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Mi-Sex (also styled as MiSex) is a New Zealand new wave band originally active from 1978 to 1986, and led for much of its existence by
Steve Gilpin Stephen Ellis Gilpin (28 April 19496 January 1992) was a New Zealand singer and a founder of new wave band Mi-Sex. In November 1972, he won the national final of TV talent show, ''New Faces''. In 1977 he was a founder of Mi-Sex, which became ...
as vocalist, Kevin Stanton as guitarist and songwriter, Murray Burns as keyboardist and songwriter, and Don Martin as bassist. The group's manager for much of its career was Bob Yates. Mi-Sex achieved two top 10 hit singles in 1979-80: "
Computer Games A personal computer game, also known as a PC game or computer game, is a type of video game played on a personal computer (PC) rather than a video game console or arcade machine. Its defining characteristics include: more diverse and user-deter ...
" in October 1979 (No. 1 in
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 ...
, No. 5 in
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 ...
) and "
People A person (plural, : people) is a being that has certain capacities or attributes such as reason, morality, consciousness or self-consciousness, and being a part of a culturally established form of social relations such as kinship, ownership of pr ...
" in 1980 (No. 6 and No. 3, respectively). Their first two albums both reached the New Zealand top 10, ''
Graffiti Crimes ''Graffiti Crimes'' was the debut studio album by New Zealand new wave music group Mi-Sex, released in July 1979. The album peaked at number six on the New Zealand albums chart and number 16 on the Australian Kent Music Report. the album was cert ...
'' (July 1979) and ''
Space Race The Space Race was a 20th-century competition between two Cold War rivals, the United States and the Soviet Union, to achieve superior spaceflight capability. It had its origins in the ballistic missile-based nuclear arms race between the tw ...
'' (No. 1, June 1980). They were known for their cutting edge production and dynamic live shows. Gilpin died in January 1992, two months after a serious car accident from which he never recovered. Mi-Sex have periodically reformed, including in 2011 with
Steve Balbi Stephen Vert Balbi (born 3 October 1964) is an Australian musician and record producer. He was the founding bass guitarist in pub rockers, Noiseworks in 1986 and formed a psychedelic pop group and production duo, Electric Hippies in 1993 with ...
(ex-
Noiseworks Noiseworks are an Australian hard rock band formed in Sydney in 1986 with bass guitarist Steve Balbi, guitarist Stuart Fraser, drummer Kevin Nicol, keyboardist Justin Stanley and lead vocalist Jon Stevens. They had four Australian Top 10 al ...
) on lead vocals. Stanton died on 17 May 2017, Martin on 10 August 2020.


History


1978: Formation and "Straight Laddie"

