Public Address | Cafe | Random Play: Rock Follies

Graham Reid

Sat, 27 Jan 2007 16:23:24 +1300

Making up songs isn't easy, but making up a whole band is even harder. I did it — with the permsssion of the real Ramblers — in a series of stories which ran in the Herald a couple of years back.
The real Ramblers, which included promoter Brent Eccles, were…

Greg Wood

Thu, 25 Jan 2007 18:46:17 +1300

While researching the earlier Muppets / Finns / Giants story, it became clear that the early nineties were rather troubled years for the Brothers. Facing a grunge lahar, our chiming chord-ridden late-eighties wunderkind were forced to resort to all manner of collaboration to remake themselves famous. In one such example,…

Greg Wood

Thu, 25 Jan 2007 18:32:06 +1300

The Back Lawn is Don McGlashan’s edgy experimental pre-ambient noisecore reworking of the entire Front Lawn catalogue into a single track consisting of every single Front Lawn song, all played at the same time by the Dominion Road Halfway House Drainpipe and Jandal Ensemble. The true genius of the man…

Russell Brown

Thu, 25 Jan 2007 18:09:02 +1300

Deja Voodoo with Tim Finn, One Night in Saigon':

Trash rockers Deja Voodoo, best known for their anthemic tribute to methamphetamine, 'P', teamed up with Kiwi music legend Tim Finn in 2005 to record an equally anthemic version of Billy Joel's AOR hit. Band founders Matt Heath and Chris Stapp…

Bevan Shortridge

Thu, 25 Jan 2007 16:54:28 +1300

Not much to add, except that I actually recall reading that piece from the Herald at the time ( i.e. 1995) and being much amused. Could not have recalled who had written it but definitely remember reading it. Weird how some things stay with you...

Stephen Judd

Thu, 25 Jan 2007 15:40:18 +1300

Oh well played sir, well played.

Greg Wood

Thu, 25 Jan 2007 15:15:05 +1300

I should also point readers towards They Might Be The Finn Brothers' Luckiest Man Alive in Istanbul (not Constantinople) — the real reason for the Crowded House reunion, given the cost of the ongoing legal ménage-a-trois between lawyers for They Might Be Giants, the Finn Brothers, and the Muppets as…

Greg Wood

Thu, 25 Jan 2007 15:04:21 +1300

I have in my hand a copy of Kaleidoscopium Worldopium by the Red Hot Chillsie Peppers; Martin Phillips’ ill-fated tilt at a mid-90s genre shift-slash-comeback, written and recorded over one blurred weekend at Anthony Kiedis’ plot on the Coromandel. This little known collaboration is largely incomprehensible, in part due to…

Jackie Clark

Thu, 25 Jan 2007 14:26:38 +1300

You're a genius, Reece. Seriously.

reece palmer

Thu, 25 Jan 2007 12:22:38 +1300

It would seem that Pastor Brian has some competition in the battle for your soul...

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/1501119/story.cfm?c_id=1501119&objectid=10420812

Lyndon Hood

Thu, 25 Jan 2007 10:37:54 +1300

Martin Phillips was of course distraught at the widespread misunderstanding of his tribute to his favourite fish I Love My Leatherjacket.

reece palmer

Wed, 24 Jan 2007 22:11:25 +1300

heh

reece palmer

Wed, 24 Jan 2007 22:07:43 +1300

Ok then, just cos you asked for it, the full extended lyrics to 'I am Brian'

Sing along if you know the tune,

I am Brian, hear me roar
In jackets too big to ignore
And I know too much to go back an' pretend
'cause I've said it all…

Russell Brown

Wed, 24 Jan 2007 19:51:41 +1300

I am Brian, hear me roar ...

Genius.

I'd have a crack at a second verse but I, um, don't know the second verse ...

reece palmer

Wed, 24 Jan 2007 18:32:47 +1300

Get the all new top ten tunes to save your soul* from Pastor Brian Tamaki!
The first single is a remake of the Helen Reddy girl power anthem, I am Woman here's the first verse and chorus to 'I am Brian'

I am Brian, hear me roar
In jackets too…

Simon Grigg

Wed, 24 Jan 2007 18:25:43 +1300

Don't forget the Netherworld Dancing Toys comeback For Tomorrow, a paen to the new retirement savings program.

laugh you may, but such a thing, or a variation of it, was actually proposed in all seriousness

Jen Ferguson

Wed, 24 Jan 2007 18:10:53 +1300

And not forgetting the Enz' valiant attempt to promote conservation of New Zealand's native insect population:

Six Moths In A Leaky Boat

Jen Ferguson

Wed, 24 Jan 2007 18:07:05 +1300

Russ Le Roq goes K Rd:

I Wanna Be like Muhammed Ali
But i'm lying in my own vomit outside Leo O'Malley...

