00:00
/
00:00
Named after the German word for a type of gas chamber used in Nazi concentration camps, 'Gaskrankinstation' was the first single off Headless Chickens' second album Body Blow. Actor Peter Tait (Bogans, Kitchen Sink) stars as gas station attendant Ivan, whose desperate monologue drives the track, while the band play some comically tortured-looking instruments in the parking lot. Anita McNaught also makes a cameo appearance as the "lady newsreader" of Ivan's affections.
There was a strange phenomena in Australia when we originally played that song live there in the early 90s, which was for guys to come up to me after just about every gig and tell me in the most enthusiastic way that they loved that song because they themselves were Ivan and they identified so strongly with him. Which obviously, if you listen to the words, is a bit wierd 'cos Ivan's not necessarily a very nice bloke...– Chris Matthews on Gaskrankinstation, on website Webcuts, February 2009
Key Cast & Crew
Source
Private Collection
Acknowledgements
Made with funding from NZ On Air.
Categories
More from the Songs of Westside Collection...
Watch Your Back
Chosen as the theme tune of Outrageous...
Yesterday was Just the Beginning of My Life
This was the song that rocketed Mark Williams to...
Join Together - performed by Steve Allen
The 1974 Christchurch Commonwealth Games were a huge...
Rust in My Car
Mike Chunn's post-Split Enz band was formed as a...
Lovely Lady
This short clip marks the only known...
Pretty Girl
Captured on a single camera, Wellington band Hogsnort...
Gutter Black
Hello Sailor perform the classic single from their...
I Need Your Love
'I Need Your Love' marked the biggest hit for the...
Dance All Around the World
This feelgood classic was written in Wanaka on the...
Are You Old Enough
This 1978 single...
Blue Lady
This performance by Hello Sailor was recorded by TVNZ...
Jezebel
Jon Stevens performs the song that turned him into an...
Be Mine Tonight
After three years of playing live, the first single...
Bliss
With a chorus to do any football terrace proud, the...
Computer Games
A last-minute addition to their 1979 album...
Tears
Band Spats demonstrated they could write a catchy song...
Thru the Southern Moonlight
In 1973 EMI NZ producer Alan Galbraith saddled up...
Doctor I Like Your Medicine
Coup D'Etat were a short-lived band featuring Harry...
Auckland Tonight
One of the great rock'n'roll songs about Auckland is...
Asian Paradise
Nostalgia can take many forms: and certainly many a...
Out on the Street
“Watch out young love!”. Even in black and...
Virginia
After four years as part of Hello Sailor, guitarist...
Azania
'Azania' is an impassioned anti-apartheid song written...
Don't You Know Yockomo / Do the Blue Beat - performed by Dinah Lee
As one of the performers on a live special celebrating...
Tally Ho!
This video marked the directing debut of the...
Lyin' in the Sand
'Lyin' in the Sand' closed Hello Sailor's self-titled...
Dragons and Demons
'Dragons and Demons' is a track from Whats' Be...
That Look in Your Eyes
This slow-burning Ian Morris/Dave Dobbyn song was the...
Anything Could Happen
Was there a cooler band in the world than The Clean in...
Kaleidoscope World
This was the first music video for iconic Dunedin...
Billy Bold
Probably Graham Brazier's best-known track as a...
Don't Fight it Marsha, It's Bigger Than Both of Us
Blam Blam Blam’s second hit from 1981 was...
One Step Ahead
After Neil Finn-penned single ‘I Got...
See Me Go
Auckland band The Screaming Meemees shared a 45 with...
One Good Reason
The Swingers have long been umbilically...
Riot Squad
This song is from New Zealand’s troubled winter...
There is No Depression in New Zealand
This track by Auckland post-punk trio Blam Blam Blam...
Beatnik
A Texan stops by "One Day At The Coffee Bar", and...
Heart and Soul
‘Heart and Soul’ —...
Thanks to You
Tumblin' Down
Singer Marina Devcich had been working as an...
I Hope I Never
After hit song 'I Got You' proved definitively...
French Letter '95
In this video, languid Pacific Island imagery (poi,...
Getting Older
Early standard bearers for the Flying Nun label, The...
Blue Day
"Things are not always the way they should be", sings...
I See Red
With departed founder member Phil Judd now back in New...
Jumping Out a Window
With its swirling keyboards and dark lyrical concerns...
Rain
After the classic line-up of Sydney-based hitmakers...
Sierra Leone
'Sierra Leone' was one of those songs that quickly...
Still in Love With You
‘Still in Love With You’ dates from...
Sailing Away
In this video billowing...
Destiny in Motion
Sensitive to a Smile
Herbs visited the troubled East Coast town of Ruatoria...
Out for the Count
Hamilton hard rockers Knightshade produced a run of...
Room that Echoes
"I'm gonna build a room that echoes, around and around...
Pulsing
Shot in the same year he became producer of Radio...
The Physical You
Time Makes a Wine
Nobody Else
For this lush, spacious ballad, then teenage director...
The Brain that Wouldn't Die
The video for this track from the Slugbucket...
I Love My Leather Jacket
The Chills visited England in 1986. This video mixes a...
Don't Dream It's Over
Neil Finn has described the lyric to this song as "on...
This is the Moment
"Make it easy to sing" — that was the...
Loyal
This is a cleverly-choreographed one shot video for a...
Hands of My Heart
The Warratahs were unique in the late 80s NZ music...
Close Up - 'Nature' performed by The Fourmyula
“Through falling leaves I pick my way...
Down in Splendour
Director Andrew Dominik captures the dreamy essence of...
Maureen
The second single from Wellington's country crossover...
Love You Like I Should
Despite the enduring success of the title...
Gaskrankinstation
Named after the German word for a type of gas chamber...
For Today
Nick Sampson wrote Netherworld Dancing Toys' big hit...
