2011 Unknown Blues Reunion - The Southland Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame Workingmen’s Club Sat 25 Sep Unknown Blues

After the Romanian RWC team departed the province scoreless, the Unknown Blues arrived ready to plug in the amps and lay it down. Following an absence of 43 years, the long-awaited reunion of the full-line-up of the Unknown Blues came to fruition on Saturday night.

The reunion gig was largely due to the willingness of the band members to get together once again and by the hard work put in by the Southland Musicians Club organisers and those others behind the scenes.

Although various members of the band had played with each other in reunion mode before Saturday night, the full reconstituted band had only rehearsed as a unit over that week. The short Friday night stint at the Appleby was essentially did double as a warm-up gig, but its prime purpose was to support the Southern Blues Club band night and the occasion of Marty Astone’s visit from Perth.

The significance of the Unknown Blues reunion gig cannot be overstated. While Southland has produced a number of good musicians who have gone onto fame and fortune, the Unknown Blues story of wild gigs and the even wilder parties has generated a reputation and mystique that has interested music writers both in NZ and overseas. Anyone who went to an Unknown Blues show or who knew them has a story.

A film documentary project currently being pursued by Simon Ogston of Bellbird Pictures will try and bring us the truth (but hopefully not too much of it) behind the stories and maybe separate fact from fiction. It will examine the Unknown Blues association with local biker gang the Antarctic Angels led by Roy Reid and what prompted Vaughan Mackay to play at a local dance wearing a WWII German uniform.  The band is still debating whether it was the RSA or some other venue. When finished the Ogston documentary will be a cracker.

On the night the Unknown Blues delivered a memorable set comprised of songs they played when first starting out. From the outset it was evident that the Unknown Blues had not lost any of the zeal and off-the-cuff cheekines, that characterised their shows.

Led by Dave Hogan, the charismatic and witty ring-master the band blasted through a range of 60’s rhythm and blues songs to the delight of those old-timers who came to experience the return of the most controversial that Southland has produced. In typical witty style Vaughan Mackay, stopped playing to request bourbon, and as an afterthought, six people to carry him off the stage afterwards. Dave Hogan made it clear he wasn’t volunteering. The interplay between Hogan and Mackay is classic.

It was no accident that the last song played was the Rolling Stone’s “Last Time” which may or may not be an indication about any future Unknown Blues reunion. I can envisage a return by Dave Hogan and possibly Vaughan Mackay for some Appleby gigs, but getting the whole band back together is probably not something that will be foremost on their minds right now.

"Well this could be the last time
This could be the last time
Maybe the last time
I don't know. Oh no. Oh no"

But from me and all of the other old buggers who remember the raucous times in Invercargill in the late 1960’s, thank you guys and to the Southland Musician’s Club organisers for making possible what many would have thought impossible.

 As a wrap-up the list of the old faces that I ran into, or were spotted, over the weekend is: Tony Bennett, Jackie Cooper, Bob Daley, Trevor Daley, Mana Davis, Ray Eade, Terry Fitzgerald, Maaki Goodwillie, Ken Jones, John Kennedy, Paul Kirkwood, Neil McDermott, Bob Newbury, Taff Hewton, Basil Quinlan, Ray Quinlan

More photos of the Unknown Blues

2011 Unknown Blues Reunion - The Southland Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame Workingmen’s Club Sat 25 Sep Route 66

“Route 66 1990-95

Rock, Rock ‘n’ Roll, MOR Covers

Band members:

Richard Byron (Porter), drums 1990

Colin Burke, drums 
Geoff Chilton, keyboards 1992
Roger Chilton, drums
Tony Edwards, guitar, vocals
Glen Hayes, guitar, vocals 1990-95
Carwyn Henigan, drums, vocals 1990
Mark Hewton, guitar
Taff Hewton, bass guitar, vocals
Craig Rodmell, keyboard, vocals, 1990-92, 95

Route 66 was a hard-working and popular pub and private functions band. They once played at the Mokotua Hall at a social night for the Sahara Desert Raft Club. After the gig a game of soccer was started across the beer-spilt floor, with one of the drummer’s toms as the ball.”

Source: 45 South in Concert

More photos of Route 66

2011 Unknown Blues Reunion - The Southland Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame Workingmen’s Club Sat 25 Sep Sierra

I don't know much about this band, but its drummer Stu Carr was one of those inducted in 2011 into the Southland Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame.

 This is what 45 South in Concert has to say:


"Sierra 1986-91


Country, Rock ‘n’ Roll Covers

Band members:

Stu Carr, drums

Robin Crooks, vocals
Graham Dowdall, vocals
Dick Hegan, drums
Taff Hewton, bass guitar, vocals
Brian Kennard, guitar, vocals
John McDonald, bass guitar
Dave Reid, vocals, bass guitar

Sierra launched themselves on the Southland public with a gig at the Waiau Hotel in Tuatapere playing country and rock ‘n’ roll. People liked what they heard and word soon got around as the band played country pubs around Southland.

