CLEAN BREAK

Rip It Up, Issue 59, 1 June 1982, Page 8

CLEAN BREAK

The Clean, never a band to do exactly ' what; was .expected', of ; them, managed : to do he totally unexpected last week when, with, their fourth single in the Top 10 for the second week, they quietly : broke up. To say the split was low key is something of an understate- : ment. Four or five days later few people , in . Christchurch , had any idea of what had happened.The split was apparently an amicable one. According to HamisKKilgour, the only member 1 could find to comment, the band had been back from Auckland lor a week and during that time they decided to go. their own separate ways. '.• ' For his part it was the feeling that the band was becoming too much of an overriding concern in his life. For the : others, brother David and Robert . Scott, he thought it was. tiredness and the desire for a break. - ' Kilgour went' to some lengths to de-emphasise' the importance of the split-: • -VvA . ; ' . "All that we've done is taken the concept of a band and knocked it on the head. It's no great shakes." Beyond that it's hard to-pinpoint reasons for the break. The trip to

Auckland probably hastened the process subjecting the Clean to the twin pressures of' travelling and crowd expectations heightened by months of critical acclaim. But despite that Kilgour was pleased with their performances. Auckland did yield what will be our last traces of the Clean. Two songs were recorded for a single. 'Getting Older' (the title has no significance) .features trumpet and viola whilst the other 'Everything I Sav is Right' is decribed as Velvet Underground meets disco'. The tracks were recorded in the hall where Boodle was done. The band also did some video for TV. So it would appear the career ol the Clean, one of our most respected bands, has reached, its end. A reunion hasn't been entirely ruled out but is highly unlikely. Meanwhile former members have no plans for the future. And so it goes, not with a bang. Michael Higgins