It’s typical understatement from the man who has arranged and/or played on a number of New Zealand’s most iconic songs – ‘E Ipo’, ‘Sierra Leone’, ‘Poi E’ and ‘I’ll Say Goodbye (Even Though I’m Blue)’ among them – and who, in 2011, was inducted into the NZ Music Hall of Fame as part of Hello Sailor.
The myth that Stuart Pearce had left Coconut Rough to join Ritchie Pickett & The Inlaws came from a flippant remark made by Mark Bell to Rip It Up. It later found its way into NZ music bible Stranded In Paradise. He had in fact gone to Texas with Gray Bartlett, Brendan Dugan and Jodi Vaughan.