The Expendables were a 1980s band based in

Christchurch Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon Rive ...

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 ...

. Fronted by singer-songwriter/guitarist Jay Clarkson, the band grew out of her former bands,

They Were Expendable ''They Were Expendable'' is a 1945 American war film directed by John Ford, starring Robert Montgomery and John Wayne, and featuring Donna Reed. The film is based on the 1942 novel of the same name by William Lindsay White, relating the story ...

and The Playthings, and released a single and album in 1984 on the

Flying Nun ''The Flying Nun'' is an American sitcom about a community of nuns which included one who could fly when the wind caught her cornette. It was produced by Screen Gems for ABC based on the 1965 book '' The Fifteenth Pelican,'' written by Tere ...

label. Clarkson was joined in The Expendables by Michael Kime (bass) and Robert Key (drums). Key was replaced by Chris Matthews in 1985, and Anthony Nevison was added as an extra guitarist, though the band did not survive beyond the end of that year. In 1986, Clarkson formed a new band, The Breathing Cage, a band which also included Kime, as well as Graeme Jefferies, Maria Chiaroni, and Gary Sullivan. p. 291

References

*Davey, T. & Puschmann, H. (1996) ''Kiwi rock.'' Dunedin: Kiwi Rock Publications. Flying Nun Records artists Musical groups from Christchurch {{NewZealand-band-stub