Don McGlashan-National Treasure. A small exhibition is on at South Library Christchurch in the staff area window, to accompany his acoustic tour with Dave Dobbyn.

Go to

http://www.eventfinder.co.nz/2013/don-mcglashan-national-treasure/christchurch-city

http://bethere.co.nz/music/2013/12508-don-mcglashan-national-treasure

Dave Dobbyn and Don McGlashan are coming to Christchurch as an acoustic entity. Don McGlashan may, arguably, need more of an introduction to the music public than Dave, so a small tribute exhibition will be happening leading up to the concert. Details to be confirmed. Watch this space...

I know I've recently posted something about 80's 'pub' band "The Narcs", but the news that member, keyboard player and songwriter Liam Ryan is returning to his hometown Christchurch to work at CPIT is worthy of a revisit.

The Narcs started out in Christchurch as a raucous 3 piece band-guitar/bass/drums. Liam joined just before the 1984 album "Great Divide". That album contained the song that they are probably most remembered for, "Heart and Soul", which attained 'song of the year' status. Liam co-wrote that with lead singer Andy Dickson.

As well as adding a new dimension to the band with his fine keyboard skills, he also contributed heavily to the song writing. His other great moment from that album is "Missing in Action" which he wrote, and was released as a nice picture cover single.



He also wrote "Diamonds on China" which was one of the big songs from the 1985 self titled album.

 

As with many Kiwi bands at that time, they deserved more financial success. They produced two albums and a small collection of singles and EP's, but it is a shame they didn't have a longer career as a band, as all members were capable of writing some great songs.

  

"Soft Bomb" by the Chills is a great album. A really great album. It's one of those rare gems that has to be listened to from start to finish. The big single was "Male monster from the id". Strange title, but one hell of a song, especially when played very loud. A much better song than "Pink Frost", and one I would prefer to hear on the radio.

 

The second single was "Double Summer", a nice enough tune, but lacking the power of the first single.

 

 

The best thing about "Soft Bomb", besides the actual music, is that it was not only released on vinyl (in the age of a booming CD market), but also a limited edition blue vinyl edition. A nice partner for the green vinyl edition of their previous album "Submarine Bells".

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Apart from Lynda Carter as Wonder Woman, my other big schoolboy crush was 80's Kiwi singer/songwriter Sharon O'Neill. The ultimate rock chick, with the big hair and lots of leather. Wow. Maxine was her biggest hit...

Australian picture cover

 

But my favourite single was an earlier tune called "Words" which got a fair bit of radio airplay, but unfortunately wasn't released in a picture cover. One of the more interesting covers is this German only copy of the single "Danger" from her album "Foreign Affairs" (which also featured "Maxine")

 

 

 

It was also released in Australia, with a pretty cool cover

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I enjoyed last night's doco on The Dance Exponents immensely. It did make me wonder why it wasn't picked up by TV1, the station with arguably the largest potential audience. Once again, I got the impression that commercial naivety within the local music industry at that time, and general mismanagement, robbed these guys of greater fame and fortune. To follow up that incredible debut album "Prayers be answered" (with all those catchy tunes), with the dark and mysterious single "Sex and Agriculture" always struck me as perplexing.

But more criminal was the fact that their anthem "Victoria" was never released in a 7 inch picture cover. The 12 inch single had a nice black and white picture cover, but not the 7 inch version. Come to think of it, too many classic Kiwi 7 inch singles were released in rather insipid plain company paper sleeves. "Outlook for Thursday" by DD Smash is another single short changed in this regard. The cost of a decent picture cover proved prohibitive for most financially struggling local bands back then. Maybe a catalogue of classic New Zealand pop tunes can be re released today, complete with good quality picture covers. Maybe even some limited edition coloured vinyl pressings. That can be a goal for New Zealand music month 2014.  

For those of you who can't make it to my New Zealand Music Month display, here's an idea of what it's about...

Choosing the best 100 New Zealand pop songs of all time is fraught with problems. The first one is song eligibility. Then there is the big issue of how to judge the merits of one song over another.

“Natures Best” is an attempt to compile a definitive New Zealand music collection. There have been other attempts, like “The Great New Zealand songbook”, and more recently “On Song” which is a print only collection at this stage. However, these song collections tend towards one person’s kiwi favourites as opposed to an attempt at a comprehensive anthology. The songs which appear on Natures Best are all originals, written by musicians who were all born in this country. Songs were voted for by various people within the New Zealand music industry, and then ranked in order of votes received.

