The Narcs are an award winning New Zealand band, that formed in 1980 in Christchurch, New Zealand, by bassist Tony Waine, drummer Bob Ogilvie and guitarist Garth Sinclair – departed/replaced by Australian guitarist/singer songwriter Andrew/Andy Dickson.[1]
Christchurch remained the band's base with a series of resident club and pub gigs building their following. Touring had become a regular event for The Narcs by 1981, and the pressures of the road contributed to Bob Ogilvie leaving – being replaced by Steve Clarkson on drums in 1982. Keyboardist Liam Ryan became a full-time Narc in 1983.
The band pursued a management deal with Mike Chunn, and signed a record deal with CBS Records.[2]
During a retreat at a commune the band wrote most of the songs for their debut album, Great Divide. The single, "Heart and Soul", peaked at No. 4 on the NZ charts. At the 1984 New Zealand Music Awards, the band won 3 awards and the album achieved gold disc status.[3]
The band worked in both NZ and Australia, recording a total of four albums and playing alongside such acts as Midnight Oil, Split Enz, Elton John and Queen.
The band reformed in 2016 with ex-DD Smash drummer Peter Warren and Rikki Morris of The Crocodiles[4] and have continued to play live and record music since then. In 2018, the band released new single 'Summerhill Stone'.[5]
| Extended play details | Peak chart positions | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| NZ [6] | |||
| Whistle While You Work (with Coconut Rough) |
| 17 | |
| Great Divide |
| 14 | |
| The Narcs |
| 27 | |
| Push the Boat Out |
| - | |
| Best of The Narcs |
| - |
| Extended play details | Peak chart positions | |
|---|---|---|
| NZ | ||
| The Narcs |
| - |
| No Turning Back |
| 12 |
| Year | Peak chart positions | Album | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| NZ | ||||
| 1982 | "Over My Head" | - | Whistle While You Work | |
| 1983 | "Look the Other Way" | 38 | ||
| 1984 | "You Took Me (Heart and Soul)" | 4 | Great Divide | |
| "Lazy Susan" | 35 | |||
| "Missing in Action" | - | |||
| 1985 | "Diamonds On China" | 14 | The Narcs Album | |
| "Side By Side" | - | |||
| 1986 | "Abandoned By Love" | - | ||
| 1988 | "It's Got To Be Love" | 49 | ||
| 1995 | "Back to the Deep" | - | Push the Boat Out |
The Aotearoa Music Awards (previously known as New Zealand Music Awards (NZMA)) are an annual awards night celebrating excellence in New Zealand music and have been presented annually since 1965.
! |-| 1982|| The Narcs || Group of the Year|| || rowspan="7" | [7] |-| 1983 || The Narcs || Group of the Year|| |-| rowspan="4" | 1984 || "You Took Me Heart and Soul" || Most Popular Song || |-| "You Took Me Heart and Soul" || Single of the Year || |-| Dave McArtney for "You Took Me Heart and Soul" by The Narcs || Producer of the Year || |-| Graeme Mhyre for "You Took Me Heart and Soul" by The Narcs || Engineer of the Year || |-| Andy Dickson (The Narcs) || Male artist of the Year || |-| 1985 || Fane Flaws for "Diamonds On China" by The Narcs || Video the Year|| |-