Big Runga "Drive" DCD 1996

Bic Runga is one of New Zealand’s most lauded artists, a singer-songwriter with a natural flair for words and melody, and a voice that defies age or current musical fashions.
With her four studio albums of singer-songwriter pop, Runga has straddled the line between auteur and commercially successful pop star well. She is part of New Zealand’s music establishment, one of our highest-selling artists, and her incarnation as part of the alt-pop/indie Opossom has added a new string to her bow...

...Hornby, Christchurch was where Briolette Kah Bic Runga, and her sisters Boh (Stellar*) and Pearl were raised, the musical daughters of Sophia, a Chinese-Malay 60s cabaret singer, and Joe, a Māori soldier. Runga’s parents’ record collection of The Carpenters, Cliff Richard, and Shirley Bassey was important in forming her particular tastes, though her discovery of The Smiths crystallised her decision to be a musician.
A prolific instrumentalist, Runga learnt drums, guitar and keyboards at school, and later played in jazz groups and bands at Cashmere High School. Her first break came when she won third place in 1993’s Smoke Free Rockquest with Kelly Horgan in the duo Love Soup. Pagan Records’ Trevor Reekie approached Runga to record. A QEII Arts Council Grant allowed her to record the first Drive EP in Wellington.
Making the move to Auckland in 1994 allowed Runga to develop her craft for a year before sending a demo of the song ‘Drive’ to Sony Records and others. Following an intense bidding war between the major labels, Sony signed her in 1995, recompensing Pagan Records for its initial outlay. Runga returned to ‘Drive’, re-recording the song with more instruments, though she used her original demo for the eventual release. The song ‘Drive’ won the APRA Silver Scroll award in 1996 – Bic Runga was 20 years old, and had yet to release her first album.When she did release her debut album, Drive, it was massive, and heard everywhere in 1997. The album infiltrated radio and television, charted at No.1, and sold enough copies to go seven times platinum. Seven singles were released from Drive, the most commercially successful being ‘Sway’, which she is still strongly associated with. ‘Sway’ was used on the soundtracks of American Pie and Cruel Intentions, both released in 1999. For the American Pie soundtrack, Runga collaborated on ‘Good Morning Baby’ with Dan Wilson from US band Semisonic.
Drive propelled Runga into the international market. A tour of the United States included performing at Lilith Fair, with some artists she was being compared to. After experiencing the US touring scene, Runga was next heard locally on Strawpeople’s album No New Messages, covering none other than The Cars’ song ‘Drive’. She followed this by touring with two local luminaries: Tim Finn and Dave Dobbyn. The tour was captured on the 2000 album Together in Concert: Live, and was a successful venture for all involved. The album was re-released in 2010...to be continued... - audioculture

trax disc 1:
01 Drive 02 Sway 03 Hey 04 Bursting Through 05 Swim 06 Roll into One 07 Suddenly Strang 08 Sorry 09 Heal 10 Delight 11 Without You 12 Sway (Live) 13 Drive 14 Sway
trax disc 2:
01 You 02 Ordinary Girl 03 Welcome To My Kitchen 04 Dust 05 Close The Door, Put Out The Light 06 Sway
…served by Gaius & BIG GRAY…