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The Chills

Radio One 91FM

Radio One 91FM

Radio One 91FM is Dunedin’s student radio station, broadcasting on 91.0MHz from the University of Otago since 6 February 1984. Owned and operated by OUSA, the station played a central role in the Dunedin Sound era of the early 1980s, championing Flying Nun Records artists including The Chills, The Bats, Sneaky Feelings, and The Verlaines when commercial radio would not. Among its alumni are Shayne Carter, Jan Hellriegel, and Lesley Paris. In 1987 it became the first radio station in the world to broadcast news of the Fiji coup. Still active as the voice of Ōtepoti student music culture.

The Same

Dunedin school punk group formed over Labour Weekend 1978 by Martin Phillips (The Chills), Jeff Batts, Craig Easton (The Verlaines) and Alistair Dunn. Three songs written by Phillips for The Same became The Chills’s contribution to the famed Dunedin Double compilation.

Purple Pilgrims - Perfumed Earth album cover

Purple Pilgrims

New Zealand sister duo Clementine and Valentine Nixon — great-granddaughters of Scottish folk musician Davie Stewart — whose devotional dream pop spans Not Not Fun Records and Flying Nun. Albums: Eternal Delight (2016) and Perfumed Earth (2019). Now also recording as Clementine Valentine.

The Chills

The Chills, led by Martin Phillips, were a seminal New Zealand band central to the Dunedin Sound. Formed in 1980. Despite struggles, including the death of drummer Martyn Bull and Phillips’ drug dependency and health issues, they continued producing acclaimed albums until Phillips’ unexpected passing in 2024.

#thechills #martinphillips #nzmusic

The Verlaines

Formed in late 1980, The Verlaines is Graeme Downes’ long-standing song-writing vehicle, and one-hell of a brilliant, literate band at that. With the classic early 1980’s line-up of Downes on guitar and vocals, Alan Haig on drums and Jane Dodd on bass, the Verlaines released excellent singles such as ’10 O’Clock In The Afternoon’ from the EP of the same name, and of course their signature tune ‘Death And The Maiden’, which stands as one of the true kiwi classics.

#nzmusic #theverlaines

Circus Block Four

Wellington-based funky pop rock group from the mid 1980. Formed by Gavin McLean and Jeff Thorpe after the demise of their previous group The List. Percussionist Dean Hutton (and production from Ian Morris) gave them a distinct sound on their first replace ‘In Stone In Steel’.

Well-known drummer Caroline Easther later joined the group, however the group only lasted a couple years, without attaining any commercial success. They recorded an album that went unreleased.

#nzmusic #circusblockfour

The Great Unwashed

The Great Unwashed were a quieter, folkier edition of The Clean, a contrast to their raucous earlier sound. Peter Gutteridge’s contributions to their song-book should not be understated, with ‘Born in the wrong time’ an absolute classic.

#nzmusic #greatunwashed #theclean

Alpaca Brothers

The Alpaca Brothers were a short lived noisy post-punk band from Dunedin formed by Bruce Blucher and Nick Wilkinson in 1984, with a young Steve Cournane soon joining as drummer. The group disbanded after releasing a single EP for Flying Nun, but miraculously resurfaced recently (after a 36 year absence) with a new album.

#nzmusic #alpacabrothers

Mr Big Nose

Recorded in a typically DIY fashion and released straight to cassette in 1989, this rucous live album features a stellar band line-up. Bob Scott was joined by future 3D Dave Saunders (just arrived in Dunedin), Australian guitarist / vocalist Ken Stewart, former-Chill Alan Haig on the drums, and billed as a special guest on organ; Peter Gutteridge – just prior to the release of his incredible solo album ‘Pure’.

#mrbignose

Spacious

In 1995 The 3Ds guitarist and vocalist Dave Saunders got together with well-known drummer Alan Haig to record a 3-song single for Flying Nun Records under the name Spacious – all 3 songs were eventually re-recorded by The 3Ds for their final album ‘Strange News from the Angels’.

#nzmusic #spacious #the3ds

Straitjacket Fits

Biography Straitjacket Fits were a corner stone in New Zealand independent rock from their formation in 1986 till their inevitable break-up in February 1994. Though predominantly a kiwi indie-rock group, they were at times dissonant (and incredibly loud), hiding their… Read More »Straitjacket Fits

Bygone Era

Bygone Era were a prominent but short-lived late 1980’s rock group with hardcore punk aspirations, during an era when New Zealand had few hardcore punk groups.

They put out an EP, and a split 7″ with The Warners on Onslaught Records label (run by vocalist Rowan Coffey’s brother Simon) before breaking up in 1989, their full length album ‘Get Airborne’ coming out posthumously.

#nzmusic #nzhardcore #bygoneera #thewarners

Smart Russians

Pop-funky 3/4-piece Christchurch act from the mid 80s. Made an appearance on Radio with Pictures article on the current state of Christchurch live music (in 1984), released a cassette single recorded at Nighshift Studios and at one point had The Chills keyboardist Andrew Todd as a member.

Double Happys

Double Happys brought together former Bored Games bandmates Shayne Carter and Wayne Else – originally with an unreliable drum-machine (named ‘Herbie Fuckface’), but eventually replaced with their High School friend John Collie. A wonderful, sometimes confrontational group who came to a tragic conclusion with the accidental death of Wayne Elsie in June 1985.

The Pterodactyls

Clangy Auckland post-punk / indie-pop from the mid 1980’s. Released a brash, tuneful and fun LP-sized EP on Meltdown Records in 1987 before going their separate ways.