POX: New Zealand

can i just say not given lightly 10 times?

i forgot tall dwarfs 'crush' and chris knox 'woman inside of me'

Somebody must be kidding me-ee-ee-ee
Somebody must be lying to me-ee-ee-ee

That's "Titus" off of Mental Notes (let's forget about the sterilized, Manzanera-produced version on Second Thoughts). Great song! Phil Judd is a genius!

king loser - '68 comeback
rainy days - hot cakes!
olla - septic hagfish
gordons - spik and span
bailterspace - x

folina vili - markdown
look blue go purple - circumspect penelope
b.c - dog
tall dwarfs - turning brown and torn in two
coconut rough - sierra leone
space waltz - out on the street
the renderers - so blind
the terminals - touch
doublehappys - needles and plastic
skeptics - AFFCO.

i have obv missed out URGENT AND KEY stuff by the chills, the clean and the gordons.

chants r & b - i'm your witch doctor
the la de das - how is the air up there
sharon o'neill - maxine
the chills - rolling moon
the gordons - future shock
the clean - anything could happen
folina vili - canongate
the chills - pink frost
straitjacket fits - she speeds
snapper - buddy

also I can't believe I spelled Alastair G's surname wrong up there. Please shoot me.

And we need some Toy Love on this thread!!! I nominate "Squeeze"

Fat Freddy's Drop - Midnight Marauders
The Phoenix Foundation - Lambs
The Phoenix Foundation - Sister Risk
Fat Freddy's Drop - Hope for a Generation
Trinity Roots - Little Things
Bongmaster - Ground My Ego
Nathan Haines - Let It Go
HDU - Lull
Rhombus - Clav Dub (Jagwah remix)
Fang - Somewhere Out There

not really a fan of the Dunedin sound :/

Whack It All Down EP - great
s/t LP - top 5 NZ album of all-time ("Jaffa Boy" is the best song to ever emanate from the country, IMHO)
& the "Jaffa Boy" 7", too.

Also, no love for the Able Tasmans' A Cuppa Tea and a Lie Down LP?

yes!

12:48 AM central time is a great time to bump this. the beths are the second best new zealand band of all time, fight me

https://www.rnz.co.nz/life/music/2026-waiata-100-countdown

Okay, RNZ has starting rolling out their public poll results. 65,000 ballots apparently. (More than 1% of the population IIRC?)

The first batch of ten this morning:

100 - Māori Ki Te Ao - Stan Walker (2024)
99 - Buffalo - The Phoenix Foundation (2010)
98 - Whaling - DD Smash (1984)
97 - Blue Lady - Hello Sailor (1977)
96 - History Never Repeats - Split Enz (1981)
95 - Love Your Ways - Salmonella Dub (2001)
94 - In The Neighbourhood - Sisters Underground (1994)
93 - Forever Tuesday Morning - The Mockers (1985)
92 - Future Me Hates Me -The Beths (2018)
91 - Cool Me Down - The Black Seeds (2006)

um, "has started", obv.

There are several there I don't immediately recognise by name. I shall better inform myself.

Had completely forgotten "In the Neighbourhood"! That felt huge in Aus at the time. ('Felt' because it may have been mainly a JJJ/community radio level thing!?!?) Re-hearing things I'd forgotten existed is one of my favourite things, so this has paid off already lol.

"In The Neighbourhood" was used for one of the big TV stations' self-promo spot for half a decade here in NZ; deathless sound of summer.

Curious to what you recognise/don't from over the ditch - I forget Stan Walker broke out on Australian Idol, ha, and not sure how much NZ pubrock/pub-new-wave made it over your way. Some dire Wellington aughts music already popping up, eesh.

Hee hee. I know I'd heard DD Smash and Salmonella Dub and though those tracks sounded as expected they somehow didn't seem truly familiar, if that makes sense. Pretty sure I'd heard "Forever Tuesday Morning" too. The Beths are surely pretty well known here. And that era of Split Enz feels like possibly the earliest pop music I can even remember!

