There’s a Rockquest winner, some more bogan rock, a bit of hip hop, and some reggae.
February 1994
Dead Flowers “Dead Boy”
Described by Kiwi Hits as “beguiling”, “Dead Boy” was the third single off Dead Flower’s second album. A lot of Dead Flowers’ videos are online, but this one isn’t.
Director: Jonathan King
Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision
Tim Finn “Many’s The Time (In Dublin)”
Tim Finn connects with his Irish roots on the song “Many’s The Time (In Dublin)”, a collaboration with Andy White and Liam O’Moanlai. The three of them would then go on to form the band ALT. Here’s a live performance of “Many’s the Time” on an RTÉ entertainment show from 1993.
Director: Kerry Brown
Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision
April 1994
Blackjack “Mother”
Another track from Blackjack, but interestingly the very thorough Htown Wiki doesn’t note this song as being released as a single, so perhaps it wasn’t.
Myles “Sanctuary”
Myles Van Urk was Mr Cool Dude ’90s Auckland, with his biggest cultural contribution being the actually quite good The Trip compilation cassette of ‘alternative grunge’ songs. Myles’ own release was a dance track, co-written by Grace member Anthony Ioasa and with Strawpeople contributors Stephanie Tauevihi and Leza Corban on backing vocals.
Director: Tony Drayton
Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision
Ted Brown and the Italians “Perfectly Good Pop Song”
Ted Brown didn’t give up. “Perfectly Good Pop Song” uses the frustration of having an unappreciated song as a metaphor for love. It includes the intriguing line, “There’s a crack in the spirit world where all the best songs come from.”
June 1994
Andrew Fagan “Now You Know”
Andrew Fagan unveils “Now You Know”, a choice piece of jangly ’60-inspired pop. Nga Taonga describes the video as “Andrew Fagan and band perform “Now You Know” in a room and on a rooftop.”
Directors: David Blyth, Karyn Hay
Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision
Emulsifier “Rock Invader”
Emulsifier’s “Rock Invader” was a fairly generic rock song with some funky bass. Like a lot of bands in the mid ’90s, the Red Hot Chili Peppers influence is strong.
August 1994
3 The Hard Way “What I Gotta Do”
Sometimes 3 The Hard Way get it right, other times they don’t. “What I Gotta Do” is a tribute to the group’s “old school” days, but it seems like an adolescence retrospectively G’d up to make the suburban Auckland upbringing seem more like suburban Los Angeles – though the Zane Lowe remix brings it back to Tamaki Makaurau. Here’s the band performing the song live on What Now.
Director: Clinton Phillips
Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision
October 1994
Cinema “Someone Has To”
Cinema was a Deepgrooves act, a collaboration between producer Anthony Ioasa and singer Jolissa Tasi. Their earlier video “Kuru” is online, but there’s no sign of anything to do with “Someone Has To”.
Dave Dobbyn “Lap of the Gods”
The “Lap of the Gods” video was based on footage from a Dave Dobbyn TV concert special and featured Neil Finn.
Jules Issa “No Rain No Shine”
“No Rain No Shine” was a track from Jules Issa’s self-titled album. It’s virtually ungooglable now, which makes its absence even more mysterious.
Mana “People”
“People”, Mana’s penultimate NZ On Air-funded video, isn’t online. I was hoping we’d get to see more of their ambitious video art.
Tonto’s Headband “The Goblin”
Who were Tontos Headband and what was their song “The Goblin”? Did they change their name to avoid confusion with influential electro band Tontos Expanding Head Band? I’m not sure, but there’s a curious entry at Amplifier for a band called T.X.B. with a song called “The Goblin“. “SUPERB VOCALS, STUNNING ARRANGEMENTS, AND MELODY, ARE THE ESSENCE OF THIS SONG, FROM THESE AWESOME TUNESMITHS,THAT ARE T.X.B”, they gush. It’s underproduced funk-soul-pop.
December 1994
Bilge Festival “Buried (Your Head)”
“Buried Your Head” is Bilge Festival’s second and final NZ On Air-funded video. It’s not available, but here’s their earlier video, the chaotic “Wildebeast a Go Go”. It won Best Video at the 1992 New Zealand Music Video Awards.
Kate in the Lemon Tree “Glide”
1994 Smokefreerockquest winners Kate in the Lemon Tree also had a music video as part of their prize package. “Glide” was the result. It sounds like something out of the ’80s by way of the ’60s, which was pretty much the winning formula for Rockquest champs in the ’90s. Here’s a video of their 1994 Rockquest performance, in all its VHS glory.
Mana “Tahu Song”
Like the previous single “Jah’s Song”, “Tahu Song” is a cover of another Herbs song.
Instead…
In the world of non-funded videos, Infomercial queen Suzanne Paul released “Blue Monkey”, an attempt at having a novelty hit single. Despite the quality team behind it (produced by Pitch Black’s Paddy Free and with a pre-Stellar Boh Runga on vocals) the combination of infomercial catchphrases and bangin’ beats only got it as high as No.41. But here’s the track, as well as an instructional video on how to dance the (surprisingly complicated) “Blue Monkey”.
heres my video for Dribbling Dart / The Weather. Watch Matthew Bannister in a dress channelling Diana Ross…
http://youtu.be/vtEdKeOC714
Ted Brown and The Italians, plus DLTs remix of Ted’s version, used for tv show Frenzy http://dubdotdash.blogspot.co.nz/2013/03/how-is-air-up-there.html
The elusive Ted Brown! It’s made me so happy to finally see one of his videos. Thanks, Peter!
Re the Goblin by tontos headband.. I was the drummer for them.. that is me on the record.. around 1994 from memory.