February 10 2010
The Fourmyula to play Two Reunion Shows
posted by Steven Shaw at 4:17 pm
Dust off your old records — pioneering New Zealand pop band The Fourmyula, fondly remembered for their iconic song ‘Nature’ and a string of local hits, will return to the stage in March with all original members for two rare performances.
They’ll be performing Thursday 18 March in Auckland at the Windsor Castle Toto Monte Cristo Room and Saturday 20 March in Upper Hutt at the Expressions Arts & Entertainment Centre.
These shows celebrate the release of The Complete Fourmyula: a definitive four-CD set comprising of the group’s recordings: singles, three studio albums and live set, plus the legendary ‘lost’ LP Turn Your Back On The Wind, recorded in Britain shortly before the group disbanded in 1971. Compiled by Grant Gillanders, the collection will be released in February through EMI.
Formed in Upper Hutt in the mid-sixties, The Fourmyula earned the title ‘New Zealand’s Beatles’ for being the first local band to insist on recording their own material, resulting in a run of hits. Radio played them constantly: ‘Come With Me’, ‘Alice Is There’, ‘I Know Why’, ‘Home’, ‘Otaki’ and, of course, ‘Nature’ – the song that won its author Wayne Mason the coveted APRA Silver Scroll Award, became a hit all over again in the 90s for The Mutton Birds, was voted Best New Zealand Song of the past 75 years and became the title song of the Nature’s Best series.
After first singer Frank Stevenson – who later changed his name to Frankie Stevens – left the ranks, The Fourmyula settled on the line-up of Wayne Mason (keyboards, guitar, vocals), Ali Richardson (bass, vocals), Martin Hope (guitar, vocals), Carl Evensen (Vocals) and Chris Parry (drums). This is the group that appeared on all the recordings and that will be touring this March.
Having conquered New Zealand, The Fourmyula set their sights on Europe, basing themselves in the UK from 1969. Though they did not repeat their NZ success, they toured extensively, recorded at the legendary Abbey Road studios and completed the unreleased Turn Your Back On The Wind.
Returning to New Zealand, Wayne Mason and Carl Evensen played in Rockinghorse in the seventies, while Mason went on to form The Warratahs in the eighties. After a spell in Auckland with Human Instinct, Martin Hope moved to the United States and then Australia, where he works to this day as a session musician. Chris Parry remained in Britain where he discovered and produced the seminal British bands The Jam and The Cure.
The Fourmyula’s two appearances are a rare opportunity to see one of the most important groups in New Zealand music history.
Auckland @ Toto Monte Cristo Room Thursday 18th March tickets available Monday 15th Febfrom www.undertheradar.co.nz
Upper Hutt @ Expressions Arts & Entertainment Centre Saturday 20th March tickets available Monday 15th Feb from www.ticketdirect.co.nz