0:00

Kia ora, I'm Bonnie Harrison

0:03

and welcome to

0:05

the Detail's

0:07

Long Read.

0:12

Today,

0:16

because we're heading into New Zealand Music

0:19

Month, Counting the Beats, a

0:21

story from Garth Cartwright published

0:23

in the May issue of North and South, meet

0:25

the man painstakingly working his

0:28

way through New Zealand's entire popular

0:30

music back catalogue and reissuing

0:32

rare sounds which would otherwise be forgotten.

0:37

Grant Gillanders is sitting in his

0:39

garage in Orewa, north of Auckland,

0:42

surrounded by boxes of CDs, records

0:46

and recording equipment. A

0:48

youthful 68-year-old who still

0:50

wears his hair a la Paul McCartney,

0:53

Gillanders is New Zealand's foremost

0:55

expert, and enthusiast, for

0:57

homegrown pop music, spanning

1:00

the post-World War II era to

1:02

the 1980s. He

1:04

is a true obsessive, a

1:07

man determined our popular music

1:09

culture will not be forgotten. New

1:11

Zealanders are great at making music,

1:14

Gillanders says, but the problem

1:16

is we tend to underrate ourselves.

1:18

I guess because we get bombarded by

1:21

British and American music, we feel

1:23

we're not that good but we are, he says.

1:27

Do any of the following ring a bell? Larry's

1:30

Rebels, The Formula, Dinah

1:32

Lee, John Rolls. What

1:35

about Golden Harvest, Daphne

1:37

Walker, The Maori Volcanics, Peter

1:39

Poser, Howard Morrison, The Chicks, Ray

1:42

Columbus and the Invaders, Tommy Adderley,

1:44

Johnny Devlin,

1:45

Bill and Boyd, Max Merritt, Ragnarok,

1:48

Ray Wolfe, Gray Bartlett. Though

1:51

some of those names are more familiar than

1:53

others, their songs should

1:55

set off an earworm. All

1:58

are musicians who enjoyed national... and,

2:00

for the lucky few, international success

2:03

in the 1950s, 60s, 70s and 80s.

2:08

They may not have achieved the status

2:10

of a Dave Dobbin or a Neil Finn, but

2:13

each singer or band made groundbreaking

2:15

music, recording hits that defined

2:17

their errors.

2:19

Surely they deserve at least a degree

2:21

of the attention our cultural guardians lavish

2:23

on the likes of Mikaan and Baxter.

2:26

There's so much great Kiwi music

2:29

out there, says Galandas, yet

2:31

most people would struggle to name artists

2:33

from last century, beyond Split

2:35

Enz, Dave Dobbin and maybe Dragon.

2:38

It's

2:38

a shame that we don't pay more attention

2:40

to what we recorded. It's at our

2:43

fingertips, and often it's as good as overseas

2:45

efforts of the same time.

2:48

Like many baby boomers, Galandas

2:51

grew up loving the Beatles, as well

2:53

as the Kiwi beat bands of the 1960s. I

2:56

was born the same month Bill Haley's

2:58

Rock Around the Clock was released, he says. And

3:01

I left school in December 1969, the month the Beatles broke

3:03

up, so

3:06

my life has been shaped by music. I've

3:08

always been an observer,

3:10

someone who loves to chronicle things, and

3:13

ensuring that Kiwi music is made available

3:15

is very important to me.

3:18

Across that decade, Aotearoa produced

3:20

huge numbers of pop and rock bands and singers,

3:23

many of whom enjoyed stardom here and

3:26

in Australia, while releasing 45s and

3:29

LPs in unprecedented numbers.

3:31

Galandas' lifetime mission is

3:34

to preserve and promote those who made

3:36

the music we danced, romanced and partied

3:38

to. Initially,

3:39

he did this via compiling

3:42

Best Of albums, while working through the early

3:44

2000s for EMI, and then

3:46

Sony, which owns many New Zealand artists'

3:49

master recordings.

