The Nunnery

Last updated Wednesday 15 June 2016 23:07 NZST

As almost every New Zealander knows, Flying Nun was an independent music label based in Christchurch New Zealand through the 1980s (the label moved to Auckland with its founder Roger Shepherd in 1988) and famous for popularising 'the Dunedin sound.' Many of us grew up to the sound of jangly guitars recorded on Chris Knox's 4-track. Tracks by The Clean, Verlaines, The Chills and The Double Happys are an essential part of our collective history.

In the early days (1981-85) I was Wellington distributor for Flying Nun Records, helping out my friend Hamish Kilgour of The Clean who was paying the rent by working in the Flying Nun warehouse in Christchurch. If you ever went hunting for new Flying Nun releases at Chelsea or Colin Morris Records, or played Flying Nun 45s on the juke-box at City Limits (now Apache, previously FINC), it was me and my small team of volunteers that put them there.

I still have a few band posters from that heady time. To view each poster in its full glory, click on one of the thumbnails below. I've also included a list of Flying Nun singles and EPs that I have in my collection, along with some albums (they were more expensive and time-consuming to produce, and so there weren't that many of them in the early days). Some of the later EPs and albums are UK pressings (under the FNUK label), purchased while I was living in London from 1986 to 1991. While I was there I wish I had picked up a UK pressing of the Tuatara album though, as I had worked with Rough Trade in London on the UK release as my final contribution to the Flying Nun label.

A. FLYING NUN SINGLES
The Clean	Tally Ho! 1981 7″ single, b/w offset outer sleeve
Bill Direen	Schwimmen in der See 1982 7″ single, b/w offset outer sleeve
Bill Direen	Soloman’s Ball 1982 7″ single, b/w offset outer sleeve
Mainly Spaniards	That’s What Friends Are For 1982 7″ single, blue offset on pink outer sleeve
Sneaky Feelings	Amnesia 1982 7″ single, colour screenprint outer sleeve
The Chills	Rolling Moon 1982 7″ single, colour offset outer sleeve
Verlaines	Death and the Maiden 1983 7″ single, b/w offset outer sleeve
Children's Hour	Ya! Ya! Ya! 1984 7″ single, printed insert, b/w offset outer sleeve
Double Happys	Double B Side 1984 7″ single, colour offset wraparound sleeve
The Chills	Doledrums 1984 7″ single, colour offset outer sleeve
The Expendables	Flower 1984 7″ single, colour offset outer sleeve
The Jumblies	Stuff of Dreams 1984 7″ single, black offset on blue outer sleeve
Crystal Zoom	Dunedin Sound on 45 1985 7″ single, colour offset wraparound sleeve

B. FLYING NUN EPs & LPs
The Clean	Boodle Boodle Boodle 1981 12″ EP, b/w offset outer sleeve
Bored Games	Who Killed Colonel Mustard? 1982 12″ EP, colour offset outer sleeve
Tall Dwarfs	Louis Likes His Daily Dip 1982 12″ EP, printed insert, colour offset outer sleeve
The Builders	Beaten Hearts 1982 12″ EP, b/w offset outer sleeve
The Clean	Great Sounds Great... 1982 12″ EP, colour offset outer sleeve
The Victor Dimisch Band	Native Waiter 1982 12″ EP, black on gold screenprint outer sleeve (I'm pretty sure this was the only cover ever printed on gold)
Various	Dunedin Double EP 1982 2 x 12″ EPs, b/w offset outer sleeve
Children's Hour	Flesh 1983 12″ EP, b/w offset outer sleeve
Fetus Productions	Fetalmania 1983 12″ EP, b/w offset outer sleeve
Marie and the Atom	Yellow Read Aloud 1983 12″ EP, colour offset outer sleeve
Sneaky Feelings	Send You 1983 12″ EP, colour offset outer sleeve
Tall Dwarfs	Canned Music 1983 12″ EP, printed and folded insert, b/w offset outer sleeve
The Great Unwashed	Clean Out of Our Minds 1983 12″ EP, colour offset outer sleeve
This Kind of Punishment	After the Fact 1983 12″ LP, b/w offset outer sleeve
Tall Dwarfs	Hairy Breath Monster 1984 12″ EP, colour offset outer sleeve
The Bats	By Night 1984 12″ EP, colour offset outer sleeve
The Great Unwashed	Singles 1984 12″ EP, colour screenprint on blue outer sleeve (luckily not a vinyl sleeve this time, as the original 45s eventually disintegrated)
The Rip	A Timeless Piece 1984 12″ EP, printed insert on green paper, colour offset outer sleeve
The Verlaines	10 O’Clock in the Afternoon 1984 12″ EP, printed insert, colour offset outer sleeve
This Kind of Punishment	A Beard of Bees 1984 12″ LP, printed insert on green paper, colour screenprint outer sleeve (TKP/distributed by Flying Nun)
Double Happys	Cut It Out 1985 12″ EP, colour offset outer sleeve
Look Blue Go Purple	Bewitched 1985 12″ EP, colour offset outer sleeve
Not Really Anything	Watched a World 1985 12″ EP, b/w offset outer sleeve
Sneaky Feelings	Husband House 1985 12″ EP, colour offset outer sleeve
Sneaky Feelings	Waiting for Touchdown 1985 12″ LP, black on silver offset outer sleeve (produced in the UK)
Tall Dwarfs	The Short & Long Of It 1985 12″ EP/LP, b/w offset outer sleeve
The Bats	And Here Is Music for the Fireside 1985 12″ EP, printed insert, colour offset outer sleeve
The Chills	The Lost EP 1985 12″ EP, colour offset outer sleeve
Various	Tuatara 1985 12″ LP, colour offset outer sleeve
The Chills	I Love My Leather Jacket 1986 12″ EP, colour offset outer sleeve (produced in the UK)
Various	Outnumbered by Sheep 1986 12″ LP, colour offset outer sleeve (BFM/distributed by Flying Nun)
Straitjacket Fits	Life in One Chord 1987 12″ EP, colour offset outer sleeve
The Chills	Brave Words 1987 12″ LP, printed inner sleeve, colour offset outer sleeve (produced in the UK)
The Chills	House With a Hundred Rooms 1987 12″ LP, colour offset outer sleeve
Various	In Love With These Times 1988 12″ LP, colour offset outer sleeve
The Clean	In-a-live 1989 12″ EP, colour offset outer sleeve (produced in the UK)
Straitjacket Fits	Melt 1990 12″ LP, printed inner sleeve, colour offset outer sleeve
The Bats	Fear of God 1991 12″ LP, printed inner sleeve, colour offset outer sleeve

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A. FLYING NUN SINGLES

B. FLYING NUN EPs & LPs