Moz

Wed, 24 Jan 2007 17:48:10 +1300

Don't forget the Netherworld Dancing Toys comeback For Tomorrow, a paen to the new retirement savings program.

Moz

Wed, 24 Jan 2007 17:41:03 +1300

Russel, I was sure from your title that you were talking about Che Tibby on drugs.

Disappointed.

vorn colgan

Wed, 24 Jan 2007 15:59:34 +1300

Or Bressa Creeting Cake's spectacularly ill-advised paean to Noel Gallagher "Pom Singing"...?

reece palmer

Wed, 24 Jan 2007 13:27:09 +1300

Graeme Burton,

I fought the law and the law won.

Graham Reid

Wed, 24 Jan 2007 12:31:44 +1300

Michael Stevens again, on a roll now . . .

Of course The Swingers had their brief gay phase with "I'm doing the beat",
and Split Enz briefly got caught up in the rogernomics flat tax hysteria of the early 80s with "I hope I never have to file again..."…

Graham Reid

Wed, 24 Jan 2007 11:43:25 +1300

and this from Ross Middleton

The Frayed Finishes, Six Months with a Creaky Throat

Covers band has huge success with this hit that has the singer cracking various octaves while warbling "Way-o-way-o-way" befor sucking on a lozenge. Just sold to Strepsil for new ad campaign.

Crunchy Weta

Wed, 24 Jan 2007 08:10:23 +1300

aaarghh edit function please.
Oh and also
Russ Le Softroq " I Wanna Be like Muhammed Ali"
Had the memorable lines
Fight like a butterfly
Sting like a bee

Crunchy Weta

Wed, 24 Jan 2007 08:00:37 +1300

Speaking of beers.. Does anyone still remember the great duet by Prince and Tui Teka – "Rasberry Beer Eh?"
Yeah right.It was sometime back in the 90's when Tui was trying to make its presence known by an ill fated attempt to win over the snakebite market.

Che Tibby

Wed, 24 Jan 2007 07:11:52 +1300

The Dudes: "piss"

It's what the punters were singing anyhow.

reece palmer

Tue, 23 Jan 2007 23:28:49 +1300

How about that recent anthem to the brown lemonades, Metallica did a cover of the Deja Voodoo song 'beers' there were only subtle changes made but they are said to reflect Lars' attitude to napster et al. The kids weren't quite sure what to make of this release but downloaded…

Simon Grigg

Tue, 23 Jan 2007 22:09:44 +1300

Oh, we can laugh, but does anyone remember Double J and Twice the T and Ray Columbus' 1990 smash hit "She's A Mod/Mod Rap"?
"My mother was a teen back in '65.
She knew how to rock, yeah, she knew how to jive."

Ray is a really nice guy but…

Robyn Gallagher

Tue, 23 Jan 2007 21:47:26 +1300

Ray'n'the Reptiles; She's a Gob: Ill-conceived project by John Baker (of Wild Things fame) who aligned Ray Columbus with the re-formed Suburban Reptiles for this 87 punk version of She's a Mod.

Oh, we can laugh, but does anyone remember Double J and Twice the T and Ray Columbus' 1990…

reece palmer

Tue, 23 Jan 2007 17:21:53 +1300

Or the reworking of the cat stevens classic 'moonshadow' by the cast of Shortland street at christmas in the park.

"I'm being followed by a boom shadow,
boom shadow, boom shadow.

Mark Easterbrook

Tue, 23 Jan 2007 17:15:52 +1300

No, you're thinking of "Out in the Street (thanks to Muldoon)"

reece palmer

Tue, 23 Jan 2007 17:13:47 +1300

I got a bootleg of that one...
thought it was some sort of tribute to good old colin.

Damian Christie

Tue, 23 Jan 2007 17:03:40 +1300

Although largely considered brave for trying to bridge the un-tapped crossover audience between Chris Knox's lo-fi following in Europe and New York Jews, 'Weird' Al Yankovich's "Moyl" was ultimately deemed inappropriate for commercial radio, and never received any airplay outside of the b-net stations...

