Hard News by Russell Brown

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Hard News: Friday Music: Summer Time

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  • Russell Brown,

    Oh, and one more video. Chic’s whole set from Glastonbury 2013. Look for the man in the cap giving it heaps to the side of the stage during ‘Good Times’. That’s NZer John Baker.

    Whole set:

    And just Good Times -- John Baker at 2.40. and again thereafter:

    Dancing on stage at Glastonbury while Chic played Good Times would, I think, be a Major Life Experience.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report Reply

  • Hebe,

    Endless Summer was great. I shall recommend it to my teens, who are rekkid nerds. The LP was a casualty of OE: my former mother-in-law decided the pile of old records we left in her garage should go to the dump. Actually they were the favourites, well-played and over-loved, lovingly picked from the large collection, and included many indie NZ singles from the late 70s early 80s when I had to save up to buy them. Many of the tossed were bought from Peake at the University Bookshop, that one in Colombo St, or the Mousetrap so they carried the memories of place.

    I never felt the same about the MiL after that.

    Virginity was a good compilation too.

    Christchurch • Since May 2011 • 2899 posts Report Reply

  • Peter Darlington,

    Maybe we should all throw up our copies of That Summer in a salute?

    http://strikeboy.tumblr.com/

    Sadly, I was in the UK That Summer and a glorious one it was. As an 11 year old though, all I remember tooling around in a van with my parents was endless radio playlists of drab old Paul McCartney (Silly Love Songs) and Elton John with Kiki Dee. This album was a mainstay for me for about 10 years through the 80s though.

    Nelson • Since Nov 2006 • 949 posts Report Reply

  • Russell Brown, in reply to Peter Darlington,

    Maybe we should all throw up our copies of That Summer in a salute?

    Ooh! Alternative sleeve!

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report Reply

  • Peter Darlington, in reply to Russell Brown,

    Ooh! Alternative sleeve!

    Yeh, Arista Records NZ pressing 1979. Mine and yours are the 2 sleeves I remember. Wonder if there were any others?

    $15 from the Uni Bookshop though, sucker didn't come cheap!

    Nelson • Since Nov 2006 • 949 posts Report Reply

  • Hebe, in reply to Peter Darlington,

    $15 from the Uni Bookshop though, sucker didn’t come cheap!

    Someone I knew paid $40 for a Clash new release in 1979; I thought they were mad or Rockefeller-rich.

    Christchurch • Since May 2011 • 2899 posts Report Reply

  • Alan Perrott, in reply to Russell Brown,

    from what Baker's been telling me, that was possibly the least of experiences - he's having quite the time.

    be interesting to see what condition he's in when/ if he gets back.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 438 posts Report Reply

  • Brent Jackson,

    That's a great line up songs. Must look up the two I don't know.

    I was in London for the summer of '88, and it truly was a glorious time.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 620 posts Report Reply

  • Ross McA.,

    Fantastic opening for La Freak. Not a note played, just, Awww.... and the crowd starts singing. Amazing. Nile Rodgers playing la freak riff solo was also brilliant.

    Since Mar 2010 • 51 posts Report Reply

  • Jeremy Andrew,

    For you Patti Smith fans - check Garbage & The Screaming Females' cover of Because The Night (live in Texas, but the studio version rocks too)

    Hamiltron - City of the F… • Since Nov 2006 • 900 posts Report Reply

  • Ethan Tucker,

    the new BBC Imagine documentary on Rod Stewart is a highly engaging film

    I'm imagining living in a country in which the national TV broadcaster commissions and broadcasts documentaries about popular music that both celebrate and grow our understanding of what it is to be New Zealand music fans. Until that happens, there's always the VHS-sending auntie.

    Wellington • Since Apr 2008 • 119 posts Report Reply

  • Russell Brown, in reply to Ethan Tucker,

    I’m imagining living in a country in which the national TV broadcaster commissions and broadcasts documentaries about popular music that both celebrate and grow our understanding of what it is to be New Zealand music fans. Until that happens, there’s always the VHS-sending auntie.

