Headless Chickens “Magnet”
“Magnet” was the first single from the post-Fiona Chooks. It’s a ghostly love song with an unseen singer (Rachel Wallis) providing Fiona-esque backing vocals. The video takes place at night in a wasteland, complete with an unturned car. Back when this was made it probably seemed like a cool dystopian fantasy, but now there are...
Headless Chickens “Super Trouper”
I once knew a goth guy who loved this song. He wasn’t a Headless Chickens fan or an Abba afficianado, but the power combo of the Chickens covering Abba was what did it for him. That and the “Su-pa-pa trou-pa-pa” chorus. It’s a song about the loneliness of being a touring pop star, but it’s...
Headless Chickens “George”
When Fiona McDonald was announced as one of the judges on NZ Idol and hoardes of teens commented online that they’d never heard of her, this is what I pointed them to. The Headless Chicken’s only number one single, and indeed the first number one for a Flying Nun artist. It’s a dark song, a...
Headless Chickens “Cruise Control (Eskimos in Egypt mix)”
First, let’s watch the original “Cruise Control” video from 1991. It’s not hard to see why some Headless Chickens fans didn’t like Fiona having joined their favourite band. It’s like light vs dark, good vs evil. The sunny, cheery Fiona vs the gloomy goth Chris. But as it happened, “Cruise Control” was the gateway drug...
Headless Chickens “Mr Moon”
This is probably the most hard-sell, down-the-barrel-of-the-camera the Headless Chickens have made yet. Chris and Fiona take turns at singing the song in close up, with the rest of the band in the background. They both look utterly beautiful, in that dark sexy Headless Chickens way. The song is bookended with sampled dialogue, and this...
Headless Chickens “Choppers”
“Choppers” was released as a double A-side single with “Juice”. And it’s the perfect pairing – the sweet “Juice” is the yin to the brash yang of “Choppers”. The video takes place atop Rangitoto, and on the lavafields of the volcanic island. Even though the city is in the distance, across the water, the Chooks...
Headless Chickens “Juice”
I’d forgotten what videos look like when they’ve got more than the minimum $5000 (or less!) behind them. The vid for “Juice”, Fiona McDonald’s ode to childhood, is a slick black and white job. Fiona sings on a windy shore, clad in jeans and a baggy sweatshirt (as a possible middle finger to haters who...
Headless Chickens “Donde Esta La Pollo”
“Donde Esta La Pollo” was to New Zealanders what “Sesame Street” was to Americans: a source of basic Spanish. Fortunately the video doesn’t linger on the Spanish factor, instead picking up on the carnival vibe of the song. How cool were the Headless Chickens? While their compatriots were jigging about in front of green screens,...
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