May 12, 2025 • 10 mins
We're nearly halfway through New Zealand music month, and Wellington Mornings' look back on the greatest Kiwi songs ever released continues.
This week; what was the first New Zealand number one single entirely in te reo Māori? And what was the first number one from a female artist?
Also, our music man James Irwin takes a look back at the TV shows of old that celebrated Kiwi music.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:07):
You're listening to the Wellington Mornings podcast with Nick Mills
from news talks at B Giggs new releases and keeping
tabs on local honists. His music time on Wellington Mornings.
Speaker 2 (00:23):
May is always Kiwi Music Month, and normally we try
and play as much Kiwi music in the in the
in the gaps as we possibly can, and we get
our music guru to come in every week, not every
second week, which ties them up a bit. But let's
let's get into it. James, Kiwi Music.
Speaker 3 (00:40):
Month, thirteen days in. I've had a cracking start. I've
brought six New Zealand bands already this month of CDs
or vinyl. The last one I actually brought, which i'd
be mean to was an older version of Mel Parson,
who has a gig. I've talked about her before. She's
got a gig coming up at the San Fran Sunday
twenty fifth of May. That's going to be fantastic, So
(01:01):
lock that in the calendar. I'm going to go along,
so come and have a chat to me at that gig.
So last week I played the Ready to Roll theme
music and I got a bit of heat from some listeners.
Now obviously listeners can work out our email addresses here
at enzme dot co dot nz. If you know our names,
it's not hard to work out our email addresses. So
I got a few, I got a few emails I had.
I had a couple of people saying what about radio
(01:22):
with pictures? I had some other people. I actually had
mydear old mum say what about some of the old
radio shows? And that got me thinking, so let's roll
back the clock to nineteen sixty two, when a chat
that many of our listeners are going to remember a
great New Zealand a very young Justin Defrayne hosted and
debuted a new show that was called the Sunset Radio Show.
(01:47):
It was dedicated to music five nights a week for
ninety minutes on our old station name what was that
Wellington two z SO, and that went out. I'm pretty
sure that went out right across the country, but it
was broadcast here in Wellington. Unfortunately, I haven't met to
find any old audio now. I used to have a
cassette of that that I remember giving back Justin Justin
(02:07):
which I mastered up for him back in the day.
So that was a cracking show and has really seen
as one of the first times that New Zealand music
was starting to be played. You had stuff like, you know,
the early days of Ray Columbus and and the like.
So that's going back. You know, some of our older
listeners will remember the same show.
Speaker 2 (02:25):
Justin used to call his wife on the show what
she call what he called missus missus the frame. Missus.
The frame might have a copy of that, not I think.
Speaker 3 (02:34):
I mean, he was he was great and we loved
working with Justin. You you knew him very well. A
lot of our listeners will know my wife Mary Jane MJ.
She was his producer for a long time, so we
all have a lot of so I just think that's
great when I when I went back through the things,
the very first person who really made an indent into
New Zealand music and music in general, and having a
I mean Justin Justin always reminded me. He was like
(02:55):
a Tony soprano. He just looked super cool and everything,
never never fussy, just just walked into a room and
looked cool. Was a great broadcaster. So we had that show.
Then my old mate Stuart Macpherson, who a lot of
us know is stets and Stetson group. He brings a
lot of terrific shows here to Wellington and around the country.
And he does art shows, he does music shows, he
(03:15):
does musicals and he he's he was in the early days,
he was on a show called I'm pretty sure it
was called in the Groove Again Archives. There is nothing
that I could find around the YouTube and the New
Zealand on screen places but a terrific, terrific show Stuart
and I've talked to Stuart about that. And then, of
course the one that a lot of people will remember,
(03:35):
probably the first New Zealand that that got a lot
of hype was the show TV show called come On.
It was hosted by the late Peter Sinclair. Let's have
a bit of a listener. Here's the theme song, come on,
Wait till you hear Peter at the end he had
a lot of coffin.
Speaker 4 (03:55):
Hi long wait, but you're back on come on.
Speaker 3 (04:01):
Happening thing on the TV. Yeah, So there you go
that normal time. That was a normal time. So it
was an absolute cracker. He was ripping along at a
million miles an hour. Then let's fast forward we get
past ready to roll or ready to Roll still going
and radio with pictures start.
