The Headless Chickens was a

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 ...

band. Going against the grain of the Dunedin sound that dominated the Flying Nun Records roster at the time, the Headless Chickens made extensive use of electronic instruments in their music. They recorded three studio albums, ''Stunt Clown'' (1988), ''Body Blow'' (1991), and ''Greedy'' (1997).

History

The Headless Chickens recorded three albums, ''Stunt Clown'' (1988), ''Body Blow'' (1991), and ''Greedy'' (1997), plus various

EPs An extended play (EP) is a Sound recording and reproduction, musical recording that contains more tracks than a Single (music), single but fewer than an album. Contemporary EPs generally contain up to eight tracks and have a playing time of 1 ...

for Flying Nun Records in the 1980s and 1990s. The band first became known in New Zealand when they won the 1987 Rheineck Beer Rock award. The prize money from the award went into the funding for their innovative (for its use of sampling) 1988 debut album ''Stunt Clown''. The 1988 CD release of ''Stunt Clown'' compiled the vinyl release of this name with the 1986 ''Headless Chickens'' EP. A second album, '' Body Blow'', appeared in 1991 which featured singer Fiona McDonald. It was during this time that the band had their widest audience. Two versions of ''Body Blow'' were released, with the revised and expanded 1993 version going double platinum in New Zealand. This album spawned the single " Cruise Control" which became a hit in New Zealand and (in a remixed form)

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. "Cruise Control" was notable for its sampling, particularly for elements of Shona Laing's 1973 single "1905" and the Crocodiles' 1980 single "Tears". At the time, the band's use of electronic elements and sampling in a "rock" setting was out of the ordinary and had an influence on many other N.Z. bands that followed them. The follow-up 1997 ''Greedy'' album took several years to complete, and during that time several band members left, including singer McDonald. ''Greedy'' contained the track "George" which became a No. 1 hit single in their home country; "George" was the first (and so far, only) track from the Flying Nun Records label to achieve No. 1 status. The Headless Chickens split up soon after the release of ''Greedy''. In 2002 Flying Nun Records released a 2CD best-of compilation named ''ChickensHits''. In July 2008 it was announced that the band would reform to play the Homebake Festival in Sydney, Australia on 6 December. The line-up would feature both Chris Matthews and Fiona McDonald. They played further concerts in Australia and New Zealand and were scheduled to play at the Auckland

Big Day Out The Big Day Out (BDO) was an annual music festival that was held in five Australian cities: Sydney, Melbourne, Gold Coast, Queensland, Gold Coast, Adelaide, and Perth, as well as Auckland, New Zealand. The festival was held during summer, typi ...

in January 2009. On 27 January 2018, bassist Grant Fell died of cancer at the age of 56.

Discography

Albums

Singles

Featured appearances

The group have appeared on many compilations and soundtracks since 1990 in

and

, including the following.

Awards

, - , 1987 , Headless Chickens , Rheineck Rock Award , , - , 1992 , ''Body Blow'' , NZ Music Awards - Album of the Year , , - , 1992 , "Cruise Control" , NZ Music Awards - Single of the Year , , - , 1992 , Fiona McDonald , NZ Music Awards - Best Female Vocalist , , - , 1992 , Headless Chickens , NZ Music Awards - Best Group , , - , 1992 , "Cruise Control" , NZ Music Awards - Best Video , , - , 1992 , Rex Visible (''Body Blow'') , NZ Music Awards - Best Producer , , - , 1994 , "Juice"/"Choppers" , NZ Music Awards - Single of the Year , , - , 1994 , Fiona McDonald , NZ Music Awards - Best Female Vocalist , , - , 1994 , Headless Chickens , NZ Music Awards - Best Group , , - , 1994 , Headless Chickens , NZ Music Awards - International Achievement , , - , 1994 , Johnny Ogilvie ("Mr Moon") , NZ Music Awards - Best Video , , - , 1995 , Johnny Ogilvie ("Cruise Control") , NZ Music Awards - Best Video , , -

References

External links

AudioCulture profileHeadless Chickens on Flying Nun
{{Authority control APRA Award winners New Zealand rock music groups Flying Nun Records artists