In Case You Were Wondering.........
To the best of my knowledge, these are the approximate whereabouts of some of the the bands mentioned on these pages, updated as information comes to hand....
Paul Fuemana
Easily the most asked about person found on these pages. After it ended Paul lived quietly on Auckland's North Shore, with his wife Kirstine, and his family. Tragically he passed away on January 31, 2010 after a short illness.
Hundreds of requests for new OMC tracks arrived every year, from every country you can think of. New Zealanders remain unaware of just how big he was around the world.
RIP my friend, and thank you for the music and the journey.
The Features in Wellington, 1980
Photo: Peter
The Features
Jed Town and James Pinker still make music. Jed went became Fetus Productions and now DJs and records, and is an audio-visual artist of some reputation in Auckland. He made several solo records as ICU, as well as performing with SPK. James Pinker was in Dead Can Dance and lived in London for years, and later, back in Auckland, was a member of Mesh. He is now an Arts Administrator in South Auckland.
Karel Van Bergen lives in Germany and Chris Orange was in Japan playing freeform jazz but is now based on Waiheke in Auckland's harbour. Jed has recently been playing again with Chris as The X-Features.
Jed's ambient soundscape DVDs for sale
A 2007 interview with Jed
The Spelling Mistakes
All four still live in Auckland and reformed for three sell-out gigs in the late nineties. Nigel Russell runs Oceania Audio and the Hanson brothers still actively record and are involved in other artistic ventures. Warwick Fowler (nee Hitler) lives in Auckland and can often be seen driving around the city, grinning as always.
There was a compile of all their work a couple of years back. Its for sale at Record Records.
The Marching Girls / The Scavengers
Johnny & Des live in Melbourne and are still playing music. After leaving Marching Girls, Ronnie, as Brendan Perry (his real name) was half of Dead Can Dance who were extraordinarily successful over six albums, released for 4AD. He lives in Ireland and has released his debut solo album and owns a studio. He has another due soon.
The Scavengers reformed in 2004 for 2 Auckland gigs, without Brendan, but featuring Dion from the D4, and a special guest appearance from Michael Simons (nee Mike Lesbian) who is successfully in the advertising business in Sydney.
Mike sang Mysterex for the first time (it was, notoriously, written about him when he left the band). They reformed again in 2008 for the Ak79 reunion.
Their 1978 demos were finaly released in 2002, as an album, on John Baker's Zerox label.
Brendan's site
The Scavengers' MySpace
Techtones, 1980.
Courtesy of Steve Roach
Techtones
Chris Burt & Steve Roach do film and TV sound (Steve for TV3 I think), Peter Solomon lives in Auckland and Jimmy Jurucevich was last heard of as an electrician in Melbourne. Steve plays in The Grifters.
The Screaming Meemees
Michael O'Neill and Peter Van Der Fluit both live in Auckland and still make music and run Liquid Audio in Grey Lynn. Mike is also a property owner of some substance. Peter and Mike wrote a rock opera in 2010, based around Romeo and Juliet. It premiered in London in June of this year. Tony Drumm is a sculptor in Auckland (and a qualified lawyer). Yoh lives in Byron Bay, NSW and is a landscape gardener. A reunion fell through a few years ago - which some might see as a relief!
Blam Blam Blam
Tim Mahon managed a band called Mar-v-elle who had several top 40 singles in NZ, and was a major mover in the rise of South Auckland's urban sounds in the mid nineties. He now sells Real Estate in Auckland. Mark Bell is a session guitarist of some repute, and journalist in Auckland.
Don McGlashan led The Muttonbirds for years, and does film and TV scores. He has released his several solo albums. They reformed in 2003 for a one off tour and again in 2007.
Tim Mahon's workpage
Don McGlashan's site
Trish 'Sissy Spunk' Scott, Suburban Reptiles, May 77. Photo Simon Grigg.
The Bongos
John Quigley plays in the Nairobi Trio in Auckland, Gill Civil is in Rotorua, and Phil Steel is a ski instructor in Japan. Simon Mark-Brown is a commercials director of some note in Auckland.
Simon Mark-Brown's Film Company
The Nairobi Trio
Tall Dwarfs
Chris Knox and Alec Bathgate still are. Chris suuffered a stroke in 2009 and has played sporadically since. Will Tall Dwarfs ever record again? Who knows.
A tribute album was released in late 2009 and can be bought from his site.
The Newmatics
Brent 'Sid' Pasley ran a tourist boating company in Auckland until 2009, and is now a Landscape Gardner to the stars, Mark Clare is an actor in Auckland (he was the one who dived off the bridge in the iconic lotto ad, and could be seen on TVNZ's Street Legal), Kelly Rogers co-owns The Rialto Cinema in Newmarket, Benny Staples was in The Woodentops and Lava Lava, he still DJs around Auckland and played as part of The Crackhead Experience.
Jeff Smith is a film director, computer programmer and designer. His 2011 film on Christchurch garage band, The Chants R&B, Rumble & Bang, was a hit at the NZ Film Festival. Chris Watts plays jazz professionally in Auckland. Simon Clarke where are you? Recently reformed, they had a sell-out gig in Auckland as a one off. Benny released a solo album in 2005.
Sid's Landscape Company
Rumble & Bang Trailer
No Tag
Karl Van Wetering is in West Auckland and designs and manufactures furniture & Mark Sullivan lives on Auckland's North Shore after many years in London. Andrew Boak lives in San Francisco where he ran the highly respected Imperial Dub label and his own Green label. Paul is an accountant and part time Feng Shui consultant in AK - true. They can also be found on Facebook.
