The Headless Chickens was a

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 ...

band. Going against the grain of the

Dunedin sound The Dunedin sound was a style of indie pop music created in the southern New Zealand university city of Dunedin in the early 1980s. Characteristics According to Matthew Bannister, Dunedin sound "was typically marked by the use of droning or ...

that dominated the

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 ...

roster at the time, the Headless Chickens made extensive use of electronic instruments in their music.

History

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

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 ''Body Blow'' is the second studio album by New Zealand rock band the Headless Chickens. It was originally released in 1991, then rereleased for Australia in 1993 with a substantially reworked track list, losing "Crash Hot" and "Road Train" but ga ...

'', appeared in 1991 which featured singer

Fiona McDonald Fiona Maude McDonald (born 1965) is a New Zealand pop singer and television personality. Singer McDonald's first involvement with music came through singing jingles for Auckland student radio station bFM. From that work she was asked to joi ...

. It was during this time with McDonald that the Headless Chickens would attract 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 Cruise control (also known as speed control, cruise command, autocruise, or tempomat) is a system that automatically controls the speed of a motor vehicle. The system is a servomechanism that takes over the throttle of the car to maintain a ste ...

" which became a hit in New Zealand and (in a remixed form)

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. "Cruise Control" was notable for its sampling, particularly for elements of

Shona Laing Shona Laing (born 9 October 1955) is a New Zealand musician. She has had several hits in her native country, as well as a few minor international hits, most notably "(Glad I'm) Not a Kennedy" and "Soviet Snow". Laing contributed to Manfred M ...

's 1973 single "1905" and

the Crocodiles The Crocodiles was a New Zealand pop/ new wave band formed in 1979 with lead singer Jenny Morris, who went on to commercial success as a solo artist in Australia; and later included drummer Barton Price, who subsequently joined Sardine v and t ...

' 1980 single "Tears". Cruise Control was released in the 1980s and was quickly added to the flying nun records 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 Homebake was an annual Australian rock festival, featuring an all-Australian lineup (with the occasional artist from New Zealand). The festival was first held on 3 January 1996 at Belongil Fields in Byron Bay, on the far north coast of New Sou ...

Festival in Sydney, Australia on 6 December. The line-up would feature both

Chris Matthews Christopher John Matthews (born December 17, 1945) is an American political commentator, retired talk show host, and author. Matthews hosted his weeknight hour-long talk show, ''Hardball with Chris Matthews'', on America's Talking and later on M ...

and

. 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, Adelaide, and Perth, as well as Auckland, New Zealand. The festival was held during summer, typically in January of eac ...

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 both

and

. The following is a list of these albums that have featured tracks by the Headless Chickens.

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