''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 (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

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 Scavengers were a New Zealand punk rock band that formed in 1977. They moved to Melbourne, Australia, in November 1978 and became Marching Girls. History The band was formed in 1976 at Auckland Technical Institute by graphic design stude ...

The Swingers 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 founding members were Phil Judd (gui ...

, The Primmers,

Proud Scum Proud Scum was a notable punk band in New Zealand punk's second wave. Proud Scum were formed in Auckland in 1979 and attracted a hardcore punk and bootboy following. Formed from members of punk bands Rooter and The Atrocities, Proud Scum were: ...

Toy Love Toy Love was a New Zealand 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 other members w ...

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 Simon Grigg (born 1955) is a New Zealand music businessman, writer, broadcaster, publisher, producer, DJ and archivist. Born in Auckland, New Zealand, he attended Palmerston North Boys High, Auckland Grammar and the University of Auckland. P ...

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 recording industry was largely moribund. The major record labels were eith ...

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 bringin ...

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 Terrorways and The Spelling Mistakes. Neither The Terrorways or

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 music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

'' 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. It features the same-named prize awarded for the best album from New Zealand. The prize is named after respected New Zealand music journalist and broadcaster Dylan Taite, who die ...

. 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