Bye Bye New Zealand Pie

I can still remember the day the music died in New Zealand. Recently I watched “The Boat That Rocked” and was reminded of the great times I had enjoyed in radio over a 36 year period both here and over the Tassie. What happened to radio? When did it change from being run by programmers, to sales managers then to offshore corporates?

I remember when it started. Although only small players, when Energy first got its hands on the Rock and the Edge and then the Otago group, it was a clear signal that radio in New Zealand was in its first stages of networking. Mind you Radio Pacific had already started, by networking Waikato in preparation of setting up their TAB network.

This was OK, there were radio people at the helms, but when Radio New Zealand sold off its commercial arm all that changed. The corporate raiders got their snouts in the trough and suddenly they were spewing out words like “Integrity” to cover for the fact that they had no real interest in the welfare of New Zealand and certainly not the many professional radio people who now no longer work in the industry.

If you thought the supermarket duopoly was bad, the radio duopoly of The Radio Network (owned by the Irish and the Americans) and Mediaworks (owned by an Australian investment company) is far worse. There have been hundreds of redundancies in the industry and as a result, both companies have lost their soul.
They don’t care about the communities they pretend to operate in, only the money they can extract from its advertisers. They no longer care about broadcasting. They are simply sales machines.

I was always taught if the product is good it will sell. These corporate pigs believe if it isn’t selling, get rid of those who make the product. Replace them with cheaper versions. It’s funny that one of these many network stations is called The Edge, because that is exactly what radio has lost. It has become a safe, boring, sales machine sending its profits offshore.

They do it at their peril. Remember the “Indie” movement in the 90’s music business? The top bands turned their backs on the major labels and revelled in the new creative freedom that the independent labels offered. Slowly, small “indie” radio stations are popping up here. You watch (and listen) my friends, the tide is about to turn and the corporate pigs will drown in their own disgusting troughs. Me, well I am now working in publishing and listening to my trusty iPod.

Sweetwaters "81

As I get older I have come to realise that many of the great times I have had both in broadcasting and with my many mates are becoming a distant memory. I realised this when I was in the middle of moving recently and decided to sort out my sheet music. There amongst my Doobie Brothers, Eagles, Bob Dylan, Neil Young etc were a few treasures. Programmes from concerts and other events that I had squirrelled away so long ago I forgot they existed.

One of these little treasures is an immaculate copy of the Sweetwaters "81 Festival held in Ngarawahia New Zealand. As I browsed through it, not only did I have a hazy recall of a fine weekend back in January '81, but a host of other memories came flooding back. The kiwi bands! What an era. I had only arrived in New Zealand a few months earlier to discover some of the best music in the world was coming from this small island nation. Bands like Split Enz and Misex had already cracked it across the Tasman, but there were dozens of other amazing acts that displayed a fresh, pioneering sound that was unmistakingly Kiwi. Bands like Coup d'Etat, Dave McArtney's Pink Flamingos, Pop Mechanix, The Screeming Meemees, The Tigers (who later evolved into the Warratahs - one of the finest country bands I have ever seen), The Crocodiles, Midge Marsden, Hammond Gamble, The Flying Doctors, Herbs, Blam Blam Blam and The Mockers.

They were all at Sweetwaters '81, along with Cold Chisel, Roxy Music, INXS, the Reels, Icehouse, Jo Jo Zep & the Falcons. If you were there, you like I probably can't remember much, except it was great!