Aussie Hype Band Releases Debut Album Over 30 Years Later

An Australian band that were set to surf the New Wave boom of the 80s only to dissolve before they hit their heyday has found a new lease of life, with their long lost debut album now completed and set for release more than 30 years after it was first recorded, thanks to the DIY efforts of Mark ‘Cal’ Callaghan.

Though he’s wider known as a member of Sydney pop rock veterans GANGgajang, Cal was originally the chief songwriter and frontman for The Riptides, a band formed by Queensland Uni students in 1977 before their success brought them to Sydney in 1980.

A thoroughly independent band in spirit and ethic, funding, producing, and distributing their records out of their own pocket, The Riptides’ sleek brand of New Wave indie also saw them earmarked as one of the country’s best live acts. Their buzz even brought them to the TV screens of Australia, performing their single ‘Tomorrow’s Tears’ on Countdown, the true barometer of a band ‘making it’ back in the day.

Following signing a record deal however, the mechanics of a band doing everything themselves (even booking their own gigs and building their own PA system) into one working for the music business conspired with lineup shuffles, internal conflict, and bad deals to signal The Riptides’ demise. But not before they recorded what was to be their much-anticipated debut album between 1981 and 1982.

Jump to three decades later, Mark Callaghan has obtained the rights to all of The Riptides’ original recordings and having worked to have them digitised, remixed, and remastered for release, is set to finally release the band’s long-awaited debut album, Tombs Of Gold, on 31st October.

Harkening back to The Riptides’ strong DIY aesthetic, Callaghan has raised funds for the album through a successful Pledge Music campaign (hitting 112% of its undisclosed target) offering Tombs Of Gold on limited edition gold vinyl LP, CD – with eight bonus tracks, and (for the first time ever) digitally.

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As well as the album, Riptides diehards can also get their hands on exclusive merchandise: 7” singles, signed handwritten lyrics, bootleg LPs, t-shirts, a variety of posters, and much more.

“The album is finally finished and sounds just like I always wanted it to,” says Callaghan of the new mixes, given extra polish by producer Rick Will (whose worked with the likes of Incubus, No Doubt, and Dave Matthews).

“It was recorded in our prime but thanks to these great mixes, it also sounds like it could have been recorded this year,” Cal enthuses.

“I’m absolutely loving this. I’m sharing stories and emails with fans one-on-one. It’s amazing to think that The Riptides fans have always been there and that, thanks to places like Pledge Music, they’re emerging to support this project,” he continues.

“It’s both very humbling and incredibly exciting. Despite all I’ve achieved over the years, it’s the hands on approach, the direct connection with fans – the whole DIY thing that’s by far the most satisfying. Just like it always was.”

Tombs Of Gold tracklistings: