Heritage

Radio rules the airwaves popular music in NZ from 1900 to today

The twentieth century brought with it increased leisure time and more access to hearing music performed by other people initially through recordings and radio and eventually TV, portable music players and the internet.

As the new century began, new inspirations for creating music came from the tramping movement, which grew and produced a strong vein of songs to be sung around the campfire. Later, New Zealanders’ experiences of war provided another source of potential song-writing material.

Nine years into the new century, newly-invented sound recording technology heralded a music relvolution. One of the first-known recordings made by a NZ artist was by Christchurch-born New Zealand soprano Madame Frances Alda. She recorded with Enrico Caruso in 1909.

In 1913, Swiss Cradle Song was published in Australia by Clement Scott. Some ten years later, in the early 1920’s, it became This is the hour when lyrics were added by Northland’s Emira Maewa Kaihau. Listen to an early His Master’s Voice (HMV) recording by Henry Murray of ‘Haere Ra’ mp3 , and this version (mp3), Te Iwi E, by Karitane Māori Choir. By 1947, it had become Now is the hour and was made world famous through recordings by Gracie Fields and Bing Crosby.

In 1927 duo Dean Waretini and Ana Hato were recorded by visiting Australian sound engineers, leading to international interest in New Zealand music. A series of recordings were made in the 1930s of The Rotorua Māori choir, and Tex Morton (born Bob Lane in Nelson) crossed the Tasman to expand his career.

In the beginning, radio ruled. Most of the recording studios in the country were contracted to the New Zealand Broadcasting service, supplying material for radio serials, quiz shows and talent quests. Then in 1947, the Radio Corporation, who manufactured and retailed wireless sets, built a recording studio at the back of their Wellington factory.

It was there, in 1948, that Blue Smoke (mp3 clip) by the Ruru Karaitiana Quartet, with Pixie Williams on vocals, was recorded. It was the first record wholly produced in New Zealand.

Another successful act of the day were the Tumbleweeds, from Dunedin, who had a string of number-one singles in the 40s and 50s. Listen to their recording of Maple on the Hill (mp3). Daphne Walker recorded the well-known Haere Mai with George Tumahai, vocals; Bill Sevesi teamed up with his Islanders in the 1950s, while Pat McMinn recorded 1955’s Opo the Crazy Dolphin, another home-grown hit.

Rock and Roll came to New Zealand in the mid-1950s through the Māori Cowboy, Johnny Cooper. A well-known singer and presenter of talent shows, he first released two Bill Hayley covers, but in 1956 he wrote and recorded Pie Cart Rock and Roll at a time when the country was in the midst of a rock and roll frenzy.

Pie Cart Rock and Roll was used as the name of a compilation album which provides a good overview of New Zealand music and bands at the time.

In 1959 Mabel Howard, Minister of Social Welfare, went to see Johnny Devlin perform at the Christchurch Town Hall, declaring at half-time “there’s nothing much wrong with rock’n’roll”.

Devlin was touted as NZ’s Elvis Presley and screaming fans followed Devlin everywhere, and he was seldom not in the news. Devlin’s Lawdy, Miss Clawdy remains one of New Zealand’s biggest-selling singles.

The 60s and 70s

The early sixties saw a revival of New Zealand folksongs, partly due to the influence of British and American folk singers in the fifties. 1960 saw the recording of the first songs by Peter Cape, an original performer and writer of folk music who achieved national popularity with his classics Down the Hall on a Saturday Night and Taumaranui. Christchurch’s Phil Garland began collecting and performing Kiwi folksongs both in NZ and Australia, as well as writing his own. Listen to this mp3 clip of Garland singing Packing my things.

In Christchurch, Max Merritt and the Meteors played regular gigs at The Teenage Club, and achieved iconic status with their songs Get a Haircut and C’mon Let’s Go. Around the same time Ray Columbus was putting his first bands together, eventually settling on Ray Columbus and the Invaders. The band was noted for its Fender equipment and vivid blue suits. Columbus styled his band on the mod look and after the Beatles toured New Zealand in 1964 had Australian and New Zealand chart success with She’s a Mod.

