Five Wāhine Toa To Be Inducted Into The NZ Music Hall Of Fame
The 2021 Hall of Fame inductees will be celebrated at the Aotearoa Music Awards in November
The New Zealand Music Hall of Fame | Te Whare Taonga Puoro o Aotearoa is proud to announce the induction of five incredible women. The latest inductees’ hard-fought journeys have left a lasting legacy and forged a path for others on-stage as well as behind the scenes.
Annie Crummer, Debbie Harwood, Dianne Swann, Margaret Urlich and Kim Willoughby will be inducted into the NZ Music Hall of Fame in December. They will be recognised for their individual contributions to Aotearoa’s music scene, the inspiration they provided to local artists and audiences, and their importance in shaping New Zealand’s popular culture.
All five women got their start in the early 80’s. Annie and Kim, each having already released music under either solo or group names, found themselves atop the charts as guest vocalists on Netherworld Dancing Toys ‘For Today’. Dianne’s band Everything That Flies was on the rise and earning plaudits everywhere. Debbie’s talent was picked up early with a signing to CBS Records and award nominations following soon after. And Margaret was unmissable as the frontwoman of Peking Man.
“When I was a young person, women were outnumbered in the business by perhaps 100:1,” says Harwood*.
“All of us had toured for years in original bands. As the touring circuit dissolved and radio shut its doors to local music, surviving as an original band became almost impossible. At this time, as video became the new radio, local artists were competing with the huge video budgets of overseas bands. Our videos looked tragic in comparison, and it perpetuated the self-effacing Kiwi attitude that New Zealand music was crap. It was a tough time. The only way to get to the people at this time was to tour the length and breadth of New Zealand, relentlessly building up a live fan base.”
Debbie, Dianne, Annie and Margaret had a chance meeting at the 1985 Aotearoa Music Awards where all of them were finalists. Not long after that, the idea was floated of getting together with the addition of Kim as When The Cat’s Away.
“The idea formed to get together, have some fun and sing a bunch of songs that we like, learn some harmonies. I don’t think anybody pictured it as being as popular as it became,” said Dianne in 2004.
“The Cats toured for two and a half years before ‘Melting Pot’ was released,” said Debbie.
“As the single shot to No.1 in 1988, the industry was incredulous. Considering the lack of support at the time, our success was like a flower cracking through concrete! The sharemarket crash had just happened, and the public loved the band because we were optimistic and energetic. Sometimes I felt like Vera Lynn cheering up the troops. The preference would have been that our original bands had been supported by radio and the public, so we reluctantly accepted the huge success of the band, never fully standing in the glare of it. There was a little bit of bitterness at the necessity of forming such a band: a band that was born out of exhaustion from trying to get airplay and support for our original music, a band that was supposed to be merely a short break from the slog.”
However, from this unexpected success came a multitude of positives and an enduring public and peer adoration and respect for these five supremely talented musicians:
Annie
Crummer
Annie Crummer MNZM has one of New
Zealand’s best-loved and most travelled voices. That voice
has taken her from Avondale to Paisley Park, from local
talent quests to duets with Sting, and back to her
Rarotongan heritage. She first came to
public notice with her inescapable performance on the
Netherworld Dancing Toys’ ‘For Today’ (which also
featured Kim Willoughby), before going on to a successful
solo career as a featured performer, powerhouse vocalist for
hire and an enviable CV in musical theatre, notably starring
roles in The Lion King and Queen: We Will Rock You (“The
voice of one in a million” – Brian May). Annie most
recently contributed original work to Waiata Anthems last
year and is currently working on a new solo
album.
Debbie Harwood
Debbie
Harwood is a renaissance woman of the New Zealand music
industry. As well as being a platinum-selling and
award-winning artist, she has also been a radio host,
publicist, tour manager, producer and a music mentor. She
has always championed the work of female singer/songwriters.
