Desperate Measures

Desperate Measures were Christchurch's answer to pop punk, a couple of years after the whole Sex Pistols thing, but they were fun and had a few good songs for all the punk posturing. They had a reasonably heavy following, or it seemed so at the time. The band featured Eugene Butcher, vocals (now doing something in multimedia in London where he has lived for 10 years), Eric Vandenhoven, bass Guitar (now doing Chef things in Auckland, later of Evasive Action, Southern Front, Iceland, Champion Beat), Shane, guitar (now runs an Auckland recording studio), and Greg, drums. The band managed to record and self release a 4 song EP in 1982. As with many rough punk bands the Measures spawned a number of talented musicians, notably Eric Vandenhoven, whose inventive bass playing went on to encourage and influence many local musicians. [SOURCE: FAILSAFE RECORDS]