New Zealand Pop
New Zealand's first pop song was "Blue Smoke", written in the 1940s by Ruru Karatiana. Pixie Williams recorded the song in 1949 and, although it went triple platinum in New Zealand, the award for selling 50,000 copies of the song was only presented to Pixie Williams on 13 July, 2011.
The arrival of television in New Zealand during the 1960s helped connect New Zealand to global pop culture. It also lead to the rise of Sandy Edmonds, one of New Zealand's first pop stars.
Formed in the early 1970s and variously featuring Phil Judd and brothers Tim Finn and Neil Finn, the Split Enz achieved chart success in New Zealand, Australia, and Canada ‒ most notably with their 1980 single "I Got You" - and build a cult following elsewhere. The videos for some of the band's 1980s songs were among the first played on MTV.
In 1985, Neil Finn formed pop rock band Crowded House in Melbourne, Australia. The other founding members were Australians Paul Hester and Nick Seymour. Later band members included Neil's brother Tim Finn and Americans Mark Hart and Matt Sherrod. Originally active from 1985 to 1996, the band have had consistent commercial and critical success in Australia and New Zealand and international chart success in two phases, beginning with their self-titled debut album, Crowded House, which reached number twelve on the US Album Chart in 1987 and provided the Top Ten hits, "Don't Dream It's Over" and "Something So Strong". Further international success came in the UK and Europe with their third and fourth albums, Woodface and Together Alone and the compilation album Recurring Dream, which included the hits "Fall at Your Feet", "Weather with You", "Distant Sun", "Locked Out", "Instinct" and "Not the Girl You Think You Are". Queen Elizabeth II bestowed an OBE on both Neil and Tim Finn, in June 1993, for their contribution to the music of New Zealand.
New Zealand's top-selling pop song of all time was 'How Bizarre' by OMC. The song went to number one in New Zealand, Australia, Canada, Ireland, South Africa and Austria. It spent 36 weeks on the United States Billboard's Hot 100 airplay charts, peaking at number 4. It reached number five in the United Kingdom, and it made the Top 10 in Portugal and Israel..
In 2008, folk parody duo Flight of the Conchords found international success with their self-titled album. The album debuted at number three on the U.S. Billboard 200 chart, selling about 52,000 copies in its first week. In New Zealand, the album debuted at number two, beaten to the top spot by Beautiful Machine by Shihad. The following week it jumped to the number one spot. The album was certified 2x Platinum in New Zealand on 23 August 2009, shipping over 30,000 copies..
Read more about this topic: Music Of New Zealand
Famous quotes containing the words zealand and/or pop:
“Teasing is universal. Anthropologists have found the same fundamental patterns of teasing among New Zealand aborigine children and inner-city kids on the playgrounds of Philadelphia.”
—Lawrence Kutner (20th century)
“The children [on TV] are too well behaved and are reasonable beyond their years. All the children pop in with exceptional insights. On many of the shows the children’s insights are apt to be unexpectedly philosophical. The lesson seems to be, “Listen to little children carefully and you will learn great truths.””
—G. Weinberg. originally quoted in “What Is Television’s World of the Single Parent Doing to Your Family?” TV Guide (August 1970)