Last Chance to Dance...

Rip It Up, Issue 14, 1 August 1978, Page 10

Last Chance to Dance...

k

Dave McArtney slashes out the song's lead riff and the vocalist plays his role; Graham Brazier is David Berkowitz, “Son of Sam": “Well I walk the streets of New York I look but I just don't talk I gotcha '44 in my pocket Gonna shoot if off like a rocket . atcha!" The song collapses two bars later and, after nine unsuccessful attempts to record "Son of Sam" live in studio with the impact it has in concert, the band gives up. Hello Sailor decides not to include the song on a new album, their second. A few days later the album has a possible title - and recording is nearly finished. All that remains is for Brazier to sing the vocal tracks to “Do the Silver Jive” and “Tears of Blood”, and for keyboard and various percussion overdubs to be added. Thirteen songs in all, may appear on the album: Brazier wrote "Dr Jazz” and "On Parade” before he joined the band, others like “I’m a Texan” and "Tears of Blood” were largely written in the studio. While on holiday here Paul Hewson of Dragon turned up to play piano on “Blackpool Can Can”. "Boys in Brazil”, "Disco is Dead" and “Street Boy" are among the songs the band has recorded over the last three weeks at Stebbing Studios in Auckland. By the time Hello Sailor’s first album had reached gold, selling over 9000 copies, the band had a manager. David Gapes, a former director at Radio Hauraki, began looking for a new contract that offered Hello Sailor overseas release, with a good recording and promotion budget. He wanted a guarantee that the band would be involved in all decision-making. Phonogram met his terms with what he described as “an extraordinarily attractive offer". Eldred Stebbing closed his studios to Hello Sailor when he realised Gapes’ intention to take the group to another company. He told Gapes that if Hello Sailor wouldn’t do what he wanted, he could get another band off the street and do the same thing. Hello Sailor returned to Stebbing Studios when it bdcame obvious there were new advantages in the arrangement. Although the contract remained the same, Stebbing offered unlimited studio time with a producer who had worked with them before; Hello Sailor's first album was recorded on a 16-track, this one would be recorded with newly-installed 24-track equipment.

Most of the extra tracks are used for percussion overdubs. On some songs Rob Aickin, working with studio engineer lan Morris, fills all the 24 tracks often to allow a choice between tracks at the mixing stage. By the time the album is released Hello Sailor will be in Los Angeles, living in a rented seven bedroom,house in Hollywood. Although promoters have billed all their recent concerts as farewell performances, when Hello Sailor played as support act to Tys Van Leer at the Auckland Town Hall it was almost certainly "the last chance to dance". The Town Hall held unpleasant memories; a year ago the band had opened for Melanie and drummer Ricky Ball remembers the event as "disastrous”. But for this night the band’s in top form, with the killer instinct of those who are driven to prove themselves; they reminded me what rock ’n’ roll is all about with every song they played. 1t has been Gapes’ policy to work the band extensively in New Zealand, playing high schools, pubs, clubs and halls to create a home market that includes an audience “between 11 and 31-years-old”. He says it has been important to establish "a broad popular base of support”; for the first time a local band has been able to ask for a thousand dollars a night, plus expenses. Like others in the band, Graham Brazier is tired of toifring New Zealand: “from Christchurch to Dunedin and back to the Windsor, to the Glenfield Tavern, back to Christchurch, back to Hamilton; round and round and round.” Brazier’s recurring ill health has been one of the group’s major problems; after six months he is still recovering from infectious hepatitis. America, Brazier says, will be his saviour. McArtney says it could "give us a kick in the arse" because he knows that it will be like the old days when the band shared a house, played at the Hotel Kiwi and had to stick together to survive. They will take their chances, working around California for three months and perhaps making a national tour of Australia during the summer. But if things start working Hello Sailor’s way in the States anything is likely to happen. Gapes has arranged Air New Zealand’s sponsorship of the band, says he had good contacts in LA, that Hello Sailor will stick out like a sore thumb there. And, he says with infectious confidence, he believes the band to be so good that people will have to notice. Jeremy Templer