THE BIRTHDAY PARTY

Rip It Up, Issue 91, 1 February 1985, Page 34

THE BIRTHDAY PARTY

“Listen‘Arry," said the Ed. “Will you stop ‘anglng around v the office on deadline? Look, ere's five bucks ave a pie and a few pints and write your . bloody column." , :^SSo \ Oh, all right Guv, but what shall I write about? “You'll think of something." So ‘ere I sit, looking at wally ' businessmen walk past and racking this diseased brian trying to remember what ‘appened this month. Oh yeah, that’s right that bloke Ratman ‘ad 'is birthday party up at Zanzibar, the Tuesday night before Waitangi Day. Getting there ‘bout 10 and hassling my way past the bouncers without an invite wasn't too ard. But trying to , get past this really worried ' looking geezer wearing a dinner suit and sloshing down Moet without paying my five bucks was a pretty tough job. Could this be Ratman ‘imself? !‘Appy birthday Ratman ‘ere, smoke this.'*|i£PsoK£flHKM| ’ “Ta, I need it.” By this stage Zanzibar was “ pretty packed and bloody hot. Ah, Steinies are only $2 for the occasion Christ, this bloke must ave influence. A deal like -, that is not to be sneezed at, so I got into it. Russell Brown and Paul Rose ad just finished the psychedlic slot on the turntables and I Jah Pattiman was blaring out the Jah music. By about 10.30 the crowd 'ad swelled to about 400. There were all sorts ;*«* \ from ‘alrdressers to ‘oons, DJs and BJ models to musicians, somebodies and nobodies, promoters and posers. All walks A

of life but no thugs; junkies or wallies. Oh dear, ow sad, never mind. The Car Crash Set took the stage for a bloody good set ifrom what I can remember. "After an hour in that room with 400 sweating, smoking (whatever), pissed people, I ‘eaded out for a breather. * Back inside Kerry Buchanan was spinning the discs and the dancefloor was full with people waiting to see who most of them,‘adn’t before the Chills. They came on about midnight arid ‘ad a few surprises like this chap called Ken singing -‘Kaleidescope World’. ‘Twas good. After a lengthy dedication to Ratman they ad to leave the stage for a short break because the place was getting otter than a fox'ole in Cambodia. Fifteen minutes later and with a few coldies inside them,'back they came for another ‘our. Back to the bar after that and, my God. the place as run dry! Not a single fucking beer left in the place! Shaun Pettigrew is spinning some bloody good vinyl and the manager ‘as gone to find some more grog. Ahhh ... what a lovely sight the manager coming up the stairs with 10 dozen. About 15 minutes' supply for this crowd and sure enough that's all it lasted. 89FM‘s Golden‘Oon Andrew Soak was now filling the DJ slot and I figured it was about time I ‘eaded off to H Block. . - t-'l “See you next year," said Ratman, with ‘ls eyes in ‘is boots. /Yeah seeya mate. 'ARRY RATBAG