Megaton

Suburban Reptiles , Music Video – 1978

Auckland punks Suburban Reptiles announce their arrival with debut single 'Megaton', written by guitarist Billy Planet (or Will Pendergrast, to his mum). The TVNZ-produced video captures the band's media-baiting image, with Reptiles flaunting outlandish get-ups and partying on a balcony above Queen Street’s Classic Cinema before taking to a pedestrian crossing below. Lead vocalist Zero (Clare Elliott) accessorises a rubbish bag tunic with pegs and Buster Stiggs (soon to be a member of The Swingers) has given his drumsticks to the child on his shoulders. Bassist Bones Hillman would later find fame with Aussies Midnight Oil.

The band were on the front pages of the Sunday News and the Sunday Times, both of which featured wild stories (“they sniff cleaning fluid sent over by the Ramones before strangling seagulls at the wharf” was one) taken from the interviews and bios provided by the band ... The UK’s “filth and fury” had arrived in New Zealand, at least as far as the press was concerned.
– Excerpt about 'notorious' Auckland punks Suburban Reptiles, AudioCulture, 27 May 2013