John Hore released his first album in 1964 after winning a TV talent contest and touring with the Miss New Zealand show. He travelled to the United States in 1965 where he used the name John Denver (Denver was his middle name.) He allowed another artist (John Deutschendorf) to use the name when he left the States. In the 1980s he returned to the US and used the name John Grenell. His version of Welcome to our World was used in a series of TV advertisements for Toyota. He also ran the Whitecliffs Family Music Festival for several years.

He was one of many country music stars that new Zealand has produced Patsy Riggir, Gray Bartlett, Brendan Dugan and Suzanne Prentice among them.

Talent quests were a popular format for music shows during these decades and Let’s Go, hosted by Peter Sinclair was one of the first in 1964. Sinclair also hosted the popular C’mon, which featured artists such as The Chicks Sue and Judy Donaldson. C’mon ran until 1969, when it was replaced by Happen Inn almost identical in format.

The television and radio talent quests that were so popular were one of the few ways that artists could step up from local and smaller venues to wider success.

Dinah Lee, born Diane Jacobs in Waimate, began her career in Christchurch. She recorded Don’t you know Yockomo which went to number one in Australia the first time a New Zealand artist had topped an overseas chart. She went on to record a succession of hits and performed all over the world, Including Hong Kong, Vietnam and the United States.

John Rowles later recorded If I only had Time which went to number three in the British charts and had top 40 US success with 1970s’ Cheryl Moana Marie.

Late 60s / Early 70s

One of the most successful bands of their day, The Fourmyula’s Wayne Mason penned what was later to be dubbed New Zealand’s number one song of all time Nature also covered by the MuttonBirds. See the 2002 list of top songs, with links to their catalogue entries.

In 1969, The Fourmyula featured on every music chart of the year. According to John Dix in Stranded in Paradise, bassist Alistair Richardson bought a book on how to write pop songs in Christchurch, and together with Mason knocked out a dozen songs in a matter of weeks.

Nature, Dix writes, was penned in the studio, and taped purely as a recording exercise before the band left for London. It was the first home-grown number one of the 1970s but the band was playing extensively in Europe and Scandinavia. Later in 1970 the band released Otaki, which reached number 15 in the charts.

Shona Laing sung her way into the hearts and minds of the country when she won the talent show New faces in 1972 with an original composition, 1905. It was released as a single, hitting number 4 in 1973, and she also won the Tokyo Song Festival in that year.

The seventies was a decade that started with crooners such as Rowles, Bunny Walters, but that included disco, punk and the beginnings of an entirely New Zealand sound. It also saw a switch in focus for many home-grown artists to recording albums rather than singles.

Dragon’s April Sun in Cuba was a big radio hit, as was Hello Sailor’s Gutter Black.

Split Enz started their unique recording career as Spilt Ends, with Phil Judd and Tim Finn penning tunes such as The Sweet Talking Spoons Song which they performed on the New Faces song quest. With bright pastel suits the band made strong visual impact and their 1975 album Mental Notes, with original cover artwork by Judd, reached number eight on the NZ charts.

The band toured America and Britain. The band had a string of hits through the rest of the seventies and into the 80s. My Mistake, Give It a Whirl (co-written with Neil Finn), I Hope I never, Shark Attack and Poor Boy. The True Colours album was the most successful topping charts on both sides of the Tasman in 1980.

Tim Finn went on to a successful solo writing and performing career, and rejoined the band for concerts over the years. By July 1980, True Colours was released in more than a dozen countries, and I Got You reached number 10 in the UK charts.

Neil Finn formed Crowded House and had international success with hits such as Don’t Dream it’s Over and Take the Weather With You. One of New Zealand’s best-known songwriters, he has also recorded solo albums and music for film soundtracks.

