The Clean were an influential first-wave punk band that formed in Dunedin, New Zealand in 1978. Led through a number of early rotating line-ups by brothers Hamish and David Kilgour, the band settled down to the well-known line-up with bassist Robert Scott. Early incarnations of the Clean included Peter Gutteridge on bass (who wrote "Point That Thing"), Doug Hood on vocals (who later worked with Toy Love and founded the "Looney Tours" touring company). The Clean soon forged a distinctive and quirky sound that relied heavily on organ melodies and simple, Ramones-style chord progressions.

In 1981, a fan of the Clean founded the Flying Nun label to release their first single, "Tally Ho." A follow-up track off one of their early EPs, "Beatnik", also achieved success, as did the second single, "Getting Older".

The Flying Nun label went on to be New Zealand's biggest independent record company, championing the Dunedin Sound, a loosely-connected style of music largely produced by bands from this southern city. Others on the label included The Chills, The Verlaines, The Bats, and Sneaky Feelings. The line-ups of these bands were often interrelated, with Peter Gutteridge being a founding member of the Chills, David Kilgour briefly in the Chills off-shoot band Time Flies, and Robert Scott being the founder of The Bats.

During much of the 1980s, the Clean were officially split up, and during this time the Kilgour Brothers worked together on an experimental album and ep using the deliberately punning name of "The Great Unwashed" - the album was similarly punningly titled "Clean Out Of Our Minds". Reforming in the late 1980s, the band found a slightly poppier vein of music while retaining their experimental edge.

Although they released several chart-topping songs in their native country, the Clean are a cult band in the rest of the world. However, their influence is surprisingly far-reaching. They became a staple of college radio in the 1980s. Stephen Malkmus of Pavement cites the Clean as a major influence, and the band's droney 80s output is a direct forerunner of Yo La Tengo. Other bands, such as Camper Van Beethoven have a sound that seems heavily influenced by the Clean.

The Clean continue to produce music, and Flying Nun recently issued a comprehensive collection of their previously hard-to-find singles. Output from the band has been sporadic over the years, with all group members involved in other projects and Hamish Kilgour now living in New York. Other projects involving members of the band include The Bats and The Magick Heads (Scott), Stephen, The Heavy Eights (David Kilgour), and The Mad Scene (Hamish Kilgour).

They are currently touring New Zealand on the 'Bangers and Mash' tour. During this tour they celebrated Hamish Kilgour's 50th birthday while playing at 'The Studio' on Karangahape Road in Auckland on Saturday 17 March 2007.

Discography

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!align="center" valign="top"|Cover !align="center" valign="top"|Date !align="center" valign="top"|Title !align="center" valign="top"|Label !align="center" valign="top"|Charted !align="center" valign="top"|Country !align="center" valign="top"|Catalog Number |- |- bgcolor="#DDDDDD" | colspan=7 align=center | Albums |- | |align="left" valign="center"|1982 |align="left" valign="center"|Oddities |align="left" valign="center"|Flying Nun Records |align="left" valign="center"| - |align="left" valign="center"| - |align="left" valign="center"| FNMC ODD1 |- | |align="left" valign="center"|1987 |align="left" valign="center"|Compilation |align="left" valign="center"|Flying Nun Records |align="left" valign="center"| - |align="left" valign="center"| - |align="left" valign="center"| FNCD154 |- | |align="left" valign="center"|1990 |align="left" valign="center"|Vehicle |align="left" valign="center"|Flying Nun Records |align="left" valign="center"| - |align="left" valign="center"| - |align="left" valign="center"| FNCD147 |- | |align="left" valign="center"|1994 |align="left" valign="center"|Modern Rock |align="left" valign="center"|Flying Nun Records |align="left" valign="center"| - |align="left" valign="center"| - |align="left" valign="center"| FNCD292 |- | |align="left" valign="center"|1996 |align="left" valign="center"|Unknown Country |align="left" valign="center"|Flying Nun Records |align="left" valign="center"| - |align="left" valign="center"| - |align="left" valign="center"| FNCD349 |- | |align="left" valign="center"|2001 |align="left" valign="center"|Getaway |align="left" valign="center"|Flying Nun Records/Merge Records |align="left" valign="center"| - |align="left" valign="center"| - |align="left" valign="center"| FNCD459/MRG188 |- | |align="left" valign="center"|2001 |align="left" valign="center"|Slush Fund |align="left" valign="center"|Arc |align="left" valign="center"| - |align="left" valign="center"| NZ |align="left" valign="center"| Arc Cafe #1 |- | |align="left" valign="center"|2002 |align="left" valign="center"|Anthology |align="left" valign="center"|Flying Nun Records/Merge Records |align="left" valign="center"| - |align="left" valign="center"| - |align="left" valign="center"| FNCD468/MRG220 |- | |align="left" valign="center"|2003 |align="left" valign="center"|'''Syd's Pink Wiring System: Live in New Zealand 2000 |align="left" valign="center"|Cleano |align="left" valign="center"| - |align="left" valign="center"| NZ |align="left" valign="center"| Cleano 0001 |- |- bgcolor="#DDDDDD" | colspan=7 align=center | EPs |- | |align="left" valign="center"|1981 |align="left" valign="center"|Boodle Boodle Boodle |align="left" valign="center"|Flying Nun Records |align="left" valign="center"| 4 |align="left" valign="center"| NZ |align="left" valign="center"| FN003 |- | |align="left" valign="center"|1982 |align="left" valign="center"|Great Sounds Great, Good Sounds Good, So-so Sounds So-so, Bad Sounds Bad, Rotten Sounds Rotten |align="left" valign="center"|Flying Nun Records |align="left" valign="center"| - |align="left" valign="center"| NZ |align="left" valign="center"| FNGOOD001 |- | |align="left" valign="center"|1986 |align="left" valign="center"|Live Dead Clean |align="left" valign="center"|Flying Nun Records |align="left" valign="center"| - |align="left" valign="center"| NZ |align="left" valign="center"| FNLDC01 |- | |align="left" valign="center"|1990 |align="left" valign="center"|In a Live |align="left" valign="center"|Flying Nun Records |align="left" valign="center"| - |align="left" valign="center"| NZ/Europe |align="left" valign="center"| FN145/FNE29 |- |- bgcolor="#DDDDDD" | colspan=7 align=center | 7"s |- | |align="left" valign="center"|1981 |align="left" valign="center"|Tally Ho/Platypus |align="left" valign="center"|Flying Nun Records |align="left" valign="center"| 19 |align="left" valign="center"| NZ |align="left" valign="center"| FN002 |- |- | |align="left" valign="center"|1982 |align="left" valign="center"|Getting Older/Whatever I do/Scrape Music |align="left" valign="center"|Flying Nun Records |align="left" valign="center"| - |align="left" valign="center"| NZ |align="left" valign="center"| FNLAST1 |- |- | |align="left" valign="center"|1994 |align="left" valign="center"|Late Last Night/Psychedelic Clown ''' |align="left" valign="center"|Dark Beloved Cloud |align="left" valign="center"| - |align="left" valign="center"| US |align="left" valign="center"| dbc020 |-

Clean, The
Category:Flying Nun artists

External Links

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The Clean and David Kilgour discography

MySpace page