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The early 80s were a pivotal time for New Zealand music.
Frustrated by the disinterest of the major record companies
and Auckland's dominance in the music industry, musicians
around the country began launching their own independent labels.
From Christchurch came Flying Nun taking the lo-fi Dunedin
sound to the nation and the world, while in Wellington a loose
collective of bands recorded under the banner of EELman. In
a bleak post-punk world, the EELman groups stood out for their
humour and their funk.
Wellington has a strong R&B tradition, which can be
traced back to the 60s when blues bands like Gutbucket and
Original Sin ruled the capital's nightclubs. The city also
has a history of soul bands with horn sections. In the 60s
there was the Quincy Conserve, in the early 70s Blerta, Mammal
and Redeye. By the late 70s there was Rough Justice, a six-to-eight
piece revue led by the capital's R&B icon Rick Bryant.
Amongst their audience was a posse of under-age Onslow Collegians
just starting out with their own band, the Rodents. The group
included saxophonist Andrew Clouston, singer/guitarist John
McDougall, drummer Andrew Cross, drummer/percussionist Tim
Robinson and vocalist Peter Marshall. Joined by a pianist
a few years their senior named John Niland, they honed their
chops on R&B covers.
By late 1981 the Rodents had evolved into the Hulamen. A
few members had gone and others arrived, notably fret-popping
bassist Paul ëMac' MacAllister, Rough Justice guitarist
Stephen Jessup, vocalist Marion Spencer and saxophonist Peter
Famularo. Retaining some of the fun R&B covers, the emphasis
shifted to originals with a pronounced reggae influence. The
Hulamen put on a real show. There were at least ten musicians
on stage, with the spotlight shared between up to half-a-dozen
singers, not to mention percussionist-without-portfolio Ronny
Pelicano (a.k.a Tim Robinson) and his Fred-Astaire-on-acid
dance routines. At the Terminus Tavern Steven McDougall, the
group's tireless tech, erected a platform above the stage
where a pair of female dancers ' the Hulettes ' would gyrate
to the funk. At the Thorndon Hall guest vocalist Gerry Moran
sang one of his showpieces, 'Think I Should Be Locked Away
and Helped', swinging maniacally from the top of a lighting
rig. And then there was the EELMAN. A slimy cartoon character
devised by Andrew Clouston, he was recreated in three dimensions
by artist and mask-maker Debra Bustin. The EELMAN's arrival
at a gig was a guaranteed showstopper.
Intent on capturing the group's inspired mayhem for posterity,
the Hulamen entered Radio New Zealand's Studio 2 with studio
engineer Tony Burns and the groups live sound engineer Nigel
Stone as producers/in the production seat. These sessions
produced three multi-track recordings, and a number of live-in-the-studio
performances, notably McDougall's 'Barking Up The Wrong Tree',
an anthem of adolescent anguish dating back to the Rodents
and exquisitely sung by Peter Marshall, and Niland and Moran's
loping reggae state-of-the-subculture address, ìWorking
For A Living'. Spencer's singular narrative skills shone on
a live cut from these sessions, her own 'Underground'.
Further sessions at Marmalade (with producer Ian Morris),
completed Beer and Skittles, the only record the Hulamen would
ever make. In the independent spirit in which the group had
always acted, they launched their own label ñ named
eelman records(©) after their slippery mascot. It was
Niland who instigated and drove the project, distributing
the initial pressing from the back of his car with the help
of Stone. When demand exceeded supply, Niland took the Hulamen's
product to established independent Jayrem, where the record
remained a strong catalogue item for years. With seven tracks,
Beer and Skittles was shorter than the average LP but longer
than an EP hence the birth of the EEL-P. But by the time of
its release, John McDougall had followed his heart to Paris
and the Hulamen disbanded.
Enter Bill Lake, a veteran of 60s and 70s Wellington bands
such as Original Sin, Mammal and the Windy City Strugglers,
with a guitar-case-full of funky originals. Lake formed the
Pelicans in late 1982 and, with a regular gig in Cosgrove's
Bar at the Cambridge Hotel, provided work for a number of
ex-Hulas: Stephen Jessup, Peter Famularo, Andrew Cross, trumpet
player David Armstrong and soundman and producer Nigel Stone.
A sprawling beast in the tradition of the Hulamen, the Pelicans
(by the time of their first recording in 1983) had filled
out to include bassist Nick Bollinger and his percussionist
brother Tim Bollinger, horn players Simon Lewis and Tim Nees,
with Brian Brown-Sharp eventually replacing Famularo. John
Niland was a sometime guest on keyboards.
The Pelicans issued Eight Duck Treasure in late 1983. Lake's
ironic wit can be found in standout tracks like ìBanana
Dominion', ìDown to the River' and ìDead Cars'.
