Biography
New Zealand / Auckland Post-Punk band from the 80's...
The four original members of the band (minus Adam) formed the nucleus of the group in June 1983 and were all keen to promote their individual style of music - their enthusiasm contributed greatly toward the rapid mastering of their instruments. The initial months following their formation were taken up with frequent practice, concentrating on original songs composed by Paul Cairns, who also played lead guitar for the group until Adam Holt's recruitment.
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Holt brought with him valuable experience gained from playing in bands such as the Milltown Stowaways, the Ainsworths and the Screaming Mee Mees, and had been part of the now famous "North Shore Set" of musicians formed four years earlier.
Adam's fresh new guitar sound contributed a raw energy to the original material for which the band was already renown. 'Sons in Jeopardy's' first live performances occured at such venues as De Bretts tavern, The Windsor Castle, The P.R Bar, Mainstreet, The Mon Desir and the Gluepot - hotels in the Auckland area - and the band was very much encouraged by the positive reactions of their audiences.
They soon acquired a local following and favourable reviews began appearing in such noteable publications as Rip It Up, Auckland's Alter-Native Magazine and the Auckland Star.
In August 1983 the band went into a recording studio for the first time. The end product of these 3 solid nights at Harlequin was the single "Ritual", with B-side "Worlds Apart".
The record was engineerd by Gerald Carr and produced by Don Tennet the band's manager.
Both sides of the demo track received considerable air play, particularly over the sound waves of Radio B, Auckland University's campus radio station.
Both of these songs were modified when played to live audiences so as to enhance their danceability and general audience accessibility.
During their time the band purchased a new synthesiser which then contributed to public comparisons of them to groups such as 'Comsat Angels' and 'U2'.
One of the most noteable features of the band apart from their obvious musical appeal is their strikingly immediate visual impact. For example, a photograph of the group published in an edition of RIU magazine prompted the controllers of the orientation program for Otago University for 1984 to contact the band with an invitation to participate in the orientation gigs planned for the University in February of that year. Several members of the band were also asked to appear in Auckland's fashion magazine "Cha Cha" as part of the "Street life" section featuring the styles / fashions adopted by some of Auckland's interesting musical population.
Biography text from Last.fm, available under CC BY-SA.