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The 7" Singles
Our first single, recorded at Mascot studios for a cost of $1100, which left me with a shortfall of $700, sold about 1000 over three or four weeks...breaking even was never our strong point! A wonderful record, full of angst, which summed up Auckland pretty much for me then. The video of Secret (a twisted version of The Beatles' Do You Want to Know a Secret...Jed Town was a Lennon fan) was banned because it featured the band throwing bodies off Grafton Bridge onto the motorway (which they did do..not real bodies of course but those below were rather taken aback). Reached number 35 on the singles chart which flabbergasted everyone, especially me. We had no funds to press any more so we deleted it. .
This was tied for first single with REV1...also sold around a thousand and briefly broke even until Phonogram heard it and asked for their compilation advance cheque back..oh well. The Spelling Mistakes managed to get themselves banned from just about every venue in NZ. Reached number 29. We had the same problem with pressing more as with REV1. The sleeve was scratched on the way to the printer and you can still see it on the cover. The a side was re-recorded for a beer ad in 2005. The recording was pretty sub standard but it was great that the guys got a cheque. Produced by Fane Flaws and Barry Jenkins.
I put together a 4 track EP (Saturday Nite / Megaton/ Razorblade Rosie / SIS ) but the tapes to the last two went walkabout...even did a promo ad for it and had a sleeve. Half of Rosie later turned up and was finally issued in 2004 by Simon Kay's Raw Power label as a limited 7".
The band that used to be The Scavengers (my old flatmates circa 77 / 78). Now managed by former Split Enz guitarist Wally Wilkinson, and former Ray Columbus & The Invaders' guitarist, Dave Russell, This single was initially released In mid 1980 by Au Go Go in Melbourne. A double A side and a much smoother rendition of True Love than released earlier by The Scavengers. Sold about 400...again, like a stuck record, we had no money to press any more, so we imported another 200 from Australia. It was also released in the UK on Pop:Aural.
The Techtones mutated from a series of Zwines punk bands, including The Stimulators and Sheerlux. This single was pure power-pop and our first single through our new deal with Festival Records, who didn't really know what to do with the band. We grimaced at some of the promo things they did without asking but at least we had the means to press more. They headlined the Retailers Convention in Rotorua in October, which was quite a raucous weekend. They later released a single on CBS, and an album for Ripper Records. Lovely guys... Festival added a second catalogue number to all releases after this date (their computer couldn't handle ours)
The Spelling Mistakes tracks came out on their semi-legit compilation in 2002, but neither the Techtones or Fane's tracks have ever come out...where are the tapes?
How many times was this recorded and mixed? We finished the mix and went on tour, only to receive a "remix" that, unbelievably, the marketing guy at Festival, Victor Stent, had done. It was completely unlistenable, although we were told that he'd substituted it for our mix on the release. A quick call to the pressing plant meant ours was substituted, the other one was quietly dumped, so the official release was ours. The funny thing was the marketing guy never noticed.....this 4000 copies in a week and number one, then deleted...and is in fact the first NZ single to enter at 1. There was a video, one of those terrible things made at TVNZ is an hour or two, but I can't remember much about it, thank god and it seems to be lost.
The two B sides on this ran together as one track so the one you got was random. We got the idea from those old racing game albums that you could buy to bet on at home. You never knew the outcome. The idea proved tricky as half the ones from the plant just had two tracks separately. This band, led by Simon Alexander, who also recorded with The Features' Jed Town, got a massive grant from somewhere to do a video and it was filmed after an all day extravaganza with a big live gig. The video sadly, was not that good and only got shown once. Simon went on to quite a career as a writer and producer in NZ, Australia and the UK
We can claim to have released the two anthems to the Anti-Springbok tour movement (this and Riot Squad), which divided and rocked New Zealand in a way that is hard to comprehend all these years later. But I preferred the B side (about Arthur Alan Thomas, a famous case at the time of, a miscarriage of justice with a guy framed by the police for murders he had nothing to do with), although Don had to tone down the lyrics a bit for legal reasons. The original title was Thomas Is Guilty, and it had hilarious lyrics such as what about those hitchhikers too / I bet he did those too. Went to number 11. The video for the A side was filmed on top of Shortland Street TVNZ building and in their newsroom, and TVNZ generously gave us money to record a song for the video. The Blam's were very good at getting grants...so much so we used to call Don Grant McGlashan....
