Blog Articles
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Listening to live music: going to shows in NZ in the 50s & 60s
My friend Maureen could only remember going to one live show in the late 50s & that was to see Johnny Devlin when he played at the Town Hall in Lower Hutt. She wasn’t given permission to go but went anyway, leaving the house via a window & running to meet a boy who had…
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Glyn Mason (as half of the Pardoners) at Gibson’s Wine Bar Nov 24, 2018
Gibson’s is a small welcoming wine bar in an old 2-storey building in Burwood Rd in Hawthorn. Glyn & Sam See (aka the Pardoners) played in the window with the passing traffic like buses and trams behind them & passing foot traffic pausing to look & listen while locals popped in & out to buy…
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Spectrum (plus Madder Lake) at the Spotted Mallard Nov 2, 2018
The combination of these two bands makes such a great evening’s entertainment. Once again Brendan Mason played with Spectrum before he moved to his better known role with Madder Lake. Spectrum’s Mike Rudd and Brendan complement each other musically and Brendan brings a sense of mischief to Spectrum as it approaches its 4th decade. Brendan…
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Showbands! Mahora and the Maori Volcanics (Mahora Peters with James George: Huia Press 2005)
Maori showbands contributed enormously to Australian entertainment from 1961 for more than a decade. In Sydney when US troops were there on rest’n’recreation leave from the Vietnam War it was often music from these bands that they enjoyed. Maori showbands were masters of popular music in its truest sense. Each member of a successful showband…
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The 1965 Pretty Things tour of NZ: Part 2
The importance of the Pretty Things tour (to New Zealand in 1965) on the development of R&B and rock in that country in that decade needs to be acknowledged. As the 1965 tour was long: stopping at the 4 main centres plus 6 provincial cities it meant that lots of young bands got to see…
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