Romantic Andes

A very popular local live band in the early 1990's, the Romantic Andes met at the University of Waikato's Bryant Hall, initially calling themselves Giant Jack and the Codpieces. The band went through a number of lineup changes over several years.

An early recording appeared on the 1993 compliation Discordia Concors with the song Anaconda Funky Limbo (with thier name misspelt "Romantic Andies"), featuring the popular sing-along lyrics "Bob Marley used to sing this song". The lineup at this time comprised Dylan Parry (vocals, jewish harp, percussion), John Worsely (acoustic guitar, vocals, percussion, toilet), Brendan White (acoustic bass, backing vocals), Hayden Biglow (Cello, backing vocals), Dan Hodgekinson (drums) and Demelza Locke (backing vocals, percussion). They had three additional live recordings released at the same time on the Inside the Wireless compilation. Their first major gig was supporting Jan Hellriegel.

They released an album in 1994 titled To Understand the Animals. By this time the lineup had evolved to John Worsely, Dylan Parry, Hayden Biglow, Mike Clarkin (drums) and Tim Hansen (bass). Crowd favourites included "Half a World Away", "Happy Hug song", and "Tiny Tom".

They released a final EP, Rocket before disbanding. On this recording the lineup was John Worsely, Dylan Parry, Chris Wyborn (bass), Mike Clarkin and Hayden Biglow.

They also appeared on the compliation They came to take us alive.