Speaker 2 (04:15):
I see Radio Pictures was strikes to beat. They tried
to be a little bit cool, cooler, a little bit.
Speaker 3 (04:20):
Playing stuff that wasn't on commercial radio as much. They're
a bit like our you know, like our student radio station.
So they played some really cool stuff. They supported, maybe
the underdogs who weren't gonna at the time when we
were just getting into commercial less commercial, but some really
good stuff they played. Haroen Karen Hays and then let's
have a listen to Radio Pictures theme.
Speaker 4 (04:41):
In nineteen seventy seven, Radio with Pictures at the air
it was a musci show for the serious music fans.
Speaker 3 (04:47):
This is thanks to New Zealand on screen.
Speaker 2 (04:48):
This audio was such an important program, especially because it
came on the course of Sunday Horrors.
Speaker 4 (04:53):
You know, there was no host for the first few
shows until Barry Jenkins, a DJ from Radio Hicky, was
given the job Doctor Rah.
Speaker 1 (05:01):
Good Evening Citizens, Good Evening Citizens. The major feature of
Radio with Pictures Tonight is some class a rock 'n'
roll film clip of this back.
Speaker 4 (05:09):
Karen Hay became the new face of the show in
nineteen eighty and she helped break down another barrier in
the cultural cringe of all things. Can we making it
acceptable for broadcasters to speak with a New Zealand accent, and.
Speaker 1 (05:20):
We don't just play music on radio with pictures. There's
a fair bit of purposeful chat goes on around here
as well. Check this lot out.
Speaker 3 (05:27):
Lovely love you Karen Hay. You know.
Speaker 2 (05:29):
The other thing is that that and I've got my
hair on my back of my neck raised listening to her.
She broke some glass ceilings being a female front person.
Speaker 3 (05:39):
Yeah she did, and you know music, yeah, totally. She
was huge. And I'm going to tell you a fun
fact from our family is that my wife MJ auditioned
for that job and she got down to the final three,
and we've got the video screen at home and she's
very much like a Karen Hay as well, big frizzy hair,
being kind of monotone. She's gonna hate me for actually
hopefully she's not listening.
Speaker 2 (05:59):
Hopefully she is.
Speaker 3 (06:00):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, So yeah, that's cool. Hey, I'm going
to talk about a few gigs that are going on
so tonight. There's you can get along to Unity Books.
Here's a musician, a guy called Dominic Coey. He's got
a book release, So we're doing book releases. In music
New Zealand Music Month because he's a great musician. He
was a rapper called Tourette's and I'm going to head
(06:20):
along to it with the wife six pm at Unity
Books again supporting New Zealand music, supporting New Zealand culture.
He's got a great book it's been released today called
nineteen eighty five and it's a coming of age story
for the underdog, the disenfranchised and the dreamers, which is
all of us, isn't it all of us? So back
to significant memories in New Zealand music charts since nineteen
seventy five, because it's fifty years of the charts. Like
(06:41):
we talked about last week, nineteen eighty four Sweetwater's Festival
was with Simple Minds and Talking Heads. Was on tickets
cost thirty four bucks, so that's probably still was quite
a bit of money. Lot a lot of money, isn't
it a lot of money? That was the last of
the run before the big nineteen ninety nine Sweetwater's disaster
which poor old Daniel Keeley will spend some time inside
(07:05):
for that one Wellington Trades Hall bombing killed cur taker
caretaker Ernie Abbott and the New Zealand's first ever IVF
baby was born and break dancing was all the age.
Well we did you have excheckers then when you break
were they break dancing at ex Checkers?
Speaker 2 (07:19):
To the kid, TP was the king of us.
Speaker 3 (07:21):
Yeah, I'm gonna say, because you played all the best
music then in the days. Then you brought in you
had all the basketball boys who were playing all the
big you know, all the oversea stuff bringing their records
music and they'll bring in their collections and the mate
send it enuff, which was you were always renowned for.
And of course the very first ever song entirely in
TODAYO this is a banger. I know you love it
as well, Party Multi Bub. It's just the first first
(07:44):
total today. Oh no English. We played the Bridge last
week which was mainly in Today, but it did have
a little English sigma. All right, let's move on because
then over times on times always against us. Remember we
did a cash in the attic on Party multi club
a long time ago and and I know you put
(08:05):
a call out to the listeners and I don't think
anything ever came in, but you would have loved the record.
