The Swingers were a New Zealand rock band who were together from 1979 to 1982 and whose biggest single was the song " Counting the Beat".

Background

Formed out of the remnants of the

Suburban Reptiles The Suburban Reptiles were one of the first two punk rock, punk bands to form in New Zealand, the other being the Scavengers. History The Suburban Reptiles were conceptualised by Auckland students Simon Grigg and Brett Salter in late 1976, w ...

, the founding members were

Phil Judd Philip Raymond Judd (born 20 March 1953) is a New Zealand singer-songwriter known for being one of the founders of the bands Split Enz and The Swingers. Split Enz In 1972, Judd and Tim Finn founded the arty folk band Split Enz. In its early d ...

(guitar, vocals), Wayne Stevens (

Bones Hillman Wayne Stevens (7 May 1958 – 7 November 2020), known by the stage name Bones Hillman, was a New Zealand musician best known as the bass guitarist for the Australian rock band Midnight Oil, which he joined in 1987 and remained with until his de ...

) (bass), and Mark Hough (a.k.a.

Buster Stiggs Mark John Hough (8 December 1954 – 7 January 2018), known by the stage name Buster Stiggs, was an English-born New Zealand drummer. Hough was born in Harold Wood, Essex, England, in 1954, moving to New Zealand as a child. His family settled in ...

) (drums). Formed in 1979, the band released the single "One Good Reason", which was a top 20 hit in New Zealand. They also appeared on the Ripper Records sampler ''

AK79 ''AK79'' is a collection of unreleased tracks by punk bands active in Auckland, New Zealand 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 ...

'' and established a large live following after a residency at

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 ...

's Liberty Stage club. In 1980 the band moved to

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

and signed to

Mushroom Records Mushroom Records was an Australian flagship record label, founded in 1972 in Melbourne. It published and distributed many successful Australian artists and expanded internationally, until it was merged with Festival Records in 1998. Festival ...

for that country, although their New Zealand releases remained on Ripper.

Success

After some band dissension, Ian Gilroy of the Crocodiles replaced Hough on drums. The band released the single " Counting the Beat", which became a No. 1 hit in Australia and New Zealand. A second single released in 1981, "It Ain't What You Dance, It's the Way That You Dance It" (which had the outro repeat line "oh yeah, oh yeah, oh yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah"), was also a Top 5 hit in New Zealand but only a minor hit in Australia (reaching #43). An album, ''Practical Jokers'', produced by

David Tickle David Tickle (born 6 September 1959) is a British record producer and engineer. As a producer, he is noted for his work with Split Enz, and in Canada, for his mid-1980s work with Red Rider, Platinum Blonde and Gowan. He later produced Joe Cock ...

, was released. The band also performed songs in the film '' Starstruck''.

Breakup

The band underwent a couple more line-up changes, including the addition of Pop Mechanix and Coconut Rough vocalist

Andrew Snoid Andrew Snoid (born Andrew McLennan) is a New Zealand musician, singer, and songwriter. He was featured in bands such as The Plague (New Zealand band), The Plague, The Whizz Kids, Blam Blam Blam (briefly), Pop Mechanix, The Swingers, and Coconut R ...

, before it split up in March 1982. Phil Judd went on to pursue a solo career.

Discography

Albums

Singles

References

External links

Frenz.com Swingers biography
* at

Australian Rock Database The Australian Rock Database was a website with a searchable online database that listed details of Australian rock music artists, albums, bands, producers and record labels. It was established in 2000 by Swedish national Magnus Holmgren, who had ...

by Magnus Holmgren * *
Swingers
''Rip It Up'', 1 February 1980, p6 {{DEFAULTSORT:Swingers 1979 establishments in New Zealand 1982 disestablishments in New Zealand APRA Award winners New Zealand new wave musical groups Musical groups established in 1979 Musical groups disestablished in 1982 New Zealand musical trios Musical groups from Auckland New Zealand expatriates in Australia