To anyone who has just read the ‘About’ section on this site (or anyone who has been here before) you know that I write about NZ musicians who came to Australia from 1959 – 1976. Yesterday, when I was punching different key words into Google (looking for additional information about a NZ vocalist for the book) I found the Ranker site, which lists not only famous NZ bands but also famous NZ solo artists.
This list of course includes not only the wedge of years I am writing about but also the 40+ years ’til now. So of the years covered (musicians who came to Oz from 1959 to 1976) who do you think will rate highest? Go On! Guess! He was in a famous NZ group.
I wasn’t surprised to see him in the highest position, but it was the name of the musician in the No.15 spot who cheered me immensely. This sparked chatter in the household. From the mid-60s to 1970, when Max Merritt was in Australia he penetrated into popular culture and was always on TV. And after 1970 he made many return trips to Oz.
A comment that was emailed about the band in the No.84 position below reads: “Mother Goose!!! They’re a band I saw more than once in my youth. Funny story about them when OH & S wasn’t an issue when guitar cords where laid across floors and wireless guitars were not around … The Bee was doing his usual running around and he had run out of cable. I wondered why my leg was moving up and down. Whoops! I discreetly moved aside before he realised I was standing in the cord. Ah, those were the days: crowded standing room only gigs.”
Back to the Ranker list … It has 251 entries. Below are the names of the NZ solo singers and bands who came to Oz from 1959 – 1976 who were rated in the first 100 (of the 251) Ranker placings.
No.10 Tim Finn
No.15 Max Merritt
No.29 Dragon
No.31 Mike Rudd
No.37 Split Enz
No.54 Kevin Borich
No.65 Dalvanius Prime
No.84 Mother Goose
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