It had the big oh what's yeah, what's what's the bird?
And what's the bird that's extinct. I'm going I'm having
a brain fade. Yeah, yeah, it's the Boa. We'll getting
thumbs up from the producer on the on the front cover.
That's worth about two hundred and fifty bucks now, so
(08:25):
you probably not want to dig deep into your pockets
to pay listener for that, now, are you in it?
But yeah, it's a good one. So so that yeah, cracker.
Hey hot off the press this morning. If you were
a Mockers fan in the eighties, then Andrew Fagan the
lead singer of the Mockers. He's around the world solo sayer, sailor,
he's an all around general raconteur, ex broadcaster. He's got
(08:46):
pre pre sale tickets for a show later in the
year Andrew Fagan puts on a cracking show. Who'll be
playing all the old Mockers favorites.
Speaker 2 (08:53):
And you know his wife is Are they still married?
Speaker 3 (08:56):
Yeah? Yes, Karen Aaron Hay So check out all the
details at one of our trusted promoters plus one dot
code Audion said, so, I wanted to also, if we've
got time, remember a very important music moment that incurred
in New Zealand Music Month, and I think it was
two thousand and two or two thousand and three. So
we've got some Fat Freddy's music we're going to play
in the background. So in the early two thousands a
(09:18):
lot of New Zealand artists went to the UK on
their own back. They trail blazed people like Nathan Haynes, Concord, Dawn, Trinity,
Roots and Fat Freddy's Drop And in order to make
our members of Parliament aware of that the New Zealand
music needed an overseas push, Fat Freddie's played on the
steps of Parliament. It was the twentieth of May. I
(09:39):
think it was two thousand and two. I remember rushing
down from work and going to it.
Speaker 2 (09:43):
Wow, amazing, amazing. There it is Encyclopedia of New Zealand
by the guru himself, James Irwa.
Speaker 3 (09:51):
Thanks for having me, Thank you well fantastic.
Speaker 2 (09:53):
We'll be able to support New Zealand music month.
Speaker 1 (09:57):
For more from Wellington Mornings with Nick Mills, listen live
to news talks It'd be Wellington from nine to am weekdays,
or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio.
You're listening to the Wellington Mornings podcast with Nick Mills
from news talks at B Giggs new releases and keeping
tabs on local honists. His music time on Wellington Mornings.
Speaker 2 (00:23):
May is always Kiwi Music Month, and normally we try
and play as much Kiwi music in the in the
in the gaps as we possibly can, and we get
our music guru to come in every week, not every
second week, which ties them up a bit. But let's
let's get into it. James, Kiwi Music.
Speaker 3 (00:40):
Month, thirteen days in. I've had a cracking start. I've
brought six New Zealand bands already this month of CDs
or vinyl. The last one I actually brought, which i'd
be mean to was an older version of Mel Parson,
who has a gig. I've talked about her before. She's
got a gig coming up at the San Fran Sunday
twenty fifth of May. That's going to be fantastic, So
(01:01):
lock that in the calendar. I'm going to go along,
so come and have a chat to me at that gig.
So last week I played the Ready to Roll theme
music and I got a bit of heat from some listeners.
Now obviously listeners can work out our email addresses here
at enzme dot co dot nz. If you know our names,
it's not hard to work out our email addresses. So
I got a few, I got a few emails I had.
I had a couple of people saying what about radio
(01:22):
with pictures? I had some other people. I actually had
mydear old mum say what about some of the old
radio shows? And that got me thinking, so let's roll
back the clock to nineteen sixty two, when a chat
that many of our listeners are going to remember a
great New Zealand a very young Justin Defrayne hosted and
debuted a new show that was called the Sunset Radio Show.
(01:47):
It was dedicated to music five nights a week for
ninety minutes on our old station name what was that
Wellington two z SO, and that went out. I'm pretty
sure that went out right across the country, but it
was broadcast here in Wellington. Unfortunately, I haven't met to
find any old audio now. I used to have a
cassette of that that I remember giving back Justin Justin
(02:07):
which I mastered up for him back in the day.
