Darcy Clay
Branded as a musical genius by his peers, Darcy Clay's flame flared briefly, but left a lasting impression on New Zealand music. Clay (aka Daniel Bolton) recorded the now classic single 'Jesus I Was Evil' in his bedroom on a four-track tape machine, just months before his untimely death. The Auckland singer-songwriter only played five gigs during that time, including a support slot for Blur (released as live EP Songs for Beethoven). But his pioneering talent and "country-fried punk rock" are testament to the cult-like figure he's now become. Clay committed suicide in March 1998, at age 25.
Andrew Clay - Funny As Interview
Andrew Clay forged his stand-up comedy career in Australia, before returning battle-hardened to New Zealand. The brutality of that environment is among the things he discusses in this Funny As interview. Clay also talks about: Being the dude at the back of the class, trying to make people laugh The lightbulb moment when Australian comedian George Smilovici told him he should be a stand-up comedian Feeling pride when his conservative dad said “you’d be good at that” The “walking off to the sound of your own footsteps” moments of stand-up comedy, and the immediacy of knowing "straight away whether you're doing well” Writing two stage plays, “to try to be funny in a different way” For more of Andrew Clay, check out this Funny As interview with Clay and fellow comedian Mike King.
Mike King & Andrew Clay - Funny As Interview
Mike King and Andrew Clay have been mates for years. Alongside their own solo Funny As interviews, they found time to get together, insult each other and reminisce about the old days. Among other topics, they describe: Cementing their friendship during a daunting gig in Hawera, after being told they hadn't performed for long enough to get paid Mike talks about Andrew being the first Kiwi stand-up comedian he was really impressed by — and having no idea that borrowing one of his comedy routines was not the done thing Andrew contrasts the dog-eat-dog stand-up scene in Sydney with the more friendly scene in New Zealand The two laugh about Andrew giving Mike advice in the early days — and how badly they negotiated the deal when they got their own bloopers show
Jesus I Was Evil
This raw and rowdy video gives a fleeting insight into the all-too-short life of Darcy Clay. Recorded on a primitive four-track tape machine, 'Jesus I Was Evil' was a demented fusion of country and garage rock that, combined with Clay's fetching Evel Knievel-style onesies, heralded the arrival of an eccentric new voice. Darcy's school friend David Gunson agreed to shoot the video for a few hundred dollars and a bottle of whisky — editor Ian Bennett ended up getting the whisky. The wry humour and energy captured in the video stands as a fitting testament to his subject.
A Bit After Ten
One of New Zealand television's first forays into stand-up comedy, this talent quest based show ran for two seasons (the second as A Bit More after Ten). The hosts were Jeremy Corbett and his brother Nigel (in his TV debut), with Ian Harcourt (ex-Funny Business) as a resident judge, aided by two celebrities each week. Home viewers also voted, helping propel eventual winner Late Night Mike into the first final. Michele A'Court, Te Radar, Jon Bridges, Dean Butler and Andrew Clay all competed. All of them graduated to the show's stand-up successor, the long-running Pulp Comedy.
A Spark of Life - James Greig, Potter, Man of West and East
This edition of the 1987 Inspiration series on Kiwi artists looks at potter James (Jim) Greig, and his search for the “spark of life” found in clay. The Peter Coates-directed documentary visits Greig’s Wairarapa studio to interview him and his wife Rhondda, also an artist. Greig’s influences are surveyed: the work of Kiwi potter Len Castle, nature, orphanhood, and Japan (where his work achieved renown). The film captures the visceral process of making large works for a Wellington City Gallery exhibition. Greig died of a heart attack, aged 50, while this film was being made.
Havoc - First Episode
Irreverent 90s youth show Havoc launched the TV careers of hosts Mikey Havoc and Jeremy ‘Newsboy’ Wells (the pair worked together at radio station 95bFM). This first episode played on MTV (then run by TVNZ). Guests are Shortland Street actor Angela Bloomfield, Metro editor Bill Ralston and musician Darcy Clay. Amongst pop culture montages, videos and archive (future MP Lockwood Smith hosts kids’ knowledge test The W Three Show), Newsboy meets Hustler magazine centrefold Kimberly. The show is date-stamped by Spice Girls, drum’n’bass, Sodastream and Wells’ gelled hair.
Falls the Shadow
In this documentary, artist Helen Pollock discusses her sculpture Falls the Shadow. Using clay from the Coromandel and the Passchendaele (Netherlands) battlefield, she created a grove of arms reaching up against a background of trees stripped bare by gunfire in World War I. The work was inspired by her father, a wartime signaller. Pollock discusses her installation and the effect of combat on New Zealand troops in the war (846 Kiwis died in two hours during the 1917 battle of Passchendaele). The work is now on permanent display at Passchendaele Memorial Museum.
Nightline - 20th Anniversary Episode
A special tribute to 20 years of TV3's late night news show Nightline — including interviews with most of its regular newsreaders and major contributors of the previous two decades. Belinda Todd pops up in Los Angeles via satellite link and Darren McDonald is "door-stepped" at home while the others celebrate in a Ponsonby Road bar. There's a tribute to the late Dylan Taite; and other packages are devoted to Belinda Todd's more notorious antics, Bill Ralston's gonzo approach to politics, the show's arts coverage and its on-going love affair with nudity.
New Zealand Centenary of Cinema - Greg Page
This was one of two short promos that screened in cinemas to celebrate 100 years of New Zealand film. A stop motion plasticine figure morphs from one classic Kiwi film moment to another. Director Greg Page starts with National Film Unit newsreels, before jumping to the renaissance of Kiwi film that began in the late 1970s. Included are Goodbye Pork Pie, An Angel at My Table and Braindead. The promos (John O'Shea directed the other) were funded by the NZ Film Commission with support from Kodak, the Film Unit and the Film Archive (now Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision).