Stunt Clown

1988 studio album by Headless Chickens

Stunt Clown

Studio album by

Headless Chickens

Released

1988

Recorded

September 1985 – February 1988

Studio

Mandrill, Auckland

Genre

Alternative rock

Label

Flying Nun

Producer

Rex Vizible
Roland Morris
Headless Chickens
Mark Tierney

Headless Chickens chronology

Headless Chickens
(1986)

Stunt Clown
(1988)

Body Blow
(1991)

Singles from Stunt Clown

"Expecting to Fly"
Released: 1988
"Soulcatcher"
Released: 1988

Stunt Clown is the debut full-length studio album by the New Zealand rock band Headless Chickens. The album, released in 1988 through Flying Nun Records, peaked at number 18 in the New Zealand charts.^[1]^[2]^[3]^[4]^[5]^[6] Primarily produced by Rex Vizible and Roland Morris as well as the Headless Chickens themselves, Strawpeople member Mark Tierney also served production duties on the album's bonus tracks.^[3]^[5] It was reissued in 1995, affixed with the tracks featured in the band's 1986 EP that had previously been included in some international releases of Stunt Clown.^[4]

Background and development

In 1986, the Headless Chickens (as Chris Matthews, Johnny Pierce, and Michael Lawry) released their self-titled debut EP, consisting of seven songs.^[1] Tragically, Pierce committed suicide shortly afterwards. This resulted in Grant Fell joining the band as the replacement bassist. Around the same time, Rupert E. Taylor and Bevan Sweeney also became part of the band, Taylor as a second vocalist and Sweeney as a drummer. This new line up controversially won the 1987 Rheineck Rock Award, a music award to help develop the careers of upcoming artists.^[1]^[3] The cause of the controversy was the band's sound being considered too alternative and therefore unprofitable; one journalist writing for Metro magazine wrote that awarding the prize to the Headless Chickens "showed a severe lack of judgement."^[3]

Nonetheless, the band continued their ventures. Stunt Clown (excluding the bonus tracks) was recorded at Mandrill Studios in Auckland in January and February 1988 with the assistance of the Rheineck Rock Award prize money.^[1]^[3]^[5] However, there were numerous issues with the development of the album; one of the most major was it going $7,000 over budget, leaving the band members in large amounts of debt.^[1]^[3] There were also technological issues and conflicts between personnel, including the engineer at Mandrill refusing to communicate with producer Rex Vizible.^[3]

Singles

The first two tracks of the album, "Expecting To Fly" and "Soulcatcher," were released as singles in 1988.^[1]^[3]^[7]^[8] The album tracks "Do The Headless Chickens" and "Donka" were featured as B-sides.^[7]^[8] Despite Stunt Clown reaching the top 20 of the New Zealand charts, neither of the singles charted.

Accolades

In April 2018, three decades after its release, Stunt Clown received the Classic Record Award at the Taite Music Prize.^[1]^[2] Media commentator Russell Brown, who presented the award, described the album as "an ambitious, strikingly varied work" and that "the Taite judges got it right when they chose [Stunt Clown] to honour."^[2]

Track listing

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Expecting to Fly"	Chris Matthews	4:43
2.	"Soulcatcher"	Matthews	5:20
3.	"Frank"	Matthews	2:11
4.	"Do the Headless Chicken"	Matthews	6:52
5.	"Fish Song"	Rupert E. Taylor	2:58
6.	"Donka"	Matthews Johnny Pierce Michael Lawry	5:00
7.	"Run, Sheep Run"	Matthews	4:05
8.	"White Out"	Matthews Grant Fell Lawry	4:24
9.	"Untitled"	Matthews	2:11
10.	"Cyclic"	Matthews Pierce Lawry	2:48
11.	"Star at Night"	Bevan Sweeney Matthews Fell Lawry	4:03
Total length:			44:35

Europe and 1995 reissue bonus tracks (from 1986 *Headless Chickens* EP)
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
12.	"Monkey Jar"	Matthews	5:31
13.	"Axe"	Pierce	2:09
14.	"Slice"	Matthews Pierce Lawry	3:36
15.	"Hedge Song"	Matthews	3:23
16.	"Totaling Dad's Car"	Matthews	1:48
17.	"Agitopop"	Matthews	0:43
18.	"Ghost of Some Cold Street"	Matthews Pierce Lawry	7:27
Total length:			69:12

Europe bonus track
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
19.	"King in Me"	Pierce

Sources: Spotify^[4] and CD liner.^[5]

Personnel

Rex Vizible – production, cello (track 6), clarinet (tracks 5, 11), backing vocals
Roland Morris – production, engineering
Jac Dwyer – cover art
Chris Matthews – vocals, guitars, emulator, percussion, drum programmes, cello, minimoog, piano
Michael Lawry – guitars, emulator, minimoog, sequencing, drum programmes, tapes, backing vocals
Rupert E. Taylor – vocals, acoustic guitar (track 5)

Grant Fell – bass guitar, backing vocals
Pip Anderton – cello (track 5), violin (track 5)
Peter Hanneveldt – piano accordion (track 3)
Peter Moerenhout – percussion (track 5)
Roland Morris – drum programmes, sequencing
Mark Tierney – engineering, production
Johnny Pierce – bass, vocals (track 13)

Source: CD liner.^[5]

Charts

Chart (1988)	Peak position
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)^[6]	18

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g Russell Brown. "Headless Chickens Profile". Audioculture. Retrieved 28 February 2021.
^ ^a ^b ^c "Headless Chickens' 'Stunt Clown' Wins Taite Indie Prize". Scoop. 23 March 2018. Retrieved 28 February 2021.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h "'Intense, extreme and mesmerising': An oral history of the Headless Chickens' Stunt Clown". The Spinoff. 17 April 2018. Retrieved 1 March 2021.
^ ^a ^b ^c Stunt Clown - Album by Headless Chickens. Spotify. Retrieved 28 February 2021.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Stunt Clown (CD liner). Headless Chickens. UK & Europe: Flying Nun Records. 1988. FNE 24 CD.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link) Retrieved 1 March 2021 at Discogs.
^ ^a ^b "Charts.nz – Headless Chickens – Stunt Clown". Hung Medien. Retrieved 28 February 2021.
^ ^a ^b "Headless Chickens – Expecting To Fly (1988, Vinyl)". Discogs. Retrieved 28 February 2021.
^ ^a ^b "Headless Chickens – Soulcatcher (1988, Vinyl)". Discogs. Retrieved 28 February 2021.