Keith Glass at Missing Link Records in Melbourne had become a buddy and offered me the Birthday Party records for NZ (which also meant I got to fly over to see them in live and in the studio in Melbourne a couple of times...there was nothing like The BP in their hometown in 81) and suggested I release this with an unreleased B side. We sold about 100 in NZ, but exported thousands to the UK and Europe....
Another favourite and the only ballad we ever released as a single. The guys played it to me at their practice rooms in Hobson St (where the Casino now is) and I was gob-smacked, just before the Screaming Blamatic tour. I said at the time it was to be their next single but there was some reluctance as I recall, as there was a feeling that Mark Bell should have the next single (the Blams were very democratic like that). A top Top 20 (should have gone top 3 but it was probably too good) single without a single minute of commercial airplay. There was, I recall, a much longer version recorded too, and I guess it exists on the multi-tracks somewhere as it wasn't mixed.
A wee bit of a live anthem (the band used to draw out the drum solo on stage just to drive drummer, Yoh, nuts)....no radio at all of course..in Wanganui whilst we were promoting this the PD of a local station asked the band if they planned to record! There was no video of the A side...I sent the band to Wellington to make it with TVNZ and they made one for the B side, so the TV hit shows (this got to 11) played still images of the band instead. I remember 30,000 people at Sweetwaters 1983 singing way-oh way-oh over and over again when the band paused mid song during their headlining spot.
From their album, as Festival felt we needed another single. We didn't, but its still my favourite Blams single with a gorgeous video. Reached the mid thirties on the singles chart. Featured Ivan Zagni on guitar. The B side is was my favourite Mark Bell Blam's song, and should have been an A side on it's own at sometime.
From the Meemees album..and both the A side and the video of the song featured singer Kim Willoughby, from The Gurlz, who was then girlfriend to Meemees mascot Terry Towelling. She later married the very patient Ian Morris who produced this and they lived happily. The videos (for both sides) were filmed in soundman Tom Sampson's parents' wonderful nineteenth century mansion on Auckland's Northcote Point.
A great live, very percussive, band who supported both The Blams and The Newmatics at times. A double A sided single that didn't exactly set the world on fire sales wise but has become very, very collectable over the years.
I love this record...a great song, a good recording and way ahead of its time for NZ. Only two members of the band appeared in the video as Michael had left the band by then over an argument with Tony who had broken up with his girlfriend who happened to be Mike's sister, if you can follow that. The video was by Willie Kiddell and cost $129 but was so cool in a very rough way. Adam Holt (now MD Universal Music NZ) played the silhouette of Mike behind a screen. Number 17 and sold 2500 on 7" approximately.
After the Blams' van accident (in which he almost died) Tim teamed up with Nick Crowther from The Prime Movers and released this. Notable for its hand printed brown bag. The lowest selling Propeller Record sadly...some 42 copies, but in retrospect it's a minor classic.
The 7'' of REV 27X. Until 2006 I didn't know this existed, being released by Festival without my knowledge..did it make the shops? I don't know.
We used to get asked all the time what OR stood for...Our Record....a wasted and plaintiff plea for radio in NZ to play the records we were making. It took all our powers of persuasion to get CBS to do the packaging. Paul and I spent quite a bit of time with CBS exec Murray Thom who wanted to put it out in a single sleeve with no picture sleeve. Number 13...because of the packaging we only got 5c a record back!! Riot Squad, actually about a police raid at a gig at XS Cafe in Auckland's Airedale St, became an anti Springbok tour anthem, even getting used in the excellent TVNZ documentary of the whole nasty, sad episode shown in 2000.
The last single, released after the end of the band. They rang me on tour (we were on tour with the Meemees and they were in Auckland) to announce the split. What about the single, I said...sorry they said. It reached number 42. The b side was off, I think, a whole unreleased live show of The Newmatics and The Screaming Meemees. It illustrates why Mark Clare was such a great blue-eyed soul vocalist.
This band originally featured Chris Mathews, later Children's Hour then The Headless Chickens on drums, then he was replaced by Benny Staples from the Newmatics, who appears on this. Led by Nick Crowther is is a great power pop record from a killer live band
Caught up in the Meemees / Blams / Harlequin fiasco, it was never released. You can hear it here. Propeller & Furtive History
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