The Front Lawn 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 ...

musical/theatrical duo founded by

Don McGlashan Donald McGlashan (born 18 July 1959) is a New Zealand composer, singer and multi-instrumentalist who Is best known for membership in the bands Blam Blam Blam, The Front Lawn, and The Mutton Birds, before going solo. He has also composed for ci ...

and

Harry Sinclair Harry Alan Sinclair (born 1959) is a New Zealand film director, writer and actor. In his early career he was an actor and member of The Front Lawn, a musical theater duo. He went on to write and direct several short films, a TV series and thr ...

in 1985. In 1989 and 1990, they were joined by actor

Jennifer Ward-Lealand ' Jennifer Cecily Ward-Lealand (born 8 November 1962) is a New Zealand theatre and film actor, director, teacher and intimacy coordinator. She has worked for 40 years, appearing in over 120 theatre performances: Greek, Shakespeare, drama, come ...

. The Front Lawn were known for their live performances, and toured extensively in New Zealand, Australia, Europe and America. They released two albums and made three short films.

went on to form New Zealand band

The Mutton Birds The Mutton Birds were a New Zealand rock music group formed in Auckland in 1991 by Ross Burge, David Long and Don McGlashan, with Alan Gregg joining a year later. Four of their albums reached the top 10 on the New Zealand Albums Char ...

, and had a successful solo career.

has written and directed television and feature films, including ''

Topless Women Talk About Their Lives ''Topless Women Talk About Their Lives'' is a 1997 New Zealand film about a group of twenty something friends. It was based on a TV series.The Price of Milk ''The Price of Milk'' is a 2000 New Zealand romantic fantasy film. It was directed by New Zealand actor and director Harry Sinclair. Plot In rural New Zealand, a farmer, Rob (Karl Urban), gets engaged to his love, Lucinda (Danielle Cormack ...

'', ''

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 reborn '' 90210''.

Performance

The Front Lawn toured Europe, America, Australia and New Zealand with a series of live shows including ''Songs and Stories from The Front Lawn'', ''The Reason for Breakfast'', ''The Washing Machine'', ''The Story of Robert'' and "The One That Got Away". They performed at the

Edinburgh Festival __NOTOC__ This is a list of arts and cultural festivals regularly taking place in Edinburgh, Scotland. The city has become known for its festivals since the establishment in 1947 of the Edinburgh International Festival and the Edinburgh Fe ...

, in 1988 and 1989, winning

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newspaper's theatre award for the festival in 1988, and in both years were included in the "Pick of the Fringe" season at London's

Donmar Warehouse The Donmar Warehouse is a 251-seat, not-for-profit theatre in Covent Garden, London, England. It first opened on 18 July 1977. Sam Mendes, Michael Grandage and Josie Rourke have all served as artistic director, a post held since 2019 by Mi ...

Music

The Front Lawn released two albums – Songs From The Front Lawn (1989) and ''More Songs from the Front Lawn'' (1993). They also had two singles in the New Zealand top 50 – "When You Come Back Home" (#49) and "The Beautiful Things" (#22). Their song "Andy" was voted as number 82 in the APRA Top 100 New Zealand Songs of All Time list. The group won three

New Zealand Music Awards The Aotearoa Music Awards (previously called the New Zealand Music Awards), conferred annually by Recorded Music NZ, honour outstanding artistic and technical achievements in the recording industry. The awards are among the most significant that ...

in 1989: Most Promising Group, Best Film Soundtrack/Compilation and International Achievement.

Short films

*''Walkshort'' (1987) *''The Lounge Bar'' (1988) *''Linda's Body'' (1990) Sinclair and McGlashan made several short films: ''Walk Short'' (in which between them, they played every character on screen), ''The Lounge Bar'' (which was featured in North America's First Annual International Festival of Short Films as one of the "world's best live-action shorts"), and ''Linda's Body'' (which won Best Short Film at the New Zealand Film Awards). Of their three short films, two – "Walk Short" and "The Lounge Bar" – were screened by

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a fourth television service ...

in the UK, and "The Lounge Bar" was a finalist in the 1989 American Film Festival.

Discography

Albums

Singles

Music videos

The Front Lawn produced music videos for their singles "When You Come Back Home" (1989) and "The Beautiful Things" (1993). In 1991, the Front Lawn was one of three artists given $5000 in the pilot scheme for

NZ On Air NZ On Air (NZOA; mi, Irirangi te Motu), formally the Broadcasting Commission, is an autonomous Crown entity and commission of the New Zealand Government responsible for funding support for broadcasting and creative works. The commission oper ...

's music video funding. This was for the production of "The Beautiful Things" video. Directed by Fane Flaws, the clip was nominated for Best Video at the 1994 New Zealand Music Awards and was the overall winner at the 1993 New Zealand Music Video Awards.

Awards

, - , 1989 , "Songs from The Front Lawn" ,

– Album of the Year , , - , 1989 , The Front Lawn ,

– Most Promising Group , , - , 1989 , The Front Lawn ,

– International Achievement , , - , 1989 , "Songs from The Front Lawn" ,

– Best Film Soundtrack/Compilation , , - , 1990 , ''Linda's Body'' (Harry Sinclair, The Front Lawn) ,

New Zealand Film Awards New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, ...

– Best Short Film , , - , 1993 , Fane Flaws "The Beautiful Things" , NZ Music Video Awards – Overall Winner , , - , 1994 , Fane Flaws "The Beautiful Things" ,

– Best Video , , -

References

External links

* * *
Walkshort video (NZ On Screen)

The Lounge Bar video (NZ On Screen)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Front Lawn Musical groups from Auckland New Zealand pop music groups Musical groups established in 1985 Musical groups disestablished in 1993