Simon Grigg

Simon Grigg
Born 1955 (age 60–61)
Auckland, New Zealand
Occupation Music businessman, writer, producer, musician

Simon Grigg (born 1955) is a New Zealand music businessman, writer, broadcaster, publisher, producer, DJ and archivist. Born in Auckland, New Zealand, he attended Palmerston North Boys High, Auckland Grammar and the University of Auckland.[1]

Punk rock

As a teenager in the 1970s Grigg formed the Suburban Reptiles, one of New Zealand's first two punk rock bands, the other being The Scavengers. With both bands on the bill, In June 1977 he co-promoted New Zealand's first major punk concert, which was the impetus behind a large number of so-called "second generation" punk bands.[2]

Propeller Records

In 1980 he formed the independent record label Propeller Records. Between June 1980 and August 1983 Propeller had a string of influential releases and hit singles and albums, including a number one with The Screaming Meemees, also managed by Grigg.

A second label, Furtive Records, was formed in 1981 to release the debut by Tall Dwarfs and The Newmatics.

In 1982 he was awarded the Record Industry Association Award for Outstanding Contribution to the New Zealand Recording Industry.

The label was seen as ground breaking, and inspired an explosion of independent labels in New Zealand.[3]

Late 1980s and 1990s

In 1986 Grigg opened the first house music nightclub in Australasia, The Asylum in Mt Eden.

A new label, Stimulant, in the mid-1980s had enormous success with UK dance artist Princess and licensed recordings from US labels.[4]

His Def Jam collection Its The New Style was released globally.[5]

The Auckland clubs Box and Cause Celebre, co-owned by Grigg, were important venues and focal points in the Auckland live and dance music scenes from 1988 to 1997.[6]

In 1994 Grigg launched the record label, Huh!, releasing debuts by Nathan Haines and OMC. The latter's "How Bizarre" was a worldwide hit over 1996 and 1997, reaching number one in 15 countries. It remains the most successful record released from New Zealand, selling several million copies.

In 1999 Huh launched the first of the Nice ’n’ Urlich series, co-ordinated and co-compiled by Grigg, which went multi-platinum across three volumes.

2000s

Grigg hosted the BPM and Extended Play radio programmes on 95bFM and George FM between 1985 and 2005. The BPM show was New Zealand's first dedicated dancefloor-aimed radio show and ran for 17 years.[7]

In 2004 Grigg's new label, Joy, released "Its On" by 3 The Hard Way, which reached number one in New Zealand.[8]

Propeller Records has also released a series of archival albums, which have documented parts of New Zealand's musical history, including the reissue of the iconic punk collection, AK79, much expanded (a joint release with Flying Nun Records); the New Zealand post punk collection, Bigger Than Both of Us, and the soundtrack to the TVNZ documentary series, Give It A Whirl. The label purchased the catalogue of Bryan Staff's Ripper Records in 2014, thus bringing much of the New Zealand punk catalogue under one roof.[9]

In 2005 Grigg moved to Indonesia, and in 2009 moved to Thailand, where he now lives with his wife and daughter, although he remains active in the New Zealand recording industry on a consultancy level and as a commentator.

In 2012 Grigg was appointed Creative Director of AudioCulture, the NZ on Air funded online history of the music and musical cultures of New Zealand,[10] which launched on 31 May 2013. Conceived by Grigg, the site's design concept, content direction and curation is his, although it exists under the administrative umbrella of the NZ On Screen trust.

Simon Grigg's first book How Bizarre: Pauly Fuemana and the song that stormed the world was published in August 2015.[11]

In October 2015 he was presented a prestigious Scroll of Honour from the Variety Artists Club of New Zealand.

References

  1. ↑ Simon Grigg's website
  2. ↑ The Suburban Reptiles' early gigs
  3. ↑ Staff, B. & Ashley, S. (2002) Off The Record: A History of the New Zealand Recording Industry pp.135-136
  4. ↑ Charts
  5. ↑ Discogs
  6. ↑ Auckland Club Culture
  7. ↑ 95bFM interview
  8. ↑ Charts
  9. ↑ http://www.audioculture.co.nz/labels/ripper
  10. ↑ "New Zealand music finds an online home: AudioCulture to launch the "noisy library" of NZ music". NZ On Air Press Release. 12 October 2012. Archived from the original on 2014-02-19. Retrieved 11 September 2014.
  11. ↑ http://www.awapress.com/products/published/books/MoviesMusicTheatre/thesongthatstormedtheworld


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