Like any list, it’s as interesting for the songs that didn’t make it, as for the ones that did. It could be argued that there is an over representation of New Zealand’s song writing royalty. Neil Finn, Tim Finn, and Dave Dobbyn, in their various musical entities, account for 11 of the top 30, and 25 of the top 100 songs, while world class song writers like Jenny Morris (who had a long stellar solo career in Australia, full of catchy pop songs), Andy Dickson & Liam Ryan (The Narcs), David Kilgour (The Clean) and Robert Scott (The Clean and The Bats) miss out all together. There are a few Dave Dobbyn singles included in this display, and one each from Split Enz and Crowded House, but the emphasis is on the songs that were conceived, recorded and manufactured right here in Aotearoa.

But how did The Narcs’ 1984 song of the year “Heart and Soul” not make the grade? Or “Missing in Action” from the same album (both singles included here). And how exactly did Darcy Clay’s highly unusual “Jesus I was evil” not only make the 100, but make it all the way to number 15? It looks completely out of place up there, but there it is!

Music has that glorious way of dividing opinion.

Aside from that, “Natures Best” is a fine Kiwi compilation. OK, so personally I think some of those Split Enz and Crowded House songs could have made way for others to give a broader representation of local talent. But it’s a difficult task, and we should be grateful that someone took the time and effort to turn the idea into reality. If you don’t already own a copy of the DVD, you know what to do. Every household should have it, and regularly watch it.  

There is also a small tribute to Dave McArtney

I had included Dave in the ‘very unlucky to miss out’ category of the “Natures Best” song compilation, until I realised that he actually wrote the Hello Sailor Kiwi pop anthem “Gutter Black” all by himself. The song has of course gained a wider audience as the theme tune to the local television series “Outrageous Fortune”.

When he formed and fronted his own band Pink Flamingos, the catchy radio friendly tunes continued to flow from his song writing pen. ‘Dance on’, ‘Virginia’ (“All right, all right Virginia, you’ve got me loving every inch within ya”), ‘Infatuation’, ‘Is that the way’, ‘I’m in heaven’, and ‘Pink Flamingo’ (“Get ya get ya get ya get ya feathers away from my nose”). The titles and words might not mean much to most people, but I bet there’s a nod of recognition when the song is heard. It’s a bit of a travesty that none of these appeared on the abovementioned compilations.

A quick glance online following the news of his death, clearly showed the esteem in which he was held within the music industry, both as a quality song writer and as a quality person. The overwhelming consensus among writers was that he was a true gentleman and a pleasure to work with. 

He is a true Kiwi rock legend.

There would be quite a long list of great album tracks by Kiwi singer/songwriters. I'm sure there are as many great songs that never get officially released as singles, or get earmarked for radio airplay. Here are a couple to get the ball rolling. The much maligned 80's pub band The Narcs, with the third track off side 2 of the album "Great Divide". "Heart and soul" was the tune that hogged the limelight here, being voted song of the year for 1984.

 

 

"Lazy Susan" (CBS label no picture cover) and "Missing in Action" were the other two singles released, and they were also fine offerings.

 

But equally impressive was that side two song "Fantasy".

Dragon's 1989 album "Bondi Road" was a great album. An amazing 5 singles were officially released from that album ...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  ...but a song deeply buried on side 2 called "Good time girl" was a better choice for a single than many of the 5 chosen. It's a bit of a mystery why a cover of the overexposed song "Celebration" was released instead of this original tune (co-written by Kiwi songwriting great Sharon O'Neill).

What's your great New Zealand album track?

Oh yes, forgot the mention, there is a listing for the New Zealand music month display on the Eventfinder website http://www.eventfinder.co.nz/2013/natures-best-new-zealand-music-on-display/christchurch-city and the Bethere website http://bethere.co.nz/arts/2013/11872-natures-best-new-zealand-music-on-display

This years New Zealand music display will focus on the "Natures Best" compilation. If you are not familiar with it, you really should be. Spread over 3 double CD sets, it represents the top 100 New Zealand popular songs as voted for by various people within the New Zealand music industry. There is also an excellent DVD which has a selection of 60 of the songs. It is an absolute 'must have' DVD for all Kiwi households. The exhibition at South Library will feature a selection of original singles which feature on the CD's. There will also be a small tribute to legendary songwriter Dave McArtney. So if you are in or around South Library (66 Colombo Street), please do have a look. It will be in the usual spot. Turn hard right as you come in, and it is down in the window where the staff area is.  

Thanks so much for all the people who have viewed my blog. I know it's basic and there is lots of room for improvement. Time, as always, seems to be in short supply. I haven't had a lot of spare energy to throw at it either, but hopefully I will soon. There's nothing like a domain renewal notification to get me into gear! Please stay tuned. After all, New Zealand music month isn't far away...