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Posted at 11:26AM on 19 Sep 07. Permalink.

a lasting summer memory is walking into manners mall here in wellington, and there outside 'sounds' (?) was the exponents. they were fresh back from their london hiatus, filled with new and varied songs, and wearing those loud shirts we all eventually came to associate with ecstasy.

a crowd had formed, and off they went.

about a year later, when they were in every pub in the nation it seemed, i thought, "man, lucky to have seen them then. they'd be mobbed these days!!"

Posted at 11:37AM on 19 Sep 07. Permalink.

I saw the exponents at Auckland Uni in 97, most memorable part was the roadie throwing a beer (DB Bitter) into the crowd and me catching it and sculling as much as I could before the security guard retrieved it.

Then, naturally, the music and a rock-n-roll Jordan Luck.

Posted at 11:38AM on 19 Sep 07. Permalink.

in 1982, it seemed like the majority of the very large boys' school i went to wanted to be Jordan Luck. we were intensely jealous of the guys who had Jordan Luck-lookalike haircuts.

in 1984, the Dance Exponents and the Mockers filled the Logan Campbell Centre to capacity.

Posted at 11:40AM on 19 Sep 07. Permalink.

I know it's already been posted in OurTube ... but dreary?!

Posted at 11:56AM on 19 Sep 07. Permalink.

Andrew Fagan should be next!

Posted at 11:57AM on 19 Sep 07. Permalink.

The song, as if you couldn't guess, was 'Why Does Love Do This To Me?'.

Sorry to be a troll, but words cannot express the intensity with which I loathe that song. That's mostly due to a traumatic experience in the early 90s after being dragged along to a work ski weekend, and after a day of getting very expensively wet and bruised, being pressganged into the local pub. Hordes of drunken commerce students, with white polonecks under chambray shirts with Dockers and boat shoes, clutching their Corona and limes and belting out that wailing chorus...

I guess I'll never be a proper Kiwi.

Posted at 12:04PM on 19 Sep 07. Permalink.

Corben Simpson and Geoff Murphy had come to APRA to request a change to the writing credit on Blerta's 'Dance All Around the World', which still earns rights money. In the middle of the song, there is a poem by Margaret Mahy.

It's a little more than that. There's hardly a line in the song that isn't lifted directly from MM's picturebook "The Procession." But hey, that was almost the 60s, and noone really cared.
Nice gesture though.

Posted at 12:05PM on 19 Sep 07. Permalink.

Corben Simpson and Geoff Murphy had come to APRA to request a change to the writing credit on Blerta's 'Dance All Around the World', which still earns rights money. In the middle of the song, there is a poem by Margaret Mahy. They wanted her to have a songwriting credit, which means she will also derive income from performances of the song. She is, apparently, chuffed about it.

You're scholars and gentlemen, Messers Simpson and Murphy and it couldn't have happened to a nicer lady. I think there are a few people around who could pay tribute to her generosity. I'll have to rack down the source, but I remember her once saying her least favourite word was 'no'. :)

Posted at 12:12PM on 19 Sep 07. Permalink.

When I was a nipper, my mum was in the Values Party with Jordan's dad Jamie. Jordan was just older enough than me to be the perfect object of a little-girl crush which was only briefly swayed by Andrew Fagan's dress sense. The Dance Exponents were the soundtrack of my 80s bogan teen years, and every time I see a rugby crowd full of people who weren't born yet belting out 'Why Does Love Do This To Me' or stand in a cricket crowd doing same, my heart fills with sixteen-year-old joy.

Take that, Tom.

Seeing Jacqui Browne trying to beat him off with a stick on C4, I did manage to resist the urge to use him as a 'see, this is what happens' object lesson for my kids.

Posted at 12:18PM on 19 Sep 07. Permalink.

I heard a story about Jordan Luck a while ago...apparently one new year a friend made a bet with him, for an obscene amount of money, that he couldn't go a year without drinking. And he did. Nary a drop for a full 12 months, then new year's day the following year, he collected on the bet, got utterly plastered and he's been drunk ever since.

Posted at 12:22PM on 19 Sep 07. Permalink.

...Jacqui Browne trying to beat him off with a stick...

Is it just me? Oh it is? Again?
k, never mind.

Posted at 12:26PM on 19 Sep 07. Permalink.

Heather, I think the bet was with the rest of the band, who bet him something like $2000 each.

Posted at 12:26PM on 19 Sep 07. Permalink.

I've gone through periods of being in love with the Exponents' music, to thinking Jordan Luck was a dick, and back to being a fan again.

