Product Code: X 13085
Artist: No Tag
Origin: New Zealand
Label: Propeller (1982)
Format: 12 inch 45 rpm
Availability: Enquire Now
Condition:
Cover: VG+
Record: NM (M-)
Genre: Punk , Rock U

No Tag

Very smart clean vinyl with the cover showing minor shelfwear and small sticker removal mark.

No Tag broke bar consumption records while their audience broke heads. It was a volatile combination, the consequences of which had shadowed the tough Auckland punk four-piece out on the hard West Auckland hall scene and at inner city Auckland venues.

The band got a double dose of approbation when their blistering three song EP for Propeller Records, featured the ‘Oi Oi Oi’ chant adopted by British street punks, some of whom were overtly racist, resulting in a tabloid plastering for alleged (and completely untrue) Nazi leanings.

The upside being the EP No Tag was a surprise hit for guitarist Andrew Boak, singer Paul Van Wetering, drummer Carl Van Wetering and bass player Mark Sullivan, peaking at No.15 in the NZ Singles Chart in September 1982, a clear indication of punk rock’s New Zealand resurgence in the mid-1980s. The key track, the bass driven ‘Mistaken Identity’ was featured on the soundtrack to urban New Zealand teen flick Queen City Rocker (1986) and can also be found on the Bigger Than Both Of Us compilation.

After a Sweetwaters festival appearance in January 1983, No Tag toured New Zealand in March, pushing their album Can We Get Away With It? into the charts in April 1983. The album had been taped live and raw by Terry King and Doug Hood at the aptly named Reverb Room in Auckland in October 1982. The band wound down mid 1983 but they reformed to support The Dead Kennedys at Mainstreet in August 1983.

With key members returning from London, No Tag reformed briefly in 1986, but soon disbanded when the audience violence that had plagued them, sparked again. They returned to London, disbanding in the late 1980s.

Andrew Boak was later an Auckland FM radio DJ (on 89FM), then found a new career as label manager in San Francisco for house music indie Imperial Dub Recordings, and his own Green label.