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Posted at 10:11AM on 6 Dec 06. Permalink.

My favourite Flyin Nun moment happened in Orientation week at Otago University in 1997. King Loser were playing and all of a sudden all the lights went out stage and the Union Hall was in darkness. Sean O'Reilly comes out from stage left, dumps lighter fluid on a cymbal, sets it on fire and starts dancing round the flames. Rock and roll.

Posted at 10:32AM on 6 Dec 06. Permalink.

There have been many over the years, but one of the more memorable was way back near the start of my working life when I had to go to Auckland with a colleague to do a couple of days work, and had 2 nights to spend....

'1982'.

Last night
K Road
His choice
Errr

Tonight
Goodbye Clean
Hello Chills
My choice
Ahhh

Caught the same show in Wellington at the old Terminus Tavern too. Sublime. Can't remember the name of the Auckland Venue.

Posted at 12:19PM on 6 Dec 06. Permalink.

perhaps my most memorable Flying Nun moments weren't particularly musical except in terms of the personnel involved having musical links, esp. to the Nun (RIP, whatever this thread may otherwise imply!).

yes, it's that damn football thing (y'know, soccer).

for example there was the last bFM vs Flying Nun game (Russell Brown was in the b team with me too as I recall, but several of the girls in the squad actually worked harder, especially Renee Jones, formerly of the Nun I think? but now of IMNZ/NZ Musician etc, she was everywhere).
anyway Shayne Carter, playing for the Nun, got a good ball just outside the six yard box with all the time in the world, picked his target and drilled it past me in the box... but then Renee's boyfriend Phil Armstrong got the ball upfield, spotted big Dylan of Flying Nun off his line in the opposite box and dinked a beautiful floating chip over the flailing custodian and into the net. Draw... Apparently Newsboy and friends were doing a live commentary on bFM on the sideline, never heard it though.

then there was the final outing of the winter game two seasons ago, when Shayne and I were the sole NZ representatives in a new Latin American side that year - imaginatively called America. we'd clinched the Cup already and needed a win to take out the 3rd Division and win promotion too... the winner was duly delivered by a wonderful late strike from outside the box into the top corner from a top player, Mariano, of Argentina.
The final whistle blew.
All the Latinos grabbed each other, cheering and leaping around, the whole bit: whipped their shirts off, whirled them around their heads, took off on a victory lap, chanting and singing.
Shayne and I stood there, looked at them, then at each other before bursting into laughter and sheepishly walking to the sideline.
bloody undemonstrative Kiwis eh? somebody taped it, was pretty funny to see the contrast...
team pic taken shortly afterwards here:
http://www.geocities.com/americafutbolclub/

Posted at 12:57PM on 6 Dec 06. Permalink.

I've got a couple of flying nun moments which would fit the bill I reckon - but the first one from my memory is probably the best.

At the time I would have been 18 or 19 (so over a decade ago) and had got myself hooked up with a short lived music magazine which some friends had started up. Already being a bit of a Nun fanboy at the time I was blown away when our editor managed to get me a time to interview Shayne!!

When we bolled on up to the venue (getting there was another story for another time) we were greeted by a smiling Shayne who suggested we pop outside to do the interview. Not being professionals I'd not organised much in the way of set questions for the interview, but had my trusty tape recorder to hand.

Shayne proved to be very nice, and he sat in the parking lot with us for over 2 hours talking about stuff - despite my sometimes less than diplomatic questions (which had my editor holding her head in her hands and imagining that we'd never get another interview in our lives) - some examples.

- I couldn't help noticing Shayne, that as you've moved on from the wash of Melt to a more agressive style of tracks, that your on stage sneer seems to have increased [cue my editor shaking her head frantically at me as I ask this] - is this intentional?

- Do you get sick of real reporters asking you all the same questions ? Have you ever just wanted to string them along and feed them some bullshit to see how gulliable they are?
[this provoked much laughter from Mr Carter and a sigh of relief from my editor].

- I haven't seen you guys play "Such A Daze" live before, why? The answer was a quizical look and Shayne going, actually the new guy doesn't know it, but it's mostly D and G so we could teach him. They then included it in the set list for the night!

