Flying Nun Research Paper

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Explain the social and musical factors which lead to the rise of the Flying Nun label and so many Dunedin musicians in the early 80s. You should also consider how musically diverse these musicians were and, by use of musical examples (songs), give some reasons for that. Roger Shepherd founded the Flying Nun label in 1981, in Christchurch. This record label was a place to find people who were passionate about music and not necessarily on the business side of it. Flying Nun label had innovative and fresh music that was world wide acclaimed. Roger decided to release the exciting music he was seeing around town, and he was obliged to do it cheaply. For example, the song “Tally Ho” by The Clean was recorded for fifty dollars. It was a Dunedin band that caught Roger’s attention. The first Dunedin band Roger released was a band called ‘The Clean’, with their song “Tally Ho”. Roger thought that they were a …show more content…

This led to other bands in Dunedin wanting their music to be played. This was a big social factor as a lot of other bands came from Dunedin, all young people with similar minds, having moved from home to Dunedin, with some forming bands. Four of these major bands from the Flying Nun label were Sneaky Feelings, The Chills, The Verlaine’s, and The Stones. These bands and other bands would share their music equipment around. Friends, girlfriends, families would tell other people about the music so it really got around and people started buying their records. Some examples of songs The Verlaines recorded include, “Death and the maiden” and “Bird dog”. Two of Sneaky Feelings popular recorded songs are “Husband house” and “Coming true”. An international hit, “I love my leather jacket” by The Chills, really resonated with a lot of young people. The song was dedicated to late drummer, Bull. He had written in his will for Phillips, a member of the band, to have. This was a very special