The Androidss - Approximate
time period - 1979 - 1983.
The Androidss were world famous in Christchurch. This
band was very important on the local scene for it's
melodic post punk Rock/Pop sound, a la Television.
They were a regular performing outfit at the Gladstone.
They reportedly had a large set of wonderful tunes, most
unfortunately lost to history save the Accident
Compilation track Mr Fish,
taken from a live recording of a Gladstone performance
and a double A-side single "Auckland Tonight /
Getting Jumpy" on Ripper Records (Rip020).
The bands line-up was:
Frankie Steentjes - Bass
Mark Wilson - Vocals Guitar (Belle Motions, Basket Cases)
Neil Spence - Guitar
Mark Spence - Keyboards
Eric Marsden - Drums
Steve Marsden - Guitar and Vocals
Eric and Steve were twins, Neil and Mark were brothers. The
band had some strange aura associated with them, a couple
of the band had done time in jail and there
was this drug connotation that connected itself to
their gigs, but not necessarily their music. Undeniably
the band produced some standalone great music, pure
guitar pop.
Bassist Frankie went on to work with Rex
Visible in Not Really Anything.
I never saw the Androidss perform live and never actually
met any of the band members directly, so the band is
a bit of an enigma to me, just their reputation and their
music left to impress me. One band I really wish I'd
caught live.
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