- The track "Done" has some stong links to hip-hop, we're not going to see the 'Fits go all urban and stylish are we?
[quickly followed up by me trying to scrabble and insinuate that the 'Fits were already stylish and that it's a cool track!]

There were many other somewhat embarrassing questions that my mind has purged - but Shayne was so damned nice about the entire thing! Needless to say the gig that evening was brilliant, and soon after they played their (at the time) last show at the BDO.

Within a year of doing this interview I was playing guitar (I use the term "playing" quite fluidly considering my skill at the time) in a band and have been playing in bands ever since.

I've had plenty of interactions with other Nun bands, I followed JPSE round the country on tour (which creeped them out to start with), spent a fair while drinking and doing Nos with Dave Mitchell before a Chug gig, and have almost been run over by Chris Matthews!

The Nun have a lot to answer for in my life :-0

Posted at 1:19PM on 6 Dec 06. Permalink.

I will always have a special place in my heart for the tall skinny doorman at the old Bodega who used to let the 16 year old me in to see the mid-90s wave of Flying Nun like Garageland, Superette and the 3Ds. I was so in awe of their awesomeness that I didn't even take advantage of my settings to get drunk, because I wanted to have all my senses about me.

Posted at 2:55PM on 6 Dec 06. Permalink.

There really was one,
On Radio With Pictures:
A nun who could fly!

Posted at 3:58PM on 6 Dec 06. Permalink.

A couple of Nun moments of mine were in London a few years back:

- seeing Garageland play one of their first gigs of their UK residency period - bloody great show in small venue, mostly Kiwis on their OE (like myself) in the crowd, after the show having a drink at the bar got into conversation with a nice Kiwi gent who turned out to be Roger Shepard (sorry if the spelling is wrong Roger!) and a young lady I thought I recognised - when I asked her who she was it was Denise from the 3Ds! Thought here would be a perfect opportunity to try and get inside the mind of the man when my friend (who'd had a bit to drink!) almost threw herself at Roger's knees thanking him for 'all he'd done for NZ music!' A very embarrassed looking Mr Shepard & Denise soon departed, leaving me to pick my friend up, her apologising all the way home and feeling rather sheepish for her crazed act of devotion!

- Chris Knox playing in London (in stubbies) complaining that he had come to England to play to English people and what did he get?? A room full of f*ckin' Andrew Fagan (who was there) and his mates!! At same gig including the lyrics "Philip Schofield on a double decker bus!" into a couple of tracks - Schofield was starring in Jason & the AT Dreamcoat at the time, Knox was pointing out that the last time he had seen him had been presenting teens music telly (remember Shazam?) in NZ and the sight of huge images of him on London's public transport was a bit of a shock to the system. All the Kiwis in the crowd were pissing themselves, English girlfriend at the time had no clues...

Posted at 5:45PM on 6 Dec 06. Permalink.

Given I was the chemical haze on the offstage mattress at Mollett Street all my memories are hazy.In fact my favourite Nun moment is nicked from my retired punk partner.Sharon .She says that at Canterbury University the prize for deluded ideas went to her fellow studentl, Roger Sheppard, when he announced he was off to start a record label.
Imagine that, here in Godzone, back when cultural cringe reigned and Muldoons still dragged their knuckles across our tiny national stage.

Posted at 5:52PM on 6 Dec 06. Permalink.

Roger's desktop orange... there's a whole story there.

Posted at 8:07PM on 6 Dec 06. Permalink.

Since he rang, one ad break into What Now, I'd been waiting for him to turn up. And then, mid afternoon on a South Auckland Sunday sometime in 1986, my sixth-form schoolfriend John appears at the front door, flushed and focused, fresh from Real Groovy with the Holy Grail: the just-released I Love My Leather Jacket; the 12" version as hefty, weighty, and valuable as the subject of the song. He somehow persuaded his mum to let him borrow the Avenger, and on his two-month-old license has driven all the way to Queen Street, on the motorway, by himself, and back, with the Leather Jacket on the passenger seat, without losing it. Legend.

Before I go on, sip your Santos Flat White and think back to those vinyl times when only the Open Late Café was ever open, unless you knew where to find DKD; remember cold night fumblings in mum's car, big sisters with access to Swappas, and the tactility of lowering the needle into the groove -- the closest any of us got to sex back then.

