Subtropical Fits emerged from a lively countercultural scene in Durban, South Africa in the late 1980s, when apartheid, in terminal decline, threatened to take far more South Africans to the grave than it eventually did. Although band members paid for opposing conscription of themselves, family and friends by being harassed and arrested, their music was more joyful, whimsical and poignant than alienated. While English-speaking, they engaged the wider conscripted community with occasional Afrikaans lyrics. Founding members of the Fits were Mark Seth Thomas (lead guitar, vocals), Kevin O'Grady (drums), Greig Coetzee (vocals/melodica), Judi Thomas (vocals) and Stuart McAnally (rhythm guitar/backing vocals). Later, Judi was replaced by Franki Hills, while Logan Byrne joined the band on bass guitar. Coetzee and Mark Thomas shared the song-writing duties. Career highlights included supporting the Cherry Faced Lurchers and Kalahari Surfers at Durban's famed Community Arts Workshop - managed by the late Shaun Griggs, who wrote the lyrics for Fits song SA Meat - being kicked off the stage during a show on the Durban City Hall steps for overtly political and "offensive" lyrical content, and being booed for burning an AWB (Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging - Afrikaner Resistance Movement) insignia during a show. The Fits formed in 1987 and disbanded in about 1989. They were primarily a live "happening", rarely going into a recording studio. However, recordings in existence include a rough demo (Greatest Fits) and a live bootleg (Live at the Community Arts Workshop). <a href="https://www.last.fm/music/Subtropical+Fits">Read more on Last.fm</a>. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.