Lost in the archives?

When the late Larry Morris and his iconic 1960s band the Rebels were inducted into the New Zealand Music Hall of Fame in 2020, only one official archived video of the band existed.

One rumour exists that all TV footage was destroyed years ago when Morris – known to be a character capable of rocking the boat – angered a TVNZ staffer so much that this unnamed person destroyed all Larry’s Rebels tapes. After that alleged destructive incident, the footage was gone forever. Others say the missing tapes are simply a matter of money, or lack thereof.

Following last month’s death of Morris, the lack of any archives is even more frustrating as the band had appeared on popular 1960s shows C’mon, Town and Around and New Faces. My personal connection to the band (Morris played my parents’ wedding in 1976) had me determined to find answers. Was Larry’s Rebels a victim of brutal vandalism? Or were tapes simply expensive, and TVNZ (or the NZ Broadcasting Corporation, as it was known at the time) cheap?

Music historian Grant Gillanders has spent ‘‘years’’ hunting for archives of the pop band and while he has plenty of audio and photographic material, he confirms to

Stuff that when it comes to video, there is only one: the 1967 video for Let’s Think of Something (which was filmed on the balcony of Tom Jones’ hotel in Wellington).

But Gillanders believes the missing footage is down to money because, in the 1960s, tape cost a dollar per foot and the workaround was to tape over everything not deemed ‘‘historically important’’.

‘‘A dollar was a lot of money, so you get a 30-minute programme ... heaven knows what that would cost,’’ he says. ‘‘A lot of the tapes were used over and over.’’

Those close to the band, though, have heard a more vindictive version of what went down all those years ago.

Natalie Rouse, daughter of Rebels keyboardist Terry Rouse, heard the tapes were actively destroyed after Morris annoyed a staff member at TVNZ/NZBC.

‘‘This act seems more egregious as time passes,’’ she says. ‘‘This person tried to erase Larry Morris, and by extension the Rebels from history, and almost succeeded.’’

Rouse does not know the specifics of the alleged vandalism.

Terry Rouse has also heard the rumour but cannot provide specifics either.

As exciting a story as destroying tapes in a fit of rage may be, Gillanders and NZ Music Hall of Fame manager Mark Rhodes both say there is simply no truth to the rumour.

‘‘It’s one of those old wives’ tales,’’ says Gillanders. ‘‘It didn’t happen like that ... TVNZ didn’t start archiving everything until 1985.’’