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...

Pin Group 7 inch singles

Would you pay over NZ$1,000 for 2 little 7 inch records? OK, so they are rare Kiwi singles, but heck, that's a lot of folding stuff for just a couple of little records. The Pin Group was one of the very first bands which recorded for the iconic Flying Nun record label. The first single produced by Flying Nun was Pin Group "Ambivalence" (catalogue number FN001), and boy it has just fetched $625.00 on TradeMe. The less well known "Coat/Jim" (Flying Nuns third single-catalogue FN003) went for a mere $440.00.  Both records have unique hand painted sleeves and labels, which gives them their value no doubt.



The Pin Group "Coat/Jim"



The Pin Group "Ambivalence"

Images TradeMe trader t3-dc3

So what is the absolute 'holy grail' for collectors of New Zealand music? Sure, it depends what you collect. Do you follow a particular era, or a musical genre, or a cluster of bands that you like? Rare albums by some of our 1970's bands fetch top prices. An album by Ticket recently sold online for over NZ$300.00. Albums by the likes of Blerta, Ragnarok and Mammal usually exchange hands for healthy prices due to the fact that not many copies are in circulation. The very first Split Enz single "For You" generally fetches NZ$200.00-300.00, as do the early picture cover Dutch singles "Late Last Night" and "Another Great Divide". The Flying Nun record label has its fair share of singles which demand hefty dollars, like the very first release by the Pin Group. Many Flying Nun singles featured unique 'do it yourself' hand made sleeves like 'Be My Friend' by Sneaky Feelings, or 'Do Not Decieve Me/The Witch' by 25 Cents. Again we are talking in the hundreds of dollars here. So let me know. What New Zealand record would you shell out serious cash for? And if money was no object, what disc would you just love to have in you collection?      

Welcome to newzealandmusiceum, or nzmusiceum for short. Over the next little while I will be compiling images and words connected to New Zealand music. Initially, there will be illustrated discographies of some of our most well known rock artists, and photos of associated memorabilia. This nucleus will grow over time to incorporate wider New Zealand popular culture. It is definitely going to be a 'work in progress' project, so please stay tuned to this site. It will be an interesting journey...

Well, another New Zealand music month is coming up in May. If you are in Christchurch during that month, please do get down to the South Library at 66 Colombo Street in Beckenham and have a look at the exhibition titled "Interesting New Zealand music singles". No, it's not a promotion for a dating service, but an eclectic selection of compact disc and vinyl singles by New Zealand musicians, with little stories attached to some of them. Like the title says, 'interesting'! I hope it is for you...

Neil Finn should never have joined

I've often thought that musicians must be a very diificult lot to get on with. And writers, artists, actors, poets, performers- all thespians actually. They are just so damned creative. All Black great Sean Fitzpatrick stated in his book "Winning Matters" that he believed that most people who achieve great things just keep turning up in the morning and graft their way to glory. In other words, there's no great mystery to so-called 'success' (however that's defined). According to him, there's no way around just putting in the hours. I wonder if that is all that separates the musicians who make a good living at their skill, or who make a REALLY good living at their skill, and all the other crash and burn wanna be's. There's little doubt that New Zealand's most well known pop songwriter Neil Finn just happened to possess an ant-like work ethic. That's probably why they nicknamed him thus. The Ant. Amoung other names. Partly because of this, I've always felt that Neil should never haved joined Split Enz. It was Tim Finn's band and should have remined so. They have such different personalities, and that 6 year age gap has always, to my eyes, appeared larger than that. Recruiting Neil, when founding member Phil Judd finally left the band, could be regarded as taking one of the easy options. Neil certainly didn't impress with his mastery of the guitar when he arrived at band HQ. But such is the way it is without all the wisdom that age and experience brings. In some families, siblings are pretty hard to say no to. It would have been interesting to see how things would have panned out for Tim, if he had been left to his own devices, and remained the sole focal point for the band, as I suspect he always wanted to be.

When was the last time you purchased a vinyl record? Can you even remember? Well, if you can't remember, you're sadly out of touch with the music world. This is because, according to various music associations in America, the market for vinyl records in the USA will apparantly increase by 25 percent in 2011. And the American market doesn't purchase as much vinyl product as Europe. So far from being dead, vinyl is actually making a worldwide comeback. So get onto the net and check out all the wonderful vinyl product that is out there.

I am a record collector. No doubt about it. I am crazy about singles. Those little vinyl records that were manufactured usually to support or promote the larger vinyl record called an album. The choice of songs to put out as a single always fascinates me. The record company usually has a large influence in this decision. Sometimes the choices are very strange indeed. I have made mention already about the third single taken from the Split Enz album "Conflicting Emotions". Their final album "See ya round" also produced a baffling decision by those invloved. The first single "I walk away" was a no brainer. Excellent choice. The collector in me would have loved to see a few releases of that single, in different coloured sleeves (red/black, green/black to go with the excellent black and white sleeve that appeared in the shops). The second single released was "One mouth is fed" from side one of the album. As already mentioned as well, this was Neil Finn's side of the record. Neil's ballad "Voices", which brings side one to an end is a much more rousing song, and would have made a far better single. "One mouth" sank without trace, and with it any chance of a third single emerging, or the album appearing in any overseas market besides Canada. The Canadians had always loved the music of Split Enz, and they released the album in a special grey cover instead of the usual orange one. Nice touch! Anyway, due in part to poor marketing of the songs, another chance for Split Enz to make some serious inroads into the international sales charts went begging yet again.