Out on the street (Space Waltz) (LP 3853 - 3854)

Space Waltz  Space Waltz by Alastair Riddell (Vinyl, EMI Records, 1975) *****  

Space Waltz  Victory (CD, Universal Music, 2023) ****  

Genre: NZ Music, pop, prog rock, glam rock 

Places I remember: George Courts, JB Hi Fi

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: Out in the Street

Gear costume: Hypnotise Me (Victory)

They loom large in his legend (The Album Collection playlists): Part 1; Part 2; Part 3; Part 4; Part 5; Part 6

Active compensatory factors: WATCH OUT YOUNG LOVE!!!!

Well well well- who would have thought that a look and a song that could be so subversive in 1975 could stand up to scrutiny in 2025.

The glam look was the shock value back then wasn't it - the androgynous Alastair Riddell. This was our Bowie moment - when Ziggy wasn't a starman from the other side of the planet (so - like Mars) but a Kiwi on our TV screens. Wow. An Auckland kid!! That was the shock for me.

We all watched him on New Faces (very appropriately named) transfixed, mouths open, giddy excitement welling up. I'm sure our dads were all either bemused (mine) or disgusted. But this was our time!

Recently, I enjoyed re-watching the episode - what a boring, terrible load of old codswallop was served up to us back then - no wonder SW and SE stood out so thoroughly.

Out In The Street was the song that launched me into a different way of appreciating NZ music. Sure it was hugely Bowie influenced but there was something else at play - a stretching of boundaries of what could be a successful pop song/ pop star in NZ. Phil Warren complains during the episode that Beautiful Boy is too similar to Out In The Street and yes and no, it is glam and Bowie/Ziggy derivative but it's also a different song! And so what! He was obviously after all-round entertainer-ship - a ballad, a folk song, some pop and disco. Bollocks to that! Something was happening Mr. Warren and you didn't know what it was!

I had to have the album when it came out. Unlike Mental Notes which seemed scary and weird and fascinating and not One Two Nine - this album backed up my initial impression of OITS brilliantly. I bought a copy from George Courts in K Rd one Friday afternoon on a record ramble with amigo Greg Knowles (we'd start at K Rd and wander down Queen Street ending at Marbecks Records in the Queen's Arcade).

Turns out OITS was no one hit wonder - Fraulein Love and Beautiful Boy continued the Bowie fixation.

Listening to it now, I notice how some of the other songs sound similar to Mental Notes' prog rock moves. Love The Way He Smiles and Seabird could be long lost Split Enz songs (easy imagining Phil or Tim doing the vocals). Plus, Alastair looks vaguely like Phil. No wonder the boys were interested in Alastair as an Enzer.

N.b. - the below relates to the vinyl original. For some reason Spotify flick the track order around crazily.

Side one is all great - four quality songs. Side two now sounds a little samey but Open Up has a nice hook and some lovely piano from Eddie although it's hidden a bit in the mix. Greg Clark and Alastair play their best glam guitar on songs like Scars Of Love and Brent Eccles looks the part and is solid throughout (and also a little buried in the mix). The Yandall Sisters (yes - the Yandall Sisters) add lovely harmony to Beautiful Boy and LTWHS; Eddie rescues Up To Now with some great proggy keyboard flourishes and stars on the final track - LTWHS, by going full goose bozzo.

Negatives? Well, the lyrics are something Alastair may now look back on and go - what was I thinking? Some jar, some make no sense. But then again - who cares because they sound great. I read an article recently about why the language of song lyrics doesn't really matter and he makes some good points - Pocket - Why We Listen to Music With Lyrics We Don’t Understand (getpocket.com) So - there is that.

So, an easy 5 stars for me - a NZ classic. Both of its time and timeless.

Alastair reconvened the band in 2023 to record their second album - Victory. It's a smart blend of new songs in the same glam/prog style together with re-recordings of selected tracks from their first album and Alastair's solo stuff. It works spectacularly well.

Where do they all belong? Always there for Space Waltz and A Riddell - a singular NZ talent.

The Fever (Bruce Springsteen) (LP 3845 - 3852)

Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes I Don't Want To Go Home (Vinyl, Epic Records, 1976) ****  

Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes This Time It's For Real (Vinyl, Epic Records, 1977) *** 

Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes Hearts of Stone (Vinyl, Epic Records, 1978) **** 

Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes The Jukes (Vinyl, Mercury Records, 1979) *** 

Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes Love is a Sacrifice (Vinyl, Mercury Records, 1980) **** 

Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes Reach Up and Touch The Sky (Vinyl, Mercury Records, 1981) **** 

Southside Johnny and the Jukes Trash It Up! (Vinyl, Mirage Records, 1983) ** 

Southside Johnny & the Jukes At Least we Got Shoes (Vinyl, RCA Records, 1986) *** 

Genre: Rock and soul music

Places I remember: All from Marbeck's Records, except Trash It Up! from Amoeba Music.

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: Love on the Wrong Side of Town, I Don't Want to Go Home

Gear costume: Restless Heart (Love is a Sacrifice)

They loom large in his legend (The Album Collection playlists): Part 1; Part 2; Part 3; Part 4; Part 5; Part 6

Active compensatory factors: There was a time (late seventies) when I was a big fan of Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes. Yes, I was drawn to the band via fellow Jersey boy, Bruce Springsteen. The Boss's largesse meant he generously gave away some prime Boss songs along the way. However, I soon learned to love the Southside vibe for its own sake.

I Don't Want To Go Home is the debut album and that song (written by Steve Van Zandt) kicks it off in spectacular fashion. In fact, Steve (a.k.a. Little Steven, a.k.a Miami Steve) is all over this album in a most impressive way. The album is produced and arranged by manager Steven Van Zandt, who also sang, played guitar, and writes three of the songs (to Springsteen's two).

The Asbury Jukes and supplemented by The Miami Horns and a number of guests - Lee Dorsey, and Ronnie Spector among them. It's a great start with some fine vocals by Southside and some muscular playing from the troops. All that and The Fever - one of Bruce's best.

This Time It's For Real is the title song - a good song by Steve Van Zandt but I don't like it as an album title. It implies that the debut wasn't really up to snuff and that is far from the truth. 

This one feels a little like volume 2. It has the same horn driven sound (a bit more strident to my ears), and some guest stars continue to help carry the load: The Coasters, The Five Satins, and The Drifters have cameos on background vocals. Overall, the songs aren't as strong as the debut's but it still hits all the right spots.  

Hearts of Stone is their best studio album. It followed a similar approach to the previous two, with songs by Southside Johnny, Bruce Springsteen, and Steve Van Zandt. Miami Steve also produces, arranges and plays guitar. Some feat! They would miss his input - this was his last album with them until a reunion in 1991.

This album has some big songs - Talk To Me, Hearts of Stone (both by the Boss) but the whole album feels strong and Southside sings brilliantly throughout. Obviously, it doesn't hurt that Might Max Weinberg is on drums for this album!

The Jukes was their first album for new label - Mercury, at the start of the eighties. Billy Rush stepped up in the absence of Miami Steve's input by becoming the band's principal songwriter. He does a good job, too. 

The sound on The Jukes is a bit more polished and smoother thanks to a change to Barry Beckett as producer (The Time is a good example of his approach), and the songs aren't as memorable this time out. Overall then it was a step in a slightly more uninspired, mainstream direction.

Love is a Sacrifice was the follow-up to the slightly disappointing The Jukes. It's a great response, as the sound toughens up and there are a couple of excellent songs in Restless Heart and the title track. They prove on this album that they can stand alone without Miami Steve and Scooter.

The double live album, Reach Up and Touch the Sky, is superb! The band and South are in their element - live playful and delivering! Rolling Stone described the album as "the penultimate party band playing unsurpassed party music." I'm not sure why 'penultimate' but I dig their enthusiasm.

All of the songs flow and add to the experience. Unfortunately, the band had just broken up and this album was released to fulfil their contract. Thank God!! I would have given it 5 stars if it had been one uninterrupted live experience and South didn't say 'goodnight' after what seems like every second song. Nit-picky I know.

As for the other two albums of the eighties: Trash it Up! is terrible. It's produced by Nile Rodgers so full of nasty eighties production tropes. Drum machines? Really? Synths? Really? Sadly - ye to all four questions. Plus, it has a terrible cover. At least the album title is accurate.

