A veteran drummer kicked out of a well-known Australian rock band for allegedly playing “like a chimpanzee on speed” is suing his former bandmates for unfair dismissal, local media reported on Thursday.
David Twohill (51), who was dropped from Mental as Anything after 27 years, is seeking Aus$80 000 compensation for unpaid leave, plus a year’s salary.
The band hit the charts in 1985 with their song Live It Up, which was the theme tune for the blockbuster movie Crocodile Dundee.
Guitarist and singer Martin Plaza said Twohill had been given a warning after “unprofessional” behaviour during a gig in December 2003 before being sacked the following year.
“It was because I asked him to not smoke in the dressing room, he took it out on us on stage … [he] played like a chimpanzee on speed; it was terrible,” Plaza told an Industrial Relations Commission in Sydney.
Keyboard player Andrew “Greedy” Smith said Twohill had been playing erratically for “quite a few years”.
“It’s supposed to be an ensemble playing. It’s not the drummer playing as loud as he can and everybody else puts up with it. It was getting ridiculous,” he added.
Bass player David Barraclough said Twohill’s drumming was “mood dependent”.
“Because he was in a bad mood every single day, every single performance was aggressively played, too fast or with uneven tempos,” he said.
Twohill told the commission earlier in the week that he had “no inkling” there were concerns with his performance or behaviour.
Industrial Relations Commission judge Frank Marks reserved his decision. — AFP