The Suburban Reptiles

Buster Stiggs, 1954-2018

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RIP Buster Stiggs. The legend who played in New Zealand’s first punk band, Suburban Reptiles, and later with his old schoolmate Phil Judd in The Swingers, died this month aged 63. In 2016 we excerpted a memoir in progress that he wrote for Phantom Billstickers magazine Café Reader. We reprint it below. Hastings Boys isn’t … Read more

The Monday excerpt: Buster Stiggs and the birth of punk rock in New Zealand

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Fair to describe Buster Stiggs as a legend. He was in New Zealand’s first punk band, Suburban Reptiles, and then joined his old schoolmate Phil Judd in The Swingers, who created maybe the greatest song in NZ rock history – ‘Counting The Beat’. He recently penned the first part of a memoir in the autumn … Read more