At least on At Least We Got Shoes the synths and programmed drums are used sparingly, and the songs are energetically conveyed. The cover of I Only Want To Be With You is the clear standout on this album. Southside's vocals are gain the other thing worthy of note - he still has that lovely soulful voice.

Where do they all belong? Clearly I'm not a completist, and ten years of Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes was enough for me. 

Cosmic jig (Southern Comfort) (LP 3842 - 3844)

Southern Comfort  Frog City (Vinyl, Harvest Records, 1971) ***  

Southern Comfort  Southern Comfort (Vinyl, Harvest Records, 1971) *** 

Southern Comfort  Distilled (Vinyl, Harvest Records, 1976) ****   

Genre: Country rock

Places I remember: Real Groovy Records

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: The Dreadful Ballad of Willie Hurricane (Frog City)

Gear costume: I Sure Like Your Smile (Frog City)

They loom large in his legend (The Album Collection playlists): Part 1; Part 2; Part 3; Part 4; Part 5; Part 6

Active compensatory factors: This band is often belittled as a footnote to Matthew's Southern Comfort (which only lasted a year) and Ian Matthews as, 'three more albums were released by the band under the name Southern Comfort in the early 1970s'. That's a shame because the wonderful country rock that Ian Matthews launched in the UK is carried on heroically by Southern Comfort (who lasted for two years).

Frog City was the first of their efforts of 1971 and Southern Comfort was their second of 1971.  Those first two years of the seventies saw a real outpouring of creativity. Both albums are crammed with great country rock - gentle harmonies, pedal steel and dobro. What's not to love?

Distilled is a compilation that has songs for each of their three albums*. It acts as a great sampler of their strengths.

Where do they all belong?  *Their third album - Stir Don't Shake of 1972 has been on my wants list for a long time. 

Outshined (Soundgarden) (LP 3836 - 3841)

Soundgarden  Badmotorfinger (CD, A&M Records, 1991) ***** 

Soundgarden  Superunknown (CD, A&M Records, 1994) *****

Soundgarden  Live on I-5 (CD, A&M Records, 2011) ***

Soundgarden  King Animal (CD, Vertigo Records, 2012) ****

Soundgarden  Live from the Artist's Den (2CD, Universal Records, 2019) *** 

Soundgarden  A-Sides (CD, A&M Records, 1997) ***** 

Genre: Grunge, rock, Heavy Metal

Places I remember: Music shop in Nelson, JB Hi Fi

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: Outshined (Badmotorfinger)

Gear costume: Holy Water (Badmotorfinger), Jesus Christ Pose (Live on I-5), Attrition (King Animal)

They loom large in his legend (The Album Collection playlists): Part 1; Part 2; Part 3; Part 4; Part 5; Part 6

Active compensatory factors: This is another band that I first heard thanks to my neighbour in Nelson - Sam Sivak! Go you good thing! I fell for Soundgarden the moment I heard Outshined and then Jesus Christ Pose on a compilation he had. I immediately got the Heavy Metal/ Black Sabbath riffarama vibe.

I especially remember Badmotorfinger forming the soundtrack as I worked on the Waimean magazine with Peter Joyce and Sam's sister - Leda at Waimea College in the early nineties. I played it a lot!

As well as the two mentioned above, there are so many other great songs on it: Rusty Cage, Holy Water, Searching with My Good Eye Closed, Drawing Flies...A nineties classic!

They retained the heaviness for the follow-up - Superunknown, but there is also a tendency to introduce some variety in approach. Fell on Black Days, Black Hole Sun, and Spoonman are almost pop! Those songs helped make this their breakthrough album. 

For me those two albums form the peak of their achievement.

It's no surprise, then, that my favourite bits of Live on I-5 (released in 2011 but recorded on a tour in 1996) come from those two albums. Thankfully they also make up much of the set!

Versions of Helter Skelter and Search and Destroy are also highlights, but the album feels just a tad sluggish - even though Chris Cornell is in fine form (when was he not?).

King Animal (2012) was their sixth studio effort and their last. Sadly, Chris Cornell died in 2016 and the band was dissolved in 2018. King Animal is a fitting tribute to his powers. It's not an immediately stunning set of songs like Badmotorfinger/ Superunknown, but it is a consistently good set of songs. It's certainly way better than Down on the Upside.