A successful stint touring Australia (most notably working
with Jimmy Barnes) was followed by a return to Aotearoa
where amongst gigging, Debbie released an all-female album
of love songs and masterminded the Give It A Girl
concerts, also finding time to lecture on music at the
University of Auckland. Debbie’s most recent EP, The
Sun, came out in 2019.
Dianne
Swann
Playing live to 85,000 people. Signing to
two international labels. Recording with Radiohead. Having
her song ‘Birthday’ chosen as NME single of the
week. These are just some of the highlights of Dianne
Swann’s career as a vocalist, songwriter, and
performer. After spending much of the 90s
in the UK with her bands The Julie Dolphin
and Boom Boom Mancini, Dianne returned home
and formed the critically-acclaimed duo The
Bads, releasing four albums since 2005, as well as
touring and recording with the likes of Dave
McArtney, Tim Finn and OpShop
amongst many others. Having spent a career mostly in bands,
Dianne released the album The War On Peace Of Mind
under her own name this year to critical
acclaim.
Margaret Urlich
Already a
New Zealand superstar by the mid-80s thanks to her lead role
in Peking
Man, Margaret achieved what very few Kiwi
artists in the 80’s and 90’s could do by cracking
Australia. Her debut solo album Safety In Numbers
sold over 250,000 copies across the ditch and established
Margaret as one of the premiere artists of the 90’s with
multiple platinum albums in both Aotearoa and Australia.
Margaret relocated and made a home in rural New South Wales
but returned often to New Zealand to tour, most recently in
2019.
Kim Willoughby
From
post-punks The Gurlz through to
Netherworld Dancing Toys, the
platinum-selling and chart-topping When The Cat’s
Away as well as being a go-to vocalist for
seemingly everyone; Kim’s career is that of the consummate
professional. A naturally gifted singer, blessed with a
word-for-word perfect recall for song lyrics. Kim continues
to tour as Kim Willoughby & the
Bandoleros with fellow Hall of Famers Paul
Woolwright and Rick Ball (Hello
Sailor).
New Zealand Music Hall of Fame | Te Whare Taonga Puoro o Aotearoa
Presented by NZ Music Hall of Fame Trust, the inductions are undertaken in a private ceremony whereupon inductees are gifted a tapu taonga, in accordance with tikanga Māori. All five women inducted will be publicly acknowledged at the 2021 Aotearoa Music Awards in December on TVNZ 2. The entire broadcast will be streamed on TVNZ On Demand.
Thanks to the official Aotearoa Music Awards audio streaming partner Spotify please check out a selection of the inductee’s music at: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4ZB45ufgcBZXaDK5T1mX4P
Individual AudioCulture biographies:
Annie Crummer AudioCulture biography
Debbie Harwood AudioCulture biography
Dianne Swann AudioCulture biography
Margaret Urlich AudioCulture biography
Kim Willoughby AudioCulture biography
*Quotes from Debbie Harwood abridged from the introduction to Kiwi Rock Chicks: Pop Stars and Trailblazers, edited by Ian Chapman (HarperCollins, Auckland, 2010). The full extract can be read HERE.
The New Zealand Music Hall of Fame | Te Whare Taonga Puoro o Aotearoa: The New Zealand Music Hall of Fame | Te Whare Taonga Puoro o Aotearoa is a Trust run by Recorded Music New Zealand and APRA AMCOS NZ. It celebrates and pays tribute to the legendary figures that have shaped, influenced and advanced popular music in New Zealand. Their individual journeys are a direct reflection of the changing face of our culture; who we were, who we are, and what we might become. The purpose of the hall is to recognise the contributions of those who have had a significant impact on the evolution, development and perpetuation of New Zealand music by inducting them into the Hall of Fame; and establish, maintain and develop a forum for the ongoing celebration and recognition of inductees and New Zealand music. www.musichall.co.nz
About the Aotearoa Music Awards / Nga Tohu Puoro o Aotearoa: The Aotearoa Music Awards are owned and hosted by Recorded Music NZ and produced for Recorded Music NZ by Mediaworks Events. https://www.aotearoamusicawards.nz