Propeller Records
Encyclopedia
Propeller Records was an independent record label
formed in Auckland
, New Zealand
, by Simon Grigg
in 1980.
industry was largely moribund. The major record labels were either not recording or were confining themselves largely to middle of the road acts. The independent labels that existed either recorded Polynesian
and Māori
music or were off-shoots of recording studios, releasing the odd record as a by product of down time in the studio. The thriving independent scene of the early seventies had largely wound down, and the large and vibrant live music scene was not being represented on vinyl.
The only exception to this was WEA
, under the guidance of Tim Murdoch, who had released a number of recordings including that of Toy Love
, at that time, the biggest live act in New Zealand, and Ripper, owned by Bryan Staff, which had released a couple of singles and the was about to issue the enormously influential AK79
collection, which documented the New Zealand punk scene of the late seventies. However Ripper was documenting a past scene rather than signing and releasing the raft of acts filling the pubs and halls around Auckland and the rest of the country.
Grigg, with a history in the Auckland punk
scene, and having recently returned from a sojourn in Australia, was inspired by the young indie scene in that country, by the rise of the British independent record labels (Stiff
, Rough Trade
, Small Wonder
and the like) and WEA’s success with Toy Love
, to form a record label.
With a $400 loan from the girlfriend of a band member he released two singles in June 1980, distributing both himself by hand and mail. Both, by The Features and The Spelling Mistakes
, sold out their initial pressings immediately and entered the New Zealand singles chart, causing quite a stir.
The next few months saw Propeller release a steady stream of singles, most of which charted. At the end of 1980, faced with the reality of self distribution, Grigg signed a deal to distribute in Australasia
with Festival Records
, a deal which gave Propeller the first NZ label to have its own label identity across the Tasman
.
The initial result of this deal was the Class of 81 compilation, a collection of young acts from (mostly) Auckland, which defined the city’s scene over the next few years.
Propeller signed three of these acts immediately, Blam Blam Blam
, The Screaming Meemees
, and The Newmatics. The latter act were signed to a new off-shoot label, Furtive, distributed via CBS and managed by Paul Rose, whom Grigg had bought in as a partner.
The following months saw releases by all these acts, plus, on Furtive, the debut release by ex-Toy Love members Chris Knox
and Alec Bathgate
, as The Tall Dwarfs
. All charted and at one time in mid 1981 Propeller had 4 singles in the top 40, including the number one (with The Screaming Meemees’ See Me Go).
In July and August 1981 Propeller celebrated this success with a nationwide package tour featuring three of its acts, The Screaming Blamatic Roadshow, which swept through Universities and cities to capacity houses everywhere, culminating with three sold out nights at Auckland’s Mainstreet Cabaret, playing to some 30,000 people across the country.
The label also signed a license deal with Melbourne
’s Missing Link label to release in New Zealand, two albums by The Birthday Party
.
Propeller had a short but highly influential life. In its wake came a raft of independent labels, including the important Flying Nun label and in it may be seen the germ of the now thriving New Zealand music industry.
album, Bigger Than Both of Us, a collection of NZ indie singles from the early to mid eighties, and Give It a Whirl
, an album to accompany the TVNZ series of the History of NZ popular music of the same name.
Independent record label
An independent record label is a record label operating without the funding of or outside the organizations of the major record labels. A great number of bands and musical acts begin on independent labels.-Overview:...
formed in Auckland
Auckland
The Auckland metropolitan area , in the North Island of New Zealand, is the largest and most populous urban area in the country with residents, percent of the country's population. Auckland also has the largest Polynesian population of any city in the world...
, New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
, by Simon Grigg
Simon Grigg
Simon Grigg is a New Zealand music businessman, writer, radio host, publisher, producer, DJ and archivist. Born in Auckland, New Zealand, he attended Palmerston North Boys High, Auckland Grammar and the University of Auckland.-Punk rock:...
in 1980.