But one thing is certain: the Exponents wrote a whole lot of really good pop songs that have had a lasting effect on not just New Zealand music, but New Zealand's cultural identity.

And I like that there are all these wild rock 'n' roll stories involving Jordan Luck, but whenever I've shared them with people who know him, they usually go, "Nah, that doesn't sound like him."

Seeing Jacqui Browne trying to beat him off with a stick on C4

I watched this and was so disgusted at the time that I promptly wrote about it. But now I read back and I think, "Hey, that's what I want to be like when I'm that age."

Posted at 12:27PM on 19 Sep 07. Permalink.

I remember a bunch of obnoxious kids on stage at a grotty little Chch club called PJs, with a lead singer in a kilt, circa July 81 I think.

You walked in and couldn't move, transfixed by the sheer joyous energy and bratty noise.

The next evening I spent with Jordy. Harry and Dave in their house listening to With The Beatles over and over again all night. I don't know how many bottles of DB Brown went down that night but it wasn't good.Jordan just kept on saying "listen to the chords", over and over again. He'd ripped part the song construction on that album and reassembled it all in his head.

The next year I took them on their first national tour, supporting The Screaming Meemees (and I found a venue placed paper ad from Tauranga for that tour the other day..The Screaming Meemees with support The Dance Explorers....they were hardly household names then and records show they were living on per diems and not much more, they were not a crowd puller and they cost us money, at least for the first part of the tour). Half way thru the tour Victoria was released and you could feel the swell beginning as student radio picked it up and the buzz began.

He's one of New Zealand's greatest songwriters, perhaps the greatest 'pop' writer we've ever had, and, no matter his state, and I've seen him in a few, as have many of us, the ultimate performer....New Zealand (and I mean the parts out there beyond Ponsonby and Cuba Street and The Kings Arms) just love him.

I love him big time and as cynical as I am about this "Hall of Fame" thingy there are few who deserve to be in there more.

Posted at 12:28PM on 19 Sep 07. Permalink.

I know it's already been posted in OurTube ... but dreary?!

A wonderful example of how the eyes can fool the ears.

Posted at 12:31PM on 19 Sep 07. Permalink.

...Jacqui Browne trying to beat him off with a stick...

Is it just me? Oh it is? Again?
k, never mind.

D'you mean the slightly smutty double entendre? No idea what you're talking about.

Posted at 12:33PM on 19 Sep 07. Permalink.

Heather, I think the bet was with the rest of the band, who bet him something like $2000 each.

Yep, it was and he did it. His attitude was "I don't have a problem with alcohol, I just like it". He stopped cold turkey the moment he took the bet (about 92/3 I think) and started the day he got paid.

I do remember Jordan drinking about 18 low alcohol beers in a row on a tour about 91, driving from Napier to Wellington or somewhere...he said he liked the taste. The downside was the excessive number of loo stops the rest of us had to endure.

Posted at 12:35PM on 19 Sep 07. Permalink.

I remember The Dance Exponents ( a clue to my age there) played at my high school for a lunchtime gig. The band rocked and wouldn't stop playing and when they went overtime the principal pulled the plug on them.

Jordan went OFF at the guy in such a tirade of relentless profanity that we all just stood there dumbstruck - a new hero was born.

Afterwards we couldn't stop talking about his energy and dedication to the cause. It's a fine thing that he has been honoured by his peers in this way.

Posted at 12:40PM on 19 Sep 07. Permalink.

When I saw the title of the post it reminded me of an Ian Brown interview I recently read in the Guardian. Now that guy is old rock star crazy, although he does make a good point about hoodies.

Oh and I also saw the Exponents on one of those late 90s university tours, but sadly I can't remember a thing. But that goes for any Dunedin concert from first year.

Posted at 12:59PM on 19 Sep 07. Permalink.

Yep, I saw the Exponents for the first time in an early 90s gig at Hamilton's Roxoff nightclub (they were great).

They're one of the few bands where you can drink 12 cans through a beer bong before the gig and still not be as messed up as the lead singer.

Posted at 1:08PM on 19 Sep 07. Permalink.

I know it's already been posted in OurTube ... but dreary?!

A wonderful example of how the eyes can fool the ears.

I'm one of the three climbers on the top of La Perouse as the helicopter pans around the west face of Mt Cook (as we called it then) and the upper Hooker valley, in one of the shots near the start of this piece. The cameraman was Mike Single from the Natural History unit in Dunedin. I remember being chuffed at being dropped off in that spot because it meant I'd got to the top of another 10,000ft peak without having to do any effort.

