- The Exponents – Like She Said (1994)/ Nameless Girl (1992)
- Blerta - Dance All Around The World (1972)/ Joy Joy (1972)
- Second in the Wozza countdown of the 10 best Nu Zild bands and their two best songs is the weird co-op that was Blerta. Best group may be a stretch I admit but their influence and these two songs alone that had a huge impact.
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| Bruno of Blerta |
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| Hugh Romney, a.k.a. Wavy Gravy |
The band was Nu Zild's own version of the Hog farm. A loose congregation of talented and individual artists who grouped themselves into an alternative kind of commune.
Bruno Lawrence (drummer, actor and the B.L. of Blerta) was our own Wavy Gravy character (even with the same look).
Blerta toured around NZ in a big red communal bus like Ken Kesey's Merry Pranksters and were experimental in their approach to their art (and life I guess). Blerta alumni included names like Corben Simpson, Beaver, Geoff Murphy and Bruno; all became big names in NZ film and music.
My introduction to the song Dance All Around The World was via the Loxene Golden Disc for 1972. A brilliant album of NZ music that in itself had a huge impact on NZ music in general and me in particular. Dance... stood out with its hippy consciousness, phased drums and dramatic spoken section. Joy Joy was more of a straight rock number but was played with skill and the risque lyric was an added bonus for a schoolboy such as myself.
Sidebar: I would have included a clip of the mighty Blerta doing Dance..except the pathetic EMI have not released the clip for viewers in my part of the world. What do they think will happen? Blerta are a tiny little obscure NZ outfit from 40 years ago; surely their video presents no financial risk to a huge company like EMI.
Truely pathetic - no wonder the dinosaur record companies are undergoing a slow death!
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