Dowdall left to take a job in Australia  and Sierra continued as a four-piece, with repertoire that leaned more toward modern rock. The band had a regular three-night gig at the Northern Tavern in Invercargill and played at the inaugural Saltwaters concert at Riverton in 1987, Tuatapere’s Backwaters in 1990and 1991 and Muddy Waters at Tokanui."


 A few days before being inducted in the Southland Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame, Nicci McDougall of the Southland Times wrote the following piece about Stu Carr for its 21 September edition.


"Nice one, Stu!

As an obsessed youngster he tapped on plates. Fast forward to September 2011 and the self-proclaimed "musical prostitute" Stu Carr is about to be inducted into the Southland Musicians Club Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame.

"I'll play anywhere, anytime for money," he said.

Growing up in a musical family with seven siblings, Carr became obsessed with the drums, ruining his mother's pots and pans to make drum kits in his bedroom.

At age 11, he taught himself to play the drums, drawing inspiration from the drummers of Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd and The Who, and by age 13 his young creative flair ran rampant and he and guitarist Gary Mark formed a rock band called Lordz.

Every second weekend the band would take a road trip to Te Anau or Alexandra and perform to a pub crowd. "I was only 13 at the time, but I looked nine, playing in pubs ... it gave me a real education for a young boy from Southland still at school," he said.

But it wasn't enough for Carr, who at the age of 17 felt deprived.

"I wanted girlfriends and fast cars," he said and with that he left the band, moved to an Invercargill flat and started "drifting in a bad direction and hanging out with the wrong crowd".

A couple of years later, he felt the addictive itch of the drums and jumped into another band, Sierra. The band had more of a country approach than the rock he was used to, but eight years later he was still in Sierra, and loving it.

With an electrician trade under his belt, Carr decided it was time to travel and flew to London where he joined the Drum Institute, playing in a couple of bands. He pegs this time of his life as the biggest highlight. "I was on the verge of becoming a rock star."

Three years later he came home and back in Invercargill he became the lead singer for the rock band Whiskey Dust.

But then, every drummer's worst fear crept up on him and in the mid 90s he was diagnosed with carpal tunnel.

"I was told to give up for a while, but if I don't play music I start to get a bit stir crazy. It's addictive, it's in the body, gotta do it, gotta get your fix."

The break did not last long as the enthusiastic drummer missed his passion too much and jumped back into it full steam ahead, drumming and singing in another rock band, Witch Wayz Wytch.

He started teaching audio production at the Southern Institute of Technology, passing on his skills and experience to eager musical students. He plans to stay there until he gets kicked out.

Now in his mid 40s, Carr is still performing, in the band Bad Deeds.

His induction into the Southland Musicians Club Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame will be held at the Something Different show at the Invercargill Workingmen's Club on September 24, where Sierra will get back together for one night only.

"It's been great fun pulling the guys out ... I haven't won any awards or anything and just to be recognised, after all of it, is a huge honour," he said.

Source: The Southland Times"


More photos of Sierra

2011 Unknown Blues Reunion - The Southland Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame Workingmen’s Club Sat 25 Sep Bang Bang & Family

The secret is out. "Bang Bang" is actually Dave O'Connor one of the 2011 inductees into the Southland Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame.

Invercargil music journalist Chris Chilton wrote the following piece about Dave O'Connor for the 13 September 2011 edition of the Southland Times.

  
"Glory days on the rock'n'roll scene

“Dave O'Connor reckons playing in Tom Sharplin's band was a bit like hanging out with a Kiwi Elvis.

The Invercargill drummer did two stints in Sharplin's legendary backing band in 1978 to 1979 and from 1981 to 1983, when they were known as the Cadillacs, and rates it the pinnacle of his career.

"(Sharplin) was probably the biggest drawcard in the country."
O'Connor says even though the Cadillacs were touring in the same places as big-name rock bands like Hello Sailor, The Dudes and Street Talk, Sharplin's show pulled more punters and the band had more money in their hands at the end of the week.

"Technically, (the other bands) made more money, but they never got to keep it," he says. "They were either shooting it up or it was going to their roadies and their light crew and the sound guys and rental companies."

O'Connor found himself playing Monday to Saturday every week, at venues that were standing room only.

Sharplin's band had at least three shows' worth of material, which he changed every night so that people who came back didn't get to see the same set.

"It took a bit to get my head around it. There were times where it really got freaky," O'Connor says.