I think this would have been in 1985 and all the footage looks like it's from about then and possibly from only a couple of sources. - maybe the Natural History unit and perhaps the tourist branch of the National film unit.

It's interesting to see how dated it appears after only 20 years. I should think that if you looked at a similar effort from say the mid sixties it would be like this - glorifying nature and rural life, with a minimum of people. In the last 20 years social change has accelerated so much that could we assume that even in 10 years time the promo efforts of today will look equally as quaint?

Posted at 1:08PM on 19 Sep 07. Permalink.

D'you mean the slightly smutty double entendre? No idea what you're talking about.

I prefer unintentional vileness, myself. I still have burned on my memory a Herald gig review that cheerfully declared "Iggy Pop blew the band off-stage." Well, I guess that's one way to cut costs - be your own groupie. :)

Posted at 1:11PM on 19 Sep 07. Permalink.

A wonderful example of how the eyes can fool the ears.

I disagree. The video adds to the experience, but I started playing it, and then read something in another browser tab, and it still worked its magic...

Posted at 1:14PM on 19 Sep 07. Permalink.

"Iggy Pop blew the band off-stage."

I'll be off to scrub out my own frontal lobe now. Damn this vivid imagination...

Posted at 1:15PM on 19 Sep 07. Permalink.

"Iggy Pop blew the band off-stage."

I'll be off to scrub out my own frontal lobe now. Damn this vivid imagination...

Too late: I've seen Velvet Goldmine.

Posted at 1:22PM on 19 Sep 07. Permalink.

Now that guy is old rock star crazy, although he does make a good point about hoodies.

He also makes good points about Space Exploration and Boredom. I heartily recommend Ben's link (bottom of page 1).

As for Jordan being the inaugural inductee into the NZ Music Hall Of Fame...

definitely a worthy candidate. and deserving of the accolade.

but...

were there no artists pre-80's deserving of recognition?
(or was this a __songwriting accolade?)__

Corben Simpson and Geoff Murphy had come to APRA to request a change to the writing credit on Blerta's 'Dance All Around the World', which still earns rights money. In the middle of the song, there is a poem by Margaret Mahy.

It's a little more than that. There's hardly a line in the song that isn't lifted directly from MM's picturebook "The Procession." But hey, that was almost the 60s, and noone really cared.
Nice gesture though.

and...

You're scholars and gentlemen, Messers Simpson and Murphy and it couldn't have happened to a nicer lady.

Hmmmm, I'm not sure if we should be throwing a parade for those guys finally acknowledging the undeniable. It rankled with Mahy from the beginning but she was always too nice about it.

If it happened today the lawyers would be exchanging emails by close of business!

Posted at 1:32PM on 19 Sep 07. Permalink.

were there no artists pre-80's deserving of recognition?
(or was this a songwriting accolade?)

Fear not. Johnny Devlin has already been announced as the inductee to be honoured at the New Zealand Music Awards next month.

Posted at 1:35PM on 19 Sep 07. Permalink.

I dunno. Jordan Luck is a very safe and MOR choice for Hall of Fame. I would have gone with Martin Phillips or Chris Knox but I guess the very nature of Halls of Fame is their choices have to be as broadly appealing as possible. And let's not forget dead rock stars who should be there like the guy in Dragon and Steve Gilpin of Misex. Legends.

Posted at 1:40PM on 19 Sep 07. Permalink.

Johnny Devlin

Posted at 1:54PM on 19 Sep 07. Permalink.

Martin Phillips or Chris Knox

I'm sure they'll get their turn but these things are all about scratching the right backs....

The thing about Jordan is he means so much to so much of the country, far more than either of those two richly deserving individuals. Sadly, I bet most NZers couldn't name a Knox song beyond Not Given Lightly, and even less a Chills song.
Whereas Jordan's songs, like em or hate em, are national anthems.

And, if the rules are the same as the US, you need to wait 25 years from your first album release. I think Knox is ok if you count Toy Love, but Martin has another five years to wait

http://www.discogs.com/release/820704

Steve Gilpin

I think I could find about 300 people I'd put on a list before I got to Steve...he didn't actually do that much in NZ, played a few TV shows, formed a prog band who jumped on the punk bandwagon and then hopped it to Australia where they had a big hit and toured a lot. AFAIR no-one took them that seriously in NZ at the time.

But Dragon...yeah, if only for Rock'n'Roll Ponsonby...now that's an Auckland song.