WHAT MUSIC HISTORY TEACHES KIWIS

A sense of where you came from is important - whether as part of your worldview or the soundscape of youth. SwayTech Journalist of the Year Keith Newman finds out what the history of New Zealand music can teach young musicians of today.

We treat sports people like heroes but we've not been very good at celebrating our musical heritage. While retro might mean the sounds of the 1990s to some, to others the 1960s and 1970s was when Aotearoa gained its rock edge.

The Aussies have been celebrating our musical pioneers for decades and even inducting them in their own Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) Hall of Fame.

They claimed Crowded House as best new talent in 1987 and continued to celebrate Tim, Neil and the boys for years. Jenny Morris was ‘best female artist', Margaret Urlich ‘best new talent', Annie Crummer was a finalist and chart-toppers Evermore have been nominated numerous times. Split Enz were inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame in 2005 and in 2008 Max Merritt and Dragon became Hall of Famers.

It's kind of them to recognise our musical talent, but we Kiwis need to recognise that our artists have been battling against tremendous odds for many decades.

ROCK 'N' ROLL RADICALS

While Johnny Cooper's "Pie Cart Rock ‘n' Roll" was technically the first Kiwi rock ‘n' roll hit (1957), it was the enthusiastic stage antics of Johnny Devlin that really set the ball rolling. His 1959 single "Lawdy Miss Clawdy" was so successful it forced radio recognition for youth culture music. At a time when new records rarely sold more than 1,000 copies, Devlin sold 2,000 in Auckland alone.

Promoters weren't above ‘helping' his career along. Newspaper reports of hysterical female fans ripping the shirt off Johnny's back were helped by special shirts with loose stitching. Then there was the photo opportunity with a royalty cheque, alleging 58,000 record sales. The cheque was promptly ripped up once the media stories had appeared.

He recorded 47 songs in 18 months, during which he toured New Zealand six times, before heading to Melbourne with his band the Devils. In 1965, on the advice of Beatles manager Brian Epstein, he went to the UK and signed a three-year contract with CBS. His second single made Radio London's top 10 but work permit problems forced him to return to Australia in 1967. Devlin, now in his early 70s, is still performing.

Christchurch band Max Merritt and the Meteors first went to Sydney in 1963 after having several local hits. In the early 1970s Max became Australia's ‘King of Soul'. Later Max and the boys spent a decade touring the UK with bands like Fleetwood Mac. He eventually moved to Los Angeles where he was a successful set builder for rock shows before returning to Melbourne a few years back.

AUSSIE INVASION

Ray Columbus and the Invaders commuted to Sydney in 1963 and 1964, where they had a string of hits, none bigger than "She's A Mod" which was a number one Australian hit for seven weeks. Then "Till We Kissed" reached number four there and hit the top spot twice back home. After five tours of Australia, supporting international acts, Ray moved to San Francisco where he was one of the first to record on an eight-track machine, with his backing band the Art Collection. Back home he was a regular on pop show C'mon, and a strong supporter of Kiwi music. In 1974 Columbus was awarded an OBE for his services to the New Zealand entertainment business.

Dragon crossed the Tasman in 1974 and after 18 months of hard slog made it into the mainstream. Between 1976 and 1978 they were rarely out of the Australian charts. They were awarded ‘Band of the Year', ‘Most Popular New Group' and gold and platinum records. Mi-Sex also used Australia as a launching pad for their international recording and touring career.

Many Kiwi female singers joined the Australian talent pool, including Allison Durbin who won the ‘Queen of Pop' award for ‘Best Female Artist' in 1969, 1970 and 1971. Sharon O'Neil remains a prolific recording artist and songwriter, much revered in Australia. Jenny Morris arrived in Australia in 1980, quickly achieving mainstream airplay, and a decade later toured Europe as support for Prince.

The UK and BEYOND

For many Kiwi artists, the great OE took them to the UK or US. Drummer Peter Dawkins (later a top record producer) and his band New Nadir, featuring bass player Gary Thain, were in the UK in 1966. Thain remained behind to join Uriah Heep. He later died, following an on-stage electrocution and drug-related illnesses.

