The Front Lawn is a multi-award-winning, much-loved New Zealand duo-turned-trio made up of Don McGlashan, Harry Sinclair and, eventually, Jennifer Ward-Lealand. A 1980s variety act, The Front Lawn was part of an Aotearoa/New Zealand alternative tradition of duos that combine music, comedy, theatre and film. Their debut album Songs from The Front Lawn (1989) distilled McGlashan and Sinclair-s theatrical stage show and their groundbreaking short films, Walkshort and The Lounge Bar, while also thrusting the band into the burgeoning New Zealand indie scene. The album is a snapshot of -80s New Zealand, a turbulent, creative period for indie music, indie film and musical theatre, celebrating local identity in new ways.Starting with a social and cultural background of New Zealand in the late 1970s, the book covers McGlashan and Sinclair-s upbringing on Auckland-s North Shore, early artistic influences and overseas experiences leading to the formation of the group. Much at
