The YouTube clip of this video is taken from an episode of Wreckcognize. Introducing the clip, DLT and Sir Vere note that the video was made by Mark Tierney and Johnny Sagala, and that “Otara – O Town – has never looked so good”. And that’s true. With Mark Tierney’s stylish urban eye, suburban Otara has been transformed into a golden South Seas village. Even buying a drink from the local dairy looks really really cool.
Johnny and his posse hang out, performing the song. This is cut with lovely picturesque shots around town, particularly involving a girl in a pink dress running around, and the highly symbolic mother hanging washing on the line.
It seems almost a rule that groups from South Auckland have videos that are shot on location in South Auckland and are very strongly visually identifiable as South Auckland. Whereas bands from other parts of Auckland seem more likely to set their video nowhere in particular, a generic part of Auckland, rather than, “Wahey, Kingsland!”
But it’s these South Auckland videos that last the distance. A reminder that, despite its occasional bad reputation, it’s not a bad place to be.
Finally the video clouds have come, the online content rains have fallen, the Greg Johnson drought has broken! NZ On Screen have a sparkling copy of sweet “Don’t Wait Another Day”. Greg Johnson describes this video as the most beautiful clip he’s made, giving credit to director James Holt and it being shot on 35mm film.
Boh Runga returns on backing vocals – perhaps her crunchy, grungy vocals in Stellar were a direct attempt to not sound like Greg Johnson’s backing singer.
Greg, Boh and the other members of the Johnson musical whanau are scattered in a large room, bathed in a golden light. This is also the first appearance of Greg’s hairline-obscuring beret, a hep toupee.
Enacting the lyrical story, a young woman packs her bags, leaves her lover, and drives off in a vintage car. What awaits her at the end of her drive? She seems to crouch down in a ball, perhaps wondering if her lover will listen to to his Greg Johnson CD and come after her.
After waiting so long for a Greg Johnson video, it’s nice to finally have such a visually lush one.
Best bit: the artistic fruit bowl, on which a monarch butterfly lands.
You know, Grace have a very pleasing oeuvre of videos. “Cool World” is directed by Mark Tierney (otherwise of the Strawpeople) and the video captures the media moodiness of his other band.
Bookended by snippets of a bald-headed person and alarming messages like “They are stealing the time”, the video launches into the group playing to their strengths – dramatic lighting, smouldering stares, cheekbones.
This is interspersed with a troubled young woman taking out her frustrations on a punching bag. However, she also takes the time to look fabulous in giant sunglasses.
I like that Grace kept their music videos consistently stylish, suggesting that someone with an overall vision cracked the whip no matter who directed their videos.
Best bit: the model posing with old white-painted TV sets.
Early Garageland always felt like a bunch of kids from the suburbs who’d emerged from their bedrooms, formed a band and knew that they’d never be the cool kids, so they just wrote great pop songs instead.
Garageland are also responsible for the greatest NZ On Air-funded music video ever, but we will come to that later.
Now it’s time for “Come Back” the first track on the “Comeback Special” EP. The gang load themselves into a van, accompanied by fake flowers, a mannequin, a hairdryer and playing cards. It’s like a holiday version of the Headless Chickens “Cruise Control” car.
There’s also studio footage of the band playing the song, complete with Debbie’s red shiny Rickenbacher. By the way, Debbie had the best hair. Once I tried to make my hair look like hers, with disastrous results.
Doing a Mutton Birds, there’s a UK version of the video. It also features a van, but has had almost all the colour and fun removed.
And that’s what I like about this video – it has fun and colour. Garageland are just mucking around with crazy props, not trying to be cool guys. And because it’s done more in a camp style than comedy style, there’s no risk of musicians trying to be funny. It’s just a fun introduction to a band that was to enjoy much success in the ’90s.
Best bit: the casual discarding of a guitar out the van window.
Suddenly Dam Native came along and insisted that the rules be rewritten, promising “none of that stuff that sounds American or the cliche of the typical Maori rock band.” Except there was a little bit of both, but not in a bad way.
The video for “The Horrified One” (or “Horified”, as it is sometimes punfully spelt) The video travels across Auckland, showing cityscapes, railway lines, a cruise down Queen Street at night, graffiti-covered walls, and cool inner city digs. There is a bit of cherry-picking going on – going to the parts of Auckland that look cool and urban – but it is undeniably Auckland.
Teremoana shows up to sing on the chorus, and her appearance in the video firmly dates it in the mid ’90s – dressed in tough-girl streetwear, with hair is styled in multiple Bjork mini buns. And that’s the influence of a 1993 music video on one from 1995. I now expect to see a video filmed on the back of a truck.
It’s a low-budget video, but one with a strong idea behind it. Dam Native give really good performances, looking like, yeah, they often rap in the car, by the railway lines, around the house.
Best bit: the F-word hiding in some background graffiti
The band formerly known as Bush Beat return with a second song, “Let Me Know”. The track featured on Tangata Records’ compilation album Tribal Stomp II.
From what I can remember of it, the “You Stay out of Your Life” video involved Greg Johnson and Boh Runga zipping around on scooters (probably shot using green screen).
More business from Christchurch grunge unit Pumpkinhead. With a song called “Third Eye”, I would be extremely disappointed if the video didn’t include low-tech animated third eyes. Nga Taonga describes the video as “Pumpkinhead perform “Third Eye” in a yellow lunar setting and in a pub.”
