Radio Active 88.6FM (formerly 89FM) is Wellington's independent alternative radio station, founded in 1977 as Victoria University of Wellington's student station and named in protest against the visit of nuclear warship USS Truxton. Granted New Zealand's first FM licence in 1981, it became the second station in New Zealand to broadcast on FM on February 22, 1982. The station was the first to play Shihad and Head Like A Hole, launched New Zealand's first hip-hop show in 1983, released early Fat Freddy's Drop recordings on its own label, and ran the landmark One Love Waitangi Day festival. Rescued from closure in 2017 by a charitable trust, it continues to broadcast as New Zealand's longest-serving FM station.
Fairly rudimentary punk coming out of Wellington's late 1970's / early 1980's Terrace scene. Famously organized the **** compilation - which is a pretty effective scene document.
Early 80s Wellington post-punk outfit in the style of the Au Pairs, with long-standing members Kate Walker and Stephen Norris, plus a rotating cast of drummers and vocalists, including well-known Actor/Comedian Jennifer Ward-Leland and future Oscar winner Fran Walsh.
Biography Wellington-based post-punk from the early 1980s known for their excellent track ‘have you checked the children?’ which featured on the famed (and hard…
The independent label that put New Zealand Music on the map. From Roger Shephard's formation of the label in 1980 through to now, Flying Nun has been a mark of creative, quirky, inventive music with a distinct kiwi flavor.
Biography Fashionable Wellington-based post-punk from the early 1980’s that featured Caroline Easther (The Chills, Verlaines, Spines etc), but formed by British ex-pat brothers Nino…
