We use cookies to help us understand how you use our site, and make your experience better. To find out more read our privacy policy.

Mercury Lane - Series One, Episode 13

Television (Full Length Episode) – 2001

This 2001 Mercury Lane episode is based around pieces on author Maurice Shadbolt, and OMC music maestro Alan Jansson. With Shadbolt ailing from Alzheimer’s, Michelle Bracey surveys his life as an “unauthorised author” (Shadbolt would die in 2004). Next Colin Hogg reveals Jansson as the "invisible pop star" behind OMC hit ‘How Bizarre’ and more. The show also includes readings from Kiwi poets: Hone Tuwhare riffs on Miles Davis, Fleur Adcock reads the saucy Bed and Breakfast, and Alistair Te Ariki Campbell mourns a brother who fought for the Māori Battalion.

He can hear things that the rest of us can't necessarily hear: he's incredibly perceptive when it comes to pop music.
– Music veteran Simon Grigg on Alan Jansson

Acknowledgements

Made with funding from NZ On Air

Music

Theme song 'You Again' by Shihad. Closing classical arrangement by Victoria Kelly