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Originally formed after the demise of Brisbane punk rock group, The Flying Squad in 1981, by Brendan Kibble (Flying Squad singer/guitarist) and Axle "Axe Babe" Conrad (vocals), they enlisted other local musicians Matt "Nasty" Le Noury (guitar) and Shane Cooke (Flying Squad bass guitarist).[1] In 1982, Dave Chamberlain joined on drums to complete the original line up, but Kibble quit shortly after.
The Vampire Lovers named themselves after the 1970 lesbian Hammer Horror movie, The Vampire Lovers. Their fixation for unusual or camp horror movies, high powered motorcycles, illicit drugs and deviancy is attested by lyrical themes in their original songs, generally written by Conrad, Cooke and Le Noury (Nasty) such as "Heavy Planet Fuzz", "Death Dwarf", "Gothic School of Twilight Punk" and "Second Generation Psychopath". A review of the band branded them as "Four young, trash movie-obsessed reprobates with a taste for weed and strong acid."[4] Although cult movies were a band obsession, they were also influenced by the music of The Damned, The Cramps and The Stooges.
After many delays, the group released their first EP, Buzzsaw Popstar, on the Sundown label in 1983.[1] "Buzzsaw Popstar", the lead track, received extensive airplay on 4ZzZ, a Brisbane community radio station. This enabled the band to achieve cult notoriety in their home state of Queensland and has since moved Rob Younger (from Radio Birdman) to declare it "a masterpiece".[4] Dead Kennedys lead singer, Jello Biafra, pushed the song on US college radio.[1]
A second single was released six months later in 1984 called "Sweethearts Blown Mindless" and has generally been regarded as sounding like the Raw Power Stooges with a different drummer and Lux Interior (The Cramps) sitting in for Iggy.[4] Shortly after the single release at the end of 1984 the group fell apart as the punk movement disintegrated in Brisbane. It was asserted that, “turning their back on stardom, the Vampire Lovers split in late ’84, claiming to have been thwarted by ‘creative differences’.”[5] The following year Le Noury (guitar) and Cooke (bass guitar) went on to form Detroit rock influenced group, The Four Horsemen, with Screaming Tribesmen and Fun Things' drummer Murray Shepherd and vocalist, Nick Leigh.
In 1987, Buzzsaw Popstar was re-released and regained much of its local popularity, and prompted the band to reform the following year. Conrad, Cooke and Le Noury recruited new members heavy metal musicians Ziggy Staten and Jason Shepherd, brother of Murray Shepherd. They had relocated to Sydney by 1988, which saw the release of the single "Heavy Planet Fuzz" for the Bent label in November. They started recording an EP, Weirdo Wastelands, in 1988 for the United States indie label Hecuba Records which was released in 1989. Overseas signings were considered an unusual and rare achievement for Brisbane bands at the time. The songs were described as some kind of out of control speed metal-hardcore hybrid. A final line up changed occurred in 1989 when Le Noury left to join Hitmen DTK, and the remaining members recorded a mini LP, Acid Commandos from Planet Fuzz, but disbanded in 1990 before its release. Cooke joined Le Noury in Hitmen DTK,and the posthumous album by The Vampire Lovers was released in 1991 by Schlock Records. A retrospective compilation called 13 Tasteless Masterpieces was released by United Kingdom indie label, Magic Monster in 2004.
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