Think


Prog rock band Think were the first New Zealand act signed to WEA, releasing We’ll Give You A Buzz on Atlantic in 1976. After struggling in Australia through 1977 they found themselves in the offices of Mushroom Records, being given assurances they would be a priority act if they could just hold on a bit longer.

They couldn’t, but as a revamped version of the band was grinding to a halt back in New Zealand at the end of 1979, their original guitarist Kevin Stanton, the man who had come up with the Think vision, was riding high in the Australian charts with his new band Mi-Sex and a collection of songs he’d written in reaction to his unsavoury departure from Think.

A-side of the final single from Think, Good Morning, released on their own label (1979)
Think at Shantytown, south of Greymouth, New Zealand, 1975. Left to right: Don Mills, Neville Jess, Allan Badger, Phil Whitehead.
The back cover of We’ll Give You A Buzz, 1976. Left to right: Phil Whitehead, Don Mills, Ritchie Pickett, Neville Jess, Allan Badger.
Don Mills with Think in Bendigo, Australia, 1977
Peanut Joe, the B-side of the final single from Think, released on their own label (1979).
Think’s Allan Badger fishing for the band’s dinner off Tauranga, 1975
Lindsay Brook fronts Think on board the Arcadia, somewhere in the Pacific Ocean, 1977
Advertising Think’s Battle of the Bands win, October 1975. Left to right: Allan Badger, Don Mills, Phil Whitehead, Neville Jess.
Don Mills with Think, opening for The Doobie Brothers, Western Springs, Auckland, January 1976
Think at Shantytown, south of Greymouth, New Zealand, 1975. Clockwise from top: Phil Whitehead, Don Mills, Neville Jess, Allan Badger.
Think in 1976. Left to right: Allan Badger, Phil Whitehead, Don Mills, Ritchie Pickett, Neville Jess.
Ritchie Pickett singing with Think, 1976 or 1977
Phil Whitehead with Think in New Zealand, 1979
Don Mills with Think in Australia, 1977
Think, 1979. Left to right: Phil Whitehead, Steve Lunn, Mark Nash, Allan Badger.
Think in New Zealand, 1979. Left to right: Phil Whitehead, Steve Lunn, Allan Badger. Mark Nash obscured.
Think opening for Deep Purple, Western Springs, Auckland, November 1975. Left to right: Don Mills, Phil Whitehead, Neville Jess, Allan Badger.
Think as they appeared in Napier’s Daily Telegraph newspaper, 1974. Left to right: Allan Badger, Kevin Stanton, Neville Jess.
Think, 1976. Left to right: Neville Jess, Allan Badger, Ritchie Pickett, Don Mills, Phil Whitehead.
Think at Albert Park, Auckland, October 31, 1976. Left to right: Don Mills, Phil Whitehead, Ritchie Pickett, Neville Jess, Allan Badger.
Photo credit: Photo by Simon Lynch
Think in Melbourne, 1977. Left to right: Allan Badger, Phil Whitehead, Lindsay Brook, Neville Jess, Don Mills.
Phil Whitehead with Think at the Windsor Castle, Auckland, 1975
Think in New Zealand, 1979. Left to right: Phil Whitehead, Mark Nash, Allan Badger, Steve Lunn.
Think’s Neville Jess with the 3-litre Rover the band put on HP for touring and towing, 1975
Think, 1976. Clockwise from top left: Neville Jess, Don Mills, Allan Badger, Phil Whitehead, Ritchie Pickett.
Think at Shantytown, south of Greymouth, New Zealand, 1975. Left to right: Don Mills, Phil Whitehead, Allan Badger, Neville Jess.
Think on board their first truck, 1975 or 1976
Think’s Phil Whitehead fishing for the band’s dinner off Tauranga, 1975
Think in New Zealand, 1979. Left to right: Mark Nash, Phil Whitehead using the Roland GR-500 guitar synthesiser and expander, Steve Lunn, Allan Badger.
Think with soundman Charlie Newson as they appeared in Napier’s Daily Telegraph newspaper, November 6, 1975. Clockwise from top left: Newson, Neville Jess, Phil Whitehead, Allan Badger, Don Mills.
Think in Melbourne, 1977. Left to right: Don Mills, Lindsay Brook, Phil Whitehead, Neville Jess, Allan Badger.
Think opening for The Doobie Brothers, Western Springs, Auckland, January 1976. Left to right: Don Mills, Phil Whitehead, Neville Jess, Allan Badger.
Think, John Hanlon and Malcolm McCallum at Albert Park, October 1976
The 1977 Australian recorded single Arrived In Time
Think, 1979. Left to right: Phil Whitehead, Mark Nash, Allan Badger, Steve Lunn.
Phil Whitehead with Think at the Windsor Castle, Auckland, 1975
Think’s We’ll Give You A Buzz, released on Atlantic in 1976, with cover painting by Neil Vesey
Kevin Stanton with Duchess, Battle of the Bands winners in 1972, two years prior to forming Think
Labels:

WEA


Atlantic


Southside

Members:

Kevin Stanton - guitar

Neville Jess - drums

Allan Badger - vocals, bass

Phil Whitehead - guitar, guitar synth

Don Mills - keyboards

Ritchie Pickett - vocals, guitar

Lindsay Brook - vocals, drums, guitar

Alan Moon - keyboards

Robbie France-Shaw - drums

Mark Nash - drums

Steve Lunn - guitar, saxophone

Lyn Buchanan - drums

Trivia:

Think’s Allan Badger was the bass guitarist and lead vocalist on AC/DC drummer Phil Rudd’s 2014 solo album Head Job. He also recorded with The Skindivers and Graham Brazier’s Legionnaires during the 1980s.

After Think disbanded in 1980, guitarist and saxophonist Steve Lunn moved to Wellington where he teamed up with future Warratahs Barry Saunders and Mike Knapp in new wave outfit The Tigers.

Guitarist Phil Whitehead and his brothers Chris (drums) and Mike (bass) were the core band for Phil’s Think bandmate Ritchie Pickett’s 1998 album All Strung Out In A Bunch, after a promise made to the Whiteheads’ mother over a roast lunch more than 20 years earlier.

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