Entertainment scene Fear and loafing in New Brighton

Press, 6 December 1979, Page 18

Entertainment scene Fear and loafing in New Brighton

By

NEVIN TOPP

Shades of Hunter S. Thompson. A 40-foot hedgehog appraching a pedestrian crossing. I spun the Yellow Ford Escort out of harm’s way before realising that it as the black jellybeans beginning to take effect.

To make the trip out to New Brighton one has to be loaded down with all kinds of dope — icecream. chocolate roughs, soft drink, milk shakes — guaranteed to make life totally wasted if only for a short time.

Ignoring the hedgehog, the usual fantasy began of taking the Yellow Sunfish up into the 160km/h bracket with its muted roar of the cam and the tape deck going full blast on Jimi Hendrix’s “Who Know’s.’’ with the bass of Billy Cox battering the brain.

However, it was a sedate 50km/h in the environs of New Brighton, trying to avoid the seagulls gathered in the mall. I was on a mission which would set anyone’s teeth on edge — to interview the Piranha Brothers.

The black jellybeans were beginning to wear off, so it was a quick dive into the vanilla ice-cream followed by a snort of sherbet to help make the hedgehog go away. The Piranha Brothers hung out in the Esplanade Tavern. Ignoring Horace Greeley’s advice about “go West young man,” I had chosen my showdown in the hotel. Chewing on a plug of liquorice I stepped Into the smoky atmosphere of the pub, followed by the damned hedgehog

which was muttering “Dinsdale.” Under-age hedgehogs never did get a good reception and I felt it was a distinct handicap to achieving what I had set out to do. The Piranha Brothers turned out to be four dedicated musicians playing some nice laid-back mainstream rock 'n' roll. The lead guitarist, Richard Johnston, described the band as “rock ’n’ roll reactionaries” in that they did not play new-wave stuff, but play material that the whple band enjoyed. “We play one Police number (‘So Lonely”), he said, indciating that this was the closest that the band had got to new wave.

The band, consisting of Michael Leigh, keyboards; Dennis Abbott, bass; Matene Ropiha, drums, as well as Johnston, has been together since the end of June, although before that some of the members had been together as Sneak Preview.

Monty Python fans will obviously connect the band’s name with the infamous Doug and Dinsdale Piranha skit, which the English comedians based on the Kray brothers, the villains who terrorised the West End of London. However, Richard Johnston said he was not sure if the name had cropped up because of Monty Python. He was juggling about 30 names together and that was the one that was chosen. “The name has worked well for us. People either find it quite bizarre, or they ask why doesn’t the band call itself something cosmic, heavy, or meaningful.”

The first lime the band was advertised to play at the Esplanade Tavern, the name had been misspelt as the Pirana Brothers so that people associated it with a band of Maori brothers, Richard Johnston said. The whole emphasis on the Piranha Brothers, including the name, was that it was not to be taken seriously. However, the band has become quietly popular at

the Esplanade, end it has secured another month’s work at the venue on Friday and Saturday nights to put out a Southern-in-f 1 ue n c e d rock-and-roll sound. One thing you can say about the Piranha Brothers is that they don’t bite off more than they can chew — and there is no Monty Pythonish 40-foot animated hedgehog going around saying “Dinsdale” either.