[1][2][4] Freedman named the band after the former Prime Minister of Australia, Gough Whitlam,[5][6][7] although Plunder had sought to call themselves, 'The Three Nice Boys'.

Australian music critic, Ed Nimmervoll, felt that they were "a sideline band formed by two Sydney songwriters in search of a bit of extra action.

"[12] The Canberra Times' reporter, Nicole Leedham felt it was "sublime and ridiculous, the band's bluesy, country, jazzy, punky, folky pop swings from bleeding sensitivity to drunken hilarity.

[14] At first they travelled in Freedman's Holden Kingswood station wagon before using a tour bus, which was used for the 1994 feature film, Priscilla, Queen of the Desert.

[14] The group recorded their second album, Undeniably the Whitlams, from April to May 1994 at the 48V Studio in Sydney, with Taylor and Freedman co-producing.

Their next single, "I Make Hamburgers", was released in October 1995[1][9] and received airplay on national radio stations, including Triple J.

In August 1996 they issued a nine-track live EP, Stupor Ego, with material recorded from performances at the Harbourside Brasserie in mid-1994 and at Goosens Hall on 30 July 1995 (part of national radio station Triple J's 'Real Appeal' broadcast), with the earlier three-piece line-up of Freedman, Lewis and Plunder.

I actually made the album, Eternal Nightcap, during that most difficult period, that was a really tough year in which to keep my focus and keep my head up, but it ended in September 1997 when I put the record out and it just started selling itself.

[25] At the ARIA Music Awards of 1998 The Whitlams won Best Independent Release (for Eternal Nightcap), Song of the Year (for "No Aphrodisiac") and Best Group.

[7] At the conclusion of the ARIA Awards ceremony the Whitlams performed a cover of the Skyhooks' "Women in Uniform",[27] this was subsequently released in March 1999 as a limited edition single.

[25] It was recorded with the line-up of Freedman with Ben Fink on guitar, Bill Heckenberg on drums and Cottco Lovett on bass guitar,[1] together with a large cast of guest musicians including Marcia Hines, Jackie Orszaczky, Chris Abrahams, Garry Gary Beers and members of Machine Gun Fellatio.

[25] AllMusic's Jonathan Lewis compared Love This City to their previous album, "this disc is less cohesive, covering a wide range of subject matter.

The song style is different here, too, as Freedman allows his piano to take a back seat to guitars or brass on a number of tracks.

"[31] He described "You Gotta Love This City" as "less-than-complimentary reaction to the commercialism of the Olympic Games" and "Blow Up the Pokies" as detailing the "infiltration of gambling machines into suburban bars and clubs.

"[31] Nimmervoll described how the album "was again recorded in a number of studios, with a changed line-up, leaning on the same and new songwriting collaborations.

[3] A month after Lewis' death a benefit concert was held at the Metro club in Sydney to raise money for his wife and child.

The event was hosted by Paul McDermott, Mikey Robins and Steve Abbott (The Sandman), and performers included Max Sharam, and The Gadflys.

During the Whitlam's Canadian tour in April, supporting Blue Rodeo, they received word that Lewis was dead.

[25] ARIA Reported that the group are "one of the great underdog success stories of recent Aussie rock history, [they] have immortalized themselves, by becoming the latest Australian act to debut at # 1.

[33] Clayton Bolger of AllMusic described the "strong album from a promising lineup" which "only falls when the band significantly stray from their classic rock/pop sound.

[25] Another track on the album, "I Will not Go Quietly (Duffy's Song)", had been written and performed by Freedman for the Australian TV series, Love Is a Four Letter Word, "Episode 21: Oval" (June 2001).

[25] Ian Hockley of Beyond the Pale website described the "return to basics with few overdubs and often just a voice and piano base" where the first disc "deals with John Howard's re-election and the bleak feelings that event engendered" and the second one "is more hopeful and life-affirming with bigger, more elaborate productions.

The band made the news in September 2006 when, for political reasons, Freedman refused to perform to troops in Iraq,[35] he told Peter Holmes of The Sunday Telegraph, "I was asked, and decided not to go.

[38] In mid-2008 they gave away 700,000 copies of The Whitlams & The Sydney Symphony Live in Concert, as a free CD with various newspapers: The Sunday Telegraph (1 June), The Australian (26 July) and The Mercury.

The Whitlams performed with the Sydney Symphony in 2009 to celebrate the 12th anniversary of the release of their breakthrough album, Eternal Nightcap.

Taking place in April and May 2017, the tour visited Brisbane, Melbourne, Sydney, Perth, Canberra and Adelaide.

The six-minute song was written from the perspective of a would-be criminal, enlisted by Kidd for an art gallery heist in Gosford.

Warwick is seeking more of the quiet life on the couch with his bulging vinyl collection, [or] on the golf course with his two wood, and is looking forward to watching the band live for the first time this September at The Enmore Theatre.

To replicate the sound of these albums, the band was joined by double bassist Scott Owen of The Living End.