I feel good (Citizen Band) (LP 248-249)

Citizen Band Citizen Band (Vinyl - Polydor/ Mandrill, 1978) ****
Citizen Band Just Drove Thru Town (Vinyl - CBS, 1979) ***

Genre:  New Zealand rock/pop

Places I remember:  Marbecks Records

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: My Pohutukawa (from Citizen Band)




Gear costume:  The Ladder Song (a great single and off Citizen Band) and Rust In My Car (a good single of off Just Drove Thru Town)




Active compensatory factors: Second year at Auckland University and Greg Knowles and I fell head over heels for the smarty pants Beatles-esque fun rock 'n' roll of Citizen Band. Greg lead the cheerleading and he was spot on.

We'd been to a gig featuring Geoff Chunn's previous band (After Hours) and thought they were a promising band. 

Kevin Simms joined the party because he had a cassette tape of CB live at Westlake Girls' (I think it was there rather than the Boys' version). Of course, we were all big Split Enz fans so we were up for CB from the off.

Fair to say we all bonded over the music which was all grrrreat.

What a line up - The Ladder Song, Dig That Tex, My Pohutukawa, Julia, I Feel Good (showing the boys knew their kiwi music history), and capped off by the wig out that is Tex Goes To The Tinema (sic). It's a NZ music classic.

Second album syndrome hit them after that. Jay Lewis may have felt like a smart choice as producer but the glossy mix is underwhelming. Glyn Tucker Jnr shoulda done it again.

What a shame because Geoff Chunn's songs are worthy and the musicians are all ace faces.

Where do they all belong? In my heart forever. Dig that Tex!

I was far out, I was groovy (Citizen Band) #84 - 85

Citizen Band In A Lifetime/ Good Morning Citizen (Mandrill M 10007,  1977)

Citizen Band I Feel Good/ 1 Good Morning Citizen 2 My Pohutakawa (Mandrill Drill 4,  1977)

I'm pretty sure it was my old school friend, and (in 1977) my varsity buddy, Greg Knowles who broke the news about Citizen Band. He'd heard about them, maybe from his big brother Michael or maybe it was his sister Susan (pretty sure it wasn't his mum although she was pretty hip as I remember).

Anyway GK was a fan and pretty soon, after he shared the secret, so was I. We loved them partly because they were so accessible. Our new University friend, Kevin Simms, had a tape of Citizen Band and Hello Sailor live at Westlake Girls' High School - the bands often played college gigs - they were cunning! How great was that - we were practically related!

We knew Mike from Split Ends (before they became the Enz) and we'd seen Geoff in After Hours at the Old Maid(ment) Theatre at Auckland University before Waves played. We knew Eccles and Clark from the awesome Space Waltz album.

We were ready for Citizen Band!
 

In A Lifetime had stiffed before Greg shared his discovery and I was ignorant of its existence until after I Feel Good and the other great songs on their first album - Citizen Band.

In A Lifetime didn't make the album, whereas the B side did! The A side is an okay song but it's not representative of the boys' quirky sense of humour and the melodies that would later come pouring out of the classic Geoff Chunn/ Warren Sly writing partnership.

It's I Feel Good where the CB story really starts. A remake of the old Larry's Rebels song; it injects more drive (go Brent!), more infectious fun and more guitar to the original great song. It's become a CB signature tune.

Hidden gems: Good Morning Citizen was clearly a band favourite - it appears as two B sides and is the opening track on their first album but it's not a great song. That description does apply to My Pohutakawa. It IS a great kiwi song.

You're my Pohutakawa, you're my greenstone, my paua, you're the mussel in my sholes, the sausage in my rolls.

Genius! Sholes rhymes with rolls! That's CB at its finest.

They redid the song for the album so this single version is quite rare and I prefer the energy here to the album version. Looking for an alternative national anthem? Right here!

Hey Lord, would ya look out for her tonight and make sure that she's gonna be alright until she's home in here with me (Billy Joel)

1. The Exponents – Like She Said (1994)/ Nameless Girl (1992)
2. Blerta - Dance All Around The World (1972)/ Joy Joy (1972)
3. Dragon – Young Years (1989)/ Rain (1984)
4. John Hanlon - Higher Trails (1975)/ Wind Songs (1975)
5. Crowded House - Private Universe (1994)/ Weather With You (1991)
6. Split Enz - Six Months In A Leaky Boat  (1982)/ Split Ends - One Two Nine (1973)
7. Max Merritt and The Meteors - Slippin’ Away (1976)/ Let it Slide (1976)
8. Headband - The Laws Must Change (1971)/ Good Morning Mr Rock N Roll (1971)
9. Citizen Band - My Pohutakawa (1978)/ The Ladder Song (1978)

Ninth in the Wozza countdown of the 10 best Nu Zild bands and their two best songs is the Chunn brothers'supergroup from the seventies called Citizen Band (a sponsorship deal with Citizen watches was a cunning plan).

Super because Geoff and Mike were from the Enz; Clark and Eccles were from Space Waltz.

I can't remember if I formed an attachment to CB via collecting discs on the Mandrill Records label or after hearing the I Feel Good single which has Good Morning Citizen AND My Pohutakawa on the B side. Or maybe it was the Citizen Band live at Westlake Girls' cassette that Greg or Kevy gave me (not sure who it was - both had an attachment to CB; Greg might remember - he's younger than me and has a much sharper memory. I believe he even belonged to the CB fan club but that could be just idle speculation).

However way it happened - it happened and we all fell for the Brent Eccles Muldoon impressions, the twangy guitar of Greg Clark, the gifted Geoff Chunn songs and the humour from Mike Chunn.

All came together on their first album in particular and on this early single mentioned above (the redone LP version of My Pohutakawa does not improve on the single version in my humble opinion).

The band flamed out after two studio albums and a dull live album. If they'd asked I would have supplied the Live At Westlake Girls' tape - now that one had the goods!

[Sorry - nothing on youtube for either of these two songs.]