Graham Brazier is one of the icons of New Zealand rock music. Singer, songwriter, drug addict, wildman. There are more than enough Brazier yarns to fill a book - or several! As the lead singer of Hello Sailor and The Legionnaires, and as a solo performer, Brazier owns a string of hit songs. And this one, is one of our all-time favourite songs. You even get the man himself talking about the song, and the events in Liverpool in 1981 that inspired it - enjoy ....
6 comments:
Oh dear my musical ignorance is shown up again. You call him an icon, but I don't recall encountering either singer or song before.
Perhaps your attention was elsewhere through the late 1970's and into the eighties. And to be fair, the singer is probably better known than the song. I could have closen something from the Hello Sailor songbook such as Blue Lady or Gutter Black (now the theme song for Outrageous Fortune).
And to find out more about Brazier himself, you could do worse than peruse this Listener story by music journo John Dix
http://www.listener.co.nz/issue/3335/artsbooks/1745/the_brazz.html
Saw Brazier live many times in the early-mid eighties, my copy of 'Inside Out (the album this was from) and Hello Sailor's first album got worn out.
He did have an unfortunate choice of clothes at time. Saw him at Sweetwaters '84 wearing black leather trousers.
Now, Waikato at the end of January, is shorts and t-shirt weather, not heavy leather trousers. He looked broiling hot. And ridiculous.
Still did a good show though.
Saw him another time in a pub somewhere - he lurched onstage, grabbed the mic for support, and slurred 'good evening everyone, hope you're all nicely out of it, and if you're not, there's a guy down the front here selling blueys I can recommend.' And tore into the Velvet Underground's 'Sweet Jane'.
The last time I saw Brazier onstage was at Moose McGillicuddy's in Wanganui circa 1993. Brazier, Harry Lyon and Dave McCartney must have run out of money again, so they put Hello Sailor back together and did what they knew best - toured the country making mayhem and music! My ears took days to recover!! But the live version of Billy Bold that night was awesome, with everyone singing along, word for word.
Brazier is a poet now - a latter-day Sam Hunt. I doubt that his fashion sense has improved, but he is said to be drug-free these days.
Saw that live at the Cook in 84.
He ven won over the Flying Nun crowd.
Intersting that a few Kiwi gems from that era were so obviously inspired from afar.
Thinking Shona Laing's "Glad I'm Not a Kennedy"
Ah, Blue Lady, memories...memories..
Living quietly now, writing, a little work and running the book shop with his mum.
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