I am sure I saw Herbs Greatest Hits... or something in the top 5 album charts the other day on the net... what novelty song did they have?

Goodshirt boring? Not for me.
Mr. Jaelurman I guess all I can say is wait and hope. I think that the NZ music scene is going through a phase at the moment, it is still growing, the interesting stuff is still to come, eventually it will but you can't force it.

hey stefan could you explain what you mean by //to expect nz music to be different is hoping for to much....not sure what your gettin at there

WELL WELL WELL!
I Agree with both partys here in some ways. NZ novelty pop songs have slightly gone too far now! I mean i dont hate rubicon but the idea that bands like rubicon get so much air play over pop bands who at least have some sorta idea what song writing is about ie PINE. Sorta annoys me! But then again why does the music being celebrated in NZ always have to be the POP music. Now i am not talking about radio play. I mean take HDU and the DEAD C both dunedin bands and both have been invited to the BIGGEST alternative festival in the world! Both have videos but NEVER get played! Now that fucking annoys me when they dont get any recognition for that!

But anyway i could wank on for hours i am sure i have made a dick of myself but oh well.

One more thing jaelurman i think you have slightly got a narrow mind which i used to have to. Not all pop music is bad. everyband in the world wiether they are free noise to death metal have some pop songs.

ok i would only consider rubicon punk/pop, but not boy band pop if thats what you are talking about

Alot of valid criticism is going on here, which is good.

Andoru, what you said about Dead C and HDU is *exactly* the point im trying to put across. kudos for backing things up, thanks.

Trixie I do consider Rubicon pop. I know "pop" is hard to define, is it a distinctive sound? or is it simply popular commercial music. Pop music encompasses a huge range of all commercial music, which sadly does include boy bands and Rubicon. If you want to hear good NZ "pop/punk" listen to Sommerset. Those guys have been around for a decade and have busted their ass in the underground to get to where they are, without having a member from Shortland St in their band.

Andoru "One more thing jaelurman i think you have slightly got a narrow mind which i used to have to. Not all pop music is bad. everyband in the world wiether they are free noise to death metal have some pop songs."

I see where you are coming from, but i dont understand your backup statement saying that every single abnd out there have some pop songs. There are hundreds of thousands of passionate bands that thrive and progress without taking a single dive into "pop"ness, wether they be free jazz or brutal deathmetal. So i dont see why you said that.

Inverted Teenybopper? hehe cool term. But i dont really think it applies to me. The majority of what i listen to is stuff that you will never find in the "top 20's" sales rack at Tracs Music Store, this does not make me an inverted teenybopper. and if a band that I like (like when i liked Tool back in the early 90's before Undertow) gets popular,i will usually still like them if they keep their musical integrity. Tool are a prime example, they sell shit loads of albums, yet most of their latest work is progressing and experimental, they dont write "pop" songs, and good for them. A negative example is Metallica, they have gone downhill.

mainstream is just whats selling and whats getting airplay, its not neccessarily whats good. underground music provides a safer haven for bands who wish to express themselves sincerely. The mainstream takes from the underground what they believe is commercially viable, FACT. So therefore you can safely say that the freshest sounds are always coming from the underground, not the radio.

novelty songs have always been with us, none of you have mentioned sterogram's White trash
I don't think that novelty songs are a new phenomenon, or a particular plague at the moment they turn up every few years or so, and even as I think others have mentioned, great artists have been tempted to release a silly little song for our entertainment, David Bowie's Garden Gnome comes to mind very easily
New Zealand songs / groups (and I sorry there is a large gap in my knowledge i.e. commercial radio has only been played in my house for about the last 2 years)
but I'm thinking of mother goose with baked beans
Hog snort rupid ... any thing they sang,
Was "don't give me culture"," My love is Alien" and "computer games", novelty songs?
where groups like blurta and split enz novelty acts just because they liked to have fun with their audiences?
I don't think so....
then there are the songs that you could call cross over i.e. songs that where sung by comedians that made it...
Fred Dagg aka John Clarke .....oooh there's a weird wee thought the whole Bruce thing???
Ok back on track.... the ying ton song by the goodies, always look on the bight side of life, songs by cheech and chong, the list is never ending
I think that what I want to say is don't despair, we kiwis have always had an odd sense of humour and from time to time it will come out in our music, I don't think that it's a sign of laziness and is that really such bad thing?
if you truly think that it is don't panic it will pass...... until next time

with the nz on air benchmark put in place by our coming to the party government, including all the vids and songs blessing our airwaves. not to mention the many acts heading out and off overseas, and taking their tour circuits further as well... kiwi music has never seen and been in a better position. especially here at home.
i think. or am i hopelessly mistaken? i can't fathom the last time the scene here has spread as far. as fast.
if thats a big no, then live and let die. reside on shit for a click or two. there's always hot kids eager to throw down some sound. or old-schoolers finding out the reason why they've been in it and at it for all this time.
the only shit i find is bands with the real mecca gears aren't recording it, slapping down it on disc, reeling the vid and throwing the gig for us hungry, no, sometimes starving purveyors to lap.

jaelurman....I understand a little of music in NZ but generally your initial comment could actually relate to anywhere in the world! I'd have to say that all bands generally put a lot of effort into their "artform" and that the outcome is not purposely to create a novelty song, that is just perception. As with any artform the result is just that, someone elses perception. Your comment that "most of NZ music at the moment is just a joke" couldn't be further from the truth! In fact I think you'd find that NZ music at the moment is of an extremely high quality! Rubicon Pop! Man where do you get this shit from! Perception is perception but I think going that far is a little close to the ridiculous my man! And if you think that all bands "put out cheest shit" just to sell records....wrong....any band that really wants to stick around a while and has any sense knows exactly that.....don't put out a cheesy song cause it'll end up fucking us up..To sum up, I (and a lot of other's) think NZ music is real healtrhy at the moment and that there are many bands who can foot it anywhere in the world with the best of them! Bands that I see having a real strong future on the world stage are "Blindsott" (who I have said from the very start will do wxtremely well! and they are!), "Marystaple", "Goodshirt"...oh man I could go on but there is a long list of NZ musicicans that will do well if they stay dedicated, and man staying dedicated in this business would have to be the hardest task in the world!!!! See ya' dudwahallahs!!!!

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Andoru my little pumpkin-headed looking muthaphuka, don't confuse yourself over such issues, just let the "Toadmeister" wind you up a little...and really, I'm not "that caught up in the NZ pop scene". I like what I'm hearing,in fact at times I love what I'm hearing....tis gooood!!! Also remebmer, there are spies everywhere........watching.....looking....waiting........ready to pounce.....watch your back......they're everywhere I tell you.....arghghgharrffgkk^$%%*&^&*+_*+()(+@!$^%*(HHeeelllppp mmmeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee....................................