Letters

Rip It Up, Issue 70, 1 May 1983, Page 22

Letters

Post to RIW, PO Box 5689, Auckland 1. The Battle Continues 'Arry you must have been drunk to write such a load of old cobblers in your so called Battle of the Blands' blurb. 'Arry old boy it is tuff when you can't judge in such memorable events, but . you have to know something about music to judge. Obviously you have square ears. I think these triers and tryhards •deserve a lot more credit than a drunken ■ cretin of your breed. Why don't you save up for that bottle of tempting whisky for Mr Corless next year if it's a judge you want to be. LR Auckland Arry replies: Thank you . for. your letter 1 scored it six out of 10 (marks oh for the spelling mistakes). But full marks for the flash typewriter - it's obviously worth more than a bottle of Chivas Regal. Jest keep dem letters rollin' in. .f . •]• Under Rage It is ironic that all the underage citizens who are getting kicked out of pubs for under age drinking are not there for that, as much as to hear the bands and socialise. ' We need permanent underage venues! Isn't anyone interested in making a profit? There are so many of us bored on a Friday or Saturday night. ‘XHH Anyway, why aren't 17-year-olds allowed to get drunk? It is a scientific fact that they have more brain cells than a 20-year-old. Why not let them lose a few, if they want to? But to get back to the point, I don't want to get drunk, but merely hear a good band live. Esther Christchurch A Rome of Our Own As a reader of Rip It Up and an avid member of the Eketahuna Hash House Harriers I would like to reply to Eric and Tania's (the Tauranga Intellectuals) letter in the March issue of RIU. I support NZ bands but only the good ones. Being up-and-coming doesn’t excuse a band from criticism. If you want to hear some real outback fuckwits, why not try, our song Don't Cry For Me Eketahuna' which was recorded at the time. of. the Falklands crisis last

year and given some airplay by gofer's avant-garde station Bay R ’dio. eit y ' • - Eric and Tania must De iuiC..ILL tuals to realise that Tauranga is not Eketahuna and thankfully, it ; isn't.' But how dare they imply any similarity between Eketahuna and Tawa. Tawa doesn't even have a pub Eketahuna has two pubs squeezed in between its back-to-back welcome signs! ; Ron Sneaky Taradale Christchurch Revisited This is in reply to the drivel written on Christchurch music. As is typical with RIU articles a smug, elitist attitude fucks up any good intentions. I and many other people believe that Jim Wilson has done more for Christchurch music than any other person. He has worked, in an often hostile climate, hard and persistently in maintaining decent venues for any sort of band. There is lots of talent in New Zealand but it is either being stifled or leaving the joint. This magazine is' not a small contributor, to the demise. Trevor O'Neill Melbourne Observations Like all of us Jim Wilson needs people to tell him how good he is. When they don't he loses his drive and the bands and public suffer.' Especially the public, as is being illustrated at present. The circuit is becoming a circus as proficient but ultimately tedious bands travel. the land playing yesterday's music. Jim used to take risks. Features, Androidss, Vauxhalls, etc. I bet the Features never played to a full house on a Wednesday night in Auckland. Free pass night became a weekly event. For all his faults Jim Wilson's done as much for the NZ music scene as anyone else and this should be remembered during the current stream of pro/anti Wilson publicity. ' ! "YT.'/

. When the next NZ miijic explosion happens, once again Jim Wilson will have been part of it. Whatever he's done, he brought the. Swingers to town in 1979 and for that at leasj I'm grateful.'' The Observer Russell Brown replies: A sane, reasonable note to end the correspondence with? Let's hope so. Clash of Ideals "We ain't never, gonna get commercial respectability," said Mick Jones of the Clash. They went to America and they deserted us. Rock The Casbah' on charts, IZM and Hitwave ■ 'B3 compilation not to mention Ready to Roll. Gone are the days of turning to Radio B and hearing the Clash. I still have my old tapes, if it wasn't for 'Straight to Hell' I'd burn Combat Rock. Rock and roll has died. Janie Jones Mairangi Bay PS: New Zealand rock and roll got terminally ill when the Meemees stopped playing 'Pointy Ears'. A Bitching Session This letter is for the information of the dormant masses of the apathetic, nay, dead city of Christchurch. The city (and the rest of the world) has come to the stage where the only people interested in joining bands (not forming them, apparently no one has enough guts to start at the bottom) are guitarists or vocalists wanting residencies in three weeks. Too

many ads are seen saying guitarist Of drummer "wanting to join working band". Hour the fuck can a band be working if they need a guitarist or drummer? *7. .- A. ; 7 , • ‘Once a. bastion of fresh talent and ideas, the city has fallen into a sewer of anaesthetic doldrums, no longer a sparkling gem; but a dull paste copy. With very, very few places to play, the everimportant garage bands have no reason to take their art seriously. Christ, will someone please pass the TG's? Patti and Mo Christchurch Heavy Letter Did you find Greg Cobb or win him, in a raffle? Agreed, Deep Purple Live in London lacks the punch of some previous albums. Nevertheless, tracks like Mistreated' and 'You Fool No One' deserve a mention. Both contain excellent instrumental work from John Lord and Ritchie Blackmore. Obviously the man is an Iron Maiden/Motorhead type headbanger who pays little attention to melody, pacing and technical ability things often lacking in the thrash'n'bash macho image bands. • Regarding his two-line review of Rainbow's latest offering, the band has mellowed since early days but Ritchie Blackmore and Roger Glover's talent and flair mean the band is still producing outstanding music, as trax such as 'Power' and 'Tearin' Out My Heart' show. Michael Stephenson Invercargill