Top 10 NZ Records 2011
bunnyJACK on Waiheke Radio
Last Saturday we broadcast the first live to air performance from Waiheke Radio's new studio - and what a performance. bunnyJACK are a new local threepiece with a fine pedigree. Bede Taylor has been involved with some of the island's best bands in recent years - Clench, Three Legged Horse and Tank and Pump. He has a whisper to a growl vocal style and he writes lyrics that can be darkly humourous and cuttingly honest. Frankie Hill has performed solo and in local groups on and off over the last decade or so, and was also part of Fatal Jelly Space, an all female group who put on a ferocious live show and put out one record on Flying Nun in 1990. A few years later and they would have been heralded in the riot grrl scene. They are joined in bunnyJACK by a third guitarist Kevin Glazumina, who has previously played with Bede in Tank and Pump.
The full bunnyJACK set was recorded and is made available for download by Waiheke Radio.
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And here's a video clip from the set
It's not the first time I've had the chance to work with Frankie on a live radio performace. A few years back I had the privilege of broadcasting a solo live to air set on the station that preceded Waiheke Radio, The Beach. Here's what I said about that at the time.
Here's one for the obscurists amongst you. Fatal Jelly Space were a great Auckland band who released one great EP titled Hole on Flying Nun in 1990. They were a staunchly feminist outfit and a ferocious (if not somewhat scary) phenomenon live striking fear into the hearts of many.
In the early years of the twenty first century Bob Dylan played the god-awful North Shore Events Centre in Takapuna, Auckland. Ordinarily that wouldn't have grabbed me, but supporting him was none other than Patti Smith. As soon as I heard that I was there. She was better than I can describe here and I went away very happy.
On the way back into town to catch the last ferry to Waiheke we saw someone hitching we recognised as coming from the island. We picked her up and got chatting and it turned out this fellow Patti Smith fan was Frankie Hill of Fatal Jelly Space.
So anyway, in 2003 I was putting together a series of live-to-air performances on Waiheke Island's community radio station, The Beach 99.4fm to mark NZ Music Month. I remembered that late night hitch-hiking encounter and approached Frankie about performing. She agreed, playing a short set of originals. To my ears, this was the highlight, one of the tracks from the Hole EP, Miseriah.
Take a listen, Frankie Fatal, Live On The Beach 99.4fm, May 2003
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Also available are a fantastic Waiheke Radio recording of Tank and Pump, a bFM recording of Clench, and the highly recommended album Down by Three Legged Horse is available on bandcamp.
Probably my favourite moments of radio are when I'm in the midst of putting a live performance to air. We hope this can be a regular thing and there'll be many more.
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