Live from the Artist's Den is a sprawling double CD set that is waaay too long (29 songs!). I get it that it's a nice memento of Chris Cornell's later years in Soundgarden (this is from 2013 so post King Animal), but I struggle to listen to this in one setting.

A better bet is the best of compilation of studio 'hits' - A-Sides (great title). In fact, the band was a great singles band - so many classic moments are on this compilation that takes in all their efforts before the band called it a day after Down on the Upside.

As AllMusic put it: Almost every one of the group's best-known songs are here, including "Hands All Over," "Loud Love," "Jesus Christ Pose," "Outshined," "Rusty Cage," "Black Hole Sun," "The Day I Tried to Live," "Spoonman," "Fell on Black Days," "Pretty Noose," "Burden in My Hand," and "Blow Up the Outside World," resulting in a near-definitive summary of one of the most important and influential bands of the '90s.

Where do they all belong? I used to have their follow up to Superunknown - Down on the Upside but I was disappointed with it, so sold it off. No regrets with that decision.

Pleasure (Soord/ Renkse) (LP 3834 - 3835)

Bruce Soord with Jonas Renkse  Wisdom of Crowds (CD, KScope Records, 2013) ***  

Bruce Soord  Bruce Soord (CD, KScope Records, 2015) ***  

Genre: Prog rock

Places I remember: HMV, Fopp

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: A Thousand Daggers (Bruce Soord)

Gear costume: Pleasure (Wisdom of Crowds)

They loom large in his legend (The Album Collection playlists): Part 1; Part 2; Part 3; Part 4; Part 5; Part 6

Active compensatory factors: In prog circles both names are well known through their work with The Pineapple Thief and Katatonia respectively (both bands are two of my favourite prog bands - I'll get to The Pineapple Thief when I reach the T's).

Wisdom of Crowds is a collaboration between the two and its combination of electronica and prog has been described as "an album of exquisite melodies and wildly inventive arrangements... this is the sound of two supremely talented artists snatching magic from the ether" (Metal Hammer).

Bruce Soord is his first solo album proper - symbolised by that cover image of him out standing in his field (ha ha). It's a low-key debut as he has decided, quite rightly, not to replicate the sound and approach he has for The Pineapple Thief albums. In summary, it's "less intense and less dramatic than what fans of Pineapple Thief might be accustomed to, but elegant creations with a melancholic, emotional feel to them that should still come across as familiar, especially due to Soord's vocals" (Windhawk).

Where do they all belong? As I say - will get to The Pineapple Thief albums asap (I have a lot of them!)

The beat goes on (Sonny & Cher) (LP 3833)

Sonny & Cher  In Case You're In Love (Vinyl, Atlantic Records, 1967) ***  

Genre: Pop 

Places I remember: Record Fair

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: The Beat Goes On

Gear costume: Little Man

They loom large in his legend (The Album Collection playlists): Part 1; Part 2; Part 3; Part 4; Part 5; Part 6

Active compensatory factors: I love that cover! This was a great find - a mint copy of an album from 1967 - are you kidding me?

I'm not a huge fan of either Sonny or Cher, but this album was too good to pass up, and it turned out to be a lot of fun. It's largely a collection of cover songs including Stand by Me and We'll Sing in the Sunshine. 

The few songs that Sonny sings on his own don't work for me, but thc couple's sense of goofy fun comes across well throughout the remainder of the songs.  

The big hit is, of course, The Beat Goes On - it's now reached iconic status!

Where do they all belong? A fun addition.

Simple pleasures (Soaked Oats) (LP 3832)

Soaked Oats Working Title (Vinyl, Dot Dash Records, 2022) ****  

Genre: NZ Music, alt rock

Places I remember: JB Hi Fi

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: Pink Beach

Gear costume: Day To Day 

They loom large in his legend (The Album Collection playlists): Part 1; Part 2; Part 3; Part 4; Part 5; Part 6

Active compensatory factors: I had this as my MNAC album of the week but the guys weren't too impressed. 

It was fun listening to this and spotting the influences. In the end I think I came up with Britpop (as influenced by Revolver era Beatles) mixed with Kraut-rock, New Order style synth pop, and Lou Reed - all put into a blender so that what emerges is something like a Dunedin version of Tame Impala.

