Living Force -

Living Force was a New Zealander Latin-rock band that released a self-titled album on Atlantic in 1977.

Members: Harvey Mann (guitar), Eddie Hansen (guitar), Murray Partridge (guitar), Ivan Thompson (keyboards), John Pepper (keyboards), Gary Clarke (bass), Matt Matepi (bass), Glen Absolum (drums), Mike Fisher (drums), Mona Hollguin (vocals)

Background

The roots of Living Force date to 1973 when guitarists Eddie Hansen (Ticket) and Harvey Mann (Space Farm) grew disillusioned with their respective bands and rehearsed as a duo. They jammed with assorted players — Carson bassist Gary Clarke, early Dragon keyboardist Ivan Thompson — before a lineup coalesced with Freshwater guitarist Murray Partridge and another Space Farm alumnus, drummer Glen Absolum.

Living Force rose with their improvisational live shows, where they often extended single numbers to the thirty-minute mark. They cut their album as a six-piece with percussionist Mike Fisher and keyboardist John Pepper.

Living Force

Living Force released their singular album in 1977 on Atlantic/WEA (NZ).

The album contains three songs each by Harvey Mann (“Changes,” “Matter Monster,” “Sail This Boat”) and Eddie Hansen (“Only You,” “Hello Friend,” “Hari Bol”), plus “Jaya,” a Matt Matepi contribution.

Living Force also includes two group-arranged traditional numbers: “Sweet Inspiration” and “Baja Sri.”

Hansen and Mann each triple on guitar, bass, and harmony vocals. The joint percussion of Glen Absolum and Mike Fisher impart a Latin-tinge (ala Pirana, Pantha). Matepi fills the sound on percussion and guitar (slide on “Hari Bol”). Select tracks feature vocal backing from ‘The Girls’ (“Sail This Boat”) and ‘Our Friends From North Shore’ (“Hari Bol”).

A1. “Changes” (6:09)
A2. “Matter Monster” (5:36)
A3. “Jaya” (3:20)
A4. “Only You” (4:33)
A5. “Sweet Inspiration” (3:38)

B1. “Baja Sri” (5:05)
B2. “Hello Friend” (4:20)
B3. “Sail This Boat” (4:17)
B4. “Hari Bol” (5:36)

Living Force self-produced the album with an engineer named Doug. The cover art depicts a lion/human hybrid against a fiery gold background, illustrated by one Ivesvara Das. They credit “musical assistance” to Kingsley Smith, a local instrument retailer (1932–2015).

Atlantic lifted “Jaya” as a single (b/w “Matter Monster”).

Later Activity

Amid further lineup changes, Living Force commenced work on a second album in San Francisco with Santana engineer Glen Kalatkin. They abandoned the project midway with no disclosure on the status of completed tracks.

In January 1979, Living Force played before 75,000 attendees of the sixth Nambassa Festival, a three-day arts and music event in Golden Valley, north of Waihi, with sets by Schtung and Split Enz. Two songs from the Living Force set (“Friends,” “Changes”) appear on the 1980 two-record document of the festival, released on Stetson Records.

Living Force morphed into The Spys (aka Spyz) for a pair of 1981 singles: “Give Me a Reason” (b/w “Daddy Was a DJ”) and “Plastic Love” (b/w “Listen Girl”). As Spyz, they embarked on one of the first tours of China by a Western rock act. Hansen also played on early Eighties albums by Wayne Roland Brown and Jagad Guru & Friends.

Discography: