# The Tin Lids

The Tin Lids were an Australian children's pop group formed in 1990 with Mahalia, Eliza-Jane "E.J.", Jackie and Elly-May Barnes all on vocals. They are the four children of Jane and Jimmy Barnes.
The group released three albums: Hey Rudolph! (November 1991), which peaked at No. 6 on the ARIA Albums Chart, Snakes & Ladders (July 1992), which was nominated for Best Children's Album at the 1993 ARIA Awards, and Dinosaur Dreaming (1993). The group also released four singles: "Christmas Day" (December 1991), which reached No. 40 on the ARIA Singles Chart and won Children's Composition of the Year at the 1992 APRA Awards, a cover version of Was (Not Was)'s song, "Walk the Dinosaur", "School" (August 1992) featuring The Yunupingu Kids (children of Mandawuy Yunupingu), and "Dinosaurs in Space" (1994).

## History

The band members are all children of Scotland-born Australian rock musician, Jimmy Barnes, and his wife Jane: Mahalia, Eliza-Jane "E.J.", Jackie, and Elly-May. "Tin lid" is rhyming slang for "kid". The group were in the children's choir as part of the back-up singers on their father's track, "When Your Love is Gone", released as a single in March 1991. They appeared in live concerts with Jimmy and his band.
The Tin Lids released their first album in November 1991 as a collection of Christmas carols, Hey Rudolph!, which peaked at No. 6 on the ARIA Albums Chart and was a platinum-selling album. Most of the instrumentation was supplied by David Froggatt, the album's producer and arranger, and it was recorded at Barnes' Freight Train Studios in Sydney. The album provided the first single, "Christmas Day" (December 1991), which reached No. 40 on the ARIA Singles Chart and won Children's Composition of the Year at the 1992 APRA Awards.
Their next single was a cover version of Was (Not Was)'s song, "Walk the Dinosaur", which was released in May 1992. A Canberra Times journalist described it as "a joint venture with Hanna-Barbera and The Flintstones" (sic). The video featured guest appearances by Fred and Dino.
Their second album was Snakes & Ladders (July 1992), which was nominated for the ARIA Award for Best Children's Album in 1993.
Another single from that album, "School" (August 1992), was written by Mandawuy Yunupingu (lead singer of Yothu Yindi). That track was recorded by The Tin Lids and The Yunupingu Kids. The latter group were the Indigenous leader's daughters. Barnes and Yunupingu were highlighting the Sister Schools project, which hopes that "schools with few or no Aboriginal children will forge educational and social links with schools with large numbers of Aboriginal children, in an attempt to foster tolerance and understanding". One of the singers, Dhapanbal Yunupingu, later recalled, "They took us all into Jimmy's studio, Jimmy's kids and us, and we did this recording. It took about a week, but we had a lot of fun".
The Tin Lids' third and final album, Dinosaur Dreaming (1993), provided the single, "Dinosaurs in Space" (1994). The group disbanded in that year.

## Members

* Mahalia Barnes (aged 9–12)
* Eliza-Jane "E.J." Barnes (aged 7–10)
* Jackie Barnes (aged 5-8)
* Elly-May Barnes (aged 2–5)

## Discography
### Studio albums

List of studio albums, with selected chart positions and certifications :
| Title | Album details | Peak chart positions | Certification |
| Title | Album details | AUS | Certification |
| Hey Rudolph! | Released: November 1991 Label: Little Rock (D26071) Format: CD, Cassette | 6 | ARIA: Platinum |
| Snakes & Ladders | Released: July 1992 Label: Little Rock (D26076) Format: CD, cassette | 54 | |
| Dinosaur Dreaming | Released: 1993 Label: Little Rock Format: CD, cassette | 128 | |

### Singles

List of singles, with selected chart positions :
| Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Album |
| Title | Year | AUS | Album |
| "Christmas Day" | 1991 | 40 | Hey Rudolph! |
| "Walk the Dinosaur" | 1992 | 64 | Snakes & Ladders |
| "School" (with The Yunupingu Kids) | 1992 | 131 | Snakes & Ladders |
| "Dinosaurs in Space" | 1994 | — | Dinosaur Dreaming |
| "If Santa Forgets" (with Jimmy Barnes) | 2023 | — | Blue Christmas |
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released in that country. ||||

## Awards and nominations
### APRA Music Awards

| Year | Nominated works | Award | Result |
| 1992 | "Christmas Day" (David Leslie Froggatt) | Children's Composition of the Year | Won |

### ARIA Music Awards

| Year | Nominated works | Award | Result |
| 1993 | Snakes & Ladders | Best Children's Album | Nominated |