Hello Sailor Named 2011 NZ Music Hall Of Fame Inductees

One of NZs longest running rock bands Hello Sailor are to be inducted into the New Zealand Music Hall of Fame at the APRA Silver Scrolls next week. 

Full details below, here are videos for two of their biggest songs...

"Gutterblack"

"Blue Lady"

Press Release:

The New Zealand Music Hall of Fame celebrates those artists who have made a significant contribution to New Zealand through music. APRA (Australasian Performing Right Association) is excited and honoured to announce that the first of two inductees to be added to the New Zealand Music Hall of Fame for 2011 is Hello Sailor.

Hello Sailor will be inducted into the New Zealand Music Hall of Fame at the APRA Silver Scroll Awards at the Auckland Town Hall on the 13th September 2011. Hello Sailor are Graham Brazier, Dave McArtney, Harry Lyon, Rick Ball, Stuart Pearce and Paul Woolright.

“There are no more worthy recipients for this, the industry’s highest honour, than Hello Sailor. To have written and performed so many songs that have given New Zealanders such enjoyment is almost immeasurable. It is an honour to be able to pay tribute to them,” says APRA’s Anthony Healey.

In the burgeoning rock and roll scene of 1970s Auckland, Hello Sailor was founded. The group marked their niche as a group writing and playing original songs in a landscape of cover bands. Their popularity expanded as the queues grew outside old Auckland haunts like the Globe Theatre, the Kiwi, Crypt, Windsor Castle and the Gluepot. Rising through the charts through the late 70s with such hits as “Gutter Black”, “Blue Lady” and “Lying in the Sand”, the band were respected as one of the first local rock bands to be writing songs about the street-level frustrations of life in New Zealand.

“The late seventies in Auckland was a time when all the old certainties about music were being challenged. The Sex Pistols had changed everything, and everyone was scrambling to recalibrate themselves against new, strident yardsticks. Should hair be long, or short and spiky? Should we like snotty, out of tune, cynical English punk or shiny, tuneful, cynical American rock? I was in awe of people who could navigate through it all. Hello Sailor didn't just steer their own course, they were on an entirely different ocean. They existed outside fashion; exuding danger and decadence in spades; writing great songs and playing unforgettable gigs. They meant every note, every gesture, and apologised for nothing. That's why their music still matters after all these years. It's great to see them added to the NZ Music Hall of Fame.” Don McGlashan, APRA New Zealand Writer Director.

Hello Sailor’s songs have been sung as anthems throughout the past 30 years and this trend is not looking to slow up, proven with the iconic ‘Outrageous Fortune’ adopting their tune for their theme song. They opened the door for fellow musicians with the acceptance of original NZ rock music, and pioneered the thriving tour circuit that bands now follow in droves. As genuine rock legends of New Zealand, now is the time to look at their music and acknowledge what they did for the music industry by welcoming them into the New Zealand Music Hall of Fame. A further inductee will be added to the Hall of Fame at the Vodafone New Zealand Music Awards.

Hello Sailor - New Zealand Music Hall of Fame inductees for 2011 To be honoured as one of the pioneering rock bands of New Zealand at the APRA Silver Scroll Awards - 13th September 2011- Auckland Town Hall