So, let’s play it.

Problem: John has no turntable.
Solution: My dad has a stereo.
Problem: Mum and Dad have friends over for a beer, in the lounge.
Solution: "Just once. We'll play it just once and then leave."

Four bemused adults on wide velour couches.
Three bottles of Khutze on the coffee table.
Two spotty 16-year-olds.
One three-minute moment in time.

Posted at 12:08AM on 7 Dec 06. Permalink.

I was a bit young for the 80's wave of Nun but have since dug pretty deeply into the back catalogue - these re-releases and such are just the ticket. So, no stories of the Bats or the Clean - my favourite Nun moment comes courtesy of Chris Knox - well a couple of moments actually...

Moment one - back inthe mid 90's students at Auckland university were very busy having run-ins with the police and protesting at this and that, mostly fees. Most notably the Registry Building was taken over for 8 days as I recall, which was quite an acheivement (although, in the way of these things, nothing, in the end, was acheived). Anyway... as student gatherings tend to it turned into a bit of a party on Friday. Someone, I've no idea who, managed to organise a bit of live music that evening, with Marty Source and the Source (anyone else remember them!? hilarious). and Chris Knox.

So, on a balmy summer evening, a few hundred students got to see Chris, in his stubbies, standing on the registry steps singing "and it's students I love, and it's students I love..." and telling us to all piss off and get a job. Classic.

Another memorable one, this one at the Gathering in 2000/01 - about thirty faithful rockers huddling around Chris and pogoing madly as he cranked the amp up (attempting to drown out the sound of the dance music blasting from the main area). A failure, but a noble one...

Posted at 12:23AM on 7 Dec 06. Permalink.

She says that at Canterbury University the prize for deluded ideas went to her fellow studentl, Roger Sheppard, when he announced he was off to start a record label.

I used to drink far too much whiskey with Roger in 81-82 upstairs at Warners in the Square. He was working in the record shop in Columbo St. I used to ship the funny indie 7"s I was distributing back then to him for Chch sales (Hercos, Gordons..which was not a FN record..Mockers and the like) and had got to know him fairly well because of it. He rang me about Sept 81, to place an order, and said he was thinking of starting a label. I told him not to be so bloody silly. How could you start a label in Chch? The worst advice I ever gave anyone. Thank god he ignored it.

Posted at 9:50AM on 7 Dec 06. Permalink.

Another Chris Knox story. I think there are probably hundreds of those, but anyway: Houston, Texas, 2000 or thereabouts. Yo La Tengo come to play a show and Chris Knox, of all people, is support. American boyfriend and I bowl on up there, and Chris's schtick at that point was to do a big finale with 'The Joy of Sex', get two people to get up on stage and sing/play the song while he runs madly around the crowd, freaking out. I, of course, am the only person in the room who knows 'The Joy of Sex' (possibly the only person who even knows who Chris Knox is!), so I am pushed up on stage and do the 'bay-bay-bay-bay-bay-bay...' bit, while a Texas native who knows some basic chords is the guitar-playing choice. During the final moments, Chris asks both for a round of applause for us and somewhere to stay for the night. I say 'I have a futon!', and Chris says 'let's hear it for Danielle and her futon!' Crowd goes wild (weirdly). He and Barbara came over after the show (Ira from Yo La Tengo actually said 'nice singing!' to me when we were hovering around waiting! One of the great moments of my life), and Chris rearranged my Beatles Yellow Submarine dolls. (They stayed in the same poses for years!) The next morning they took us out to breakfast at the House of Pies. I cannot tell you how utterly surreal it was to be sitting in the House of Pies in Houston, Texas, with Chris Knox and his partner, eating pancakes.

(Martin Lambert, from the Shore. Hmmmm. I went to school with a Martin Lambert. At Rangitoto College. 1988-1991. You don't happen to be him, do you?)

Posted at 12:40PM on 7 Dec 06. Permalink.

Flying Nun memories:

The Bats playing the Wanaka Rugby Club rooms, August 1985. Crazy farm boys hanging off the rafters, drunk 13 year olds puking in the car park and in the middle of all this… The Bats, playing their own brand of gentle-jangle pop. Fantastic incongruity.

