40 years of holiday hits
Take a trip down musical memory lane in part one of a two-part series to recall the hits that ruled our airwaves over 40 years
‘Sun is shining, weather is sweet. Makes you want to move your dancing feet.” That’s New Zealand’s patron saint of summer Bob Marley summing up the Kiwi summer experience in just two sentences during the opening verse of his undeniable 1971 summer banger, Sun is Shining.
But is ol’ Bob on the money? Accepted wisdom would think so. New Zealanders love summer so much we built a whole genre around it; BBQ Reggae. But, despite housing all the elements of a quintessential summer hit, Sun is Shining never got to Number One.
So, what did?
What follows is a trip down our collective musical memory lane. A chance to relive summers past and, for younger readers, summers unknown . . .
Starting in 1978 and going right through to last summer we’ve collated the songs that were all at one point the sound of summer. These songs all hit the top spot as the year opened to soundtrack New Zealand’s summer holidays, our barbecues and our lives.
They were inescapable. They were everywhere. They were the most popular song in the country.
They were all Number One.
1978
The song: Float On
The band: The Floaters
Forty years ago, this slow and sexy RnB jam hit the top spot on our charts and stayed there a staggering 10 weeks. We bloody loved it. Right up until Paul McCartney and Wings came along with the Mull of Kintyre.
Then we floated on.
1979
The song: Dreadlock Holiday
The band: 10CC
In late 1979, four English rockers from Manchester thought it was totally fine to write a reggae song about a white man on holiday in Jamaica who gets accosted by the locals. While neither the lyrics nor the video would make it past today’s woke standards, in 1979 this was a bona fide summer banger.
1980
The song: Jezebel
The artist: Jon Stevens Millennials won’t recognise this Kiwi chart topper’s name — but they’ll know his brother, former NZ Idol judge Frankie Stevens. Before Frankie found fame, his 19-year-old brother Jon was a teen sensation hitting the top of the charts with his debut single Jezebel — beating Michael Jackson to the top spot.
1981
The song: Shaddup Your Face
The artist: Joe Dolce
The fact this parody track hit the top — and stayed there for an inordinate amount of time — should be a national shame. But it wasn’t just us. Shaddup
Your Face was a global sensation, topping charts in 10 countries, including the UK.
1982
The song: How Great Thou Art
The artist: Sir Howard Morrison Veteran performer Morrison enjoyed a career comeback when he released this chart-topping bilingual hymn, which was recorded at the 1981 Royal Variety performance, where he performed before the Queen.
1983
The song: Pass the Dutchie
The band: Musical Youth Thirty-five years after this summer anthem first hit the charts, it remains a staple of the great Kiwi barbecue playlist. Musical Youth beat Culture Club and Michael Jackson to take the top spot and stayed there until Marvin Gaye passed them on the lefthand side with Sexual Healing.
1984
The song: Uptown Girl
The artist: Billy Joel
Forget the summer of 1969, the summer of 1984 may have been one of the most hotly contested in music history. Billy Joel beat the likes of Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton, Culture Club, Lionel Richie and Duran Duran to win the chart battle with this doo wop-inspired upbeat ballad and secured himself an invite to every wedding in the world forever more.
1985
The song: Caribbean Queen
The artist: Billy Ocean
Billy Ocean won a Grammy Award for this track, which slid its smooth groove straight to the top of the charts in December 1984 and stayed there for a solid six-week run. Ironically, it was knocked off its perch by Band Aid’s festive banger Do They Know It’s
Christmas, which hit the Kiwi charts a full month after Christmas. And that kids, is what life was like before the internet.
1986
The song: Room that Echoes
The band: Peking Man
1986 saw another Kiwi hit take over the summer charts when Peking Man released their sophomore single
Room that Echoes. Featuring vocals by siblings Pat and Margaret Urlich, the song went on to win Best Single at the New Zealand Music Awards. Despite their success, the band only recorded one album together.
1987
The song: Walk This Way
The band: Run DMC & Aerosmith Twelve years after Aerosmith first released Walk This Way, rappers Run DMC covered the hard rock track, putting their own unique spin on things. The result was an international hit record that introduced the world to a new musical genre: rap rock.
1988
The song: Faith
The artist: George Michael
Having said, “no thank you, ma’am” to staying in the almighty pop duo Wham! a year earlier, George Michael needed a grand slam from his first solo outing. But he had the faith and Faith gave him his first solo Number One.
1989
The song: Teardrops
The band: Womack & Womack Covered by everyone from Elton John to Sugarbabes, the deep, dancefloor groove of Teardrops cannot be denied. It knocked local female supergroup When the Cat’s Away off the top spot, before conceding to The Proclaimers’ unstoppable smash I’m Gonna Be five weeks later.
1990
The song: Love Shack
The band: The B-52s Feel-good party band The B-52s kicked off the 90s with the ultimate feel-good party song about a funky little shack and a whole lot of lovin’. Kiwis loved Love Shack and it stayed in the charts for 25 weeks.
1991
The song: Ice Ice Baby
The artist: Vanilla Ice
Despite our scorching hot summer sun, Vanilla Ice stayed frozen to the number one spot for five weeks with this ice-cold hip-hop jam. But even the Ice man couldn’t withstand the heat of Bart Simpson who yoinked the top spot off him five weeks later with Do the Bart Man.
1992
The song: Black & White The artist: Michael Jackson The King of Pop’s return was a major, multimedia event. The song went straight to Number One around the globe after premiering on the telly in a simultaneous worldwide broadcast that pulled over 500 million viewers.
1993
The song: I Will Always Love You
The artist: Whitney Houston For 11 weeks, New Zealand loved Whitney’s ultimate power ballad. It’s lost none of its impact over the years and can still bring a tear to the eye. Dolly Parton may have written it, but Whitney owns it.
1994
The song: I Can See Clearly Now
The artist: Jimmy Cliff There’s something poetic about Bitty McLean’s It Keeps Rainin’ being washed off the summer top spot by Jimmy Cliff’s smiley, reggae song about a “bright, sunshine-y day”. But in typical Kiwi summer fashion the clouds soon gathered when Don McGlashan’s band The Mutton Birds plugged into the top spot with their grungy, surrealistic nightmare The Heater.
1995
The song: Here comes the Hotstepper The artist: Ini Kamoze Hot stepping right over the Headless Chickens to take the top spot, the lyrical gangster Ini Kamoze enjoyed his time at the top. But the selfproclaimed murderer was eventually taken out by Aussie grunge kids Silverchair and their breakthrough hit Tomorrow.
1996
The artists: Mariah Carey & Boyz II Men
Titans clashed in the early weeks of 96 as the dream team of Mariah and Boyz II Men crooned and trilled against hip-hop hero Coolio and his street tough banger Gangsta’s Paradise. Both teams were eventually blindsided by local-lad-turned-worldwide-one-hit-wonder OMC who bested them both. How bizarre indeed.
1997
The song: Thug Devotion
The band: Mo Thugs Mo Thugs’ devotion was solely to the party and this leisurely hip-hop banger blended summery g-funk with fast raps. But all good parties have to come to an end and it was Gwen Stefani and No Doubt that shut down the Mo Thugs party with Don’t Speak.