Alastair Riddell "Positive Action" 1983

...Released by EMI, ‘Out On The Street’ was soon a national hit and Riddell a fully-fledged pop star. Space Waltz toured the country. “He pranced about in an olive, canary and pink candy-stripe suit,” noted the Christchurch Press. “For the second half he sauntered and leapt about the stage in black, plum and gold velvet. He cast disdainful eyes at his delighted audience, then raised a hand to his forehead in mock shame.” In Auckland they packed out the Town Hall, where Alastair had watched The Beatles a decade before. A follow-up single, ‘Fraulein Love’, was released...

...But what might have been a sustained career faltered. By the time the album Space Waltz by Alastair Riddell came out in late 1975, Rayner had left for the now renamed Split Enz and the glam moment had almost passed. Relocating to Australia, the remaining members found themselves divided over what to do next. Australian entrepreneur Michael Browning had just signed AC/DC, was about to take them to Britain, and offered to take Space Waltz as well, but Riddell’s bandmates demurred. Back in New Zealand, EMI offered little guidance, seemingly at a loss as to how to develop or market their star. Riddell recalls a suggestion from one of the company honchos that he try writing something in the style of Bachman Turner Overdrive. “That’s not who I am at all,” he says, looking back. “My energy just completely dissipated.” In 1977 he turned down an offer to join Split Enz, by this time based in London. Though tempted, he had been writing new material and reasoned he would find more creative satisfaction if he continued to front his own show. That year he released his first solo single, ‘Wonder Ones’, re-emerging minus the satin and eye-shadow, his hair cut fashionably short, clothes tailored more in the manner of Bowie’s Thin White Duke. He hit the road around New Zealand again, released a couple more singles and an album simply titled Alastair Riddell. Though he and his new band, dubbed The Wonder Ones, played some major shows – including a one-day festival with Dragon at Moller’s Farm, scene of the old Blues Conventions – he couldn’t gain the commercial traction needed to sustain his band. As the end of the decade approached Riddell headed overseas once more. He formed another band and began recording an album in the United States, but this group – optimistically titled Radiomusic – broke up before the project was complete. After a spell in Britain, he returned to New Zealand where in 1982 he released his third album, Positive Action and formed another group, Modern Contours. Yet once again he found himself out of step with the times. In the era of post-punk and the raw Dunedin sound, his new, heavily synthesiser-based sound was met largely with indifference. Once again, he set off for England where he formed yet another band, Flying Colours, and again almost completed an album. He finally returned to New Zealand in 1989, after his father had a stroke. Even then, he continued writing songs, but – now married with four young children to support – a full-time musical career was untenable. Instead he pursued various non-musical enterprises – running a clothes shop, growing and selling flowers – and played part-time in a Celtic band. In 2005 he performed a so-called “comeback concert” in Titirangi. It was meant to be the official launch of Trick Of The Light, his first album in 22 years, but the release was delayed. In 2012 a single ‘Last Of The Golden Weather’ emerged, promoted as “the first track from his forthcoming album.” The sound was both familiar and fresh; like a distant son of David Bowie singing on a South Pacific shore. As yet the album has not been released. Riddell has remained creatively active, pouring much of his artistic energy into filmmaking. 2014 saw the release of Broken Hallelujah, a feature film directed and scored by Riddell, written, produced by and starring his wife Vanessa. His older music too has found new life in the movies. In 2014, ‘Angel’ – a glam anthem from the Space Waltz album – played over the credits of the popular horror-comedy film Housebound, while ‘Fraulein Love’ can be heard in Taika Waititi’s 2016 hit Hunt For The Wilderpeople. Riddell remains passionate about music, and philosophical about the vagaries of a musical career. In 2005, he told Auckland writer Peter Malcouronne: “Some people believe … you make your own fortune, that somehow if you’re not successful, that you’ve done something wrong … I don’t really go for that kind of thinking. That idea the universe has some sort of mechanical process whereby if you put your foot in the right place, God will reward you — that’s tosh. Shit happens, basically.” Yet through the ups and downs he has always made music, always remained true to the credo he adopted at a young age: don’t be a conformist. That’s a success. - audioculture

trax:
01 Do You Read Me 02 Let Her Know 03 Have A Heart 04 Passion & Love 05 We All Take Off 06 Zero 07 Finest Dream 08 I Saw The World 09 Futura 10 Positive Action
…served by Gaius…