3:50

But with multinational corporations

3:53

largely withdrawing from operating

3:55

on a local level in the digital age, Galandas

3:58

launched his own label.

3:59

Frenzy in 2009. Frenzy,

4:03

named for the 1979 Split Ends album, reissues

4:07

homegrown recordings of pop, rock

4:10

and show bands, country singers and

4:12

crooners, even old novelty

4:14

and comedy songs.

4:16

His reissues include New Zealand's first

4:18

ever pop album, Bill Wolfgram and

4:20

his islander's South Sea Rhythm, a

4:23

10-inch disc released in 1956, and

4:26

Golden Harvest's eponymous 1978 debut album,

4:30

rescuing them

4:31

from oblivion. He's

4:33

also seen the formula reunited

4:35

for shows off the back of Gillander's driven rereleases

4:38

of their songs and made new earworms

4:40

of old ad jingles.

4:42

Grant deserves a knighthood for his contributions

4:45

to New Zealand music, says music writer

4:47

and broadcaster Simon Grigg.

4:49

Without Grant's tireless efforts,

4:52

many of which are at his own cost, the

4:54

legacy that makes us who we are musically

4:57

and broader culturally,

4:59

would have been lost.

5:01

It's impossible to overstate his

5:03

contribution.

5:11

As a five-year-old, Gillander's

5:14

was given a portable record player by

5:16

his grandfather. From then on,

5:18

he requested singles, 45s,

5:21

as presents. While other kids

5:23

played cowboys, I played records,

5:25

he says.

5:27

His father would buy and bring home records

5:29

discarded from takeaway bar jukeboxes

5:31

for his son.

5:33

An incessant radio listener,

5:35

Gillander's remembers hearing Howard Morrison's 1959

5:38

hit, My Old Man's

5:40

in All Black, and registering it as

5:42

a local record.

5:44

Then, in 1964, his

5:46

mother informed him that Ray Columbus and

5:48

the invaders, then writing high in

5:50

the charts with She's a Mod, were Kiwis.

5:53

It was at that point that a

5:55

now ten-year-old Gillander's started

5:57

collecting local artists.

5:59

This wasn't easy. His

6:02

family had by this point relocated

6:04

from the Auckland suburb of Teatatsu to

6:07

the more sparsely populated Whangaparaua

6:09

Peninsula, cutting him off from the city's

6:11

then thriving music scene. In 1967,

6:15

the small faces and the who played Auckland's

6:17

town hall, and I was desperate to attend,

6:20

he recalls. But his parents

6:22

wouldn't let him, leading him to begin

6:24

a hunger strike in protest.

6:26

They wouldn't budge, so I started

6:29

eating again, he laughs. Boy, was

6:31

I disappointed. Galandas

6:34

left school at 15 and headed back

6:37

to the bright lights, or at least

6:39

to where the sounds were happening. Cafes,

6:42

unlicensed venues, and the university-hosted

6:45

concerts opened to teenagers, many of

6:47

them free.

6:48

He became a pastry chef, working

6:51

at the French bakehouse in Takapuna. At

6:54

the start, I was the only non-French

6:56

person there. He

6:59

flourished in his work and became

7:01

immersed in the local music scene. But

7:03

the child of the 60s found the 70s

7:05

wanting.

7:07

I can't stand long guitar

7:09

and drum solos, so those heavy

7:11

bands weren't to my liking, he says,

7:14

before adding that he also couldn't stand

7:17

the two prevalent smells of the

7:19

era,

7:19

B.O. and marijuana.

7:22

The hippies dressed in caftans and

7:24

tie-dye shirts while I was wearing winkle

7:27

picker shoes, a tight Davy Jones

7:29

mod jacket, smart slacks and

7:31

paisley shirts. I was counter

7:33

the counterculture, he says.

7:36

In 1974, Galandas

7:38

married Carol Irving, and 49 years

7:41

later, they still do pretty much everything

7:44

together. Her big eyes

7:46

and red hair reminded me of Scottish pop

7:48

singer Lulu, he says fondly. She

7:51

was my only girlfriend, and I'm her only

7:53

boyfriend, and we've been a team ever since.

