Adelaide's Mad Turks from Istanbul among stable of alternative bands recorded by indie local label Greasy Pop
The Mad Turks from Instanbul made their first recordings with Adelaide independent label Greasy Pop Records.
The Mad Turks from Istanbul were a power pop band from Adelaide formed in 1984 from local acts such as Crunch Pets, Rigormortis, Faith by Force and the Dysentry Bags, and were signed by local Greasy Pop Records.
The Mad Turks mainstays Chuck Skatt (Charles Jenkins) on lead vocals (later also on rhythm guitar), and Dom Benedictine III (Dominic Larizza) on drums (later on guitar) with Martyn La Merde (Martyn Christopher) on bass guitar and Hank M. Turk (Matthias Eckhardt) on guitar. According to Skatt, "Chuck Skatt was a name I'd been using in high school to offend people and it suited the silly arse punk bands we were in".
In 198,5 they provided a track, "Yet You Wonder Why", for Greasy Pop label's compilation album, An Oasis in a Desert of Noise. They performed on a bill alongside punk rockers The Celibate Rifles and fellow Adelaide band The Sweets of Sin, an experimental crossover pop band with strong modern classical, jazz and performance influences, formed in 1985 by Frank Mankyboddle (Frank Möller) on vocals, guitar and percussion; and Steve Z (Stephen Lock) on soprano and tenor saxophones, French horn, flute, clarinet, keyboards, vocals and keyboard programming.
The Mad Turks had Steve Caon join on drums in 1986 and Benedictine moved over to guitar and in October they released their debut single, "Lolene". Their début album was Cafe Instanbul, and second single, "Holding My Breath" in 1987 on Greasy Pop Records. A third single, "Looking Forward to Destroy" followed in 1988. Turk left the band in 1989 and Skatt started playing rhythm guitar.
The group moved to Melbourne and became The Mad Turks (not from Istanbul). Jenkins described the basis for the change: "The problem was ... you could live off the dole as a musician really easily in Adelaide. So there was plenty of money for recreational vices. A little bit too easy. When I got to Melbourne, it was time to get it together". There, they released their second album, Toast (1990, Greasy Pop). La Merde was replaced on bass guitar by Phil Magnay from Perth band The Jackals.
Toast spawned three singles, "Tempers Flare" (May 1989), "The Last Time" (November) and "Walking Disaster" (March 1990). In late 1991, management problems, poor promotion by Festival and low attendances at gigs resulted in the group disbanding. In 1992, Skatt and Benedictine (now as Larizza) went on to form Icecream Hands (initially as Chuck Skatt and His Icecream Hands).
