The Scavengers

The Scavengers
Background information
Origin	Auckland, New Zealand
Genres	Punk, rock
Years active	1977-80
Associated acts	The Marching Girls, Dead Can Dance, The Birthday Party, The Slaughtermen, Maurice Frawley, Go Public, Daisy West
Past members	Ken Cooke (Johnny Volume) Simon Monroe (Des Truction) Brendan Perry (Ronnie Recent) Mike Simons (Mike Lezbian) Marlon Hart (Mal Icious)

The Scavengers were a New Zealand punk rock band, formed in 1977. In 1979, they moved to Melbourne, Australia, and became The Marching Girls in 1980.

The band was formed in 1976 at Auckland Technical Institute by graphic design students Ken Cooke, Simon Monroe, Mike Simons and Marlon Hartas, under the name The 1B Darlings. They were heavily influenced by British R&B, glam rock and '60s US garage rock. In 1977, they renamed themselves The Scavengers and gave themselves punk stage names (Cooke as Johnny Volume, Monroe as Des Truction, Simons as Mike Lezbian and Hart as Mal Icious). Their style mutated in the direction of the US punk rock and proto-punk acts.

Through much of 1977 they were, with Suburban Reptiles, the only punk bands in Auckland. In June 1977, with Suburban Reptiles and The Masochists, they played New Zealand's first major punk gig at Auckland University. Their repertoire during this time was mostly covers, but by early 1978, they had written a set of original tunes. In late 1977, bassist Hart left to be replaced by Brendan Perry, who performed under the stage name "Ronnie Recent". In March 1978, they began a residency at Zwines, a new Auckland punk club. Simons soon left (inspiring their signature song "Mysterex"), and Perry moved to vocals.

Two Scavengers tracks appeared on the Ripper compilation AK79 and a posthumous album was released in 2003.

In 1979, The Scavengers moved to Melbourne, Australia and in 1980, they renamed themselves The Marching Girls, issuing some recordings and video clips.

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