7:56

Galandas continued to collect and chronicle

7:59

music,

7:59

still working as a pastry chef.

8:01

In 1980 he and

8:04

Carol changed gears and invested

8:06

in video equipment, shooting corporate

8:08

videos for a living while videotaping

8:10

local bands at the weekend.

8:12

He headed to live music venues

8:15

like the Gloo Pot in Main Street to

8:17

get the scene on film. One

8:20

of these recordings of the singer Ray Columbus

8:23

ended up changing Galanda's life. Ray

8:26

was surprised that anyone was interested in

8:28

him as a performer, he says. He

8:30

was a total gentleman and by

8:33

getting to know him I got to meet other

8:35

Kiwi musicians. I'd always been

8:37

an observer but now I was beginning

8:39

to engage with these people I'd admired

8:42

for so long.

8:43

Columbus, who died in 2016,

8:46

was one of New Zealand's pioneering

8:48

rock singers.

8:49

While leading the invaders he

8:52

topped both the New Zealand and Australian

8:54

charts in 1964, a first

8:57

for a Kiwi artist with She's a Mod

8:59

and was the first local artist to release

9:01

a full album of original songs.

9:04

The invaders toured as support to

9:06

the Rolling Stones on their 1965 tour to Australia, New Zealand

9:10

and Singapore

9:12

and Columbus then spent two years

9:14

as a solo artist based in San Francisco

9:16

working the same venues as Janice Joplin

9:19

and the Grateful Dead.

9:20

After hanging up his mic, Columbus

9:23

became a respected television presenter.

9:26

At the start of the 1990s, Columbus

9:29

and Galandas pitched both Television New

9:31

Zealand and the then new Channel 3

9:35

with a concept for a documentary series

9:37

on the history of Kiwi popular music.

9:39

Both stations dismissed it

9:41

as not being of interest

9:43

but the promo episode that already shot

9:46

led to freelance work for the Galandas filming

9:49

the bands performing for TV3's pop show,

9:51

Frenzy.

9:52

By now, Galandas was an

9:54

authority on local musicians and

9:56

when Shane Hales aka Shane

9:59

1960's heartthrob hitmaker and locks

10:02

and golden disc winner, the New Zealand Music

10:04

Awards of the day, expressed disappointment

10:06

with EMI for refusing to issue a CD

10:09

of his hits, Galandas approached

10:11

the label on his behalf.

10:13

EMI explained that the Hales master

10:16

tapes were something of a mess, but

10:19

noting Galandas' enthusiasm

10:21

suggested he put the CD together and

10:23

write the sleeve notes.

10:24

The resulting 2001 compilation,

10:27

St Paul, The Very Best of Shane, was

10:30

such a success that EMI asked

10:32

for more homegrown compilations.

10:35

He came up with a list of 10 possibilities

10:38

and EMI said yes to all of them.

10:42

This launched a partnership that would see Galandas

10:44

compile 20 more CDs and

10:46

lasted until 2010, when EMI

10:49

closed its New Zealand office.

10:51

Two of these titles ended up

10:53

receiving international acclaim.

10:55

A Day in My Mind's Eye, a collection

10:58

of psychedelic pop and rock tracks made

11:00

by Kiwi artists between 1965 and 1969, was released

11:02

in 2005.

11:06

Not only was this compilation

11:08

a revelation to Kiwis, few

11:10

local music fans were aware there had been a lively

11:13

and somewhat controversial psychedelic

11:15

scene taking shape here when pubs still closed

11:17

at 6pm. It garnered

11:19

international attention as psych-rock aficionados

11:22

across the globe reveled in the long lost

11:24

sounds.