So that was a cracking show and has really seen
as one of the first times that New Zealand music
was starting to be played. You had stuff like, you know,
the early days of Ray Columbus and and the like.
So that's going back. You know, some of our older
listeners will remember the same show.
Speaker 2 (02:25):
Justin used to call his wife on the show what
she call what he called missus missus the frame. Missus.
The frame might have a copy of that, not I think.
Speaker 3 (02:34):
I mean, he was he was great and we loved
working with Justin. You you knew him very well. A
lot of our listeners will know my wife Mary Jane MJ.
She was his producer for a long time, so we
all have a lot of so I just think that's
great when I when I went back through the things,
the very first person who really made an indent into
New Zealand music and music in general, and having a
I mean Justin Justin always reminded me. He was like
(02:55):
a Tony soprano. He just looked super cool and everything,
never never fussy, just just walked into a room and
looked cool. Was a great broadcaster. So we had that show.
Then my old mate Stuart Macpherson, who a lot of
us know is stets and Stetson group. He brings a
lot of terrific shows here to Wellington and around the country.
And he does art shows, he does music shows, he
(03:15):
does musicals and he he's he was in the early days,
he was on a show called I'm pretty sure it
was called in the Groove Again Archives. There is nothing
that I could find around the YouTube and the New
Zealand on screen places but a terrific, terrific show Stuart
and I've talked to Stuart about that. And then, of
course the one that a lot of people will remember,
(03:35):
probably the first New Zealand that that got a lot
of hype was the show TV show called come On.
It was hosted by the late Peter Sinclair. Let's have
a bit of a listener. Here's the theme song, come on,
Wait till you hear Peter at the end he had
a lot of coffin.
Speaker 4 (03:55):
Hi long wait, but you're back on come on.
Speaker 3 (04:01):
Happening thing on the TV. Yeah, So there you go
that normal time. That was a normal time. So it
was an absolute cracker. He was ripping along at a
million miles an hour. Then let's fast forward we get
past ready to roll or ready to Roll still going
and radio with pictures start.
Speaker 2 (04:15):
I see Radio Pictures was strikes to beat. They tried
to be a little bit cool, cooler, a little bit.
Speaker 3 (04:20):
Playing stuff that wasn't on commercial radio as much. They're
a bit like our you know, like our student radio station.
So they played some really cool stuff. They supported, maybe
the underdogs who weren't gonna at the time when we
were just getting into commercial less commercial, but some really
good stuff they played. Haroen Karen Hays and then let's
have a listen to Radio Pictures theme.
Speaker 4 (04:41):
In nineteen seventy seven, Radio with Pictures at the air
it was a musci show for the serious music fans.
Speaker 3 (04:47):
This is thanks to New Zealand on screen.
Speaker 2 (04:48):
This audio was such an important program, especially because it
came on the course of Sunday Horrors.
Speaker 4 (04:53):
You know, there was no host for the first few
shows until Barry Jenkins, a DJ from Radio Hicky, was
given the job Doctor Rah.
Speaker 1 (05:01):
Good Evening Citizens, Good Evening Citizens. The major feature of
Radio with Pictures Tonight is some class a rock 'n'
roll film clip of this back.
Speaker 4 (05:09):
Karen Hay became the new face of the show in
nineteen eighty and she helped break down another barrier in
the cultural cringe of all things. Can we making it
acceptable for broadcasters to speak with a New Zealand accent, and.
Speaker 1 (05:20):
We don't just play music on radio with pictures. There's
a fair bit of purposeful chat goes on around here
as well. Check this lot out.
Speaker 3 (05:27):
Lovely love you Karen Hay. You know.
Speaker 2 (05:29):
The other thing is that that and I've got my
hair on my back of my neck raised listening to her.
She broke some glass ceilings being a female front person.
Speaker 3 (05:39):
Yeah she did, and you know music, yeah, totally. She
was huge. And I'm going to tell you a fun
fact from our family is that my wife MJ auditioned
for that job and she got down to the final three,
and we've got the video screen at home and she's
very much like a Karen Hay as well, big frizzy hair,
being kind of monotone. She's gonna hate me for actually
hopefully she's not listening.
Speaker 2 (05:59):
Hopefully she is.
Speaker 3 (06:00):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, So yeah, that's cool. Hey, I'm going
to talk about a few gigs that are going on
so tonight. There's you can get along to Unity Books.