What about… Straightjacket Fits blowing The Jesus and Mary Chain off the stage at Sammy’s in 1988. Or a few years later at Mountain Rock (one of SJF’s last gigs) when Shayne sang with fire and fury as he faced sheets of horizontal rain.

Radio With Pictures memory: arriving at school on Monday morning after seeing the brilliant video for ‘Randolph’s Going Home’ on RWP. I remember Arthur Fulton being pissed off he missed it.

Another great video: Snapper's ‘Buddy’. Remember when Kevin Smith’s character in Gloss played ‘Buddy’ on his tape deck – a moment when the underground collided with the mainstream.

Interviewing Alec Bathgate after the release of Gold Lamé – what a bloody charming fellow… (with possibly the most underrated masterpiece in the FN catalogue).

Seeing King Loser channel bizzaro Nancy and Lee.

Posted at 1:02PM on 7 Dec 06. Permalink.

I have a lot of Flying Nun stories, and most of them involve some Nun or other trying to make me laugh out loud.

This recollection involves Russell Brown and Grant Fell of the Headless Chickens.

Back in '91 when Planet Magazine - Russell and Grant were both driving forces of that magazine. Russell was reading a typed transcript of a lengthy interview I had done with David Kilgour.

During my interview with David our conversation had turned to Russell.

"Where's Russell from?" I had asked.

"I think he's from Timaru" David has replied.

Reading this Russell erupted into anguished bellows -

"I AM NOT FROM BLOODY TIMARU! I WORKED IN TIMARU FOR A FEW MONTHS! I'M FROM CHRISTCHURCH! WHY DOES EVERYONE THINK I'M FROM BLOODY TIMARU!!?!!"

Over Russell's shoulder I see Grant Fell waving his arms mouthing this to me, explaining:

"RUSSELL IS FROM TIMARU, HE'S STILL SENSITIVE ABOUT IT".

Posted at 3:27PM on 7 Dec 06. Permalink.

There is a symmetry here ... maybe.

The first time I went along to a Radio Massey announcers meeting and they had a few spare copies of "In Love With These Times" that they thought they'd give away to the hard working announcers.

Yep, I won one. I felt like such a heel, I hadn't done any announcing or actual work and I was one LP to the good, but I wanted that record so much. I resolved to earn that LP dammit! I did do a fair bit of on-air work in that crappy little studio out the back of the sports hall over the next few years.

I still have the album. By gum some of the bands on their are classics. I ended up seeing nine of them live. Every single one of them was better live. The energy that surged out of the crowd when Shayne and the boys started into 'She Speeds' was breathtaking, and they responded, pushed it right back at us, and we went even more mental. Outrageous. Thanks for that Shayne.

Bailter Space were incredibly good, but in a more detached, surreal way. I got the feeling they wouldn't have cared if there was noone listening, they enjoyed making these amazing noises and were just letting us in and if we liked it too then stay and listen. The noise they produced was mind altering, so loud, and yet so subtle. Sublime.

The Chills. Seems sort of sad now, so much promise, so many set backs. Such beautiful pop songs. The real surprise for me was how good they were live. Heaps of energy, way edgier than any of their recordings. Seems a shame noone every captured that side of them. Perhaps they needed the services of Steve Albini.

My biggest Nun regret? Missing Chris Knox playing here in Canberra. I even rang the Student Union to find out the exact time and date. They got it wrong. Bastards. Poor old Chris played to three people apparently. Vowed never to come back here again. I felt bad I hadn't added that critical mass. Chris Knox is a legend in Hawaiian shorts and deserves an audience of at least four.

So .. the first post to Public Address. Will I be an undeserved winner again? Wait and see eh?

Posted at 4:01PM on 7 Dec 06. Permalink.

"RUSSELL IS FROM TIMARU, HE'S STILL SENSITIVE ABOUT IT".

AAARRRGGGHHHH!!!!!

Posted at 6:09PM on 7 Dec 06. Permalink.

Favourite Flying Nun moment:

Sneaking a copy of The Skeptics 'AFFCO' music vid into a conference presentation organised and attended by Meat industry bigwigs. A small revenge for making half my whanau redundant in 1986 at Whakatu, and the other half redundant in '94 at Tomoana. It was 1996, so I must've been about 15 I think.