90-81 is at that same URL now. I'd forgotten this King Kapisi song too, but it'll now be in my head all day. Thumbs up also for "Blue Smoke", "North By North" and "Cruise Control". And a Crowded House song that was gently dissed on ILX a couple of weeks ago lol. Should one assume Dobbyn will appear in pretty much every bracket?

Pretty sure I'm only hearing this "unofficial national anthem" this instant. Or maybe not...

Everyone who went to school in NZ knows "Tūtira Mai Ngā Iwi" back to front, c.f.

https://i.redd.it/slyrsal35t201.jpg

https://imgur.com/t-tou-t-tou-e-Vu3Q3aX

The Kapisi just missed my ballot, love that era of him, Tha Feelstyle, Nesian Mystik and Che Fu ruling the airwaves in early aughts Auckland summers. Wish the "North by North" blurb mentioned Alastair Galbraith's violin solo!

Appropriate we got some bogan nu-metal representation with "Phlex" (2002, not the 2022 they've mistakenly put in). L.A.B. absolutely dominate the airwaves / album charts but don't think ILx would have ever heard them.

(second image should be https://imgur.com/t-tou-t-tou-e-Vu3Q3aX, didn't embed)

In The Air - L.A.B. (2019)

"If there was one song in the world, that I could only listen to over and over again, it would be this" said one voter of Aotearoa’s all-time best-selling and most-streamed single, written by Brad Kora, Joel Shadbolt, Stuart Kora, Ara Adams-Tamatea & Miharo Gregory.

This "Kiwi summer classic" spent an unprecedented 168 weeks on the NZ single charts. "Great kiwi summer reggae beat!" was one voter's summary.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wI5usbhzmbY

That is rather impressive.

Also luv that 'bogan' has some utility in a NZ context too lol.

Yesterday's batch:

90 You Oughta Be In Love - Dave Dobbyn (1986)
89 Distant Sun - Crowded House (1993)
88 North By North - The Bats (1987)
87 Screems From Da Old Plantation - King Kapisi (2000)
86 Tūtira Mai Ngā Iwi - Canon Huata (1950s)
85 Phlex - Blindspott (2002)
84 My Boy - Marlon Williams (2022)
83 Blue Smoke (Kohu Auwahi) - Pixie Williams and the Ruru Karaitiana Quartet (1949)
82 Cruise Control - Headless Chickens (1991)
81 In The Air - L.A.B. (2019)

And today's:

80 Nil By Mouth - Blindspott (2003)
79 Kai Tangata - Alien Weaponry (2018)
78 I Love My Leather Jacket - The Chills (1986)
77 Nga Iwi E - The Topp Twins (2009)
76 Anything Could Happen - The Clean (1986)
75 (Glad I'm) Not A Kennedy - Shona Laing (1985)
74 I'll Say Goodbye (Even Though I'm Blue) - The Dance Exponents (1994)
73 Aotearoa - Stan Walker (feat. Ria Hall, Troy Kingi & Maisey Rika) (2021)
72 Ribs - Lorde (2013)
71 My Delirium - Ladyhawke (2008)

More nu-metal, some metal-metal, a few Flying Nun entries, pub rock (Jordan Luck will be turning up a bunch more, I'm sure) and Lorde. Love Shona Laing, wonder what Alfred etc would think?

Seems pretty good so far. Hopefully there aren't too many Six60 recordings in the top 70.

Alien Weaponry is intriguing.
YT comment: "maori is unironically one of the most metal sounding languages"

Robert Scott catching up with DD and Finns in number of video appearances lol. (IIRC -- presumably can't last?)

(Second appearance by Stan Walker too, tbf. Finally catching up.)

70 Crazy? Yes! Dumb? No! - The Mint Chicks (2006)
69 Tears - The Crocodiles (1980)
68 Maxine - Sharon O'Neill (1983)
67 Pacifier - Shihad (1999)
66 Jah Rastafari - 1814 (2008)
65 Something Good - Bic Runga (2002)
64 Green Light - Lorde (2017)
63 Blackbird - Fat Freddy's Drop (2013)
62 Fade Away / E Kore E Motu - Che Fu (2001)
61 Maybe Tomorrow - Golden Horse (2003)

NZ's answer to At The Drive-In/the Blood Brothers' pop crossover, an imago fave, bogan balladry, reggae, and Bressa Creeting Cake alumni. Feels like every second voter comment is talking about a classic Kiwi summer/roadie, ha.

