 | It has been suggested that this article be merged into Simon Grigg . (Discuss) Proposed since April 2024. |
Propeller Records was an independent record label formed in Auckland, New Zealand, by Simon Grigg in 1980.
| It has been suggested that this article be merged into Simon Grigg . (Discuss) Proposed since April 2024. |
Propeller Records was an independent record label formed in Auckland, New Zealand, by Simon Grigg in 1980.
In the years prior to 1980 the New Zealand contemporary recording industry was largely moribund. The major record labels were either not recording or were confining themselves largely to middle of the road acts. The independent labels that existed either recorded Polynesian and Māori music or were offshoots of recording studios, releasing the odd record as a by product of down time in the studio. The thriving independent scene of the early seventies had largely wound down, and the large and vibrant live music scene was not being represented on vinyl.
The only exception to this was WEA, under the guidance of Tim Murdoch, who had released a number of recordings including that of Toy Love, at that time, the biggest live act in New Zealand, and Ripper, owned by Bryan Staff, which had released a couple of singles and was about to issue the enormously influential AK79 collection, which documented the New Zealand punk scene of the late seventies. However Ripper was documenting a past scene rather than signing and releasing the raft of acts filling the pubs and halls around Auckland and the rest of the country.
Grigg, with a history in the Auckland punk scene, and having recently returned from a sojourn in Australia, was inspired by the young indie scene in that country, by the rise of the British independent record labels (Stiff, Rough Trade, Small Wonder and the like) and WEA’s success with Toy Love, to form a record label.
With a $400 loan from the girlfriend of a band member he released two singles in June 1980, distributing both himself by hand and mail. Both, by The Features and The Spelling Mistakes , sold out their initial pressings immediately and entered the New Zealand singles chart, causing quite a stir.
The next few months saw Propeller release a steady stream of singles, most of which charted. At the end of 1980, faced with the reality of self distribution, Grigg signed a deal to distribute in Australasia with Festival Records, a deal which gave Propeller the first NZ label to have its own label identity across the Tasman.
The initial result of this deal was the Class of 81 compilation, a collection of young acts from (mostly) Auckland, which defined the city’s scene over the next few years.
Propeller signed three of these acts immediately, Blam Blam Blam, The Screaming Meemees, and The Newmatics. The latter act were signed to a new offshoot label, Furtive, distributed via CBS and managed by Paul Rose, whom Grigg had bought in as a partner.
The following months saw releases by all these acts, plus, on Furtive, the debut release by ex-Toy Love members Chris Knox and Alec Bathgate, as The Tall Dwarfs. All charted and at one time in mid 1981 Propeller had 4 singles in the top 40, including the number one (with The Screaming Meemees’ See Me Go).
In July and August 1981 Propeller celebrated this success with a nationwide package tour featuring three of its acts, The Screaming Blamatic Roadshow, which swept through Universities and cities to capacity houses everywhere, culminating with three sold out nights at Auckland’s Mainstreet Cabaret, playing to some 30,000 people across the country.
The label also signed a license deal with Melbourne’s Missing Link label to release in New Zealand, two albums by The Birthday Party.
Propeller then embarked on album projects for two of its acts, Blam Blam Blam and The Screaming Meemees, which were to prove its undoing. Whilst the label continued to sign and release acts which charted (including No Tag, The Skeptics, The Dabs, The Bongos and others), massive cost overruns on these album projects proved insurmountable, despite their success in chart and sales terms, and the labels ceased functioning in mid 1983 with Grigg relocating to London for several years before returning to run, firstly the Stimulant and then, huh!, labels, and launching a series of influential clubs.
Propeller had a short but highly influential life. In its wake came a raft of independent labels, including the important Flying Nun label and in it may be seen the germ of the now thriving New Zealand music industry.
Propeller has, since 1986, released a series of important historic collections of New Zealand music, including the expanded and remastered AK79 album, Bigger Than Both of Us, a collection of NZ indie singles from the early to mid eighties, and Give It a Whirl, an album to accompany the TVNZ series of the History of NZ popular music of the same name. In 2014 Propeller acquired the catalogue of Bryan Staff's Ripper Records label. [1]
The music of New Zealand has been influenced by a number of traditions, including Māori music, the music introduced by European settlers during the nineteenth century, and a variety of styles imported during the twentieth century, including blues, jazz, country, rock and roll, reggae, and hip hop, with many of these genres given a unique New Zealand interpretation.
Blam Blam Blam were a New Zealand pop/rock/alternative band. Tim Mahon (bass) and Mark Bell had been members of The Plague and The Whizz Kids. After losing their drummer Ian Gilroy to The Swingers in 1980, Tim and Mark joined up with Don McGlashan, a multi-instrumentalist who played drums and sang many lead vocals.
Donald McGlashan is a New Zealand composer, singer and multi-instrumentalist who Is best known for membership in the bands Blam Blam Blam, The Front Lawn, and The Mutton Birds, before going solo. He has also composed for cinema and television. Among other instruments, McGlashan has played guitar, drums, euphonium and French horn.
Mark Bell is a New Zealand musician and songwriter. He has played in bands such as The Plague, The Whizz Kids, Blam Blam Blam, Coconut Rough and Ivan Zagni's Big Sideways. He currently works as a session musician in New Zealand. He is a member of Jordan Luck's band Luck.
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v.Spy v.Spy, also known as Spy vs Spy, SPY v SPY is an Australian pub rock band from Sydney formed in 1981. They became known for tackling political issues through their music, including racism, homelessness and contemporary drug culture.
Simon Grigg is a New Zealand music businessman, writer, broadcaster, publisher, producer, DJ and archivist. Born in Auckland, New Zealand, he attended Palmerston North Boys High, Auckland Grammar and the University of Auckland.
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Ardijah is a music group from Auckland, New Zealand that formed in 1979.
The Spelling Mistakes were a New Zealand punk band which had minor success in the local scene in 1979 and 1980.
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The Screaming Meemees were a New Zealand post-punk-new wave band formed in the early 1980s. The band formed in Auckland in 1979, while at school at Rosmini College on Auckland's North Shore, composed of vocalist Tony Drumm, guitarist Michael O'Neill, keyboard and bass player Peter van der Fluit and drummer Laurence "Yoh" Landwer-Johan. The band was propelled into the limelight, in part, by the inclusion of their single All Dressed Up in the compilation album Class of 81 produced by Simon Grigg's Propeller Records. By late 1980, the band was at the forefront of what was called the "North Shore Invasion". The Screaming Meemees were named "Most Promising Group" at the 1981 New Zealand Music Awards.
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The Rumour was a New Zealand pop/rock music band in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Formed in 1966 and featuring twin brothers Shade and Gerard Smith, Jacques Koolen and Ross Hindman they went on to achieve success in the NZ pop scene with chart-topping hits "L'amour Est L'enfant de la Liberte", No 1 on the New Zealand charts for four weeks and "Holy Morning". The band was at various times a duo, a trio, quartet and quintet.
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RTC is a New Zealand record label which licensed recordings from overseas Independent labels in the United States and in the United Kingdom.