2013 Murray Burns to Be Inducted Into the Southland Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame

The Southland Musicians Club recently announced the lineup for the 2013 Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame show.  This will include the induction of Murray Burns and a reunion performance of the Edge one of the bands that Burns played in when based in Invercargill. The full Southland Times news item is as follows:
 
"Hall of Fame Lineup Finalised

 Former Mi-Sex rocker Murray Burns is one of five veteran musicians who will be inducted into the Southland Rock and Roll Hall of Fame this year.

Burns, originally from Invercargill, rose to international fame in the late 1970s and 80s as the keyboards player and hit songwriter for the new wave band Mi-Sex, who had hits with classic songs such as Computer Games, People, Space Race and Blue Day. Burns played a major hand in crafting the band's edgy synth-driven pop-rock sound and punchy songs.

He'll be performing with a reunited lineup of his early Invercargill band Edge, which includes fellow 2013 Hall of Fame inductee Tony Ross.

The annual show will be held at the Invercargill Workingmen's Club on October 5, this year with the theme from Elvis to Mi-Sex.

Joining Burns and Ross on the Hall of Fame honours board will be Peter Chilton, Keith Walker and Peter Miller. They'll be joined by their former bandmates in reformed lineups of Tarbet, Southern Dixie and Transition for a night of nostalgic rock."

 

 

 

The Edge, circa 1974, featuring 2013 Hall of Fame inductees Murray Burns, centre, (sitting) and Tony Ross, second from the right.

 

The full list of band members starting from the left is:

Paul Rosel (drums)

Neil Blue (Keyboards)

Murray Burns (Bass Guitar)

Tony Ross (Lead Vocals, Rhythm Guitar)

Maaki Goodwillie (Lead Guitar, Vocals)

 

This is what the 45 South In Concert band almanac says about the band:

 

"The Edge evolved from the band Abraham. Tony Ross recalls them as a great band to be involved with, which made his decision to leave and join Vision in 1974 especially difficult. Ironically, all of Abraham's members ended up in Vision except Goodwillie who probably would have as well if Bob Daley had ever left.

 

Murray Burns wore his bass in the style of the legendary  guitarist Jimi Hendrix upside-down with the strings fitted in the reverse order. He later played keyboards with Watchdog before making his name over the ditch in Mi-Sex."

 

Rud Wilson replaced Tony Ross as vocalist after he left to sing for the Vision. The Edge then changed its name to Storm which is a difficult decision to fathom from a marketing and brand building perspective. Murray Burns never played for Watchdog in Invercargill and was a member of the revived Watchdog that formed by Tom Svhela in Christchurch after Tony Bennett, Danny Bennett and Peter O'Neil teamed up with John Purvis and Nancy Kyle-Purvis to form  a new iteration of the famed Baby. Following his stint with Watchdog Burns joined Red Rose and moved to Wellington taking on a residency at the Dr Johns Nightclub in Courtney Place where I saw them numerous times. The core of Red Rose ultimately formed up with Steve Gilpin to create Mi-Sex which quickly took Australia by storm.