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By bringing together two very different influences, almost like adding oil to water, the Cruel Sea created a style of rock which extended Australian rock & roll culture and, at the same time, made them one of the most successful Australian groups of the '90s. It started as an idea guitarist Danny Rumour had carried with him since his days in punk rock bands. As a regular at a Sydney pub, whenever a band cancelled or there was no gig on, Rumour would jump on stage with a few local musicians and play an instrumental set using equipment the hotel kept in a back room. People always loved it whenever it happened and when Rumour's group Sekret Sekret split up after seven years, he decided to explore the idea with a permanent group. The new group the Cruel Sea took its name from a Ventures instrumental from the '60s. The instrumentals-only Cruel Sea played its first gigs in 1988, setting up behind the pool table at another hotel in Sydney. There was so little room, the guitarists would ha...