Mi-Sex was formed in 1978 in New Zealand when Murray Burns on keyboards,
Steve Gilpin Stephen Ellis Gilpin (28 April 19496 January 1992) was a New Zealand singer and a founder of new wave band Mi-Sex. In November 1972, he won the national final of TV talent show, ''New Faces''. In 1977 he was a founder of Mi-Sex, which became ...
on lead vocals, Don Martin on bass guitar and Kevin Stanton on lead guitar and backing vocals (all ex-Fragments of Time) and were joined by Richard Hodgkinson on drums.
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 ...
entries: * Mi-Sex:  * John Sayers:  * Bob Clearmountain: 
The band name is adapted from an
Ultravox Ultravox (earlier styled as Ultravox!) were a British new wave band, formed in London in April 1974 as Tiger Lily. Between 1980 and 1986, they scored seven Top Ten albums and seventeen Top 40 singles in the UK, the most successful of which was ...
track, "My Sex", from that group's debut album, ''
Ultravox! Ultravox (earlier styled as Ultravox!) were a British new wave band, formed in London in April 1974 as Tiger Lily. Between 1980 and 1986, they scored seven Top Ten albums and seventeen Top 40 singles in the UK, the most successful of which was ...
'' (February 1977).McFarlane
'Mi-Sex'
entry. Archived fro
the original
on 7 August 2004. Retrieved 7 May 2016.
*Mi-Sex, part 1:  *Mi-Sex, part 2:  Gilpin had earlier performed as a solo artist in New Zealand, following his winning a TV talent quest, ''New Faces'', in 1972 (second place in the same show was
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 ...
).Eggleton, D. (2003) ''Ready to fly: The story of New Zealand rock music.'' Nelson, NZ: Craig Potton Publishing. p. 85. .
Invercargill Invercargill ( , mi, Waihōpai is the southernmost and westernmost city in New Zealand, and one of the southernmost cities in the world. It is the commercial centre of the Southland region. The city lies in the heart of the wide expanse of t ...
-born Burns was influenced by
progressive rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog; sometimes conflated with art rock) is a broad genre of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom and United States through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early 1970s. Init ...
bands such as
Yes Yes or YES may refer to: * An affirmative particle in the English language; see yes and no Education * YES Prep Public Schools, Houston, Texas, US * YES (Your Extraordinary Saturday), a learning program from the Minnesota Institute for Talente ...
, whereas Stanton's influences veered towards heavy metal. During 1977 Gilpin met Martin and they set about forming their own band; Martin brought Stanton on board and together with former Father Time members Alan Moon and Phil "Smarty" Smart, they formed Fragments of Time. Fragments of Time were influenced by British new wave and pub rock bands; they received a commission from EMI New Zealand's Peter Dawkins, who wanted a punk-new wave record to introduce the label's new roster. Their line-up changed, with Moon replaced by Burns and Smart leaving, replaced briefly by Steve Osborne and then by Hodgkinson. Fragments of Time developed a quirky, futurist, paranoia-themed blend of new wave, punk, and pub rock, amalgamating some of the textures common to Britain's Ultravox with those more associated with
The Stranglers The Stranglers are an English rock band who emerged via the punk rock scene. Scoring 23 UK top 40 singles and 19 UK top 40 albums to date in a career spanning five decades, the Stranglers are one of the longest-surviving bands to have origina ...
. They blended this with a liberal dose of on stage theatrics. At around the same time, they changed their name – urgently needed for their demo. In a meeting in a room at the back of the Aranui hotel which they were playing in, they accepted the name Stanton had proposed. Mi-Sex released their first single for EMI New Zealand, "Straight Laddie" (originally intended as a demo), early in 1978. p.233-234. Early performances include the
Wellington Institute of Technology The Wellington Institute of Technology, also known as WelTec, is a New Zealand polytechnic based in Petone, Lower Hutt. WelTec was formed in 2001 by an amalgamation between the Central Institute of Technology (established in 1960) and the Hutt V ...
and Dr Johns (Ray Johns), on the same day with demo recording at Dellbrook studios in Tawa, and the bus breaking a gearbox on the
Ngauranga Gorge The Ngauranga Gorge is in the Wellington Region of New Zealand. New Zealand State Highway 1, State Highway 1 runs through the gorge, a vital link between central Wellington, Wellington City and its northern suburbs and Porirua City and the Kapiti ...
section of motorway.


1979–1980: ''Graffiti Crimes'', ''Space Race'' and "Computer Games"

