Sardine v

Sardine v (or just Sardine) was an Australian post-punk band, formed by Ian Rilen (ex-X , Rose Tattoo) and Stephanie Rilen (aka Stephanie Russell Falconer) in Sydney in 1980. They broke up in 1983 and Ian Rilen went back to playing with X.

The band formed after Ian bought a keyboard for his children. "I didn't know [Stephanie] played until I bought a keyboard for the kids and I was writing songs in my room at the house. She just walked by and played a line on the keyboards. I said: 'Do that again'." [1]

Although hard-working and popular live (playing to crowds of 800-1000), the band's recordings were never up to suitable quality and they failed to make it big. A video of 1982 version of Sardine performing "Sudan" (written by Falconer) on ABC-TV's Countdown is available on YouTube[2] and shows Ian Rilen on guitar, Stephanie Rilen on keyboards and lead vocals, Johanna Pigott on bass guitar.

Their influence was still felt. Hunters & Collectors covered "Stuck On You" (written by I Rilen, S Falconer) on their 1986 album Human Frailty and added it to their set [3], and both tracks from the single featured on compilation albums. The Deadly Hume covered "I Hate You" on the Phantom Records tenth anniversary compilation Assorted Desecrations And Magnificent Mutations (1988).

Members

• Ian Rilen — guitar, vocals (1980-83)
• Stephanie Rilen — keyboard, vocals (1980-83)
• Phil Hall — bass (1980-82)
• Greg Skehill — drums (1980-81)
• Barton Price — drums (1981-82)
• Johanna Pigott — bass (1982)
• John Lloyd — drums (1982)
• Stuart Dunlop — bass (1982-83)
• Craig Rossi — drums (1983)

Discography

• "Sabotage"/"Sudan" 7" single (White Label Records, 1982) — produced by Lobby Loyde
• I Hate You mini-LP (Phantom PH-18, 1983)
• "Stuck On You" (track on Fast Forward FF008/009, 1982)
• "Sabotage" (track on The Mushroom Story: The Hits Of The Eighties Vol 2, Mushroom MUSH33136.2, 1998)
• "Sudan" (track on Tales from the Australian Underground: Singles 1976-1989, 2003)

External links

• Sardine v (Australian Rock Database)
• Ian Rilen, part 3 (I-94 Bar)
• Hunters & Collectors: Stuck On You (lyrics)