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Although it is bands such as The Chills, Straitjacket Fits, The Bats, The Clean and Verlaines that are immediately associated with New Zealand's legendary and long serving label Flying Nun, it is the Headless Chickens that provided the label with considerable financial reward ('Body Blow' has sold in excess of 30,000 copies, while 'George' is the only number one single Flying Nun has ever had).
Influenced initially by bands such as Cabaret Voltaire, the Headless Chickens were exponents of a sound that encompassed the edge of eighties industrial music with the sampling and rhythms of a developing dance scene (a bit like an antipodean version of early Pop Will Eat Itself), utilisng a confrontational live show in a 'rock' world where not having a drummer was a cardinal sin (we are talking mid-late 1980's here). In 1987 the band won that years Rheineck Rock Award (much to the disgust of the mainstream music industry) and recorded their excellent debut 'Stunt Clown' on the proceeds. But it was with the addition of vocalist Fiona McDonald (she was later involved with the extremely successful Strawpeople) that the band really hit its commercial stride, achieving considerable fame and fortune with the above mentioned 'Body Blow'.
Including tracks culled from throughout their career - Chicken's delights such as 'Cruise Control', 'Gaskrankinstation', 'Choppers', 'Donde Este La Pollo', 'Juice' plus many more - this is a superb overview of one of the more innovative and interesting bands to come out of this country's brief pop music history. Also comes with a ten track limited edition bonus disc including new and original remixes. Recommended. |
