Dave McArtney (Hello Sailor / Pink Flamingos) Feb 14th
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After the obligatory teenage pop group experience in Takapuna as a pre-pubescent drummer, and later in Wellington in the
early 60's as lead singer in Wellington College band, The OHMS, Dave founded Hello Sailor with Graham Brazier and Harry
Lyon in 1975.
The band grew out of the post hippie counter-culture in Ponsonby, when those halcyon days were replaced by the
distinctly tempestuous marriage of raunchy rock n'roll to 'divine' decadence, or what Todd Hunter directly referred to
as 'depravity' [Metro, Nov,2002].
Brazier, McArtney and Lyon were prime movers in the musical movement which saw the progression of the
singer-songwriters craft of the early 70's from a subdued, folksy meditation to a full blown country-acid rock with
novice electric guitars. Here emerged a seminal form of raw indigenous Kiwi rock. The band experimented with new lyrical
ideas pertinent to the colonial experience, and romantic notions of escape. Their developing musical profile inevitably
found inspiration from Black American forms of rhythm and blues and contemporary dance music. The song writing of
McArtney and Brazier began to take the form of a loose, swaggering type of Jamaican ska music. This 'Ponsonby' Reggae
sound produced Sailor's first hit, Gutter Black, written by Dave.
The infamous prolonged visits to California and Sydney are well documented on the street, however, a soon to be
released autobiographical novel, written over the past 5 years, will put to rest certain rumours, and bring to light
finally, some tantalising truths.
When Hello Sailor crashed the first time, in 1980, Dave formed The Pink Flamingos with Dragon keyboard-player Paul
Hewson and superstar 70's bass player, Paul Woolright. The hits Pink Flamingo, Remember the Alamo, Is that the Way and
I'm in Heaven firmly established The Pink Flamingo's career across all markets in the NZ music industry. However, it was
to be a career shortlived, with the death of Paul Hewson in 1985, and the reformation of Hello Sailor.
1978 Group of the year Hello Sailor 1980 Most promising Male vocalist Dave McArtney 1981 Male vocalist Dave McArtney
Album of the Year Dave McArtney & the Pink Flamingos Producer of theYear Bruce Lynch, for Dave McArtney and the Pink Flamingos Best engineered album Dave
McArtney and the Pink Flamingos [ Graeme Mhyre] Countrywide Music Awards, Band of the Year The Pink Flamingos 1984
Producer of the year Dave McArtney, for Heart and Soul, The Narcs. The Apra Silver Scroll ....... nominated twice as a
finalist. 1982 Is that the Way? 1995 Never Fade Away