They recentlly jammed together for the frst time in years.
Paul's Feng Shui School
No Tag on MySpace
The Dabs
Steve Thorpe, a great guy if there ever was one, sadly took his own life in the mid eighties. Geoff Hayden is in London, where he drives a black cab. Rowan lives in Sydney, works for a travel software company and plays country rock.
The Prime Movers
Chris Mathews was in The Headless Chickens, and Nick Crowther is believed to be in Melbourne, Australia
Prime Movers, Mainstreet, 1982. Photo unknown
Jam This Record
Was a one off from James Pinker, Alan Jansson, Dave Bulog, and myself.
SisterMatic
Basically the Newmatics plus Sina, the female vocalist on OMC's "How Bizarre" (aged 16). Sina found worldwide fame as "Sister Sina" in that song's lyrics but now lives happily in South Auckland with a family.
Suburban Reptiles filming Saturday Night Stay At Home video
The Suburban Reptiles
Buster was in the Swingers and The Models and now lives in Perth with his family where he is a successful graphic designer and involved with Children's Television, Zero (Clare) is in West Auckland with her family and makes puppets, Billy is a software programmer and analyst of international renown and spends his time between Auckland and London, Jimmy (Brett) teaches languages in Wellington, after years in Hong Kong; Trish and Tony are in Auckland.
Bones was in Midnight Oil for years but has now moved back to Auckland and splits his time between NZ and the US, and Shaun (Brian Nichols) was unfortunately killed in a traffic accident some years back.
Des Edwards must be out there somewhere?
Buster's MySpace
Bones Hillman
Proud Scum
John 'Atrocity' Jenkins is in South London somewhere; Alistair 'Rabbit' Duguid is successful in the NE US (in IT); Jonathan 'Jamrag' Griffiths is in Melbourne, writing and has a new book, linked below; and Bruce Hoffman is in Auckland where he runs an Fire Safety business.
Jonathan's MySpace
Jonathan's Book: The Road Behind
The Terrorays at the Globe.
Photographer unknown.
Terrorways
John 'No-One' Hunter is living in Sydney; Kerry Buchanan works at JB Hi-Fi in Auckland and is a writer and commentator of some reputation; Dean Martelli works with Michael O'Neill and Peter Van der Fluit (ex Screaming Meemees) at their Liquid Audio; Peter Hoffman is in Auckland and plays in a rockabilly band; Gary Hunt is a artistic metalworker who sells to the rich and famous amongst others.
Scavengers @ Zwines. Johnny Volume and Mike Lesbian
Masochists / Rednecks / Europe
Kev Grey, Jimmy Sex, Spike, and Tony all still live in West Auckland. Kev is married to Zero from The Suburban Reptiles. Spike & Tony are in a band, The Stop Go Men, with Tim from Blam Blam Blam.
Secret Agents
Keith lives in Nottingham and is a Systems Analyst. Sadly 'Tall' Tony Jakich died a few years back in the UK of an illness, and is missed.
The Dentists
Dean Buchanan became a painter of some reputation in New Zealand, as did Denys Watkins. Ross Townshend owns a screenprinting business in Auckland. William Giffiths is a jeweller in Melbourne.
William Griffths' site
Dean Buchanan
The Phantoms @ Zwines.
Photo unknown
Junk / The Phantoms
Frank Stark, today, heads the New Zealand Film Archive; Grant Dillon is an Alexander Techniquein in Auckland; Robbie Van de Lisdonk is a printer in Morningside, Auckland (and provided the photo above) and Iain Myers was last heard of as an accountant in Australia.
The Idle Idols
Paul Gibbs is an artist in London; Julie "Jamie Jetson" Curlette lives in Hamilton after years in London; and Sandra Jones lives with her family in West Auckland.
Penknife Glides
Penknife Glides
Stefan Morris is a graphic designer in Melbourne, Jules runs the Architecture IT Dept at Melbourne University, Steve lives in Auckland and Bangkok, and Cliff''s writing songs in Sydney. An album, gathering their tracks is available from their superb website.
The Ainsworths
Hillary Hunt is very successful in the finance world, Adam Holt is managing director of Universal Music NZ, and president of the Recording Industry Assoc of NZ.
others..
Harry 'Ratbag' Russell is in Auckland after twenty years in New York where he released three seminal and highly influential albums under the name Harry The Bastard ; Paul Robinson (Berlin) works for the Qantas magazine in Sydney; the Trezevant sisters (Aliens) both live in Auckland...Yvette, was in Dead Can Dance in the 1980s and is now an actor, and Giselle owns a catering business; Mike Allpress (City Slitz) owns Allpress Coffee, one of Australasia's biggest coffee companies; Mark McDonald (Brunetttes) is a practitioner of holitsic medicine in Sydney; Terry 'Towelling' Graham (Rebel Truce) is an artist in London; Eddie Olsen, drummer for The Instigators, later played in Coconut Rough and The Exponents and is now a freelance drummer in Manchester, UK.
Toy Love's site
The Enemy's MySpace
Toy Love's MySpace
Allpress Coffee
The Chills' MySpace
The Chills' Site
Simon Coffey's rather splendid poster and artwork archive
Terry Graham
Some of the photos on this site come from Anthony Phelps, who, as a newspaper photographer in the early 1980s, took hundreds of quite incredible shots. One day, like Murray Cammick, I hope he'll put a book or site covering those together. In the interim he can be found here.
as for the rest - sorry can't help you