    What's awesome about the Imagine strand is that they're all individual films: apart from a little scene-setting at the top, there's no time wasted teasing and recapping. Just a story told over as long at 90 minutes.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report Reply

  • Yamis,

    Predictions on the Ashes series????

    I think Aussie might win one test. Maybe 3-1 to England. The series back in Aussie will be far more even though. I wouldn't be surprised if it's a 2-2 type result. They will want to make sure they have result pitches if England retain the Ashes which they should do because Aussie will need to win 3 of the 5 as it's hard to see 2 wins outright winning a 5 match series.

    OT really but the mention of investing in documentaries which tell great stories from years gone by instantly made me think of the fantastic 30 for 30 sports doco series that ESPN does where they pick individuals, or moments in sports history and devote an hour to them. The idea was dreamed up by NBA nerd Bill Simmons who is also the editor-in-chief of the Grantland website which is a home for sports geekery and also a lot of pop culture geekery that some people might be interested in checking out (it's American-centric). It's a site I visit daily. I'm more into the sports articles and podcasts on sports, but there's a nice mix of stuff. I'm sure there's plenty of readers and listeners who avoid all the sports stuff.

    Even the 30 for 30 doco's with a topic that I knew nothing about or thought I wouldn't be interested in I found totally engaging.

    My personal favourite is probably the one on Ricky Williams titled Run Ricky Run. He's one interesting cat. He was running back for the Miami Dolphins for most of his career. He kept getting suspended for testing positive for marijuana. The running back is the dude who gets the ball handed to him by the quarterback and then has to try and run through a brickwall of enormous human flesh. But Ricky Williams comes across as kind of this cross between a surfie/yoga/buddhist/reggae/stoner/loner. He used to do post game interviews with his helmet on and visor down so he didn't have to make eye contact with people and was later diagnosed with clinical depression and social anxiety disorder.

    Other topics range from Jordans stint in baseball, to the influence of Nelson Mandela in SA's 95' triumph, to the infamous Raiders NFL teams relationship with LA, hosted by Ice Cube. They get different film makers to make and comment on each of them. If you're interested in sport (especially US sport) check them out.

    now... Friday night, what to watch, Warriors, Ashes, Tourism de France, the rest of the last Mad Men series... spoilt for choice in this day and age... :)

    Since Nov 2006 • 903 posts Report Reply

  • Danielle, in reply to Yamis,

    Even the 30 for 30 doco’s with a topic that I knew nothing about or thought I wouldn’t be interested in I found totally engaging.

    I agree. I've watched a few of them kinda by mistake and they're usually very good.

    I would like to buy Chic tix now pls. December 2 is summer. Just.

    Charo World. Cuchi-cuchi!… • Since Nov 2006 • 3828 posts Report Reply

  • Simon Grigg,

    That Summer! was probably bigger (the album anyway) in NZ primarily because large parts of it were not available anywhere else because the record companies hadn't bothered to release it here.

    I was working in a record store at the time and we sold truckloads of it for that very reason. Things like Richard Hell's Blank Generation were deemed unworthy of local release. The first three Jam albums were not released in NZ until 1980 and then only after extreme retailer pressure.

    Just another klong... • Since Nov 2006 • 3284 posts Report Reply

  • Rich Lock,

    Weather here very nice indeed, thanks for asking. At the moment the beer supplies are holding steady, so no need to declare that emergency yet.

    I shall, however, be DJing a large gathering of friends and family in a couple of weeks somewhere in a field in Herefordshire. We are sorted for teas and fizz, and the setlist vibe is wedding disco tunes of the early/mid 90's for hipsters. Leftfield suggestions and ideas for floor fillers are most welcome.

    back in the mother countr… • Since Feb 2007 • 2728 posts Report Reply

  • Alan Perrott, in reply to Rich Lock,

    hy Rich, might be a bit late if you're strictly 90s (2001), but Lisa Stansfield's 8-3-1 might fit the bill...

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 438 posts Report Reply

  • Rob Hosking, in reply to Simon Grigg,

    I was working in a record store at the time and we sold truckloads of it for that very reason. Things like Richard Hell's Blank Generation were deemed unworthy of local release. The first three Jam albums were not released in NZ until 1980 and then only after extreme retailer pressure.