Here's a musician, a guy called Dominic Coey. He's got
a book release, So we're doing book releases. In music
New Zealand Music Month because he's a great musician. He
was a rapper called Tourette's and I'm going to head
(06:20):
along to it with the wife six pm at Unity
Books again supporting New Zealand music, supporting New Zealand culture.
He's got a great book it's been released today called
nineteen eighty five and it's a coming of age story
for the underdog, the disenfranchised and the dreamers, which is
all of us, isn't it all of us? So back
to significant memories in New Zealand music charts since nineteen
seventy five, because it's fifty years of the charts. Like
(06:41):
we talked about last week, nineteen eighty four Sweetwater's Festival
was with Simple Minds and Talking Heads. Was on tickets
cost thirty four bucks, so that's probably still was quite
a bit of money. Lot a lot of money, isn't
it a lot of money? That was the last of
the run before the big nineteen ninety nine Sweetwater's disaster
which poor old Daniel Keeley will spend some time inside
(07:05):
for that one Wellington Trades Hall bombing killed cur taker
caretaker Ernie Abbott and the New Zealand's first ever IVF
baby was born and break dancing was all the age.
Well we did you have excheckers then when you break
were they break dancing at ex Checkers?
Speaker 2 (07:19):
To the kid, TP was the king of us.
Speaker 3 (07:21):
Yeah, I'm gonna say, because you played all the best
music then in the days. Then you brought in you
had all the basketball boys who were playing all the
big you know, all the oversea stuff bringing their records
music and they'll bring in their collections and the mate
send it enuff, which was you were always renowned for.
And of course the very first ever song entirely in
TODAYO this is a banger. I know you love it
as well, Party Multi Bub. It's just the first first
(07:44):
total today. Oh no English. We played the Bridge last
week which was mainly in Today, but it did have
a little English sigma. All right, let's move on because
then over times on times always against us. Remember we
did a cash in the attic on Party multi club
a long time ago and and I know you put
(08:05):
a call out to the listeners and I don't think
anything ever came in, but you would have loved the record.
It had the big oh what's yeah, what's what's the bird?
And what's the bird that's extinct. I'm going I'm having
a brain fade. Yeah, yeah, it's the Boa. We'll getting
thumbs up from the producer on the on the front cover.
That's worth about two hundred and fifty bucks now, so
(08:25):
you probably not want to dig deep into your pockets
to pay listener for that, now, are you in it?
But yeah, it's a good one. So so that yeah, cracker.
Hey hot off the press this morning. If you were
a Mockers fan in the eighties, then Andrew Fagan the
lead singer of the Mockers. He's around the world solo sayer, sailor,
he's an all around general raconteur, ex broadcaster. He's got
(08:46):
pre pre sale tickets for a show later in the
year Andrew Fagan puts on a cracking show. Who'll be
playing all the old Mockers favorites.
Speaker 2 (08:53):
And you know his wife is Are they still married?
Speaker 3 (08:56):
Yeah? Yes, Karen Aaron Hay So check out all the
details at one of our trusted promoters plus one dot
code Audion said, so, I wanted to also, if we've
got time, remember a very important music moment that incurred
in New Zealand Music Month, and I think it was
two thousand and two or two thousand and three. So
we've got some Fat Freddy's music we're going to play
in the background. So in the early two thousands a
(09:18):
lot of New Zealand artists went to the UK on
their own back. They trail blazed people like Nathan Haynes, Concord, Dawn, Trinity,
Roots and Fat Freddy's Drop And in order to make
our members of Parliament aware of that the New Zealand
music needed an overseas push, Fat Freddie's played on the
steps of Parliament. It was the twentieth of May. I
(09:39):
think it was two thousand and two. I remember rushing
down from work and going to it.
Speaker 2 (09:43):
Wow, amazing, amazing. There it is Encyclopedia of New Zealand
by the guru himself, James Irwa.
Speaker 3 (09:51):
Thanks for having me, Thank you well fantastic.
Speaker 2 (09:53):
We'll be able to support New Zealand music month.
Speaker 1 (09:57):
For more from Wellington Mornings with Nick Mills, listen live
to news talks It'd be Wellington from nine to am weekdays,
or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio.
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