In August 1966, Tauranga beat band The Four Fours changed their name to Human Instinct and, after nearly starving to death,
became one of the hardest working bands on the UK circuit. They played alongside the Troggs and Small Faces, but, despite recording a handful of singles, never made the big time.

A change of line-up in New Zealand saw them become a blues-driven underground unit, with the legendary Billy T.K. on guitar,
and delivered three now rare and highly
collectible albums.

Another former Human Instinct player, bassist Glenn Mikkelson (Zaine Griff) went to England in 1974, where he played bass overdubs on the Kinks' Misfits album and formed his own band featuring movie score writer Hans Zimmer and Warren Cann of Ultravox. He recorded a reworked version of "Space Odyssey" with David Bowie and had minor UK chart success of his own. He's now back in New Zealand working as a golf pro on Auckland's North Shore.

PLAYING THE BIG TIME

Suzanne Donaldson of the Chicks, following local chart success, left for London in the late 1960s after marrying bass player Bruce Lynch. Both recorded and toured with Cat Stevens. Suzanne sang the solo on the single "Oh Very Young". Today she continues to perform and help up-and-coming artists.

Fourmyula who had a huge hit with "Nature", recorded "Otaki" - the first local hit with a Kiwi place name in it - at Abbey Road in London, where they met the Beatles.
One-time Fourmyula member Chris Parry ended up on the business side of the industry signing the Jam to Polygram, managing the Cure, and forming Fiction Records. 

The late Clive Coulson, vocalist of Auckland band the Dark Ages, sang some of the backing vocals on Led Zeppelin's "Whole Lotta Love". He was personal road manager to Jimmy Page for five years and ended up managing Bad Company before returning to New Zealand to farm at Raglan.

Shona Laing, the 17-year-old who shot to fame with the single "1905", went to London in 1975, where she recorded with EMI and was recruited by Manfred Mann to join his Earth Band. English-born Chris Thompson grew up in New Zealand but returned to England to join the Earth Band in 1975, singing the hit "Blinded By The Light".

Living Force, featuring legendary guitarists Harvey Mann (Underdogs) and Eddie Hanson (Ticket), recorded in the US in 1979 but walked away when WEA records wanted too much say in who was in the band, how they looked and what they would play. Both guitarists now run recording studios on Australia's Gold Coast.

Former Quincy Conserve drummer Richard James Burgess, who played on "Aire of Good Feeling", brought back to life as a TV promo, helped create the ‘New Romantic' sound in the UK, ultimately producing Visage and Spandau Ballet's first two albums. The expat Kiwi co-invented the first true electronic drum kit, wrote the seminal book on music production, and currently has a senior position preserving musical heritage with the prestigious US Smithsonian Institute.

KIWI IMPACT INTACT

Kiwi musical influences continue to be felt around the world. Boh Runga (stellar*) is driving a muscle car around in New York waiting for the release of her new album. Hollie Smith was offered a contract with the prestigious jazz label Blue Note, but turned it down. Small town Feilding band Evermore achieved a number one hit and platinum albums in Australia.

You can go to any part of the world and find Kiwi artists pulling crowds, whether it's Fat Freddy's Drop, Kora, Shihad or legacy artists such as Dave Dobbyn or the Finn Brothers. It was a watershed year in 2007: Flight of the Conchords, Opshop, Anika Moa, Atlas, Scribe, Brooke Fraser, the feelers, the Mint Chicks, Matt Saunoa, and Annabel Faye all had an impact on the charts.

It was a year when legitimate downloads were included in sales assessments for the first time, and old artists started getting overdue recognition.

The New Zealand Music Hall of Fame was created as part of the annual APRA (Australasian Performing Right Association) Awards, in conjunction with the Recording Industry Association of New Zealand (RIANZ). The first ‘Legacy' artist to be recognised was Johnny Devlin. Also inducted was Jordan Luck, lead singer with the Exponents. In 2008, it was Lynda and Jools Topp, of the Topp Twins.

It was a step forward in recognising those who have made a vast contribution to our musical and cultural history, but we still have a long way to go to catch up with the Australians.

Unless the Kiwi Music Hall of Fame triples its legacy artist acknowledgments, too many of our rock ‘n' roll icons will have shuffled off the mortal coil before we get a chance to do them justice.