Punk music came to New Zealand from 1977 onwards, with a strong DIY ethic.
One of Christchurch’s first punk bands was The Doomed, featuring Richard Driver as vocalist Johnny Abort. Prominent among New Zealand punk bands were The Enemy, featuring the manic antics of Chris Knox, a central figure of NZ indie music since.

Punk came and went quickly, and ‘New wave’ band Mi Sex had a smash with Computer Games it topped the Australian charts in 1979. Their later single People, and 80s synth-pop classic Sierra Leone by Coconut Rough can be found on the compilation Electric Dreams.

Into the 80s

The 1980s exploded with indigenous, DIY New Zealand music, with Christchurch and Dunedin at the forefront. Roger Shepherd started Flying Nun records New Zealand’s first ‘indie’ record label in Christchurch in April, 1981.

Interested, but not sure what to make of the new label, the media coined the term ‘Dunedin sound’ to describe the jingle jangle guitar and experimental sounds that typified early recordings.

The first Flying Nun release was The Pin Group’s Ambivalence. The second Flying Nun effort, Tally Ho, by The Clean, from Dunedin, reached number 19 in the charts. The song was recorded by Arnold van Bussell at his studio in Christchurch. Many Christchurch bands have recorded albums at Nightshift studios.

The Clean’s EP (extended play) Boodle, Boodle, Boodle, released in November 1981 went to number 5 in the charts, and meant the label could continue to record other local bands. The Dunedin Double featured The Chills, Sneaky Feelings, The Stones and The Verlaines.

The Flying Nun web site has an excellent history and archive section. Also see our On-Demand Audio and Video page for a link to Radio New Zealand’s excellent documentary series, Flying Nun Records. Search the library catalogue for Flying Nun titles.

For an interesting and academic perspective on the Christchurch Music scene, try reading Flat City Sounds: the Christchurch music scene, a paper by Dr Tony Mitchell.

Tough economic times, Robert Muldoon’s wage and price freeze, rising unemployment saw musicians write biting satirical songs, such as Blam Blam Blam’s 1981 There is no Depression in New Zealand, and the Knobz Culture, The Topp Twins sang about Maori Land rights and keeping New Zealand nuclear free.

The political motif also came through with a Pacific influence. Herbs released their first album in 1981, What’s BE Happen, with an album cover depicting protesters surrounded by police. Their follow up single, French Letter, was a protest about the nuclear weapons testing by France at Mururoa Atoll.

The Dance Exponents were formed in Christchurch in 1981, releasing their first album Prayers Be Answered in 1983. See our profile on lead singer Jordan Luck and the band. In the mid 1980s Herbs toured NZ with a showcase of the best Maori bands of the time Aotearoa, Dread Beat and Blood and Ardijah. Ardijah’s soul-funk style became well-known throughout the country.

The Patea Maori Club’s Poi E reached number one in 1984. The song, with lyrics by Ngoi Pewhairangi and music by Dalvanius Prime, breathed new life into a rural New Zealand town at a time of economic downturn thousands of freezing workers lost their jobs between 1984 and 1990.

Herbs also recorded with Dave Dobbyn for the soundtrack to the Footrot Flats movie in 1986, before releasing Sensitive to a Smile in 1987. Sensitive to a Smile won the best Album award in 1987, and E Papa won Charlie Tumahai and Dilworth Karaka a best Songwriters’ Award.

Dobbyn, who started with Th’ Dudes, (he wrote and sung Be Mine Tonight), before fronting DD Smash, has become one of New Zealand’s most-well known songwriters, with a long list of radio-friendly hits such as Loyal, Whaling, Slice of Heaven and Welcome Home.

Annie Crummer also began her career in the 1980s, after initially appearing on a TV talent quest, Opportunity Knocks, when she was nine. Crummer was guest vocalist on the Netherworld Dancing Toy’s For Today in 1985 before joining When the Cat’s away and then going on to record the albums Language in 1992 and Seventh Wave in 1996.

