poor

Band Members

• Final 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

myspace.com/morewinewaiterplease

Formed

Darwin, NT, 1988

Band Information

The Poor was 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 flirted with major chart success. 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 has reformed once again to tour with W.A.S.P. in 2008.

Discography

Album:

	1994	Who Cares	Epic

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