Holidaymakers

Last updated

Holidaymakers was a New Zealand musical group from Wellington. The band scored two top ten hits in New Zealand in 1988, including the number-one single "Sweet Lovers", a cover of the Bill Withers song "We Could Be Sweet Lovers".

"Sweet Lovers" was released on Pagan Records and was produced by Nigel Stone. [1] The song spent six weeks at #1 in summer 1988 [2] and was the highest-selling single in New Zealand in 1988. [3] The follow-up single, "Waiting in the Sunshine", reached #6 in December of that year. [4]

At the New Zealand Music Awards 1988, the group won seven awards. [5] However, the group broke up soon after the release of "Waiting in the Sunshine".

Among the band's members was Pati Umaga, who went on to work in composition and music education at Whitireia Polytechnic, and who became an advocate for physical disability after a 2005 accident paralysed him. [6]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Crowded House</span> Pop rock band

Crowded House are a rock band, formed in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, in 1985. Its founding members were New Zealander Neil Finn and Australians Paul Hester (drums) and Nick Seymour (bass). Later band members include Neil Finn's brother, Tim Finn and sons Liam and Elroy, as well as Americans Mark Hart and Matt Sherrod, with Neil Finn and Seymour being the sole constant members.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">KC and the Sunshine Band</span> American disco and funk band

KC and the Sunshine Band is an American disco and funk band that was founded in 1973 in Hialeah, Florida. Their best-known songs include the hits "That's the Way ", "(Shake, Shake, Shake) Shake Your Booty", "I'm Your Boogie Man", "Keep It Comin' Love", "Get Down Tonight", "Boogie Shoes", "Please Don't Go" and "Give It Up". The band took its name from lead vocalist Harry Wayne Casey's last name ('KC') and the 'Sunshine Band' from KC's home state of Florida, the Sunshine State. The group has had six top 10 singles, five number one singles and a number two single on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dave Dobbyn</span> Musical artist

Sir David Joseph Dobbyn is a New Zealand musician, singer–songwriter and record producer. In his early career he was a member of the rock group Th' Dudes and was the main creative force in pop band DD Smash. Since then he has released the majority of his recordings as a solo performer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shihad</span> New Zealand alternative rock band

Shihad are a rock band formed in Wellington, New Zealand in 1988. The band consists of founders Tom Larkin, Phil Knight and Jon Toogood, who were joined by Karl Kippenberger in 1991. The band were known as Pacifier between 2002 and 2004.

The Dukes are a five-piece rock band from Christchurch, New Zealand. Their debut album, Lil Sunshine, was released in 2005. Their second album, Still Life, was released in 2010 throughout New Zealand spawning the Gold certified Top 10 single "Vampires".

Fane Michael Flaws was a New Zealand musician, songwriter, and artist.

Sharon Lea O'Neill is a New Zealand singer-songwriter and pianist, who had an Australasian hit single in 1983 with "Maxine" which reached No. 16 on both the Australian Kent Music Report and Recording Industry Association of New Zealand charts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Che Fu</span> Musical artist

Che Kuo Eruera Ness, better known by his stage name Che Fu, is a New Zealand hip hop, R&B and reggae artist, songwriter and producer. A founding member of the band Supergroove, as a solo artist he has gone on to sell thousands of albums both in New Zealand and internationally. Che Fu is considered a pioneer of Hip hop and Pasifika music in New Zealand.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Right Said Fred</span> English pop act

Right Said Fred are an English pop band formed by brothers Fred and Richard Fairbrass in 1989. They are best known for the hit 1991 song "I'm Too Sexy".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Straitjacket Fits</span>

Straitjacket Fits formed in Dunedin, New Zealand in 1986 and were a prominent band in the Flying Nun label's second wave of the Dunedin sound.

The Exponents, formerly The Dance Exponents, is a New Zealand rock group led by vocalist and songwriter Jordan Luck.

"Sweets for My Sweet" is a song written by the songwriting team of Doc Pomus and Mort Shuman, originally recorded by American doo-wop and R&B/soul vocal group the Drifters.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tiki Taane</span> New Zealand musician

Tiki Taane is a New Zealand musician, experimentalist, musical activist, producer, and live engineer. He was a member of leading New Zealand band Salmonella Dub but left after eleven years on 1 January 2007 to pursue a solo career. His debut album, Past, Present, Future, was released on 22 October 2007 in New Zealand and has since gone two times platinum, achieving a number one single, "Always on My Mind", which became the first digital single to reach platinum sales and also held the record by staying in the NZ Top 40 Charts for 55 weeks. Taane is also the exclusive live sound engineer for New Zealand drum and bass act Shapeshifter since their first gig in 1999. Taane has also produced multi platinum albums for bands such as Six60, Shapeshifter, Salmonella Dub and Tiki Taane.

Strawpeople are a New Zealand band. They were created by Paul Casserly and Mark Tierney after they had met while working at the Auckland university radio station now known as 95 bFM. Over the years, Strawpeople has brought together various New Zealand songwriters, vocalists and musicians in a collaborative effort and achieved some success.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mark Williams (singer)</span> New Zealand-born singer

Mark Williams is a New Zealand singer with Recording Industry Association of New Zealand (RIANZ) number one hit singles, "Yesterday Was Just the Beginning of My Life" (1975) and a cover of Buddy Holly's "It Doesn't Matter Anymore" (1977) before he relocated to Australia later that year. His single, "Show No Mercy" (1990) was a top ten hit in both countries. He has undertaken extensive touring in support of numerous Australian bands and worked in television. In 2006 he became the vocalist for the reformed New Zealand band, Dragon.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gin Wigmore</span> New Zealand singer

Virginia Claire Wigmore is a New Zealand singer and songwriter. Featured on the Smashproof single "Brother" in 2009, Wigmore went on to release five albums Holy Smoke (2009), Gravel & Wine (2011), Blood to Bone (2015) and Ivory (2018), with the first three having been chart-toppers on the New Zealand Albums Chart. She is known for her high pitched and raspy voice.

<i>The Experiment</i> (Dane Rumble album) 2010 studio album by Dane Rumble

The Experiment is the first solo studio album by New Zealand singer-songwriter Dane Rumble. Released by Rumble Music and Warner Music on 29 March 2010, it follows two years after the split of his hip hop group Fast Crew. Rumble found it difficult to write music for himself, and therefore deviated to the pop rock genre. The Experiment includes elements of dance-pop and pop rap, and lyrically focusses on personal issues. Rumble produced the album with Jonathan Campbell. In July 2010 Rumble embarked on The Edge Winter Jam: The Experiment Tour, which had him perform in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch.

"We Could Be Sweet Lovers" is a 1985 song written by Bill Withers from his final studio album Watching You, Watching Me.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sol3 Mio</span> New Zealand musical trio

SOL3 MIO is a New Zealand musical trio consisting of Moses Mackay, Pene Pati and Amitai Pati. Of Samoan descent and classically trained, Moses is a baritone, and the Pati brothers are operatic tenors.

This is a list of the top 50 singles in New Zealand of 1988 as compiled by Recorded Music NZ in the end-of-year chart of the Official New Zealand Music Chart. Six singles by New Zealand artists are included on the chart, the highest being the Holidaymakers' debut single "Sweet Lovers" at No. 1.

References