Oh wow, I didn't know I knew #69. I mean, that's clearly Jenny Morris singing but not sure I knew there was a 'The Crocodiles'. :)

Loving the hyper-specificity in some of them lol: "...cruising Aotearoa in my Hilux with my dog on a hot summer's day." (XXP)

"Dance All Around The World" (#56) is kinda amazing. And Bruno Lawrence was involved? Why did I never know about this sort of thing?

I'd been wondering how the likes of Aldous Harding and Brooke Fraser might fare in such a ballot. Now I know!

TWO tracks from Supergroove. I remember them rather well. This is the dreaded but near-inevitable moment where this 'strayan fool says "I'm not sure I knew they were from NZ" lol.

bruno also playing on the above crocodiles track iirc

Oof. He's quite conspicuous in that Crocodiles clip innit, but I still didn't catch on. I somehow only knew him as an actor!

"Four Seasons in One Day" really does include the line "smiling as the shit comes down", I see. I suspect I misheard it as "...ship goes down" the first 705 times I heard it.

radio edit innit

LOL. Okay. Thanks. Never did quite procure a copy of Woodface, despite getting as far as holding it in my hand as a kid!

Yesterday's ten:

60 Getting Stronger - Adeaze, featuring Aaradhna (2004)
59 The Barrel - Aldous Harding (2019)
58 Watchin' U - Ardijah (1988)
57 French Letter - Herbs (1983)
56 Dance All Around The World - Blerta (1972)
55 Can't Get Enough - Supergroove (1995)
54 Expert in a Dying Field - The Beths (2022)
53 Something In The Water - Brooke Fraser (2011)
52 Sitting Inside my Head - Supergroove (1995)
51 Four Seasons in One Day - Crowded House (1992)

Funny to think Supergroove's non-Che Fu frontperson is now one of our most decorated film/TV composers. I'm sure there'll be three other Herbs entries (and at least one more anti-French nuclear testing track) in the top 50. The Blerta is great, yeah - Ticket's "Country High" has a similar vibe and Nick Bollinger's book Goneville documents the pre-punk/Flying Nun musical counterculture.

On a midwinter Matariki roadtrip today and hoping to listen to the countdown, starting in two and half hours.

Four Seasons in a Day is such a pretty song.

I love this list, because I don't know the majority of these acts (Supergroove?), so it's a bit like seeing a list of the best songs out of, I dunno, Cleveland.

I found myself speculating, in the middle of the night, about Flying Nun stuff might still make it. "She Speeds", "Down in Splendour" and "Heavenly Pop Hit" and perhaps "Pink Frost" came to mind. I see two of those have now already appeared in the 40s. Would it be offensive for a foreigner to say "TOO LOW" lol?

41 - I Hope I Never - Split Enz (1980)

Fun fact: When I was a very small child, barely attentive to music at all, I could barely believe the chorus of this song could even be broadcast. Possibly the saddest, most unsettling sentiment I'd ever heard. And late Split Enz songs continued to stick out for me as an infant for various reasons, even though I didn't necessarily even attribute them to the same the group at that age! I feel like they could be *the* chief factor in me being drawn to music in the first place. Thank you NZ.

36 - Pōkarekare Ana - Ana Hato & Deane Waretini (1927)

Never heard this before and I'm lacking context, but my naive response is that this seriously roolz.

BOLD PREDICTION TOP 3:

3) Split Enz - "I Got You"
2) OMC - "How Bizzare"
1) The Dead C - "Helen Said This"

:)

I can't really keep up, but yay for:
32 - There Is No Depression in New Zealand - Blam Blam Blam (1992)
I've never been sure how revered it is domestically but it's probably the best song I've ever heard lol.

^ though that date is surely a decade off the mark.

holy shit that song is great!

