Feature: Do The Creep!

 

DO THE CREEP!

Written by Peter McLennan

Jay Epae wrote 'Tumblin' Down' for Maria Dallas, had a top 5 hit in Sweden, and created a magnificent Kiwi dance craze with a swinging little number called 'The Creep'.

Born in Manaia, Taranaki, Epae made his way in the local music scene, eventually shifting to the USA in 1957, to further his career. Signed initially to Mercury Records, then to Capitol, he cut a handful of groovy pop singles, including 'Putti Putti', which hit big in Sweden. It got picked up by Radio Nord, a Swedish pirate radio station broadcasting offshore from a ship (a-la Radio Hauraki). It hit the top 5 on the Swedish charts, selling over 50,000 copies, leading Epae to tour there.

Epae came home and released his one and only solo album Hold On Tight! It's Jay Epae in 1966 on Viking Records, the same year he penned the pop hit 'Tumblin' Down' for Maria Dallas. Author Chris Bourke describes Epae's album as "an eclectic showcase of R&B, country and pop styles, showing how adept Epae could be at emulating Arthur Alexander, Fats Domino, Bobby Charles as well as Dean Martin and - on 'The Creep', an Epae original - James Brown." 

'The Creep' is arguably his greatest musical contribution. A fantastic dance number, it's a wickedly slinky slab of R&B. The cover of the original single even has a handy diagram of the dance moves. The song got rediscovered when John Baker included it on his Kiwi garage punk compilation Wild Things Vol. 2, in 1995. Epae's album got a digital reissue in 2012.

TRIVIA: Jay Epae's brother Wes was a member of the Maori Hi Five. They topped the charts in Sweden for several weeks in 1963 with their song 'Poi Poi' and toured there as well, alongside Duke Ellington and Count Basie.

Images courtesy of Chris Bourke's excellent Blue Smoke blog. Treat yourself!

This feature taken from Issue #5 of the Soultearoa Shakedown fanzine. Check out the full issue and all of our back issues here.

EMI Dumped The Last Vinyl Pressing Plant In NZ?

EMI Dumped The Last Vinyl Pressing Plant In Wellington Harbour.

Really?

The last vinyl pressing plant in New Zealand closed down in 1987, and, so the story goes, the plant's owners EMI dumped it in Wellington Harbour.

I've heard this story dozens of times from musicians and music fans in recent years, and no one knows the origin of this tale. It's one of those romantic notions that sound like you want it to be true - especially if you're a vinyl fanatic: "Evil corporation destroys local vinyl outlet". But is there any truth in it?

There are several variations on this story - one is that the pressing plant was dumped in Wellington Harbour by a radio station as part of some competition. Another is that EMI dumped it in the harbour to drive up CD sales. Why would a business dump perfectly good equipment in the sea when it was still working and saleable? What really happened?

Frank Douglas worked at EMI for 34 years running their recording studios. He told me that EMI NZ had twelve vinyl presses back in 1987. When the plant closed, the eight newer ones were packed into containers and shipped back to Australia - he saw them being packed - and the older four were stripped for parts. What was left was sold for scrap or auctioned off. EMI Australia wanted a new cassette duplicating setup, and EMI NZ had the best in the world at that time, so that was also shipped to Australia.

Music historian Andrew Miller suggests the most likely reason for the legend: "The Pye pressing plant equipment was dumped in the Manukau Harbour in the mid-'70s after Pye ceased record operations. A former employee who helped with the operation told me this."

Written by Peter McLennan

Read more about this story here, with a massive thanks to Audioculture.
Also check Peter's outstanding blog, DubDotDash.
And listen to him on your radio with 'Ring The Alarm', Saturdays 10am, Base 107.3FM

* this excerpt taken from Issue #4 os the Soultearoa Shakedown fanzine. Check the whole thing out here.