V/A - Class Of 81

"The Class Of 81 is a collection of the vast numbers of new and unrecorded bands around New Zealand, and Auckland in particular, at the end of 1980. The bands themselves were inspired by the anyone-can-do it attitude that the punk and post punk global revolution had encouraged. By the end of 1980 there were hundreds of young bands playing gigs all over the country, and, in particular, every garage on Auckland's North Shore seemed to be home to an aspiring bunch of pop stars. The album as such held together fairly well, partially because there was a definite generic New Zealand sound developing, a sound not a long way removed from what, a few years later, became known as the Flying Nun sound. There was an angular quirky feel, almost jangly, to much of this. But unlike the Nun sound, the Auckland bands had a slightly more dubby, a looser & funkier feel. The album, despite plans and a steady stream of requests over the years, has never made it to CD. Regardless of that, Class Of 81 has attained a rather legendary status now as an album that clearly defined its era in New Zealand, and in particular, Auckland, Rock & Roll." (Simon Grigg)

1.Danger Man - THE AINSWORTHS

2.Dance - BOMBERS

3.Five Miseries - THE NEWMATICS

4.The Man Inside - REBEL TRUCE

5.I'm Normal - THE KILLJOYS

6.The Day Has Ended - THE MODERNS

7.All Dressed Up - SCREAMING MEE MEES

8.Oh Yeah Queee Baby - YOUTH FOR A PRICE

9.Motivation - BLAM BLAM BLAM

10.Carousel - RHYTHM METHOD

11.New Way - THE NEWTONES

12.Let's Go To Australia - VIVID MILITIA

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