1980-81
In the years prior to 1980 the New Zealand contemporary recordingRecording
Recording is the process of capturing data or translating information to a recording format stored on some storage medium, which is often referred to as a record or, if an auditory medium, a recording....
industry was largely moribund. The major record labels were either not recording or were confining themselves largely to middle of the road acts. The independent labels that existed either recorded Polynesian
Polynesian culture
Polynesian culture refers to the indigenous peoples' culture of Polynesia who share common traits in language, customs and society. Chronologically, the development of Polynesian culture can be divided into four different historical eras:...
and Māori
Maori culture
Māori culture is the culture of the Māori of New Zealand, an Eastern Polynesian people, and forms a distinctive part of New Zealand culture. Within the Māori community, and to a lesser extent throughout New Zealand as a whole, the word Māoritanga is often used as an approximate synonym for Māori...
music or were off-shoots of recording studios, releasing the odd record as a by product of down time in the studio. The thriving independent scene of the early seventies had largely wound down, and the large and vibrant live music scene was not being represented on vinyl.
The only exception to this was WEA
Warner Music Group
Warner Music Group is the third largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry, making it one of the big four record companies...
, under the guidance of Tim Murdoch, who had released a number of recordings including that of Toy Love
Toy Love
Toy Love was a New Zealand New Wave/punk rock band fronted by Chris Knox. Other members were guitarist Alec Bathgate, bass player Paul Kean, drummer Mike Dooley, and keyboard player Jane Walker...
, at that time, the biggest live act in New Zealand, and Ripper, owned by Bryan Staff, which had released a couple of singles and the was about to issue the enormously influential AK79
AK79
AK79 is a compilation album of tracks by punk bands active in Auckland, New Zealand, in the late 1970s. The album was compiled by Bryan Staff, with artwork from Terence Hogan, and was released by Ripper Records in 1979 - just in time for Xmas. Bands featured on the original compilation include The...
collection, which documented the New Zealand punk scene of the late seventies. However Ripper was documenting a past scene rather than signing and releasing the raft of acts filling the pubs and halls around Auckland and the rest of the country.
Grigg, with a history in the Auckland punk
Punk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
scene, and having recently returned from a sojourn in Australia, was inspired by the young indie scene in that country, by the rise of the British independent record labels (Stiff
Stiff Records
Stiff Records is a record label created in London in 1976, by entrepreneurs Dave Robinson and Andrew Jakeman , and active until 1985. It was reactivated in 2007....
, Rough Trade
Rough Trade Records
Rough Trade Records is an independent record label based in London. It was formed in 1978 by Geoff Travis who had opened a record store off Ladbroke Grove...
, Small Wonder
Small Wonder Records
Small Wonder Records was a UK independent record label owned and managed by Pete Stennett, that specialised in releasing records by punk rock and post-punk bands. It operated out of a record shop of the same name at 162 Hoe Street, Walthamstow, E17, east London...
and the like) and WEA’s success with Toy Love
Toy Love
Toy Love was a New Zealand New Wave/punk rock band fronted by Chris Knox. Other members were guitarist Alec Bathgate, bass player Paul Kean, drummer Mike Dooley, and keyboard player Jane Walker...
, to form a record label.
With a $400 loan from the girlfriend of a band member he released two singles in June 1980, distributing both himself by hand and mail. Both, by The Features and The Spelling Mistakes
The Spelling Mistakes
The Spelling Mistakes were a New Zealand punk band which had minor success in the local scene in 1979 and 1980.Formed in 1979 from the remnants of two bands, Get Smart and The Aliens, their line-up was Nick Hanson , Julian Hanson , and Warwick Fowler...
, sold out their initial pressings immediately and entered the New Zealand singles chart, causing quite a stir.
The next few months saw Propeller release a steady stream of singles, most of which charted. At the end of 1980, faced with the reality of self distribution, Grigg signed a deal to distribute in Australasia
Australasia
Australasia is a region of Oceania comprising Australia, New Zealand, the island of New Guinea, and neighbouring islands in the Pacific Ocean. The term was coined by Charles de Brosses in Histoire des navigations aux terres australes...
with Festival Records
Festival Records (Australia)
Festival Records was an Australian music recording and publishing company which was founded in Sydney in 1952 and operated until 2005....
, a deal which gave Propeller the first NZ label to have its own label identity across the Tasman
Tasman Sea
The Tasman Sea is the large body of water between Australia and New Zealand, approximately across. It extends 2,800 km from north to south. It is a south-western segment of the South Pacific Ocean. The sea was named after the Dutch explorer Abel Janszoon Tasman, the first recorded European...
