[{"id":399999205614,"handle":"flying-nun-records","updated_at":"2024-11-04T08:40:05+11:00","published_at":"2022-02-08T16:04:47+11:00","sort_order":"manual","template_suffix":"","published_scope":"web","title":"Flying Nun Records","body_html":"","image":{"created_at":"2022-02-08T16:04:46+11:00","alt":null,"width":300,"height":300,"src":"\/\/flyingnunaustralia.com\/cdn\/shop\/collections\/L-20365-1498236818-5866.jpg?v=1644296686"}},{"id":399997567214,"handle":"headless-chickens","updated_at":"2024-06-19T11:46:22+10:00","published_at":"2022-02-08T15:30:56+11:00","sort_order":"best-selling","template_suffix":"","published_scope":"web","title":"Headless Chickens","body_html":"\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\n\u003cp data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eThey were an “alternative, underground band using hi-tech instruments in a low tech way”, controversial winners of the Rheineck Rock Award, the Flying Nun act that came closest to dance music (giving the label its only number one) and, throughout, a vehicle for the singular vision and dark humour of Chris Matthews.\u003cspan class=\"Apple-converted-space\" data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eIn the beginning – the early 80s - Matthews and Johnny Pierce were half of the uncompromising attack of \u003cb data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eChildren’s Hour\u003c\/b\u003e (along with Grant Fell and Bevan Sweeny) and occasional contributors to the Jefferies brothers project, \u003cb data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eThis Kind of Punishment\u003c\/b\u003e.\u003cspan class=\"Apple-converted-space\" data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eIn 1985 the pair roped in the more electronically inclined Michael Lawry to form the International Headless Chickens for a one-off performance at the ‘Nitpickers Picnic’. Shortening their name, they released a self titled EP in mid-1986. Their use of samplers, synthesisers and drum machines combined with a claustrophobic sound and Chris Matthews’ dark, often bleak, lyrics quickly set them apart from most of their contemporaries.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eIn August 1986, Johnny Pierce tragically took his own life and the band stalled – but Matthews and Lawry picked up the pieces again, adding \u003cb data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eChildren’s Hour\u003c\/b\u003e band mate Grant Fell on bass and flamboyant former \u003cb data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eBird Nest Roy\u003c\/b\u003e Rupert E Taylor as a vocalist.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eIn December 1987 the \u003cb data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eHeadless Chickens\u003c\/b\u003e won the second Rheineck Rock award and hilarity ensued. The inaugural winners, South Auckland funksters Ardijah, had – to the satisfaction of the “industry” – parlayed their win into radio play and chart hits. Awarding the prize to such an unrepentantly alternative outfit created an outcry best summed up in a Metro article alleging a “severe lack of judgement” and bizarrely suggesting that, as an alternative band, the Chickens played “music which you can’t actually listen to”. \u003cspan class=\"Apple-converted-space\" data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eSomehow, the firmament held together and the band recorded their debut album. \u003cb data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eThe Children’s Hour\u003c\/b\u003e reunion was completed with Bevan Sweeney brought in to add a more human element to the rhythms.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eReleased in mid-1988, \u003cb data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003ci data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e‘Stunt Clown’\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e underlined the gaping chasm between established industry and alternative scene – nothing here would follow Ardijah to Top 40 radio rotates; and it amplified unresolved tensions on the other side of the tracks – where such heavy use of emulators and drum programmes sat badly with some.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eOn its own terms, \u003cb data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003ci data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e‘Stunt Clown’\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e was a stunning achievement with a huge sweep encompassing everything from the dark driving guitars and rhythms of \u003ci data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e‘Expecting To Fly’\u003c\/i\u003e, the self referential \u003ci data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e‘Do The Headless Chicken’\u003c\/i\u003e and the snarling \u003ci data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e‘Donka’\u003c\/i\u003e to the lighter touch of \u003ci data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e‘Soul Catcher’ \u003c\/i\u003eand the tenderness of \u003ci data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e‘Fish Song’\u003c\/i\u003e – with cello, violin and piano accordion thrown in for good measure. The critics were impressed; the detractors probably still didn’t understood.\u003c\/span\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e","image":{"created_at":"2022-02-10T10:43:01+11:00","alt":null,"width":1054,"height":1054,"src":"\/\/flyingnunaustralia.com\/cdn\/shop\/collections\/Headless_Chickens_Flying_Nun_SQUARE.jpg?v=1644450182"}},{"id":400792649966,"handle":"vinyl","updated_at":"2024-08-27T12:25:16+10:00","published_at":"2022-02-21T19:43:05+11:00","sort_order":"manual","template_suffix":"","published_scope":"web","title":"Vinyl","body_html":""}]
Remastered audio taken from the original audio master tapes, held at the Alexander Turnbull Library.
Stunt Clown was the first body of work that truly showed the world what Headless Chickens were capable of, both sonically, and with their songwriting. Originally released in 1988, Stunt Clown was the band’s first full length release. With a CD only reissue in 1995 (as was the done thing in the 90s), this 2021 reissue will mark 33 years since the 11 original tracks were pressed to vinyl.
A deviation from the ‘Dunedin Sound’ that dominated the 1980’s wave of Flying Nun, Headless Chickens were a band that dipped into the realm of drum machines and samplers. Coupled with a heavy measure of the macabre and bizarre, surf, psychedelia and noise, the resulting masterpiece was Stunt Clown.
“Stunt Clown was recorded at Mandrill Studios in Parnell which had that very ‘80s studio practice of having the recording room completely ‘dead’ with no reflective surfaces, and they close-mic'd all the instruments and then added any room ambience needed via digital effects in the production process. Which was the antithesis of how we’d recorded our earlier songs – we used to put the guitar amp in a glass-walled stairway and put the microphone two metres away if we wanted a more ‘live’ sound.” — Chris Matthews
Stunt Clown has stood the test of time, with this said in a 1988 issue of legendary Rip It Up magazine, "Stunt Clown is overflowing with innovation, while still accessible and slickly produced” — while 30 years later, the album was to be named as the ‘Independent Music NZ Classic Record’ at the Taite Music Awards, with music writer Russell Brown stating “It plays now as the bridge between the band’s experimental origins and later pop success, but it stands on its own as an ambitious, strikingly varied work. Literally no one in New Zealand was making music like this at the time – they had to invent it.”
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