Women in Music (St Kilda)


Sue World

Sue World (Susan Shaw) is a drummer who has been active from 1982 until today. Sue's genre of music is Rock'n'Roll.

Sue's bands are as follows:

  • The Wet Ones were an all female rock band that formed in 1981 by Sue and three pf her best friends from high school. They played their first gig in 1983 and split up in 1987. The band consisted of: Rosemary Joy, Kelly Brimacombe, Genevieve Hassall and Susan World. The band played at The Crystal Ballroom in St Kilda and were managed by Paul Elliott from Polyester Management who had an office at the Prince of Wales Hotel. The Wet Ones released a tape/album in 1985 titled We Are The Wet Ones and an EP in 1986 titled It's A Premoistened World - both through Polyester Records. 

  • Girl Monstar were an all female Australian rock band which formed 1988 with the line-up of Damian Child on bass guitar; Anne McCue on lead guitar and vocals; Sherry Valier (aka Sherry Rich) on vocals and rhythm guitar (ex-Cactus Fever); and Sue World on drums and vocals (ex-The Wet Ones). Both of their singles, "Surfing on a Wave of Love" / "He's Hell" (1989) and "Joe Cool" (1990), topped the Australian Independent charts. The band issued one album, Monstereo Delicio, in July 1992 on Timberyard Records. Child was replaced by Janene Abbott but the group disbanded in 1993. Australian musicologist, Ian McFarlane, described their sound as "trash pop style mixed tough guitar riffs with strong harmonies". The band eventually received an ARIA nomination for best independent act. They opened for international acts like The Ramones, Divinyls, Skyhooks, Hoodoo Gurus, the Buzzcocks, DAD and Skid Row. The group disbanded in early 1993 after playing the first ‘Big Day Out’ in Melbourne, sharing the stage with Iggy Pop.

  • The Exotics took Rock'n'Roll’s head and put it in a pot, and cooked up a potent brew of primitive blues, lewd rockabilly, greasy rhythm and blues, crashin' surf reverb. The Exotics were formed about 1993 with Tony Shaw, Susan Shaw, Tim Rolfe, and Ollie Laurie. Ollie left and was replaced by Ben Peters (of Benny and the Fly by Nighters), and later Tim left and was replaced by Pip McMullan. The Exotics released a CD in 1998 titled Loser. 

  • Sue is currently in Plastic Section - a band that started in Thailand several years ago by Ben Edwards, when he was living there.  Plastic Section has three albums, and play very regularly around Melbourne and NSW.

  • Sue is also currently in The Wraylettes who are the world's first all girl Link Wray tribute band who formed about 6 years ago to exclusively play the tunes of the great guitar hero, Link Wray. The band has recently done some recording, and they play regularly around Melbourne, and have supported the Cruel Sea on their national tour.

Sue has played gigs at St Kilda music venues and events including: St Kilda Inn, The Crystal Ballroom, Prince of Wales Hotel, Greyhound Hotel, The Espy, Village Belle Hotel, The Venue, The Palace, Palais Theatre, Grosvenor Hotel, St Kilda Music Festival.

"When the Wet Ones first started playing, we were too young to drive, so my mum would drive us to our gig, and stand up the back chatting with Fred Negro. When one of us was old enough to get a licence, she couldn’t change gears, so one of us had to sit on the floor of the van and change gear when she shouted, "Change!", all the way from Warrandyte to St Kilda."

St Kilda was the first place I ever played, and I continued to play there very often. I moved there as soon as I moved out of home and lived there for many years. I have had a fantastic life so far playing music all these years, I have made some great friends, and music is an important part of who I am. The Melbourne music scene is vibrant, diverse, and supported by great community radio stations. It beats any other city hands down!"

The Wet Ones - Discogs

The Wet Ones on the front steps of The Crystal Ballroom, c. 1984 - Source: Sue World

"The Wet Ones were contemporaries of Klu Klux Frankenstein, featuring Kerrie Van Lewin on bass. At that time, she was the only other girl playing an instrument in St Kilda that we saw. Like us, they played the Ballroom and The POW. 

I Spit on your Gravy had Di and Cindy, known as ‘The Spitettes’. Someone told me recently that Di and Cindy thought the Wet Ones didn’t talk to them in the 1980s  because we considered ourselves ‘musicians’ whereas they were back up singers. The truth is, we were scared of them! They looked tough on stage and were always drinking and swearing, we were literally schoolgirls from the sticks, and we thought they might beat us up!"

Girl Monstar, c. 1985, Espy front bar - Source: Sherry Rich

"In the 1990s at The Greyhound Hotel, the Exotics were doing a gig in the front bar, when Spencer Jones stopped by on his way home from a festival. He shouted, ‘I’m joining the band!’ and plugged in to play with us. He must have cranked the amp too high, because suddenly all the lights went off! Tony kept singing, I kept drumming, and we got everyone clapping along while the room was lit up by the lights of a passing police car.

The Exotics played at the Prince of Wales, and it was very dark inside. I walked out to check my drums and saw a familiar derriere bending over them. I grabbed it and gave it a good squeeze, only for an unfamiliar face to turn to me in surprise. "Oh, sorry, I thought you were my husband!" He replied, "I’m the sound guy, and YOU are getting good sound tonight!"

The Exotics, side door of The Greyhound Hotel, c.1999 - Source: Sue World
The Wet Ones - Next Summer Girl Monstar
Sherry Rich Tanya-Lee Davies