"I remember playing in New Plymouth and we got mobbed. They wouldn't let us come off stage. We lost our shirts and sunnies and just about lost our tweeds. We had to force our way through the crowd to get the hell out of the room or else they were going to go ape."

O'Connor has his old mate, Ray Eade, to thank for getting him the dream gig with Sharplin. The former bass guitarist for Invercargill supergroup Vision had heard Sharplin's previous lineup, the Rockets, were breaking up and talked his way into the new lineup. He also talked O'Connor into the lineup, although there was a wait of a few months before Sharplin offered him the gig.

It proved to O'Connor that in the music biz, who you know is as important as what you know.

Even after those heady days, though, Dave O'Connor still rates the opportunity to play with his four sons as a special highlight.

He'll be joined on stage at the Southland Rock'n'Roll Hall of Fame show this month by sons Dion, Tim, Ben and Arun, all of whom have followed their dad into a musical lifestyle. All but one (Arun) play drums as their main instrument.

"We've never been able to do it before, obviously because there's so many drummers in the family," O'Connor says, with a chuckle.

The O'Connor family will play a set of songs that showcase the boys' all-round musical skills on guitar, bass and drums, and their dad couldn't be more proud.

"No father could be prouder, especially being a musician, to have all four of his children be musicians, whether it's because of me or in spite of me.

"I want to show the kids off rather than it being about me."
O'Connor says the boys' mother, Judy van Riel, was probably the greatest influence in getting the boys into music.

"I never gave any of them lessons. I think I gave Dion one lesson and he wouldn't listen anyway."

It was always a good bet music would be in the O'Connor boys' genes.

As a kid Dave O'Connor had always liked music, especially the drums. He would "bash the crap out of all Mum's stools and shag her knitting needles at home".

He got his first drum kit for his 11th birthday, "bashed the s... out of them, broke every skin and threw them in the corner" until he was 15.

Judy's brother, Barry van Riel, convinced him to join a garage band.

"I could do a roll around the drums and they thought I was Christmas."

Having got the bug for life at this point, O'Connor started stalking Invercargill bands, watching them, learning from them and, whenever he got the chance, jamming with them.

Replacing his idol, Warren "Bricky" McLew, in the band Columbus was "probably the biggest learning curve", O'Connor says.

That band included seasoned pro musos Peter Skerrett and Danny Johnson.

It was Johnson, along with Ray Eade and perhaps Simon Terry, who gave him the nickname "Bang Bang".

Johnson and Eade saw him playing one night and thought he was "a bit of a basher" so they named him "Bang Bang".
O'Connor says he'd hound every band at the Southland Musicians Club asking to jam with them. "They'd say, `oh s..., here's comes Bang Bang, look out'."

Six months after that Johnson called him up, asking him to play a gig. The young drummer was gobsmacked.
"I'm not very good," O'Connor said.

Johnson: "Well, I know that, but you're the only one left."
It was the ultimate confidence booster for the young drummer to be following in the great Bricky's footsteps.

"I used to love his playing," O'Connor says.

"For me to be replacing him (in Columbus) was huge."
And now Dave O'Connor is following Bricky McLew again, this time into the Southland Rock'n'Roll Hall of Fame.

Source: The Southland Times

More Bang Bang & Family Photos

2011 Unknown Blues Reunion - The Southland Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame

It all started when …

“Invercargill music fan Neil McDermott, a frequent visitor to the Civic Theatre, noticed that Suzanne Prentice was the last Southland performer added to the Civic Artists Corner in the early 1980’s.  Many notable rock and roll artists from Southland had not been acknowledged.

He submitted a request for Jimmy Hill, Dave Kennedy and Chris Knox to be included in the Artists Corner and from this came the idea to honour the artists.

Southland musician and songwriter Dave Kennedy, who achieved national fame in 1973 with his bank Link and their single Only Time Could Let Us Know was the first to be honoured with a tribute show. It was held on Sunday, October 12, 2003, at the Invercargill Workingmen’s Club with the help of Bill Somerville, Trevor Daley and Maaki Goodwillie. The show was a great success and future shows are planned.

The Stars of the Sixties show was held on September 11 2004, with Bill Somerville, Peter Skerrett and Bob Daley. The reunited 1960s bands The Farthings, The Answer and The Drifters played at the sellout event.

In 2005 the show organisers joined forces with the Southland Musicians Club to run events. The Hall of Fame committee was formed with Neil McDermott convenor of the tribute committee and musicians club treasurer Brendan Burgess also enlisted."    

Source: 45 South in Concert

The photo below shows the names of those Southland musicians previously inducted:

For 2011 the inductees into the Hall of Fame include:

Dave O’Connor

Stu Carr
Dave Hogan
Glen Hayes


Yikes!  Their names are already inscribed for posterity:

More Hall of Fame Induction photos