IKR!

17 - Pink Frost - The Chills (1984)
16 - Drive - Bic Runga (1996)

^ Noice.

Is the aforementioned "Down in Splendour" more likely to be in the top dozen or so, or out beyond 100? I really have no idea. Advise me, NZers!

A certain Chris Knox song also feels like a potential cross-generational crowd-pleaser, no? Any chance whatsoever?

Down in Splendour seems like a long shot now, can think of 4-5 certainties.

Okey dokey. I remember being reminded of "Splendour" in, I think, Top of the Lake after a looooong while and being all "my god, that still sounds astonishing" but I guess even *that* was an eternity ago now!

On the other hand, I just tuned in... to hear the end of the Chris Knox song. :)

I love Down in Splendour but can't see it making. I assume four of the remaining five are:
Don't Dream
Slice of Heaven
Poi E
Anchor Me

Aaah, yep.

One thing I had under-estimated is the affection for Mr McGlashan across various guises.

I love Down in Splendour but can't see it making. I assume four of the remaining five are:
Don't Dream
Slice of Heaven
Poi E
Anchor Me

These plus Don't Forget Your Roots?

10 - Dominion Road - The Mutton Birds (1992)
09 - How Bizarre - OMC (1995)
08 - Wandering Eye - Fat Freddy's Drop (2005)
07 - Not Given Lightly - Chris Knox (1990)
06 - Welcome Home / Nau Mai Rā - Dave Dobbyn (2005 / 2021)
05 - Anchor Me - The Mutton Birds (1994)
04 - Sway / Haere Mai Rā - Bic Runga (1997 / 2021)
03 - Don't Dream It's Over - Crowded House (1986)
02 - Slice of Heaven - Dave Dobbyn with Herbs (1986)

(suspenseful pause)

Totally feels dominated by my generation. Although the top 3 are all from the 1980s, it's pretty 1990s/early 2000s overall.

I'm a little bemused by the love for Bic Runga's first album - I think she's one of NZ's most talented musos, but that early stuff is so sparse.

Pretty groovy #1, I reckon. Very cool that it's something that foreign observers might struggle to guess, and something so distinctively... dare I say "Pacific"?

Yeah, Poi E is great.

The poll did a great job of mostly skipping over the questionable-yet-popular stuff. No Fly My Pretties, only one six60 song, not too much bad Wellington reggae.

Surprised at no Tally Ho!

I'll have to go through some of this stuff later. I'm not familiar with Blam Blam Blam, but I did dip into the Mutton Birds at the time, in the '90s, and was ... unimpressed?

Yeah, I can't say I was hugely enthusiastic about the Mutton Birds back in the day. I mean, I saw them live in a support slot once and they were certainly engaging enough, but...

Kinda interesting to look again at the olde APRA list etc pointed out, though I guess an industry vote is perhaps not *quite* the same thing:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/APRA_Top_100_New_Zealand_Songs_of_All_Time

"Poi E" at #37 back then. (Beaten by the likes of "Down in Splendour" lol) And "How Bizarre"'s stocks have perhaps risen similarly. Perhaps a dilution of broadly 'rock' stuff all round as the 21st century progresses...

Whoops, had lost reception in the Mamakus and missed some of the rollout so hadn't realized the Six60 placed near Lorde in the teens.

Pretty much as expected - RNZ doesn't exactly capture the MaiFm demographic so no Nesian Mystik etc. "Poi E" definitely got a boost since the APRA list from Taika Waititi's Boy in 2010 and a documentary on the song in 2016:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Za6u11f10rQ

Aaaah. I'll try to find the latter.

I seem to see quite a few NZ documentaries these days. eg. the Shayne Carter one, most recently. Noticed by chance that the RNZ site mentioned a Don McGlashan one this year...

Okay, that Poi E documentary is legit fascinating. Big thumbs-up for the abundance of archival footage/audio. Surprisingly moving too, even for a cold, cold-hearted dude across the sea lol.

Mutton Birds are great, their NZ popularity is justified. Also they did an amazing cover of "Don't Fear The Reaper"!