The Mutton Birds

The Mutton Birds was a New Zealand rock music group formed in Auckland in 1991 by Ross Burge, David Long and Don McGlashan, with Alan Gregg joining a year later. Four of their albums reached the top 10 on the New Zealand Albums Chart, The Mutton Birds (1992), Salty (1994), Envy of Angels (1996) and Rain, Steam and Speed (1999). They had a number-one hit with "The Heater" (1994), while their other top 10 singles are a cover version, "Nature" (1992), and an original, "Anchor Me" (1994). From 1996 to 2000 the group were based in England, they returned to New Zealand and then disbanded in 2002.

For other uses, see Muttonbird (disambiguation).

The Mutton Birds
OriginAuckland, New Zealand
GenresRock
Years active1991 (1991)–2002 (2002), 2012
Labels
Past members

History

David Long on guitars and Don McGlashan on lead vocals and bass guitar formed the Mutton Birds in Auckland as a three-piece rock group in early 1991.[1][2] For their first live performance, on Saint Patrick's Day, they used an interim drummer who was soon replaced by Ross Burge.[1] McGlashan had been a member of Blam Blam Blam (1982, 1984) and the Front Lawn (1985–1993), Long had played in the Six Volts and appeared on the Front Lawn's albums.[1] Burge had been a member of the Spines and Sneaky Feelings, and early on, he was drumming both for Dribbling Darts (1989–1993) and the Mutton Birds. The three-piece band gained Alan Gregg on bass guitar, also from Dribbling Darts, in the following year.[1]

As a four-piece they recorded their first self-titled album.[1] It peaked at No. 2 on the New Zealand Albums Chart in September 1992,[3] and was certified platinum in New Zealand.[1] It was in the top 50 for 52 non-consecutive weeks.[3] They gained notice outside college radio for their cover version of "Nature" (August 1992), which reached No. 4 on the related singles chart.[3] The original was recorded by the Fourmyula in 1969 (written by keyboardist Wayne Mason), and in 2001 was voted as New Zealand's greatest song of the previous 75 years.[4]

They signed with EMI Australia, which financed their second studio album, Salty (April 1994).[1][2] This was self-produced and mixed by American producer-engineer Tchad Blake (Elvis Costello, Tom Waits, Crowded House).[1] It reached No. 3 and was certified platinum in New Zealand.[1][3] Salty provided a number-one hit single, "The Heater", in April, and top 10 position for "Anchor Me" (October).[3] McGlashan won an APRA Silver Scroll song writing award for the latter hit.[1][5] Their next album, Nature (September 1995), was a compilation of tracks selected from their first two albums with additional production by Neil Finn (of Crowded House), via Virgin Records for the United Kingdom market.[1][2]

Their third studio album, Envy of Angels, was recorded in Wales and released in November 1996, with Hugh Jones producing (the Bluetones, Dodgy, Echo and the Bunnymen).[1][2] It peaked at No. 4 in New Zealand.[3] The band moved to London where they remained until 2000.[2] During 1996 the Mutton Birds contributed a cover version of Blue Öyster Cult's 1976 single, "(Don't Fear) The Reaper", to the soundtrack of Peter Jackson's film The Frighteners.[1] Their version reached the ARIA Singles Chart top 50 early in the following year.[1][6] By that time Long had already returned to New Zealand and he was replaced on guitar by New Zealand-born, British-based Chris Sheehan (of the Starlings).[1]

In 1997 the band played concerts in Canada as part of the Another Roadside Attraction festival tour.[7] They established their own label, Gravy Train Records, and issued two limited-release albums, Angle of Entry (an acoustic live album) in late 1997 and Too Hard Basket (subtitled B-sides and Bastards, a compilation of contained rarities) in 1998.[1] In mid-1998 Gregg left and was replaced by English-born Tony Fisher on bass guitar and keyboards.[1] The group's fourth studio album, Rain, Steam and Speed (February 1999), appeared on shhh! Records.[1][2] Another live album, Live in Manchester, was issued before their 2000 UK tour, during which their line-up was augmented by ex-Garageland guitarist, Andrew Claridge.

