October 2008
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This is a postcard-size reproduction of the large (A0) classroom poster prepared in the early 1990s by Axemen for use in NZ schools. Stevie was barely out of school himself when the band’s first few gigs took place in Dunedin in 1983, but when he moved into gainful employment later that year as a screenprinter,…
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When Bob left Christchurch to join Stu in Auckland in the late 80’s (by this time Stu was starting to fall apart) Steve decided he would join the french foreign legion. Being a long time advocate of gun proliferation and a big fan of french food, it seemed a good idea at the time. The…
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George Henderson’s move to Wellington was notable for many reasons, including the formation of the band THE SPIES, sharing Chris Plummer with the legendary Shoes This High. The full lineup of the Spies consisted of: George Henderson – Guitar, Voice, Organ Susan Ellis – Organ, Piano, Voice, Guitar Chris Plummer – Drums Richard Sedger –…
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What the hell happened here? Maybe there was a time before the Axemen existed, before there was a Steve, a Bob and a (holy) Stu but surely this is accepted as almost an irrelevance[1] as what was to come afterwards rendered any previous existence irrelevant. Of course the discovery of other life forms in future…
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There is no excerpt because this is a protected post.
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Man these guys are way out better than Ginsberg and Kerouac ever did these guys were on the road before the road was the road can you dig it? so, we pulled up 6:15AM at the diner and all i had was two quarters in my pocket The tank was on empty and me and…
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Steve, Bob and Stu were jogging round the band rotunda as usual on a chilly but glorious crisp Christchurch day, tossing around a genuine cowskin rugby ball red and black of course being the Canterbury colors, with a faded PineTree Meads signature on it indicating it had been around, dropping it to the foot on…
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Were it not for coffee wine’s emergence as an almost perfectly adapted medium for usage in the resonance containers used in large scale bubble chamber technology which eventually extrapolated out to the development of the Large Hadron Collider, the story of the Axemen’s role in Bubble Chamber technology could have remained relegated as a footnote…
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1 use no fuzz 2 no fuzz dub 3 the south dunedin sound 4 mick’s dancefloor 5 baby eater 6 last song marching orders Little Stevie McCabe, vocals & guitar Bob Brannigan, guitar & vocals M. S. Agro, bass Stu Kawowski, drums Recorded live in Cashmere, Christchurch at Scab Union Dave’s end-of-year party, December 1983…
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fellow travellers in spirit realms ARTHUR SHEEP saxophone M. S. AGRO bass BOB BRANNIGAN, STEVE McCABE guitars STU KOWALSKI drums, percussion recorded 10-12-83 at Steve’s, Christchurch (EARTHside) & FutureHabitatNOW, Antichristchurch (alterEarth side) cover design by Ron Nabbibang (Etherdom Free Skypilot) EARTHside the untouchables fred & barney looking for ms. brenda lee nice place (skin might…
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A memory of ‘The Tour Days’ It was the end of the seventies, the start of the eighties in fact, I remember just like it was yesterday, a frightened 15-year-old struggling into my clown costume to raise the spirits of my brothers and sisters in the struggle, too poor to afford a motorbike helmet so…
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By George D.Henderson http://blogs.myspace.com/georgedhenderson Reprinted by permission of the author First published Friday, February 02, 2007 The art and magick of The Perfect Strangers, Chch 1980-1982 If The Perfect Strangers were only the blues-jam outfit implied elsewhere, I’d not be writing this story. The thing is, that Bill Vosburgh and Mark Thomas were two songwriting…
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Several blocks north of Christchurch’s Cathedral Square (in itself a home for nutters, wizards, punks and winged rats), just before you reach Bealey Avenue, lies a rambling cacophony of flatlets and the home of quite a different variety of nutters, freaks and certified intelligentsia too. Probably a “Clifford flat” (most of those grand old mansions…
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Rubbing the crusty yellow crystals off his nose and stretching his arms out, Bob Brannigan awoke. Brushing off the gaggle of female admirers which had been trying to settle in his hair since last night, he wandered across the dancefloor of the Miners Bar and Grill (rarely more than half-full because of the confusing “NO…
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The design effectively simulates a chromic equivalent of the liver-crippling psychedelic effects experienced from guzzling one dose (500ml or 1 pint) of sweet, yeasty, speedy caffeine-infused Château de McCabe. Screen-printed at INK INC, sky blue on ƒluoro orange card c.1984. Click below to see the quasi-instructional film “Drink For The Heart, Heart For The Road”,…
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Before 1983 (known as ‘Year Zero‘ by Axemen devotees in a misguided homage to Pol Pot’s Khmer Rouge which The Axemen took years to dissociate themselves from [this stemmed from the unfortunately badly misquoted comment by Steve who, having been asked by a women’s Magazine what his favourite make-up was, proclaimed “I like the Estee…
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The long association of The Axemen with the buses of Otago probably began with their featuring role in Wilma McCorkindale’s seminal book on the subject, Otago Road Services Ltd – A Brief History. While researching the book McCorkindale became fascinated (some would say obsessed) with these ‘frequent flyers’ and would chat with them for virtually…
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aka Return to the Planet of “A Scar Is Born” Map 2a: Axemen in Christchurch, Jan-Aug 1984 By January 1984, McCabe and Brannigan share a house in Peterborough St, inner-city Christchurch, with Steve’s then-girlfriend Virg, her sister Bernie, and Lisa Preston. Notice how said house is positioned: almost on a straight line almost equidistant from…
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Map 1 here shows the whereabouts of various members of the Axemen in the first few months of the band’s existence. PHOTO-ESSAY: A LITTLE BIT OF YESTERDAY South Dunedin – home of the South Dunedin Sound. Maureen of the Empire Tavern about to burn life-size effigy of Little Stevie McCabe. <– South Dunedin | Starliners…
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purple haze third stone from the sun steve mccabe, dragan stojanovic – guitars; bob brannigan – bass; stu kowalski – drums purple haze recorded live at the rising sun, auckland, june 1989 third stone from the sun recorded live at siren, auckland, 18-6-89 foxy lady steve mccabe, bob brannigan – guitars; m. s. agro –…
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