Posted at 6:33PM on 7 Dec 06. Permalink.

brilliant, The Skeptics would've approved

Posted at 7:31PM on 7 Dec 06. Permalink.

I would hope so, bless there lil' lamb blood stained cotton socks. Can't even begin to tell what it was like to be in a small rural community decimated by the neo-lib reforms, having the towns biggest employer shut down, and a year later The Skeptics release AFFCO, it replaced the national anthem in our household for quite some time.

Posted at 10:33AM on 8 Dec 06. Permalink.

(Martin Lambert, from the Shore. Hmmmm. I went to school with a Martin Lambert. At Rangitoto College. 1988-1991. You don't happen to be him, do you?)

Virtual high school reunion, happening right in front of your eyes.

Danielle, who last I saw working in a music store in Takapuna.

My best flying nun moment was Chris Knox playing outside the Student Union on a summer afternoon in... 1995? 96? He left that little keyboard playing it's little repetitive ditty and wandered into the crowd, pulled off some woman's shoe and sucked on her toes. A true Chris Knox moment which only he could get away with.

I'd never seen anything like it before, or since, thankfully :)

Posted at 10:37AM on 8 Dec 06. Permalink.

Hundreds of stories but thanks to Russell’s, um, cringe I'll share this one:

It was 1983 and I was dragged into the senior boys common room at Timaru Boys High, (no shame here for all the wonderful years I spent in that town/city), thinking I was about to be reintroduced with the insides of a toilet bowl I was pleasantly surprised when instead I was played The Verlaines Death & the Maiden and asked my opinion, (I was a bit of a music geek, still am), my initial impression wasn’t that positive but on the second and third play I was captivated…. it was the start of a musical love affair that continues to this day… a day I expect (hope) to get my box set. (Discount this as an entry into the comp thank you)

One could say that simple moment in time changed my life, twelve years later after attending possibly hundreds of gigs by Nun bands, buying and digesting dozens of releases and becoming quite the fan boy I started working for the label and did so for a good number of years.

From simple beginnings anything is possible, that’s what Flying Nun always meant/means to me, a label that allowed many people to realise dreams they didn’t know they had, even a music geek from Timaru…

One wonders what ever became of that orange?

Posted at 12:13PM on 8 Dec 06. Permalink.

18 years old, first O-week at Waikato, and I'm introduced to a woman who was to become my wife - 18 years together now, with the kids and the whole bit.

Did I mention it was at a Clean concert??

Posted at 1:12PM on 8 Dec 06. Permalink.

Virtual high school reunion, happening right in front of your eyes.

Danielle, who last I saw working in a music store in Takapuna.

About fifteen years ago! Sorry to hijack the thread, but holy crap. *That* Kyle Matthews, who I believe went right through school with me from go to whoa. Hello! :)

Posted at 1:15PM on 8 Dec 06. Permalink.

Well, truly my best Flying Nun moment was meeting Sally Field some years ago.

More topically, but nothing to do with the Dunedin Sound, I enjoyed watching the Flying Nun doco on telly a couple of years back when the story of the infamous "Fall In A Hole" album unfolded. Being an immigrant from the west island and a long standing fan of the Mancunians, and having acquired the double vinyl bootleg on its release in Australia in the 80's (a nice rarity in today's terms), I had missed all the controversy and had never realised the audacity behind this release. But on watching the doco I had to applaud the Kiwi ingenuity/piracy/commitment to repay the rightful owner of the "intellectual" property contained in this recording of the Fall's live performances.

And my appreciation of Flying Nun's core activity, before selling out, has grown ever since.

Posted at 1:50PM on 8 Dec 06. Permalink.

I was heading south for a few days work in the mid-90s. So, I jacked up a friend to stay with. A few quiet evenings of quality time with some cobbers and their new baby, and perhaps a chance to explore Port Chalmers?

Shortly after arriving, we had a cuppa, sorted out beds, and started preparations for the evening meal. Dave announced that the neighbour was having his birthday party that night, and we were obliged to help him celebrate.

It was agreed that we’d pop over for a few beers and a slice of cake. The baby was feed, bundled and put to sleep. We took a detour past the bottly, and trundled back up the hill to the neighbour’s place.

