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THE
EELMAN STORY
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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