1990 to today: changing directions, developing diversity.

The late 1980s and 1990s saw diversification of genres rap, electronic, heavy rock and jazz all surfaced by New Zealand artists. New Zealand music was confident and full-steam ahead.

Since 2000 New Zealand, music has gone from strength to strength. Salmonella Dub, Anika Moa, Zed, The Feelers, Bic Runga, Bo Runga, Hayley Westenra are some of the popular artists with a Christchurch connection.

Salmonella Dub’s blend of reggae and electronic music had its roots in Christchurch in 1993. The band has a comprehensive website (note Flash player required). Katchafire, Fat Freddy’s Drop and Trinity Roots are other reggae-flavoured New Zealand acts.

Also in 1993, The Feelers (James Reid, Matthew Thomas and Hamish Gee) formed Christchurch. They have released four albums to date: Supersystem, Communicate, Playground Battle and One World. Their website contains latest news and dates of gigs.

Bic and Boh Runga are sisters who grew up in Christchurch and both have musical careers Bic as a solo artist, and Boh with stellar*.

Anika Moa was born in Auckland, and grew up in Christchurch. Like Bic Runga, she entered the SmokefreeRockQuest, and later created a sensation when she was signed to international giant Atlantic Records in 2000. Thinking Room, her first album, debuted at No 1 on New Zealand album charts the following year. She released her second album, Stolen Hill, in 2005. Anika’s website features posts of her latest gigs and news.

Hayley Westenra also grew up and went to school in Christchurch and has achieved world-wide acclaim for her light classical/pop crossover recordings.

This year, new band Atlas recorded their chart-topping single at Christchurch’s Element studios. Atlas features two former members of Zed (Ben Campbell and Andy Lynch), another popular Christchurch band whose album Silencer included Renegade Fighter, Glorafilia and Oh! Daisy. Former Zed frontman Nathan King has launched a solo career in the United Kingdom.
Electronic music fused a number of styles to defy the charts and became popular throughout late 1990s and after the turn of the century.

Oakley Grenell attended CPIT jazz school and trained as a teacher, whilst being involved with a number of recording projects and releasing several albums. Also known as O.G., Grenell has recently finished a project with The Nomad and King Kapisi.

Concord Dawn released their self-titled drum and bass album in 2000, and have released two further albums since. Pitch Black have also had success with their albums. Their debut album, Futureproof, was released in September 1999 and Electronomicon followed in August 2000.

Hip Hop music also became widely popular in the 1990s and Gareth Shute’s Hip Hop Music in Aotearoa is a comprehensive book covering the last 15 years. From Upper Hutt Posse to Che Fu and Scribe, the book chronicles the development of the music in New Zealand and also delves into the politicial, cultural and social elements that give the music its urban edge.
Scribe is the best-know Christchurch hip hop artist and his debut album The Crusader was phenomenally popular. According to his website, the single Stand spent 12 weeks at No 1 and holds the record for the longest running number one by a NZ artist. Not Many was another popular track. In 2007 he released Rhyme book.

The library also subscribes to back2basics, a New Zealand hip hop magazine, which is available for borrowing.

We recommend: New Zealand popular music resources

Our online resources:

  • Early NZ Music our feature on NZ music before 1900.
  • Māori Music - our page on traditional māori music.
  • On-Demand Audio and Video programmes on New Zealand music.

Our Internet Gateway recommends:

Browse the resources in our libraries:

Books

Sound recordings
Compilations of music from Christchurch bands.

You may also like to search our catalogue for items on New Zealand music:

Sources

All audio clips are located on the Discover site http://discover.natlib.govt.nz of the Alexander Turnbull Library, National Library of New Zealand, Te Puna Matauranga o Aotearoa. Other clips are also available on the site.