Spurred on by popularity from the “Once Were Warriors” soundtrack, Southside of Bombay make a house record, with the highly danceable “Umbadada”. But Southside haven’t lost track of their reggae roots – the song has a message of unity and living forever.
In 1995 the Feelers won the prestigious South Island Battle of the Bands competition. Part of the prize included a single and music video released through Wildside. That song in question was “The Leaving”, with the music video directed by James and Matthew of the Feelers and camera by future Feelers music video director David Reid. The song obviously didn’t have the impact of later single “Pressure Man”, but it was included as a track on the band’s debut album.
“Pandora’s Box” was another song of Jordan Reyne’s 1998 album Birds of Prey. I have a suspicion that a video for this song not might not actually have been made.
Nothing At All! “Super Bullet”
Nothing At All! was the old band of Dion from the D4. “Super Bullet” was a tight 2:14 atomic bomb of a song that would have been a hit had it been released seven years later.
The Tufnels’ last stab at pop immortality was “Beautiful Ride”. I think it was an extra track added to a revamped version of their “Lurid” album, once they’d signed to a major label. So long, Tufnels.
More coolness from Urban Disturbance. “Figure This Kids” has echoes of what was to become the more laid-back sound of Zane Lowe’s next music project, Breaks Co-op.
August 1995
3 The Hard Way “B All Right”
For their second album, 3 The Hard Way were going for a more mellow sound. “B All Right” has a bit of the Death Row Sound, and continues the 3 The Hard Way theme of mythologising their childhoods.
Barry Saunders “Little Times”
The Warratahs frontman has a solo song called “Little Times”, a bluesy ode to the opposite of the big time.
Another of Ermehn’s early tracks is “Nuttin Personal”, which is strangely ungooglable. It could be a case where the song or song title was changed at some point.
Grace “Heart Of Stone”
“Heart of Stone” is a souly pop track. Instead of the video, here’s the brothers Ioasa talking about the inspiration behind their music from a 1995 episode of Frenzy.
Jacqui Keelan Davey “Nobody”
Hamilton songstress Jacqui Keelan Davey delivers a miserable but bangin’ dance number, “Nobody”.
Jordan Reyne “Millstones”
Jordan Reyne delivers a sweet guitar track with “Millstones”.
“Find Yourself” is a great song that shows off Sulata’s rich voice. I think this might be a video that wasn’t actually made, with the funding possibly transferred to another song.
Wonderkind have “Destiny Change”, an upbeat dance song about a teen prostitute. There was a lot of that in the ’90s – upbeat dance music about really depressing social issues. Here’s a very 1997 remix of the song.
“So Low” was a track off Dead Flowers’ third album. By this stage they were ruling the school, even opening on Pearl Jam’s NZ tour.
Jacqui Keelan Davey “Too Late”
Hamilton songstress Jacqui Keelan Davey has another single, “Too Late”. “Jacqui Keelan Davey has a voice that gabs you by the scruff of the neck and won’t let go,” enthused the Waikato Times.
Mara “Message At The Bottom”
Mara Finau – best known as co-lead singer of The Holidaymakers – went solo with a cover of Chaka Khan’s “Message At The Bottom”.
Ngaire “The Way I Feel About You”
Ngaire returned to the pop charts with “The Way I Feel About You”, which spent one ever-so-brief week at number 42.
“Back To Hong Kong” was another track from Sulata’s “Kia Koe” album. And this is another case where the video may not have been made or the funding given to another track.
Ted Brown and the Italians “Battle Inside”
“Battle Inside” was a track from Ted Brown’s album Shaky’s Blessing.
December 1995
CMB Swing “Your Love Is All I Need”
CMB Swing were a five-piece group (four vocalists and one percussionist). And were they named after the Cash Money Brothers from 1991 film “New Jack City”?
Another track from Hamilton songstress Jacqui Keelan Davey, this time with “Watching Me Drown”.
Maree Sheehan “Might As Well Shout”
The Kiwi Hit Disc described “Might As Well Shout” as a “fast-paced, catchy dancefloor number”. It features backing vocals from expats Mark Williams and Australian Idol vocal coach Erana Clark.
Papa “For What It’s Worth”
This is pretty much impossible to Google (it’s not a unique song title). I don’t know who Papa was, but it might be related to the record label, Papa Pacific.
Instead…
Meanwhile in the world of non-NZOA-funded videos we find “Manic (Is a State of Mind)”, the first music single from Jan Hellriegel’s second album. Filmed in Sydney, it takes place in a gloriously garishly painted art deco house (not a visual effect, the YouTube description notes!), and features a very sinister looking cafe fridge.
The YouTube clip of this video is taken from an episode of Wreckcognize. Introducing the clip, DLT and Sir Vere note that the video was made by Mark Tierney and Johnny Sagala, and that “Otara – O Town – has never looked so good”. And that’s true. With Mark Tierney’s stylish urban eye, suburban Otara has been transformed into a golden South Seas village. Even buying a drink from the local dairy looks really really cool.
Finally the video clouds have come, the online content rains have fallen, the Greg Johnson drought has broken! NZ On Screen have a sparkling copy of sweet “Don’t Wait Another Day”. Greg Johnson describes this video as the most beautiful clip he’s made, giving credit to director James Holt and it being shot on 35mm film.
Early Garageland always felt like a bunch of kids from the suburbs who’d emerged from their bedrooms, formed a band and knew that they’d never be the cool kids, so they just wrote great pop songs instead.
Suddenly 