In August 1978 the band relocated to Sydney, where they became the city's "fourth biggest drawcard" within six months. They were signed to the Australian division of
CBS Records CBS Records may refer to: * CBS Records or CBS/Sony, former name of Sony Music, a global record company * CBS Records International, label for Columbia Records recordings released outside North America from 1962 to 1990 * CBS Records (2006), founde ...
by the label's A&R manager and house producer, Dawkins, who had produced "Straight Laddie". Their first single for CBS, "
But You Don't Care "But You Don't Care" is a song by New Zealand group Mi-Sex, released in June 1979 as the lead single from their debut studio album, ''Graffiti Crimes'' (1979). The song was the band's first on CBS records CBS Records may refer to: * CBS Records ...
", was released in Australia in May 1979, which peaked at No. 25 on the local
Kent Music Report The Kent Music Report was a weekly record chart of Australian music singles and albums which was compiled by music enthusiast David Kent from May 1974 through to January 1999. The chart was re-branded the Australian Music Report (AMR) in July ...
Singles Chart and No. 33 on their native
Official New Zealand Music Chart The Official New Zealand Music Chart ( mi, Te Papa Tātai Waiata Matua o Aotearoa) is the weekly New Zealand top 40 singles and albums charts, issued weekly by Recorded Music NZ (formerly Recording Industry Association of New Zealand). The Musi ...
. Their debut album, ''
Graffiti Crimes ''Graffiti Crimes'' was the debut studio album by New Zealand new wave music group Mi-Sex, released in July 1979. The album peaked at number six on the New Zealand albums chart and number 16 on the Australian Kent Music Report. the album was cert ...
'' was issued in July 1979 to coincide with their national tour supporting
Talking Heads Talking Heads were an American rock band formed in 1975 in New York City and active until 1991.Talkin ...
. They also headlined their own tour of Australia. It reached No. 6 in New Zealand and the top 20 in Australia. It was also produced by Dawkins at
Studios 301 Studios 301 is an Australian recording studio and is both the longest-running professional recording studio in the southern hemisphere and the largest studio complex in Australia. History The studio was founded in 1926 under the Columbia Gra ...
, during April and May 1979. Added to later versions of the LP is their biggest hit, the
synthesiser A synthesizer (also spelled synthesiser) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis and f ...
-driven single, "
Computer Games A personal computer game, also known as a PC game or computer game, is a type of video game played on a personal computer (PC) rather than a video game console or arcade machine. Its defining characteristics include: more diverse and user-deter ...
", which was co-written by Burns, Gilpin and Stanton. Note: User may have to click "Search again" and provide details at "Enter a title:" e.g. Computer Games; or at "Performer:" Mi-Sex It was released in Australia on 1 October 1979. Dawkins had first heard the track at the album launch, in July, he asked Stanton, "'Why didn't you play me "Computer Games" when we were doing the demos for the album?'. Kevin answered in the most succinct way possible, 'Because I hadn't written it yet!" The single went to No. 1 in Australia, made the top 5 in New Zealand; and reached the top 10 in Austria, Canada, France, Italy, South Africa and West Germany. In October 1979 Mi-Sex supported
Cheap Trick Cheap Trick is an American rock band from Rockford, Illinois, formed in 1973 by guitarist Rick Nielsen, bassist Tom Petersson, lead vocalist Robin Zander and drummer Bun E. Carlos. The current lineup of the band consists of Zander, Nielsen and ...
, ''The Canberra Times'' Jonathon Green caught their gig at
Bruce Stadium Canberra Stadium (GIO Stadium for commercial reasons) is a facility primarily used for rugby league and rugby union games, located adjacent to the Australian Institute of Sport in Canberra, the capital of Australia. It is the largest sports v ...
, "The New Zealanders played one of the best sets I have ever heard from them. It was crystal clear and as tight as could be in a live performance...
hey Hey or Hey! may refer to: Music * Hey (band), a Polish rock band Albums * ''Hey'' (Andreas Bourani album) or the title song (see below), 2014 * ''Hey!'' (Julio Iglesias album) or the title song, 1980 * ''Hey!'' (Jullie album) or the title s ...
managed to deliver an uncluttered sound which throbbed with energy and power." In the following month they appeared at the ''Concert of the Decade'' at the
Sydney Opera House The Sydney Opera House is a multi-venue performing arts centre in Sydney. Located on the foreshore of Sydney Harbour, it is widely regarded as one of the world's most famous and distinctive buildings and a masterpiece of 20th-century architec ...
– an edited hour of concert footage was broadcast by the
Nine Network The Nine Network (stylised 9Network, commonly known as Channel Nine or simply Nine) is an Australian commercial free-to-air television network. It is owned by parent company Nine Entertainment and is one of five main free-to-air television netw ...
under the same name and a double-LP was issued on
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 Mu ...
later that month. In January 1980, the band began recording their second album. In April and May 1980 they toured the United States and Canada for five weeks. ''
Space Race The Space Race was a 20th-century competition between two Cold War rivals, the United States and the Soviet Union, to achieve superior spaceflight capability. It had its origins in the ballistic missile-based nuclear arms race between the tw ...
'' was released in May 1980. In New Zealand it peaked at No. 1 and in Australia it reached No. 6. ''Space Race'' provided another top 10 single, "
People A person (plural, : people) is a being that has certain capacities or attributes such as reason, morality, consciousness or self-consciousness, and being a part of a culturally established form of social relations such as kinship, ownership of pr ...
", which reached No. 3 in New Zealand and No. 6 in Australia. The title track was the next single and peaked in the top 20 in New Zealand and top 30 in Australia. Although Mi-Sex toured Australia and New Zealand through 1981 – performing 366 gigs in that year – the group "found its popularity in slow decline." Burns told ''
The Australian Women's Weekly ''The Australian Women's Weekly'', sometimes known as simply ''The Weekly'', is an Australian monthly women's magazine published by Mercury Capital in Sydney. For many years it was the number one magazine in Australia before being outsold by ...
''s Susan Moore that "When we arrived new wave was very full-on and we had pretty much a street image. Then when we did ''Space Race'', which we felt was an extension of what we were doing, I guess some people didn't like the idea of a concept album ... we copped a lot of flack."


1981–1985: ''Shanghaied!'' and ''Where Do They Go?''

