RECORD TURNOVER 80s HITS #66
The Gordons was one of New Zealand’s first post-punk groups, led by Alistair Parker and John Halvorsen. They released their music themselves, like their debut EP Future Shock that sounded a lot like Warsaw. There’s a video online of “Adults and Children” from that record. Strangely enough, they still hadn’t been signed by Flying Nun when their self-titled LP came out the following year. Despite having plenty of similarities to the more punk bands on the label, like Bored Games e.g., it wasn’t until 1988 that Flying Nun picked up on the Sonic Youth-style post-punk of The Gordons with a reissue of the first album.
Both Parker and Halvorsen eventually left the band, who released one more album. Halvorsen joined The Skeptics and Parker formed Bailter Space together with Hamish Kilgour. However, Bailter Space eventually ended up with the same trio line-up as the original Gordons. While the second Gordons album still hasn’t been reissued, Oakland reissue label 1972 just released a LP + 7″ EP package of The Gordons and Future Shock.