    Really? Didn't know it was that restricted, but it doesn't surprise me.

    I remember seeing the 'That's Entertainment' clip on RWP in early 1981 and thinking it was utterly awesome.

    And discovering what was then called Radio B - you couldn't usually pick it up in Waiuku, unless the weather conditions were really good.

    Was fortunate enough for such conditions to be prevailing when they were playing 'Going Underground' and thinking it was the greatest guitar-ey surge thing I'd ever heard. Next time I managed to get up to Auckland found a copy of the single in the old Record Warehouse in Durham Lane.

    As for 'That Summer',,,,I got a cheap version! it was in a bargain bin in Whakatane, sometime in 1983, and I swooped. Cost me $6, which was probably a bit under half price at that stage.

    Favourite track has to be 'Another Girl Another Planet' which I wrote about back when I was doing the bloggy thing..... shameless self link.

    South Roseneath • Since Nov 2006 • 830 posts Report Reply

  • Simon Grigg, in reply to Rob Hosking,

    Really? Didn’t know it was that restricted, but it doesn’t surprise me.

    PolyGram put out a compilation called New Wave in January 1978 but almost instantly lost the rights to half the tracks and deleted it. In 1978 WEA said they were doing a big push on the newly acquired Sire label, which, to their credit, meant local release for Talking Heads and the second Ramones album. The rest they simply imported a few copies from Australia.

    CBS didn't release the first Clash album in NZ until the end of 1978, replying on sparse Australian imports from early 1978 when they first admitted it existed.

    The first two Buzzcocks albums arrived in 1980 from EMI, at the same time as the Singles Going Steady compilation.

    Shocking to think that you couldn't buy ('cos of Muldoon era import licensing) a record as seminal as All Mod Cons in NZ. Somehow we muddled through....

    Just another klong... • Since Nov 2006 • 3284 posts Report Reply

  • Hebe, in reply to Simon Grigg,

    We seemed to have a copy of the first Cure record when they played in Christchurch in 1979 or 1980. And Joy Division wasn't too hard to find. Tape recorders were a wonderful thing: you could put a record on, sit a tape recorder on record jammed against to a speaker, and magically get a (slightly blurry) copy.

    Christchurch • Since May 2011 • 2899 posts Report Reply

  • Hebe, in reply to Rich Lock,

    If 1989 would do, just the song for a wedding: Texas 'I Don't Want a Lover'.

    Christchurch • Since May 2011 • 2899 posts Report Reply

  • Simon Grigg, in reply to Hebe,

    We seemed to have a copy of the first Cure record when they played in Christchurch in 1979 or 1980.

    It came out early in 1980 in NZ. We were lucky because it was on Fiction, a label owned by Chris Parry who used to be the drummer in The Fourmyula and thus he did a deal with NZ indie Stunn Records.

    Joy Division's first was was released in NZ via RTC about May or June 1980.

    But what Chch had was Tony Peake, who was running the UBS record store and using their academic exception to by-pass Muldoon's restrictions. Used to get Tony to send up parcels of stuff that we couldn't dream of getting in Auckland.

    Just another klong... • Since Nov 2006 • 3284 posts Report Reply

  • Sacha, in reply to Hebe,

    Tape recorders were a wonderful thing: you could put a record on, sit a tape recorder on record jammed against to a speaker, and magically get a (slightly blurry) copy.

    home taping, killing music :)

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report Reply

  • Hebe, in reply to Sacha,

    home taping, killing music :)

    since 1977

    Christchurch • Since May 2011 • 2899 posts Report Reply

  • Russell Brown, in reply to Simon Grigg,

    That Summer! was probably bigger (the album anyway) in NZ primarily because large parts of it were not available anywhere else because the record companies hadn’t bothered to release it here.

    My old mate Andy Fyfe, who writes for Record Collector, says it's crazy rare in Britain -- even many new wave collectors haven't heard of it. And, of course, it was never released as a CD.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report Reply

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