.
The initial result of this deal was the Class of 81 compilation, a collection of young acts from (mostly) Auckland, which defined the city’s scene over the next few years.
Propeller signed three of these acts immediately, Blam Blam Blam
Blam Blam Blam
Blam Blam Blam were a New Zealand pop/rock/alternative band. Tim Mahon and Mark Bell had been members of The Plague and The Whizz Kids...
, The Screaming Meemees
The Screaming Meemees
The Screaming Meemees were one of the biggest post-punk new-wave pop bands in New Zealand in the early 1980s. The band formed in Auckland in 1979, composed of vocalist Tony Drumm, guitarist Michael O'Neill, keyboard and bass player Peter van der Fluit and drummer "Laurence "Yoh" Landwer-Johan...
, and The Newmatics. The latter act were signed to a new off-shoot label, Furtive, distributed via CBS and managed by Paul Rose, whom Grigg had bought in as a partner.
The following months saw releases by all these acts, plus, on Furtive, the debut release by ex-Toy Love members Chris Knox
Chris Knox
Chris Knox is a New Zealand rock and roll musician, cartoonist, and DVD reviewer who emerged during the punk rock era with his bands The Enemy and Toy Love. After Toy Love disbanded in the early 1980s, he formed the group Tall Dwarfs with guitarist Alec Bathgate, much loved for their honest,...
and Alec Bathgate
Alec Bathgate
Alec Bathgate is a New Zealand musician who was a key member of The Enemy and Toy Love, as well as being one half of Flying Nun Records act Tall Dwarfs alongside Chris Knox. As well as playing guitar in these bands, he has released two solo albums....
, as The Tall Dwarfs
Tall Dwarfs
Tall Dwarfs are a New Zealand rock band formed in 1981 by Chris Knox and Alec Bathgate who, through their do-it-yourself ethic, helped pioneer the lo-fi style of rock music. The duo formed out of the ashes of Toy Love....
. All charted and at one time in mid 1981 Propeller had 4 singles in the top 40, including the number one (with The Screaming Meemees’ See Me Go).
In July and August 1981 Propeller celebrated this success with a nationwide package tour featuring three of its acts, The Screaming Blamatic Roadshow, which swept through Universities and cities to capacity houses everywhere, culminating with three sold out nights at Auckland’s Mainstreet Cabaret, playing to some 30,000 people across the country.
The label also signed a license deal with Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
’s Missing Link label to release in New Zealand, two albums by The Birthday Party
The Birthday Party (band)
The Birthday Party were an Australian rock band, active from 1973 to 1983.Despite being championed by John Peel, The Birthday Party found little commercial success during their career...
.
1982-83
Propeller then embarked on album projects for two of its acts, Blam Blam Blam and The Screaming Meemees, which were to prove its undoing. Whilst the label continued to sign and release acts which charted (including No Tag, The Skeptics, The Dabs, The Bongos and others), massive cost overruns on these album projects proved insurmountable, despite their success in chart and sales terms, and the labels ceased functioning in mid 1983 with Grigg relocating to London for several years before returning to run, firstly the Stimulant and then, huh!, labels, and launching a series of influential clubs.Propeller had a short but highly influential life. In its wake came a raft of independent labels, including the important Flying Nun label and in it may be seen the germ of the now thriving New Zealand music industry.
After 1983
Propeller has, since 1986, released a series of important historic collections of New Zealand music, including the expanded and remastered AK79AK79
AK79 is a compilation album of tracks by punk bands active in Auckland, New Zealand, in the late 1970s. The album was compiled by Bryan Staff, with artwork from Terence Hogan, and was released by Ripper Records in 1979 - just in time for Xmas. Bands featured on the original compilation include The...
album, Bigger Than Both of Us, a collection of NZ indie singles from the early to mid eighties, and Give It a Whirl
Give It a Whirl
Give It A Whirl: The Soundtrack from the Major Television Series is a compilation album released in 2003 by recording label, Propeller Records for the six-part New Zealand Documentary Give It A Whirl. The Documentary, released in 2003, traced the development of New Zealand music from the 50's...
, an album to accompany the TVNZ series of the History of NZ popular music of the same name.