11:26

Lots of people who lived through that scene

11:28

can't remember it, notes Galandas. I

11:31

observed it from a distance so I can remember it

11:33

all. A Day in My Mind's Eye

11:35

has now run to five volumes, with

11:37

Galandas digging out not just rare 45s

11:40

but demo tapes, radio performances

11:43

and live recordings in his attempt to thoroughly

11:45

document the scene.

11:47

No stoner left unturned, I say,

11:49

joking, and he laughs.

11:52

The next assignment involved gathering the formula's

11:55

entire recorded output and

11:57

would result in the second acclaimed release

11:59

under Galandas'

11:59

direction. The Upper

12:02

Hut Band's run was relatively short

12:04

from 1967 to 71 but in that

12:08

time they scored 10 hit

12:10

singles including Nature. In 2010

12:13

Galandas gathered all

12:15

the band's 45s,

12:17

three studio LPs and one live

12:19

record,

12:20

sought out the tapes of an unreleased 1971 album

12:23

Turn Your Back on the Wind, then researched,

12:26

art-designed, produced and promoted

12:29

the four CD box set The

12:31

Complete Formula.

12:32

Galandas calls formula easily

12:35

the most gifted Kiwi band of the 60s, describing

12:38

their songwriting and harmonies as exceptional.

12:42

In the end the compilation garnered

12:44

such a claim that the band reformed

12:46

after 39 years to play concerts

12:49

in Auckland and Wellington.

12:51

Under frenzy, Galandas not only

12:53

compiles and writes the notes for each CD,

12:56

he and Carol also design, license,

13:00

transfer, remaster, distribute

13:02

and promote each release.

13:04

It's not so much a cottage industry as

13:06

a small, auto townhouse industry.

13:09

I have to do everything because

13:11

I need to keep my overheads low so as to ensure

13:13

I can make a bit of money, he says. An

13:16

average frenzy release is a run of 300 CDs

13:19

which Galandas estimates costs between 1600

13:23

and 1800 dollars once you've taught

13:25

up licensing, mastering, design

13:27

and manufacture.

13:29

From any profits royalties are paid to

13:32

the artist or their estate. I

13:34

don't count the time we put in as a job,

13:36

he says, it's just what I do. I don't

13:39

try and make money the labels reason for existing,

13:42

I try not to lose money. As

13:45

for the intense hours he and Carol put

13:47

in, he says time isn't really

13:50

something he factors into the whole endeavour when

13:52

you're having this much fun and making so

13:54

many people happy.

14:05

His international reputation has

14:07

found Galandas working with London-based

14:09

RPM records, reissuing

14:11

for the first time in Europe albums

14:13

by Alistair Redell, Ray Columbus,

14:16

Larry's Rebels and The Formula, as

14:19

well as the 3CD box set How

14:21

Is The Air Up There, which contains 80

14:24

tracks from the 1960s.

14:26

Some 50 years after the original

14:28

recordings were made, DJs

14:31

at European modern freak beat clubs

14:33

started playing the La di Dazs and the Underdogs,

14:36

while the music press gushed about the down-under

14:38

garage sound.

14:40

Considering we all grew up loving

14:42

The Beatles and listening to BBC broadcasts,

14:45

it was an honour to thank our bands who are now

14:47

being recognised in the UK, Galandas

14:50

says.

14:50

Frenzy continues to focus

14:53

specifically on CD-only releases.

14:55

They have reissued only a couple of rock albums

14:58

on vinyl, yet CD

15:00

sales are in sharp decline.

15:02

I wonder if Galandas fears the end is

15:04

nigh?

15:05

Not a chance, he says. Actually,

15:08

with the warehouse no longer selling CDs,

15:11

things are better now, as they demanded

15:13

we supply them at cost price, this

15:16

punished independent

15:17

record labels. Marbecs

15:19

and JB Hi-Fi and Slowboat Records

15:21

in Wellington take frenzy releases and really

15:23

get behind them. And I have distributors

15:26

in Australia, Japan, USA,

15:29

UK, the interest is international.

15:31

Vinyl looks great, but it's expensive

15:34

and bulky.

