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155:, "charged with the new punk movement that flourished there. He assembled a troupe of 'actors' and they rehearsed a series of theatre/music pieces revolving around his poetry and showmanship. They called themselves The Plague." They wore unusual costumes and performed satires on bureaucracy, cancer and necrophilia. One of the members was guitarist
240:), dressed in a 'penguin suit' and to stand on stage while people wearing only a coat of paint (assorted colours) would jump around him. Don McGlashan said of von Sturmer, "Richard was a really prolific writer – and still is." They used material from Inside Information; songs such as "Frank Gill's An Idiot" and "Private Property".
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The Plague reformed with its original lineup (apart from the drummer) to play at Neck of the Woods in
Auckland on 22 April 2021. The performance launched a 12" album featuring four studio tracks and four live tracks all recorded in 1979 and a 7" single with two tracks recorded in 2020.
236:'s Musical Chairs in April 1998, "It was a really vicious noise, but it was really fun, fun to be part of." He played with The Plague a few times, coming straight from playing French horn in the Symphonia of Auckland (now the
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at the State
Theatre on Symonds Street in Auckland. Von Sturmer and his backing vocalists, the Snoids, appeared naked apart from a covering of paint. Their most famous performance was in front of an audience of 30,000 at
171:, who joined in 1978. Mahon wanted to improve the group's musical ability to match the theatrics and presentation, and recruited a trio who had played together at Westlake Boys High School, consisting of
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By late 1979 von
Sturmer and the Snoids left the band and the other four musicians became the Whizz Kids. Von Sturmer went on to a career in writing and film-making.
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Ian Gilroy then left the Whizz Kids to play with The
Crocodiles, and then The Swingers. Andrew Snoid left to front
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EP. Von
Sturmer went on to a career in writing and film-making and other members went on to play in bands such as
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In 1979 they recorded at
Harlequin Studios in Mt Eden Road in Auckland. Four tracks were later released as the
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on guitar (Whizz Kids, Blam Blam Blam, Coconut Rough, Scribble), Ian Gilroy on drums (Whizz Kids, Crocodiles,
17:
191:, NZ Pop, The Zoo). With two guitarists and no bass guitar player, Mahon learned to play bass guitar.
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theatrical punk/art rock band that was active from 1977 to 1979, and was led by
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Music
Festival in January 1979, again in body paint; as related in the novel
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EP: "Seven Day Plan", "Kiwi Keith", "Mystery No
Mystery" and "Voodoo T.V."
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This article is about the New
Zealand band. For the American band, see
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The mechanics of popular music : a New
Zealand perspective
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Images from the Center – Daily Life at an American Zen Center
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Music Festival in 1979 and they recorded four tracks for the
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Music Festival 1979; Richard von Sturmer in blue body paint
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Stranded in paradise: New Zealand rock'n'roll 1955–1988.
151:
In 1977 Aucklander Richard von Sturmer returned from
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183:, on keyboards and backing vocals (Whizz Kids,
439:Sorrentino, Joseph & Von Sturmer, Richard
498:. Wellington: GP Publications. pp. 6–7.
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115:. Their most famous performance was at the
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654:"'Inside Information,' 'The Plague'"
525:Wellington: Paradise Publications.
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447:Rochester Zen Center Publications
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551:The Swingers: Counting The Beat
416:A Network of Dissolving Threads
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238:Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra
700:"Back in time with The Plague"
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314:Nambassa Festival Trust with
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367:Sweetwaters rock festival
198:The Plague performing at
169:Westlake Boys High School
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494:; Chunn, Jeremy (1995).
652:McGlashan, Don (1998).
606:. London: Blackfriars.
598:Zander, Bianca (2015).
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346:Television New Zealand
312:Festival (New Zealand)
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412:Von Sturmer, Richard
385:Von Sturmer, Richard
343:: Sweetwaters Special
290:Andrew McLennan, aka
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389:We Xerox Your Zebras
378:Related publications
702:. Radio New Zealand
341:Radio With Pictures
268:Richard von Sturmer
113:Richard von Sturmer
79:Richard von Sturmer
579:. Propeller Lamont
351:(11 March 1980) –
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628:"Infectious – EP"
577:simongriggdotinfo
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704:. Retrieved
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682:. Retrieved
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675:"The Plague"
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635:. Retrieved
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547:"Ian Gilroy"
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370:Film Archive
326:Film Archive
292:Andrew Snoid
262:Band members
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248:Pop Mechanix
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189:The Swingers
181:Andrew Snoid
177:The Swingers
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141:Pop Mechanix
133:The Swingers
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97:Andrew Snoid
74:Past members
60:Years active
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659:18 November
637:18 November
492:Chunn, Mike
363:Dylan Taite
323:Philip Howe
298:Other media
109:New Zealand
43:New Zealand
684:30 October
583:30 October
556:30 October
505:1869561309
468:References
334:Television
287:Ian Gilroy
224:Infectious
121:Infectious
105:The Plague
94:Ian Gilroy
29:The Plague
679:Amplifier
632:Amplifier
339:(1980) –
308:(1980) –
283:Mark Bell
278:Tim Mahon
173:Mark Bell
157:Tim Mahon
91:Mark Bell
87:Tim Mahon
64:1977–1979
721:Category
533:. p. 230
353:Video DV
310:Nambassa
213:Nambassa
200:Nambassa
117:Nambassa
39:Auckland
153:England
147:History
706:11 May
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107:was a
49:Genres
35:Origin
461:1991
434:1991
407:1988
708:2021
686:2015
661:2015
639:2015
608:ISBN
585:2015
558:2015
527:ISBN
500:ISBN
452:ISBN
425:ISBN
398:ISBN
303:Film
139:and
53:Rock
357:TV2
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538:^
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