There was a hum of chatter from the back of the house. A familiar looking woman welcomed us in, and helped settle the babe into a quiet room up the front. A few more familiar faces arrived, and I realised I was standing amongst the local rock royalty.

Introductions were made in the hall in the hall. “I’m Mary-Rose, this is Brian, this is Norma, Alf, and Bob’s outside fetching some wood”.

Bob Scott came in with an armload of firewood, gave a cheery welcome and continued on his way, while bearers of casks and cakes continued to smother the tiny kitchen table.

As the house warmed up, so did the stories: conversations had with the local JW’s, cheap aussie reds vs thin local whites, gossip and tantrums from the Loser’s recent tour, rumours of a WINZ dobber-inner, strange and magical fans at equally strange venues, road patrol duty at the local school, new directions for paintings, the strange orange fungi appearing in George’s armpits... with candle-lit gestures, animated on the walls.

More guests arrived, including Michael, who looked to have taken a shortcut through a gorse hedge. He was greeted with standing applause, followed by a round of “Cheers, Creative New Zealand” - his funding success wasn’t just a triumph for experimental noise…

“So, is Michael a challenging neighbour?”, I asked Dave. “He’s considerate. If someone gets the lawnmower out, he’ll sometimes entertain the street with a weird harmonic to accompany it”.

While I pondered community-minded noise-cancelling, I couldn’t help thinking of Port Chalmers like some kind of Flying Nun/Xpressway Biosphere. I just hoped no one got injured.

The glasses were charged. It was time for cake, and a rousing old song that everyone knew the words to. We congratulated Bob, made our farewells, collected the babe, and headed up the road.

Posted at 2:19PM on 8 Dec 06. Permalink.

Guess I should chip in, ineligible as I am for the prize. This is a bit of an insider story, but hey ...

Late 80s, hitching onto a Chills tour in Europe for the second time. We're passing from Belgium (where the promoters had very generously laid on huge steaks and plates of fish for the whole touring party, despite having only had a smallish crowd) to the Netherlands.

It's an open border, on a weekend, but the band has to check through its carnet, so we stop at the border. I need a pee, can't see any toilets, so I pop around the back of a prefab building. As I'm doing that, I notice some small mushrooms in the grass. They can't be ... but they are. Magic mushrooms!

I fill my pocket with every one I can find, and we proceed to Nijmegen, scene of the next gig. That evening, I decide I should conduct some trials on my harvest. I can't recall the gig, but I do recall mysterious creaks and knockings in the walls and floor of the hotel, which is reckoned to be haunted. After the gig we're sitting yarning in one of the rooms and there's a sudden bang, which seems to come from directly under the floorboards. The next morning, Janet says she woke suddenly in the night with the distinct impression that someone was standing at the foot of her bed. No, I don't believe in ghosts, but it was probably the spookiest place I've ever stayed.

Next night: the big gig at the Paradiso in Amsterdam - and it's a real cracker. Time for some fun. I break out the shrooms in earnest and we head off for a few drinks afterwards with some Dutch friends. They take us to a sort of speakeasy, where I decide I should get a round of drinks - and proceed to monumentally embarrass myself.

I sit at the bar thinking that my body language, every part of my being, is saying Mr Barman, Sir! I need some drink for me and my friends, I have some of your fine Dutch money and I desire service at your earliest convenience!!

In reality, I am sitting immobile at the bar like a complete egg, staring into space and wondering why on earth no one will serve me. For some time, I suspect. It gets worse when I eventually realise that my friends are sitting in the corner of the bar, laughing at me. The barman is chuckling too. So is the barman's friend. I am deeply confused.

Eventually, the barman puts me out of my misery, asks me whether I want something and I get my round in and reach the merciful sanctuary of the table. I do not buy any more drinks that evening.

Posted at 4:24AM on 9 Dec 06. Permalink.

Okay....there's so many stories and most involve some kind of alcoholic misfortune on my part so here's a couple of 'em....