For the New Zealand and Australian tour in October-November 1999, Burge's former band mate Matthew Bannister (Sneaky Feelings, Dribbling Darts) was added to the line-up. The group returned to New Zealand in 2000. A greatest hits compilation, Flock, was released in 2002 but they disbanded by mid-year. In 2012 the Mutton Birds temporarily reunited with the line-up of Burge, Gregg, Long and McGlashan, to play at New Zealand wineries in February and early March.[8] Another live album from that tour, Free Range: The Mutton Birds Live 2012, was issued in November.[9]

Discography

Albums
Year Title Details Peak chart
positions
NZ UK
1992 The Mutton Birds
  • Label: Bag Records (EMI)
  • Catalogue: 8282612
 2 —
1994 Salty 3 —
1995 Nature — —
1996 Envy of Angels
  • Label: EMI
  • Catalogue: 8425842
 4 64
1997 Angle of Entry
  • Label: Gravy Train Records
  • Catalogue: GRAVY CD1
 — —
Too Hard Basket
  • Label:
  • Catalogue: GRAVY CD2
 — —
1999 Rain, Steam and Speed 10 —
2000 Live in Manchester
  • Label: Shhh! Records
 — —
2002 Flock: The Best of the Mutton Birds 30 —
2012 Free Range: The Mutton Birds Live 2012
  • Label: RNZ
 — —

The group have appeared on many compilation albums since their inception in New Zealand. The following list of albums have featured tracks by the Mutton Birds.

Singles
Year Title Peak chart positions Album
NZ
1992 "Dominion Road" 31 The Mutton Birds
"Nature" 4
"Giant Friend" 20
1993 "Your Window" 19
1994 "The Heater" 1 Salty
"In My Room" 14
"Ngaire" 19
"Anchor Me" 10
1996 "She's Been Talking" 19 Envy of Angels
1997 "Come Around" 35
"April" —
"(Don't Fear) The Reaper" — The Frighteners soundtrack
1999 "Pulled Along By Love" — Rain, Steam, and Speed
"—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released in that country.

References
  1. Nimmervoll, Ed. "The Mutton Birds". Howlspace. White Room Electronic Publishing. Archived from the original on 22 March 2012. Retrieved 23 December 2020 – via National Library of Australia.
  2. Colin Larkin, ed. (2000). The Virgin Encyclopedia of Nineties Music (First ed.). Virgin Books. p. 278. ISBN 0-7535-0427-8.
  3. Hung, Steffen. "Discography The Mutton Birds". New Zealand Charts Portal (Hung Medien). Retrieved 23 December 2020.
  4. "Wayne Mason and the song 'Nature'". New Zealand Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Retrieved 23 December 2020.
  5. "Silver Scroll Award". APRA. Archived from the original on 29 October 2013. Retrieved 23 December 2020.
  6. Hung, Steffen. "The Mutton Birds – 'Don't Fear the Reaper". Australian Charts Portal (Hung Medien). Retrieved 23 December 2020.
  7. "Forget h.o.r.d.e., Lilith Fair and Lollapalooza, Another Roadside Attraction is the best touring festival on the continent". Edmonton Journal, 18 July 1999.
  8. "The Mutton Birds / Don McGlashan". Areligionofakind.co.uk. Retrieved 17 April 2012.
  9. "Free Range – The Mutton Birds Live 2012". Mighty Ape NZ. Retrieved 23 December 2020.

Bibliography
  • Dix, John, Stranded In Paradise, Penguin, 2005. ISBN 0-14-301953-8
  • Eggleton, David, Ready To Fly, Craig Potton, 2003. ISBN 1-877333-06-9
  • Shute, Gareth, NZ Rock 1987–2007, Auckland, Random House, 2008. ISBN 978-1-86979-000-4
  • Spittle, Gordon, Counting The Beat, GP Publications, 1997. ISBN 1-86956-213-5
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