New Zealand Music Month

TKI Hot Topic for May 2005

May is New Zealand Music Month, so now is the time to celebrate our diverse range of musical artists. Try going to a local gig, buying a new CD by a New Zealand band, or even just singing along to a track on the radio and realising that the artist who recorded that song may very well be from your home town.

In honour of the fifth annual music month, this hot topic takes a stroll through the history of popular music in New Zealand. Last year more Kiwi artists than ever before took the number one spot in the charts, but New Zealanders haven't always been so quick to embrace their own artists.

A brief look at the history of popular music in New Zealand

• Our rock scene begins in earnest, inspired by The Beatles and the British invasion. Local bands play gigs to audiences but most don't release records or venture beyond their home towns.
• Ray Columbus and The Invaders experience moderate success overseas.

The seventies

• New Zealand bands start looking towards the larger Australian markets.
• Bands that play pub rock, such as Dragon, Th'Dudes, and Hello Sailor are especially prominent.
• Split Enz is founded by Tim Finn and Phil Judd. Once Tim's younger brother Neil joins, they develop a more accessible style and several big hits and become of New Zealand's most successful bands.

The eighties

• Neil Finn founds Crowded House, gets to number two in the American charts with ‘Don’t Dream It’s Over’ and sells millions of records.
• Flying Nun is formed in Dunedin. This record label is home to such artists as Chris Knox, The Chills, and The Clean, who espouse the do-it-yourself ideals of the Punk Rock movement by recording their albums on four-tracks in their bedrooms. While Flying Nun never made a great deal of money, the ‘Dunedin Sound’ attracts a cult following around the world and has a lasting impact on alternative music.
• Upper Hutt Posse release New Zealand's first hip hop album, E Tu, recorded in both English and Māori.

• Because of the influence of the Seattle grunge scene, rock music in New Zealand goes through a bland phase, with bands like the feelers, Stellar*, and Zed sounding almost identical to their American counterparts, displaying no trace of their Kiwi origins.
• Electronica music and rave culture spreads to New Zealand. The growth of the Internet and mp3s means that the dance music community is able to forge stronger links with the rest of the world.
• OMC has a surprise smash worldwide hit with ‘How Bizarre’.
• Television programme Popstars, created by a New Zealander, begins, inflicting not just True Bliss but also the trend for reality-based televised talent searches onto us.

2000 and beyond

• A Pasifika renaissance takes place in New Zealand music, with artists such as Che Fu and Nesian Mystik proudly proclaiming their background and addressing issues facing them. For example, King Kapisi’s APRA Silver Scroll winning a ‘Reverse Resistance’ examines the impact of Christianity on his homeland of Samoa.
• Dawnraid Entertainment was established in South Auckland as a home for local hip hop artists and is home to recent chart toppers Adeaze and Savage.
• A ‘Wellington Sound’ emerges, led by bands like Trinity Roots and The Black Seeds and based around roots and dub music.
• A worldwide resurgence of interest in rock bands, brought about by artists such as The White Stripes and The Strokes sees New Zealand bands The D4 and The Datsuns on the cover of magazines in the UK. The smart money is on The Mint Chicks and The Checks to be the Next Big Things overseas.

More New Zealand music information

New Zealand on Air
Much of the funding for New Zealand music recordings and videos come from NZOA. Read about their funding criteria and current projects.
www.nzonair.govt.nz

NZMusic.com
This is the definitive site about current and past musicians, featuring music videos, mp3s to download, news straight from the artists and discussion forums. Please note: due to the open forums nature of this site, content may not be appropriate for unsupervised use.
www.nzmusic.com

Music in school activities

New Zealand Opera
Encourage your students to think of the many forms that music can take. The New Zealand Opera site carries some suggestions for classes to make their own opera.
www.nzopera.com/education/create.cfm

The New Zealand Film Archive
An integral part in popular music is the music video. The NZ Film archive has stockpiles of New Zealand videos available, and educational activities to go along with them.
www.filmarchive.org.nz/education/prim_music.html

Hearwaves: Listening to the Radio
This level 4–6 unit intended for year 10 involves students in analysing the language used in a variety of radio stations, then producing their own radio station. Students analyse the content, language, style, advertising, and music of a radio station to ascertain the audience it is targeting.
http://english.unitecnology.ac.nz/resources/units/radio/home.html

Adapting Action Songs and Chants
In this level 1 music learning example the students sing from memory, action songs and chants from different cultures and adapt an existing song or chant to create or shape new ideas. They then create and perform an original chant, drawing on personal experience and imagination. It includes ideas for planning and assessment, supporting links, a glossary, and references for teaching and learning material.
http://www.tki.org.nz/e/arts/music/music_L1/music_L1_A3_menu.php

Applications Series, Teachers' Notes for Making Tracks
This is the web version of notes prepared by the New Zealand Ministry of Education to accompany Making Tracks by Nick Bollinger, one of the books in the Applications series. Science and technology teachers can use these notes for background information on sound recording and playback technology for music CDs and technical aspects of sound and acoustics. There are links to related websites, instructions for making a phonograph from an ice cream container and paper, and lesson plans for classroom activities.
http://www.tki.org.nz/r/science/curriculum/tracks_e.php

Three Chords and the Truth: the Anika Moa Story - Study Guide (PDF 1.52MB)
This study guide includes curriculum links and teaching ideas to support viewing the Television New Zealand documentary Three Chords and the Truth: the Anika Moa Story. The guide contains activities based around the experiences of Anika in the United States after being 'discovered' by the managing director of Warner Music in New Zealand. It is suitable for lower and upper secondary levels.
http://images.tvnz.co.nz/tvnz_images/tvone/study_guides/anika_moa.pdf

Comparing Music Styles
In this level 3 music learning example the students prepare and present performances of several different styles of music. The students view and discuss the performances and compare the styles to identify their differences in purpose, structure, and tone colour. It includes ideas for planning and assessment, supporting curriculum links, references to teaching and learning materials, and a glossary.
http://www.tki.org.nz/e/arts/music/music_L3/music_L3_A4_menu.php

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