Max Merritt: the UK years
Max Merritt and the Meteors shifted their base from Melbourne to the UK in October 1970. The band then comprised Merritt, Stewie Speers (drums), Bo...
Street Talk
Unknown Mortal Orchestra
Ten silken hits of NZ yacht rock
I moved to New Zealand nearly 20 years ago, an emissary of the US free improv/noise/drone/psych scene, barely aware of local music outside of my no...
The Naked and Famous
Songwriter’s Choice: Sam Ford and Trudi Green
When we were first asked to contribute to this series, we thought, "Hey, this'll be fun”. We had no idea just how difficult it would be, for three ...
Dead People and other stories: rock memoirs, 2015-2020
By sweeping the general non-fiction categories at the 2020 Ockham New Zealand Book Awards, Shayne Carter has not only won yet more recognition for ...
Max Merritt: the Melbourne years
Melbourne loved Max Merritt. He and the Meteors were based there from 1967 to 1970, and during this era he was noted to be the "finest soul singer ...
NZ Band Posters: the Martin Phillipps collection
One of New Zealand's most prominent and influential songwriters, Martin Phillipps has been leading The Chills for close to 40 years now. It's well ...
Murray and Fred Loveridge
Songwriter’s Choice: Dianne Swann
Marlon Williams – 'Beautiful Dress' I adore Marlon's song 'Nobody Gets What They Want Anymore' – that refrain gets me every time I hear it, and ...
Smashproof
The Number One Hits – 1960-1969
The history of music charts in New Zealand goes back to the late 1940s. It's a convoluted story explained at the AudioCulture page New Zealand Char...
Troy Kingi
Chris Grosz
Wellington's Lost Record Stores: a personal introduction
In the early 1970s, my after-school journey from Onslow College would conclude with a walk from the Wellington Railway Station, through the hea...
1:12 Records
Jim Sutton
Music on Gallipoli, 1915
Gallipoli and music seem an unlikely combination, yet – as with every other location during the First World War – melody managed to slither through...
Wellington's Lost Record Stores 1: the Golden Mile
Exploring Wellington's leading record stores in the golden era of retailing. Lamphouse As the name suggests, Lamphouse did not regard sellin...
Wellington's Lost Record Stores 2: burbs and back alleys
Sound of Music: An Upper Hutt store that opened on 26 October 1966 in Geange Street, owned by Bob Batenburg (above, with assistant Stephanie ...
Julia Deans
L.A.B.
Dylan Taite: nice to see ya
"Jett Rink”, aka Dylan Taite, 1960s TV reporter John Dylan Taite is recalled as an authentic Kiwi rock icon: immaculately unkempt, shod in Beatl...
Silvio’s: the accidental record store
"I've had a perfectly wonderful evening, but this wasn't it!” says Silvio Famularo, chuckling as he recalls the words of Groucho Marx. "You k...
Wellington’s early record stores
At the height of the swing era and the Depression in the early 1930s, Wellington's alligators – white jazz musicians – gathered on Friday after...
Playdate
Playdate magazine was New Zealand's popular movie and music monthly in the Swinging Sixties. Although it was owned by the multi-millionaire cinema ...
Tha Feelstyle
Nadia Reid
The Number One Hits – 2010-2019
The Naked and the Famous – Young Blood (2010) 'Young Blood' bursts like a pimple, with a joyful synth hook that swerves into a moody bridge, mooch...
Shona Laing
Southern Comfort: Shona Laing in the Nuclear Age
First published in Rip It Up, October 1987 Shona Laing's '(Glad I'm) Not a Kennedy' is a Top 20 hit in Sweden, which sounds pretty odd, but then s...
Troy Kingi
Ten more moments in New Zealand bass
"Wow, cool!” That's what I said when AudioCulture asked me to do a part two to Steven Shaw's December 2018 original article. Where do I start? Lik...
Roger Giles
Tony Backhouse
Top Hat Napier
It was the place to be, the place to be seen, and also the place to play. Napier had a reputation where it had become the "vibrant city where you...
Waves
Tony Backhouse’s a cappella epiphany
Playing in soul and R&B-based bands in New Zealand and Australia, Tony Backhouse knew something of the history and singing traditions behind th...
1ZB Radio Theatre: the Art Deco years
It was where seven worlds could collide, from big bands to punk. Durham Street West was ground zero for popular music in Auckland for many decades:...