The Definitive 1000 Songs Of All Time 1955 to 2005: Number 542

Number 542

Hello Sailor

"Gutter Black"

(1977)

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Genre:Rock

The West Family (not related*)

The song "Gutter Black" has been bought back to life thanks to this New Zealand TV series called Outrageous Fortune. But it doesn't make the song popular again as it is already a cult classic, but rather introduce the song to a new generation. By the by, Outrageous Fortune will go down in New Zealand history as its most successful TV show ever .... its that good. Don't worry America, its been sold to ABC so they can interpret the show for viewing just for you, but if you want to do a fair trade, how about Fox do a new series of Married With Children? God i miss that show ~ :)

* my family is worse

Bring back Wolf West!

Although not widely known outside of their native New Zealand, during the mid-1970s pub-rockers Hello Sailor emerged among the biggest stars on the Kiwi scene, becoming one of the country's first native bands to succeed not merely as a covers act but on the strength of their original material. The group's origins dated back to 1964, when guitarists Harry Lyon and Dave McArtney first played together while attending high school; the pair fell out of contact in the years to follow, but were reunited while attending Auckland University in the early 1970s. After a series of false starts, they formed Hello Sailor in 1975 with vocalist Graham Brazier, bassist Tony McMaster and drummer Graeme Turner. Following several months of dead-end live performances, McMaster exited, and was ultimately replaced by bassist David Lisle Kinney; over time, the group finally began to build a reputation as a superior live attraction, eventually issuing a 1976 single on RCA covering the Andrews Sisters' "Rum and Coca Cola."

Pascal West

After Turner was fired over a worsening heroin addiction, drummer Ricky Ball signed on in time to record the debut Hello Sailor LP, a self-titled effort issued in late 1977. Sales were brisk, with the album landing a pair of hit singles in "Gutter Black" and "Blue Lady"; a subsequent national tour proved equally successful, paving the way for the emergence of New Zealand's very own pub rock circuit. However, Hello Sailor's popularity was quickly undermined by the outbreak of punk, and seemingly overnight they were viewed as bloated dinosaurs of the Kiwi Rock scene; after spending much of 1978 in Los Angeles, the group returned home in the wake of the release of their second album, Pacifica Amour, to find much of their fan base had disappeared. A six-month 1979 tour of Australia proved disastrous, and combined with various drug and health problems, Hello Sailor's days were clearly numbered; after one final live date in February of 1980, the band dissolved, although in 1985 they reformed to again tour the pub circuit. ~ [Jason Ankeny, All Music Guide]

Member Profiles

Graham Brazier
Philip Gordon Brazier was originally from Liverpool. His mother being Scottish, his father was a nativee Liverpudlian. PG Brazier left Liverpool left Liverpool at the age of 14 to join the Merchant Navy - as many young men of the time. He was very enamoured with the idea of Marxism and later life would see him become an active member of the NZ Communist Party and a staunch trade unionist. He found himself shipped to Christchurch (poor bastich) more by accident than design - his time previously spent in Australia (when he jumped ship) had been spent as a swagman & a huge horse breaker, cave cutter and always a advocate of Marxist socialism.
The Brazier family spent the early days of Graham's childhood in Mt Eden, until the IRD seized the house. They then shifted to Balmoral where Mrs B had her bookshop. The family lived above the shop. This is where Graham lived during his years at Mt Roskill Grammar,. (My old school too!) which he found unpleasant, the school, not the shop. His first job upon leaving school at the age of 15 was importing special order books for Whitcoulls (Hmmm, i worked their as well) from here it was almost a natural progression to writing poetry and later songs. - Well, i never knew he went to my old school, nor did i realise he lived in the next suburb to me yet i had been to the bookshop numerous times and lastly working for the same company at Whitcoulls. But not once did we ever cross paths. Fascinating ~ crowbarred

McCartney & Brazier

Dave McArtney is one of New Zealands top songwriters with "Gutter Black", Is That The Way", "Remember The Alamo", "Im In Heaven" and "Never Fade Away" to his credit. Dave has played with Hello Sailor, The Legionairres and his own band The Pink Flamingos. He toured the U.S with Shona Laing and is now re-settled in New Zealand following a number of years in Germany, writing songs and occasionally performing in London.

Harry Lyon is a guitar player and founding member of Hello Sailor of Hello Sailor from its inception in 1975. Co-writer of many songs & sole writer of "Lying In The Sand" of the award winning first album.

Following Sailor , the American & Australian sojourns, formed Coup D'Etat, contributing much of the material including two successful singles "Permanent Hire" & "Doctor I Like Your Medicine", the 1981 RIANZ Single Of The Year. Currently Harry is is head of department at the Music & Audio Institute of New Zealand. (M.A.I.N.Z) ~ [Source:http://www.hellosailor.co.nz/]

For Shona Laing see Number 883

Rolling Stone have never heard of New Zealand let alone Hello Sailor.

Rolling Stone Top 500 Songs ranked this song at Number (Hello Sailor? Is that not what Dick Emery said every show?) and the Album ranked at (Dick Emery made an album?)

This song has a crowbarred rating of 73.8 out of 108 pts