1994(?) at the uni cafe in auckland about to witness the very first incarnation of Dimmer - Peter (hope I'm right!) Jeffries was on drums (sorry I can't remember the bass player's name) and Crystalator was shattering the bfm airwaves with an air of mystery....I'd started my evening very liquidly with some grosvenor st residents and the schmidts from crawlspace on what was a very cold and wet night. Consequently the uni cafe was surrounded by mud....

After watching a glowing Jeffries solo set to open I decided to slip out for a wee puff. At the time I had on a pair of old docs doing their best to imitate ice skates...I stepped outside past the two bouncers, off the concrete and into the mud. All of a sudden the night went into slow motion.....simultaneously both feet went out from under me and I remember thinking "Noooo....How can I go back in if I'm covered in sh*t" as I went down. Somehow (and to this day I have no idea how) I managed to twist and land in a full pressup position, hands on the concrete, tips of boots in the mud to the applause of the bouncers....miraculously no mud on me clothes and despite how out of it I was they let me back in to see a storming Dimmer...

Fast forward to 1999/2000 nye on the 10th or so day of a sth island road trip. Pulling into Dunedin it was looking grim so we stopped at Records Records and asked if anything was going on that night - only the Renderers out at Port Chalmers!

We pulled up outside Chicks and were reacquainted with the subtle art of big bots (swappacrate), being the strangers in town mixing with the locals, and the lovely Renderers.....over far too soon. On return to the Octagon we were just in time to be overrun by munters and someone throwing a rubbish bin through a leather shop's window.....

Posted at 1:52PM on 9 Dec 06. Permalink.

My favourite Flying Nun moment…when 6 of us went from Christchurch one night in 1985 in a Vauxhall Victor down to a back blocks booze barn in AshVegas to see The Chills - when the Phillipps, Moore, Allison and Haig lineup was in full flight. These were the days of ‘Juicy Creaming Soda’, ‘Silhouette’, and many more gems that never made it to vinyl. Well, it took some prompting to get action from the leaden-footed locals – they were interested but introverted. I enquired of Terry Moore can you play ‘Shake Your Shoes to the Scorpions’? His gobsmacked response ‘How on earth do you know that one’? The Chills obliged and we 6 got our shoes shaking …and that was the cue, the locals lowered their collective carapace and put the sting into a great night!

Posted at 5:39PM on 10 Dec 06. Permalink.

Straightjacket Fits blowing The Jesus and Mary Chain off the stage at Sammy’s in 1988

That was a highlight for me as well. We passed the JaMC van on the road the next morning as they headed to the airport. We slowed down alongside them and gawped at them but they looked as listless and bored then as they had the night before.

My FN moment was "managing" The Strangeloves for a weekend in 1991. They were Rex Bourke (Dellburgoes), Tane Tokona (David Kilgour & the Heavy Eights), Noel Ward (David Kilgour, Pop Art Toasters etc.) and Tom Mahon at the time.

I'd seen them play a shambolic but brilliant set at Sammy's once and raved about it in an issue of Garage 'zine. Maybe on the strength of that they thought I'd be a good contact to help out when they wanted to play in Invercargill where I lived at the time. They set up an all age show on a Friday (nobody came) and played the Glengarry tavern on the Saturday. Rex had told me said David Kilgour was going to come down and open for them. I passed all this info on to the music editor at the local newspaper and he organised some publicity and the pub ad.

Somehow the overzealous paper guy got his wires crossed and the Saturday ad was for "Two Top Bands from Dunedin - The Clean and The Strangeloves"! To make matters worse David pulled out (if he was ever in...you never know with Rex...).

There was a good crowd (funny that) and despite the sign on the door apologising for the Clean stuff-up no-one walked away (apart from 3 tossers from a local band who demanded their money back after watching most of the set and declaring the strangeloves "unprofessional"!). They played a great set of their trademark lowbrow Beatlesque jangling pop tunes.

I looked after the door for them and took a few hundred dollars. At the after-gig party I handed Rex the money and he looked stunned and muttered something about not usually getting much of the door takings... He asked me if I wanted to look after all their gigs. A bit impractical and the stress of one weekend with The Strangeloves was enough for me. One of the photos I took while they were down for that weekend is on the inner sleeve of the album - still one of my favourite FN albums today - not sure why they missed out on a slot on the FN box (along with The Puddle) though... (another) one of life's little mysteries...