Rick Bryant on Rough Justice

Rough Justice in Queenstown, 1978: Martin Highland, Peter Boyd, Bernadine Doyle, Peter Kennedy, Stephen Jessup, Rick Bryant, Janet Clouston, Nick Bollinger and Mike Gubb (next to his dog, Rhodes). - Mike Gubb collection. Photo by Alison Clouston.

Fresh from 12 months in Wi Tako prison (now Rimutaka Prison) for cannabis related offences and hungry for the road, Wellington R&B singer Rick Bryant launched a new working band in August 1976 that he dubbed Rough Justice. The double-barrelled name defiantly referenced his immediate past.

Rick Bryant’s glory days at the Gluepot

For musicians, playing the Gluepot meant you'd made the grade. When you actually live in pubs for a period of years, moving every couple of days, with the occasional respite of a fortnight in one place, the phrase "a really good pub" has a resonance it cannot have for those of you who live in bungalows, baches or bijou maisonettes.

Rick Bryant, 1983: Soul Satisfaction

“I’ve been singing those sad, sad songs. Sad songs, all I know” – Otis Redding