I liked a lot of things about the album - helps that I love to varying degrees all those individual influences, and only two tracks became ones I skipped on the third run through.

It's a sign of a good album that I changed my mind a number of times around which track to feature- The Way It Works, Something, Headline Opinion, Simple Pleasures and Day To Day (great closing track) were all in the running but I went with Pink Frost. Sorry - Pink Beach.

Call me crazy but apart from the title which alludes to it - I heard echoes of that kiwi classic in the music and that guitar.

Those two tracks I skipped? Third track, Divide Symbol, which kills the momentum and Daemon is a lengthy indulgence which tries to be deep and meaningful but is just tedious.

So, a four-star triumph, even if I added the extra star to reward the Soaked Porridge blokes (I think they are all blokes) for being adventurous with that cocktail of influences and daring to venture into new sonic pastures.

Where do they all belong? An interesting Kiwi blend.

Hands open (Snow Patrol) (LP 3831)

Snow Patrol  Eyes Open (CD, Polydor Records, 2006) ****  

Genre: Pop 

Places I remember: Morrisons

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: Chasing Cars

Gear costume: Open Your Eyes, You're All I Have

They loom large in his legend (The Album Collection playlists): Part 1; Part 2; Part 3; Part 4; Part 5; Part 6

Active compensatory factors: For me, their best album (and I used to have them all). This is the only album I kept during a purge a few years back.

Mr Lightbody's vocals are perfect on this album, and the melancholy is balanced with wide eyed presence. It contains the classic Chasing Cars that everyone knows, but each of the songs are worthy. When I lived in the UK this album was massive and, fittingly, I bought it from the local Morrisons supermarket. That just seemed appropriate really. 

Gary Lightbody's vocals are so warm/comfortable and the production is of high quality. It's a great package.

Where do they all belong? I won't be adding to the Snow Patrol collection. This one, however, has earned its place.

Man from Mars (Shade Smith) (LP 3830)

Shade Smith Our World (CD, Frenzy Music, 2022) ****  

Genre: NZ Music, pop 

Places I remember: JB Hi Fi

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: Man from Mars

Gear costume: Our World

They loom large in his legend (The Album Collection playlists): Part 1; Part 2; Part 3; Part 4; Part 5; Part 6

Active compensatory factors: Legends of NZ music don't come much more, erm, legendary, than John 'Shade' Smith. I think of him as NZ's Brian Wilson. For Shade, his Beach Boys was The Rumour (we'll get to them in the T's eventually).

Shade provided the enigmatic songs for this band of harmonic generators. But he also had a solo side, like Brian.

Our World is his latest solo album. A digital only album - Optimistic Sun, came out in 2019, and Our World continues the idea of covering one of his world famous in NZ songs. On Optimistic Sun it was Sunshine Through a Prism. Our World has a new take on L'Amour Est L'Enfant De La Liberte.

Although shortish, only ten songs, it's a beautiful album - full of his customary warm, pop hooks, fine singing and calmness.

Where do they all belong? I have all of The Rumour's albums but always on the lookout for Shade Smith items.

Strange stars (Forenzics) (LP 3829)

Forenzics  Shades and Echoes (Vinyl, Warner Music, 2021) ***  

Genre: NZ Music, alt pop, art rock 

Places I remember: JB Hi Fi

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: Chances Are

Gear costume: Abandoned

They loom large in his legend (The Album Collection playlists): Part 1; Part 2; Part 3; Part 4; Part 5; Part 6

Active compensatory factors: I went to JB Hi Fi on my birthday to find a record and this one leapt out at me from the under $30 bin (I like a bargain).

Tim Finn and Eddie Rayner are of course well-known names in Nu Zild, being members of Split Enz back in the day. This album reunited the pair along with Noel Crombie (percussion and drums) for a set of new songs (written by the pair), some of which contain echoes of old Split Enz songs. It's a fun activity, listening out for them.

It works pretty well, too. Although I'm not a huge fan of Tim's spoken vocal style that he's adopted of late. Best bits are the ones with those echoes, but Eddie's band - called Double Life, also provide some stellar backing on some songs.

Where do they all belong? A nice addition to the Tim Finn collection.