exploding white mice were formed in 1983 in adelaide when paul gilchrist on vocals played a one-off show as a cover band at a party with andy macqueen on bass guitar (ex-the deviants, crunch pets), gerry barrett on guitar (del webb explosion) and craig rodda on drums (screaming believers). the band's name was taken from a scene in the 1979 film "rock 'n' roll high school", where a laboratory mouse spontaneously explodes upon exposure to music by the ramones. aside from the ramones other major influences include radio birdman, mc5, the stooges, johnny thunders and american 1960s garage punk. the party gig went so well that the group decided to play regularly. one show was attended by giles barrow, who joined on rhythm guitar. in 1984 they started a residency at the cathedral hotel. barrett left near year's end and was replaced on guitar by jeff stephens (firm grip, spitfire, tombstone shadow).