Scattered Order

Scattered Order were formed in 1979 in Sydney by Mitchell Law Ross-Jones (a.k.a. Mitch Jones) on vocals, guitar and bass guitar; Michael Tee on guitar and Simon Vidale on drums. Jones worked as a live sound engineer for The Birthday Party and Pel Mel. Jones and Tee formed their own record label, M Squared. They were joined in Scattered Order by Patrick Gibson on guitar and synthesiser in January of the following year. According to Australian musicologist, Ian McFarlane, their "aim was to combine all manner of 'found sounds' and loose song structures with a perverse absurdist sense of humour (in the Snakefinger / Residents vein) and set them to a rock backing; in short, white noise with an amphetamine beat".

The group's first recording, "Bent Up", appeared on a Various Artists album, 'Growing Pains' (November 1980), for their own label. The band issued a four-track extended play, 'Screaming Tree' (May 1981). They followed with another track, "I'm not Whole", for another Various Artists compilation, 'A Selection' (November). In November 1982 they released their debut album, 'Prat Culture', which was recorded with the line up of Gibson, Jones and Tee joined by Michael Prowse on drums.

Gibson and Tee left the group late in 1982. A seven-track EP, 'I Feel so Relaxed with You' (October 1983), was issued by the line up of Jones, Prowse and Simon Fahey on synthesiser and vocals (ex-The Makers of the Dead Travel Fast). It was recorded from March to May at M Squared Studio with Drusilla Johnson supplying cover artwork. McFarlane cited Mark Mordure's description the EP, "all open guts and withered emotions", who compared it to work by Public Image Ltd. Jon Casimir of The Canberra Times felt the group were, "Heavily influenced by European electronic music, particularly the likes of Can, their objective was to explore the possibilities of mixing 'white noise with a beat'".

Johnson, who later married Jones, (a.k.a. Drusilla Dorothy Ross-Jones) joined the group on synthesiser and vocals along with Craig Bottle on bass guitar (ex-Pel Mel) and R. Scott-Holmes on vocals, guitar, synthesiser and percussion (ex-Same). Bottle was soon replaced by D. C. "Craig" Robertson (Prowse's band mate from Flaming Hands) on bass guitar. At the end of 1983 Jones discontinued the label, M Squared, and the group were signed with Volition Records. They recorded a live seven-track EP, 'A Dancing Foot and a Praying Knee Don't Belong on the Same Leg' (May 1984), at Wakefield Musicians Club in January with Tim Whitten producing. Fahey left before the album appeared.

Scattered Order's next studio album, 'Career of the Silly Thing' appeared in September 1985. They toured with fellow Sydney-based label mates, Severed Heads, and supported United States group, The Residents, on their Australian tour.

Geoff Holmes (ex-Wildcat Tamers) joined on guitar in August 1986, while Scott-Holmes left early in the next year. They released a four-track EP, 'Selling the Axe to Buy the Wood', in June 1987. Prowse had already left the band and in January of the following year they recorded their next album, 'Comfort' (May 1988), using session drummers, Greg Fitzgerald and Robert Souter. One of its two discs contained new work while the other was a compilation of eight tracks of earlier material. "King of Blip", appeared as their next single in April. With Fitzgerald joining them, they toured the east coast of Australia for four weeks and were supported by Canberra group, Falling Joys.

They issued their next album, 'Professional Dead Ball', in November 1991, then went into hiatus and returned in April 1997 with another album, 'Chicken Hilton', on the Rather Be Vinyl label. The group disbanded in 2000. [SOURCE: WIKIPEDIA]