Seventies singer returns to NZ

‘‘Excuse me, didn’t you used to be John Hanlon?’’

He laughs about it, but the question from a lady on the street reflects the somewhat enigmatic history of New Zealand’s most popular singersongwriter of the 1970s.

Hanlon was a household name at the time with a number of hits, including number one hit ‘Lovely Lady’ and the iconic song ‘Damn the Dam’ adopted by the opponents of the Lake Manapouri dam.

From 1974 to 1976 he collected three successive New Zealand Album of the Year and Songwriter of the Year awards as well as the APRA Silver Scroll two years in succession.

Then around 40 years ago, John Hanlon just seemed to disappear.

Readying himself for his first New Zealand concert since that time Hanlon insists he’s never set out to be mysterious.

The truth is he got on a plane to Sydney and enjoyed a successful career in advertising.

An insular child who hated crowds Hanlon never aspired to be a performer.

Teaching himself guitar in his bedroom he says early on songs just came to him, as they continue to now.

Stumbled upon playing at a small gathering, he was amazed when a late night offer by an Auckland music producer to record some tracks turned out to be legitimate.

But despite nationwide success, a series of disagreements with the New Zealand Broadcasting Commission found him blacklisted by those in power at the time.

Disillusionment with the New Zealand music scene saw him packing it in and heading for Australia in 1978.

But he never stopped writing songs, and his ongoing creative bents have seen him writing books and blogs covering a wide range of topics.

Hanlon moved back to New Zealand last year.

Questioning from his grandchildren stirred a revisiting of his musical past and eventually the desire to share his songs with an audience again.

He launched his new book Love and Magic - Four extraordinary tales about ordinary people at his first live gig in 40 years.

John Hanlon