Mark Easterbrook

Tue, 23 Jan 2007 16:58:57 +1300

__After the battle, flung far and used.
Where does the surplus lie?
Sometimes when all of your boots, and all your canteens,
Have lost milit'ry value in just one moment.
And all of us anxious, for gas camping stoves –
The sales on here and now.
Oh so why are…

reece palmer

Tue, 23 Jan 2007 16:45:38 +1300

then theres the little ditty for the organic farmers union

soyal

or was that for the lactose intolerant league...

David Slack

Tue, 23 Jan 2007 16:36:12 +1300

and Mike Stevens reminds us that before Dave Dobbyn became a Republican his previous great single was . . . "Royal".

To Dobbyn's lasting regret, Kevin Roberts persuaded him to make a special version for the Bush family: Oyal

Russell Brown

Tue, 23 Jan 2007 16:17:48 +1300

Sentenced to life with a merciless gavel
after what you did
at the Family and Naval.

It doesn't really rhyme, but it's so damn dramatic that I'm going with it.

Che Tibby

Tue, 23 Jan 2007 16:11:26 +1300

The Swingers: "Pounding the Beat"
Reports indicate that an 80s Police publicity campaign was to use the phrase 'Pounding the Beat' before a preference was expressed for 'He ain't Heavy'.

Concerned was voiced at the time by Police Minister Ross Meurant that including the lines "feeling the heat two three…

Graham Reid

Tue, 23 Jan 2007 16:00:27 +1300

and Mike Stevens reminds us that before Dave Dobbyn became a Republican his previous great single was . . . "Royal".

Didn't Supergroove reform in the late 90s for that follow-up/remake of Scorpio Girls which really bombed and no one could figure out why?
I quite liked Cancer Girls, although…

Stephen Judd

Tue, 23 Jan 2007 15:59:02 +1300

Sentenced to life with a merciless gavel
after what you did
at the Family and Naval.

Russell Brown

Tue, 23 Jan 2007 15:51:15 +1300

Knoxy and the Boxtops, 'Swimming Pool'

Encouraged by the success of 'Not Given Lightly' as an advertising jingle, Chris Knox decided to re-record the Toy Love classic 'Swimming Pool' for a TV commercial, with a session band called the Boxtops (actually The Feelers). But in a typically rebellious and self-destructive…

Mark Easterbrook

Tue, 23 Jan 2007 15:22:45 +1300

Coconut Rough: Sierra Calzone

Tough times for 80s popsters meant striking an ad deal with a successful Auckland cafe chain, singing the praises of their baked 'pizza with a lid' on commercial radio.

__"And they'll put it in the oven for you, if you want them if you want them…

Russell Brown

Tue, 23 Jan 2007 15:07:01 +1300

While I wait for a phone call ...

'Che Speeds', Straitjacket Fits: When Alan Gibbs' daughter and band manager Debbi Gibbs fell under the influence of a revolutionary socialist sect, SJFs' singer Shayne Carter also embraced socialism and recorded a profoundly ill-advised version of his anguished love song 'She Speeds',…

Richard Bol

Tue, 23 Jan 2007 14:56:11 +1300

Future folly:

Scribe: 'Scribe 2021'

After Scribe's disastrous 2007 comeback album Scribe The Master & Friends In A Constant State Until Never Die [sic], the once-hot rapper slid into obscurity. Even his attempt at giving The Wiggles some "flava" on a 2011 collaborative single, 'Let's Count To Ten (Muthaf---ers)', met with…

Mark Easterbrook

Tue, 23 Jan 2007 14:18:28 +1300

The crashing surf of the human wave'll
Wash you up at the Family and Naval...

Don Christie

Tue, 23 Jan 2007 14:08:47 +1300

Think you know Clark Gable,
His Family and naval.

Now that's an intro for Missy E if ever I heard one

reece palmer

Tue, 23 Jan 2007 13:39:47 +1300

Now I feel less able, outside the family & naval

or,

I'm thinking about getting cable, while I contemplate my family & naval (navel)

Russell Brown

Tue, 23 Jan 2007 13:20:44 +1300

collectors favour the one with the 27-second euphonium solo after the words "and I'm lying in a coma, outside Verona."

And with some justification: that's a great line.

I just can't think of a rhyme for "Family & Naval" ...

Public Address

Tue, 23 Jan 2007 13:20:44 +1300

Discussion from blog post.