Unlike the Hulamen, the Pelicans toured extensively, spreading
the EELman ethos nationwide. A further EEL-P, Krazy Legs,
followed in 1984. A loose amalgam of Pelicans and Hulamen
was employed by Andrew 'Clyde' Clouston to back him on his
1984 solo EP, ìThe Bag'. The following year John Niland
also pursued a solo project entitled Inside.
A frequent Pelicans support act was the Economic Wizards,
an anarchistic bunch of Wellingtonians transplanted in Auckland,
who mixed topical verse with high-spirited, guitar-based rock'n'roll.
When the group made its first EP, Starve The Lizards, it seemed
logical that it should be released under the EELman emblem.
Their tribute to Miss Universe 1983, 'Pakuranga Girl', remains
a cult classic.
On his return to New Zealand in 1985, John McDougall reassembled
a number of former Hulamen (MacAllister, Jessup, Cross, Robinson)
plus several newcomers (pianist Brenton Dempsey, singers Danny
Makamaka and Mara Finau) and launched the Tombolas. Though
their performances created a similar frisson to those of the
Hulas, their legacy amounts to just one single, the tumultuous
'Glad To Gladiate' backed by the even more gleefully crazed
'Vandalised'.'ìNova Bossa' comes from their extensive
catalogue of unreleased demos.
At the same time, Bill Lake was assembling a new line-up,
which would become Bill Lake and the Living Daylights. Retaining
Nick Bollinger from the Pelicans, he recruited pianist Alan
Norman, saxophonist Neville Schwabe, drummer Ross Burge, and
singer/guitarist Ra Te Whaiti, with whom he shared the vocal
spotlight. Te Whaiti had previously fronted R&B covers
band Ra and the Pyramids, and his rich soulful voice shines
on Bill Lake's ;You've Got My Number' and his own 'Whatcha
Gonna Do'.
Amongst the EELman collective were a number of visual artists
who were vital to the overall aesthetic. The bright cartoonish
sleeve of Beer and Skittles established a 'look' that would
carry through to the end of the Eel-days. The surreal illustration
on the front was by Tim Bollinger, whose work would also ornament
the Daylights' A Bop In The Ocean album. Andrew Clouston,
creator of the EELMAN persona and logo, decorated the back
cover with cartoon characters including the EELMAN himself.
Crucial to the Pelicans' presentation was Debra Bustin, who
painted the sleeves of their two discs (Krazy Legs won Best
Cover Design in the New Zealand Music Awards), created lavish
stage sets with sculpted trees and three-dimensional backdrops,
and directed the power-packed 'Krazy Legs' video.
The 90s loomed and professionalism beckoned. The Tombolas
begat the Holidaymakers, who, in 1988, enjoyed a spectacular
six-week national number one with their cover of Bill Withers' ìSweet Lovers' organised/driven and produced by Nigel
Stone. With four original Hulamen (McDougall, Marshall, Jessup
and Clouston), and Nigel Stone in the production seat, the
Holidaymakers marked both the apotheosis and the end of the
EELman era. Significantly, ìSweet Lovers' was not an
EELman record, but was released by the larger Auckland indie,
Pagan. The EELman moniker was used only twice again for a
1990 collaboration between Bill Lake and Rick Bryant, and
in 1994 for an album by Lake and Bryant's group The Windy
City Strugglers.
Where are they now? John Niland, Andrew Clouston and Peter
Famularo live in Australia where they continue to develop
their art, design and musical talents. John McDougall lives
in Wellington and his pile of great unrecorded songs is approaching
ceiling-height. Bill Lake also lives in Wellington, has made
a solo album and plays with Rick Bryant and Nick Bollinger
in the Windy City Strugglers. Movie art departments nationwide
have benefited from the skills of former EEL-men Jessup, Robinson
and Marshall. Andrew Cross lives in Barcelona where he has
been tutoring doctors in english for the past ten years. Nigel
Stone has become New Zealand's most awarded producer and engineer
and is currently working in London on a variety of music and
feature film projects. - works in the field of feature filmsound
production and operates his mobile studio from London. With
the core of the collective thus dispersed, further EELman
projects seemed unlikely until the advent of email (EEL-mail?)
made the preparation of this compilation a practical reality.
As for the EELMAN himself, he has been reclusive in the 90s.
It was rumoured that he had been deported to the deserts of
Australia. Someone else said he got into jazz. At press time,
an unconfirmed report has him dwelling in a damp garage in
Johnsonville. But watch out - he could return at any time.
Jim Moss - Executive Producer & Distribution
John Niland - Project Management eelman records(c) Compilation
1999, Print design production & co-ordination, Art direction,
booklet typography & website management/development
Andrew Clouston - Art direction, Illustration and Design
Nigel Stone - Audio Production, Archival management &
research, Digital remastering consultant.
Tim Farrant - Tape Archival supervision & Baking consultant,
Consultant for tape restoration for digital transfer.
Nick Bollinger - Research and Liner notes
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