15:35

Well-mastered CDs offer exceptional

15:38

sound, they're my favourite medium. As

15:41

for streaming, 10,000

15:42

streams earns around $10,

15:45

so when that happens, I tell the

15:47

artists they can buy a coffee and a cake. The

15:50

futures list for Frenzy includes lost

15:52

recordings of Maori choirs and 1980s

15:54

one-hit singles. Soon

15:57

to be released is A History of Scottish

15:59

Highland.

15:59

bands, which were, according

16:02

to Galandas, popular in Aotearoa

16:04

in the 50s and 60s. Sounds

16:06

niche? Indeed, but niche

16:08

can be broad.

16:10

The label's biggest selling release

16:12

is Kiwiana Goes Pop, a

16:14

double CD with the cheese mascots

16:16

Chez and Dale on the cover and their

16:18

60s era TV commercial song Kicking

16:21

Things Off.

16:22

They're joined here by John Clark's

16:24

or Fred Daggs, the Gumboot

16:26

song, the country calendar theme, folk

16:29

peons to Prime Minister's Norman Kirk,

16:31

Big Norm, and Robert Muldoon,

16:34

the ballad of Robbie Muldoon and more.

16:36

Released in 2012, Kiwiana

16:39

Goes Pop sold nearly 10,000 copies,

16:42

leading to a volume two featuring a KFC

16:45

commercial song among much other nostalgic

16:47

nonsense. Galandas

16:50

proudly calls Kiwiana Goes Pop my

16:52

life in a song. It's just

16:54

so much fun and people loved those compilations.

16:57

They contain a lot of local humour and

16:59

ingenuity.

17:01

Lacking academic qualifications,

17:03

Galandas once worried he also lacked

17:06

writing skills.

17:07

But his sleeve notes prove he's a wry,

17:10

observant historian. And

17:13

in 2019, he co-authored

17:15

with the writer Robin Welch, Wired

17:17

for Sound, the stepping history of New

17:19

Zealand music. A hefty,

17:21

fascinating time documenting how the

17:24

late Aldred Stebing laid the

17:26

foundations for the local music industry.

17:28

Stebing began by promoting dances

17:31

for US servicemen during World War II,

17:33

started recording artists in his basement,

17:36

set up record labels to release the recordings,

17:38

manufacturing shellac 78s, followed

17:41

by vinyl and cassettes, then opened

17:43

Stebing Studios on Auckland's Gervoies

17:45

Road,

17:46

which is still New Zealand's foremost recording

17:48

studio and managed by Aldred's descendants.

17:52

And it continues to evolve, this year

17:54

launching a new vinyl pressing plant. I

17:57

signed a contract to write a book of 70,000. words

18:01

and delivered a first draft of 180,000 words,

18:04

says Galandas, still seemingly surprised

18:06

at his own obsessive energies.

18:08

Robin Welsh, who was married

18:10

into the Stepping family, came on board

18:13

to help with the family history and we ended up with

18:15

this epic book.

18:17

For a boy from Whangaparawa to have done

18:19

such… well, I'm quite

18:21

proud of myself.

18:23

And so he should be.

18:24

With his razor-sharp memory, Galandas

18:27

is determined to keep chronicling Kiwi

18:29

music for his love as long as he's able to.

18:31

I've got a lot of things underway and,

18:34

yes, it's not always easy. Some

18:36

artists say, give me a thousand dollars

18:38

when I approach them about reissuing their recordings,

18:41

which is ridiculous.

18:42

I'm willing to lose a few buttons but not

18:45

my shirt, he laughs, a happy man.

18:48

Carol and I love what we're doing so

18:50

why retire?

18:56

That was Counting the Beats by Garth

18:58

Cartwright, who was an Auckland-born,

19:01

London-based author, critic and journalist.

19:03

It was published in North and South's May issue.

19:07

The details long read is supported by the Public

19:09

Interest Journalism Fund. We'll be back

19:11

next week with a new long read. KA

19:13

KI TZI ANU.