''AK79'' is a collection of unreleased tracks by

punk Punk or punks may refer to: Genres, subculture, and related aspects * Punk rock, a music genre originating in the 1970s associated with various subgenres * Punk subculture, a subculture associated with punk rock, or aspects of the subculture s ...

bands active in

Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

in the late 1970s. The album was compiled by Bryan Staff, with artwork from Terence Hogan, and was released by Ripper Records in December 1979.

History

Bands featured on the original compilation include The Scavengers, The Swingers, The Primmers, Proud Scum,

Toy Love Toy Love were a New Zealand New wave music, new wave and punk rock band that originated in Dunedin and was active from 1978 to 1980. Members included Chris Knox, Alec Bathgate and Paul Kean. History Chris Knox was the band's front man and ot ...

and The Terrorways. An initial pressing of 500 was sold to a retailer. It was later reissued on LP and cassette via CBS, but deleted in 1982. The defining record of the Auckland punk scene, it became rare and sought-after over the next decade. An expanded and remastered CD version of the compilation was compiled by Simon Grigg and Roger Shepherd. This was released jointly by their record labels

Propeller Records Propeller Records was an independent record label formed in Auckland, New Zealand, by Simon Grigg in 1980. 1980-81 In the years prior to 1980 the New Zealand contemporary Sound recording and reproduction, recording industry was largely moribund. ...

and

Flying Nun Records Flying Nun Records is a New Zealand independent record label formed in Christchurch in 1981 by music store manager Roger Shepherd. Described by ''The Guardian'' as "one of the world's great independent labels", Flying Nun is notable for bringi ...

in November 1993. This issue was expanded to include tracks by The Suburban Reptiles, The Spelling Mistakes, The Features and The Marching Girls, and additional titles from the bands on the original album. The reissue was remastered and partially remixed by Grigg, with expanded artwork by Andrew B. White. The liner notes were by Grigg, Staff and Terrorways drummer Kerry Buchanan. On 21 and 22 November 2008 a number of the bands got together for a reunion gig (compered by Bryan Staff) in Auckland, including The Scavengers, Proud Scum, The Terrorways and The Spelling Mistakes. Neither The Terrorways or Proud Scum had performed since 1980. A bootleg two-LP edition of ''AK79'', with further unreleased tracks and a 20-page book (including commentary from 30 band members and original punks) was sold at the reunion gig, as well as AK79 T-shirts and other memorabilia. ''

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

'' reviewer Chris Woodstra called ''AK79'' "probably the best compilation of New Zealand's entries for punk rock and new wave of the late '70s". Music writer Nick Bollinger included ''AK79'' in his 2009 book ''100 Essential New Zealand Albums''. In 2014 the album was named as the second recipient of the Independent Music NZ Classic Record award, presented as part of the 2014

Taite Music Prize The Taite Music Prize is an annual New Zealand music award event. A prize of the same name (sometimes called the Taite Music Main) is one of five to be awarded. It recognises the best New Zealand album from the previous year. The prize is named ...

. AK79 was reissued on CD in a remastered version in December 2019 and on double vinyl by

and

in January 2020. It featured the original Ripper Records label design and was the first time the CD tracklisting was released on vinyl.

Track listing

References

External links

AK79 at Propeller Records

contains a complete AK79 image series and track listing
AK79 Reunion gig photos
contains several photos from the AK 79 Reunion gig on November 22, 2008 {{DEFAULTSORT:Ak79 Compilation albums by New Zealand artists 1980 compilation albums Punk rock compilation albums