Lane had seen Mariani in the final few gigs of The Go-Starts and had asked him for guitar lessons which developed into the decision was made to form The Stems.

A friend, Gary Chambers, was recruited to join on drums, and bass guitarist John Shuttleworth was poached from the Pink Armadillos.

[1] Their sound was influenced by 1960s garage acts ranging from the Electric Prunes, The Standells, and The Chocolate Watch Band to The Easybeats.

[1] A local Saturday night residency at the Wizbah venue saw throwback covers with a growing list of original songs which developed a cult following for the band.

The success of this gig and freshly written songs caused the band to recruit a new bass player, school friend Julian Matthews.

The Stems played at local venues such as The Wizbah, The Old Melbourne and The Shenton Park Hotel on a regular basis, the group built up a substantial following in Perth, at a time otherwise dominated by cover bands.

The group met with an enthusiastic response, culminating in a full house at the legendary Trade Union Club for their final Sydney show.

"[1] During this period, they rerecorded "Tears Me in Two" and the Love Will Grow - Rosebud Volume 1 EP, both produced by Rob Younger of the Radio Birdman.

[2] It also received national and international critical acclaim and would be one of the best selling Australian albums of that year, despite the lack of commercial airplay in the corporate FM dominated 1980s.

People tend to drift apart, there are internal conflicts, egos going wild, and bad management was probably the major factor that contributed to The Stems' breakup."

"[3]The Stems performed their last live show in their original incarnation on 31 August 1987, but the breakup wasn't officially announced until November that year.

Following the re-release of their album At First Sight, Violets Are Blue and the release of the Mushroom Soup: The Citadel Years in 2003, The Stems found themselves playing to packed houses across the country, touring Europe, playing the prestigious "Little Stevens Underground Garage Festival" in August 2005,[4] and then at the "Come Together Festival" at Sydney's Luna Park with the cream of Australia's newest bands in September 2005.

2006 saw the release of another anthology titled Terminal Cool in the United States by the garage rock and punk label Get Hip Records.

In 2007 The Stems undertook a national tour alongside Hoodoo Gurus and Radio Birdman and released their second album, Heads Up on Shock Records.

The same lineup played gigs on the east coast in March 2014, including supports for the reunited Sunnyboys in Brisbane and Sydney.