The Only One You Need - The Neighbours Compilation

Short Film (Full Length) – 1982

In mid-1982 soul/ska band The Neighbours, a film crew and various mates and roadies arrived at the legendary Hilton Hotel in Blackball, to shoot a short film doubling as a music video for three songs on their EP The Only One You Need. Director Gaylene Preston volunteered her services, and Reefton local Alun Bollinger stepped in to shoot it. On the lead single, the band play a hapless group of robbers, evading a bumbling cop (Rick Bryant) via the charms of vocalist Trudi Green. On 'First Love' Green is a vengeful waitress; for the final song she's back on the run with her gang, as the slapstick tale comes full circle.

We were going to be touring the West Coast and she’s from Greymouth so we decided to do it there. She got Alun Bollinger — the great DOP [director of photography] — who lived in Reefton. We met him and he asked for a day’s pay for a week’s work. We came into Blackball and the main street was full of trucks and vans and cranes — all willing to work for free because they were fans of the band. At the time there were lots of movies being made in New Zealand because of the tax breaks. and they used to film in off the wall places and we’d go and play for them so we had a following.
– Singer Trudi Green on working with director Gaylene Preston, AudioCulture, 13 May 2020