In 1981, it was announced that Yates was to expand his management stable to include
The Bushwackers The Bushwhackers are a professional wrestling tag team who competed first as the New Zealand Kiwis and then as The Sheepherders during their 36-year career as a tag team. They wrestled in the WWE, World Wrestling Federation, Jim Crockett Promoti ...
. Their third album, ''
Shanghaied! Shanghaied! is the third studio album by New Zealand New wave music, new wave band Mi-Sex, released in October 1981. The album peaked at number 28 on the Australian Kent Music Report. Reception Ian McFarlane described the album as "arguably th ...
'' (October 1981), was co-produced by the band's members, mostly by Burns and Stanton, together with
John L Sayers John L Sayers (d. 14 September 2021) was a New Zealand-born Australian recording engineer, producer and studio designer who engineered and/or produced many classic Australian rock and pop albums and singles from 1969 to the present. Sayers is o ...
and Dave Marett. McFarlane described it as "arguably the band's best album...
hich Ij ( fa, ايج, also Romanized as Īj; also known as Hich and Īch) is a village in Golabar Rural District, in the Central District of Ijrud County, Zanjan Province, Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also ...
failed to impress the record-buying public." Moore declared it "should bring the band back on an even keel. It's more down to earth and heart-felt." In November Hodgkinson was replaced on drums by Paul Dunningham (ex-Coup D'État). Late in 1982 Stanton temporarily left the band due to ill-health, he was replaced on guitar by Ted Yanni. After four months, Stanton returned and Yanni remained until he was replaced in turn by Colin Bayley (ex-Silent Movies) on guitar. The group continued as a six-piece. For their fourth album, '' Where Do They Go?'' (November 1983), they worked with US producer,
Bob Clearmountain Bob Clearmountain (born January 15, 1953) is an American recording engineer, mixer and record producer. He has worked with many major acts, including Bruce Springsteen, the Rolling Stones, Toto, Bon Jovi and Bryan Adams, with whom he has a very ...
. Nimmervoll described the group as "searching for more low key lyrical subjects and simpler music." Three singles were released from the album including "
Blue Day ''Blue Day'' is a compilation album by English shoegazing band Slowdive. It was released in 1992 on Creation Records and compiled the first three Slowdive EPs: ''Slowdive'' (missing the track "Avalyn II"), ''Morningrise'' (in its entirety), and ...
" which peaked within the top 40 in New Zealand and Australia in 1984. A greatest hits album was released in 1985, titled ''
'79-'85 79–'85 is the first greatest hits album by New Zealand New wave music, new wave band Mi-Sex, released in October 1985. The album included tracks from the band's four studio albums and some previously released non-album singles. A limited releas ...
''.


1986–2010: Hiatus

Mi-Sex took a hiatus from February 1986; Stanton moved to London in April to work with Fairlight and produce feature film sound tracks. Gilpin remained in Australia, working with his cover band
Under Rapz Under may refer to: * "Under" (Alex Hepburn song), 2013 * "Under" (Pleasure P song), 2009 *Bülent Ünder (born 1949), Turkish footballer *Cengiz Ünder (born 1997), Turkish footballer *Marie Under Marie Under ( – 25 September 1980) was one o ...
. In November 1991, while returning to his home after a gig, he was seriously injured in a major car accident, and lapsed into a coma from which he never recovered. He died in Southport Hospital on 6 January 1992. Ed Nimmervoll wrote in 2001: "Murray now lives outside of Byron Bay and continues with Twilight Productions and other projects in Sydney, Don is still financial controller for Bob and Pete's in Sydney, Kevin lives in Brisbane and runs his own company, Speaking Image Productions, a record label and video, film, multimedia and internet production consortium... and drummer, Paul, lives in New Zealand." 'Bob and Pete's' was a croissant business cofounded by Yates, though he was no longer associated with the organisation by this time. In 2008, Yates was prosecuted for sexual acts with a 15-year-old girl in Ringwood, Victoria.


2011–present: Reformation & ''Not from Here''

The band reunited for a fund-raising concert following the
2011 Christchurch earthquake A major earthquake occurred in Christchurch on Tuesday 22 February 2011 at 12:51 p.m. local time (23:51 UTC, 21 February). The () earthquake struck the entire of the Canterbury region in the South Island, centred south-east ...
, with former
Noiseworks Noiseworks are an Australian hard rock band formed in Sydney in 1986 with bass guitarist Steve Balbi, guitarist Stuart Fraser, drummer Kevin Nicol, keyboardist Justin Stanley and lead vocalist Jon Stevens. They had four Australian Top 10 al ...
bass player
Steve Balbi Stephen Vert Balbi (born 3 October 1964) is an Australian musician and record producer. He was the founding bass guitarist in pub rockers, Noiseworks in 1986 and formed a psychedelic pop group and production duo, Electric Hippies in 1993 with ...
on lead vocals. they were back in the studio working on new songs, 33 years since their last release. Stanton had been forced to sit out, having recently undergone serious surgery on his spine which rendered his entire left arm useless, but repairable with intricate neurosurgery. In February 2016, Mi-Sex announced the release of their first single in 33 years, titled "Somebody", followed by an
Extended play An extended play record, usually referred to as an EP, is a musical recording that contains more tracks than a single but fewer than an album or LP record.
featuring "Somebody" and three re-recorded tracks. "My Sex Your Sex", was released on 3 June 2016. Their first album since 1983's '' Where Do They Go?'', titled '' Not from Here'', was released on 9 September 2016. The album peaked at number 93 on the
ARIA Charts The ARIA Charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling songs and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA became the offici ...
. Don Martin battled cancer for some years, holding a 'living wake' in January 2020, and dying on 10 August of that year.


The "Culture" controversy

Mi-Sex gained publicity during 1980 due to then-Prime Minister of New Zealand,
Rob Muldoon Sir Robert David Muldoon (; 25 September 19215 August 1992) was a New Zealand politician who served as the 31st Prime Minister of New Zealand, from 1975 to 1984, while leader of the National Party. Serving as a corporal and sergeant in th ...
. His government had imposed a 40% sales duty on records, much to the objection of the New Zealand Arts Council, record retailers and record companies. On 21 April, Muldoon claimed that popular music was "not culture", stating that "The records sold in this country are not
Kiri Te Kanawa Dame Kiri Jeanette Claire Te Kanawa , (; born Claire Mary Teresa Rawstron, 6 March 1944) is a retired New Zealand opera singer. She had a full lyric soprano voice, which has been described as "mellow yet vibrant, warm, ample and unforced". Te ...
's, they are 50 to 1 those horrible pop groups and I'm not going to take the tax off them." p.237. Mi-Sex were due to start a major New Zealand tour five weeks later, and – sensing an opportunity for publicity – Kevin Stanton invited Muldoon to attend their Wellington concert during a radio interview in Hamilton, an invitation which Muldoon was urged to accept when quizzed by the opposition in parliament. The Prime Minister attended the concert along with his daughter (who reportedly loved the concert) and met with the band after their performance, but the sales tax remained. Muldoon was pleasant but Burns recalled seeing a newspaper article the next day in which he was quoted as saying that it was about as cultural as '' On the Mat'', which was a wrestling show of the time.


Awards and nominations


TV Week / Countdown Awards

''
Countdown A countdown is a sequence of backward counting to indicate the time remaining before an event is scheduled to occur. NASA commonly employs the terms "L-minus" and "T-minus" during the preparation for and anticipation of a rocket launch, and eve ...
'' was an Australian pop music TV series on national broadcaster ABC-TV from 1974–1987, it presented music awards from 1979–1987, initially in conjunction with magazine ''
TV Week ''TV Week'' is a weekly Australian magazine that provides television program listings information and highlights, as well as television-related news. Content ranges from previews for upcoming storylines of popular television programs, particu ...
''. The TV Week / Countdown Awards were a combination of popular-voted and peer-voted awards. At the 1979 awards, in April 1980, Mi-Sex received six nominations and won four. As the group were then touring the US and Canada, Dawkins collected the awards on the band's behalf. , - , rowspan="6" , 1979 , ''
Graffiti Crimes ''Graffiti Crimes'' was the debut studio album by New Zealand new wave music group Mi-Sex, released in July 1979. The album peaked at number six on the New Zealand albums chart and number 16 on the Australian Kent Music Report. the album was cert ...
'' , Best Australian Album , , - , Peter Dawkins for ''Graffiti Crimes'' by Mi-Sex , Best Australian Producer , , - , rowspan="2" , "
Computer Games A personal computer game, also known as a PC game or computer game, is a type of video game played on a personal computer (PC) rather than a video game console or arcade machine. Its defining characteristics include: more diverse and user-deter ...
" , Best Australian Single , , - , Most Popular Single , , - , rowspan="2" , Themselves , Best New Talent , , - , Most Popular Group , , -


Discography


Studio albums


Compilation albums


Extended plays


Singles


References


External links


Misex Official Website



AudioCulture profile
* {{Authority control APRA Award winners New Zealand new wave musical groups Musical groups established in 1978 Musical groups disestablished in 1986 New South Wales musical groups CBS Records artists