The Definitive 1000 Songs Of All Time 1955 to 2005: Number 727

Number 727

Dave Dobbyn

"Oughta Be In Love"

(1987)
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Genre:Pop

We all know God made New Zealand first, its just a well known fact, hell, if you don't believe me check Genesis Chapter 0.0 Verse 1 "In The Beginning!" or something like that. I haven't finished reading the Bible but i sneaked at the Ending and found out the Devil did it with the Lead pipe in the Observatory with Mrs Purple. It's elementary my Dear Wittyson. (However i did read the Comic Book version of the Bible, but discovered it was pornographic. I mean it must have been...who else would have 9 wives and lives to 900??)
Anyhoo..... Back to the song........ (And, no...I'm not in trouble with "The Big One" He said I'm fine, but He did say you were all Fragged .. especially the ones who voted for Bush, He said)

Dave Dobbyn was one of the New Zealand pop scene's most popular and respected figures, enjoying success which spanned several decades. He first surfaced in mid-1976 as a founding member of Th' Dudes¹, one of the country's biggest bands of the era; Dobbyn was widely tapped as their breakout star, earning notoriety for writing and singing their biggest hit, "Be Mine Tonight." Critical backlash, combined with drug and alcohol problems, ensured that Th' Dudes' success was short-lived, and following the group's 1980 demise, Dobbyn went into seclusion, writing and recording solo material in relative anonymity. A tour playing guitar in Sharon O'Neill's supporting band followed, and in early 1981 his debut solo single "Lipstick Power" appeared on CBS; it failed to chart, however, as did the follow-up, "Bull by the Horns."

¹For Th Dudes See Number 803, Number 861, Number 538 & MM Vol 2 #139
For Sharon O'Neill see Number 891
For DD Smash see Number 629

In mid-1981, Dave Dobbyn's Divers -- a band also consisting of ex-Lip Service guitarist Rob "Revox" Guy, drummer Peter "Rooda" Warren and bassist Lisle Kinney -- made their live debut. After a handful of gigs, they rechristened themselves DD Smash and soon issued their first single, "Repetition"; it quickly reached the Top 25, and led to the 1982 release of the LP Cool Bananas, which entered the charts at number one. After an auto accident, Kinney left the band, and with new bassist Ian Morris, DD Smash resurfaced in 1983 with the hit "Outlook for Tuesday." After a concert LP, Live: Deep in the Heart of Taxes, Dobbyn fired everyone but Warren, recording 1984's The Optimist with session players.

On December 7 ², 1984, the new DD Smash played a free concert which ended in rioting; Dobbyn was made the scapegoat of the incident, and was tried for inciting the crowd to violence. The charges were eventually dismissed, but Dobbyn's reputation was sorely damaged; in the wake of the trial, he kept a low profile, recording the soundtrack to the animated feature Footrot Flats, and in early 1986 resurfaced fronting a new group dubbed Dave Dobbyn and the Stone People. The solo single "Slice of Heaven" followed, reaching the top of the New Zealand charts. Another single, "You Oughta Be in Love," was also enormously successful, and after extensive touring, Dobbyn finally issued his proper solo debut, Loyal, in 1988. After a handful of singles, he resurfaced in 1993 with Lament for the Numb; Twist followed a year later. ~ [Jason Ankeny]

² I was there that day, amazing scenes.

Rolling Stone Top 500 Songs ranked this song at Number (Where exactly is New Zealand again?) and the Album ranked at Number (We cant seem to find it on the Australian map) (Give them a Tui)

This song has a crowbarred rating of 67.1 out of 108 pts