Goneville

by Nick Bollinger

In his award-winning memoir, New Zealand writer and musician Nick Bollinger talks with complete candour about his unorthodox childhood, his obsession with music, the impact of a family tragedy, and the journey that would decide the course of his life. Bollinger was just 18 when he went on the road with the band Rough Justice and its smoky-voiced, charismatic leader Rick Bryant. The next two years were sometimes uplifting and exciting, other times enervating and depressing. It was the 1970s and pot was plentiful. Often, though, the band was short of other things: money, food, shelter, and petrol for its increasingly ramshackle, broken-down bus.

Goneville is both a coming-of-age story and an intimate look at the evolving music scene in '70s New Zealand. It shows how this music intersected - sometimes violently - with the prevailing culture, in which real men played rugby, not rock. Nick Bollinger draws on his own experiences, seeks out key players and unsung heroes and vividly portrays a divided country, set to shatter apart for a generation.

Winner of the Adam Foundation Prize in Creative Writing.

Genres: Music

293 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2016

About the author

Nick Bollinger was born 1958.

He attended Clifton Terrace Primary School and Onslow College. He describes his tertiary education as ‘very motley, not worth mentioning’.

Nick was introduced to Beethoven, Gilbert & Sullivan and the Fireside Book of Folk Songs as a pre-schooler. His life changed at the age of five, when he heard the Beatles’ recording of ‘Twist and Shout’. He went on to become a bass player and a member of many bands, from Rough Justice, Ducks, Pelicans, Living Daylights and Laconics, to Wellington’s iconic Windy City Strugglers.

Nick worked as a postie and trained as a teacher before finding an outlet for his musical obsession as a record reviewer and rock journalist. He is a regular contributor to the New Zealand Listener and has written for Mojo, Rhythms, International Arts Manager, Rip It Up, The New Zealand Herald and many other national and international publications. Since 2001 he has written, produced and presented the music review programme The Sampler for New Zealand’s National Radio.

Slightly abridged from Awa Press website

Reviews

[Carol, She's so Novel ꧁꧂ · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5★

And Goneville? It is a name that kept coming up as I was writing this book, and each time its meaning shifted a little. It's almost Gonville, the suburb of Whanganui where Johnny Devlin, New Zealand's first rock 'n'roll star, grew up, so arguably the birthplace of New Zealand rock 'n'roll. But it is also an imaginary place that might be every obscure New Zealand town that every obscure New Zealand band ever played.

Nick Bollinger

& for me Rick Bryant's Rough Justice is obscure, even though the 70's is my era. I didn't even know well respected Kiwi rock journalist Nick Bollinger played with them.(they never released a record, although Bryant has said he has some old tapes) Like a lot of Kiwis at the time (& Bollinger certainly more than touches on this) I was happy to hear local bands, but I wanted them to play covers. The local bands I liked were from the softer end of the spectrum, not Rough Justice's hard edged blues. I've played some of Rick Bryant's music on You Tube with later band Jive City Bombers. Wow. Awesome voice.

The back jacket says Bollinger talks with complete candour. He writes but although he is very open about his unconventional background and a family tragedy, he chooses his words more carefully when talking about the band. Regarding early member Simon Page, Bollinger says he was dismayed at his inclusion in early Rough Justice (Mark 2) because of Page's different style of music, Bryant has flatly said the rest of the band hated Page.

But Bollinger has certainly a great recall for events both in seventies music and the politics of the time which makes this book more than a musical memoir but an important record of political events and the hippy lifestyle of the time. I really enjoyed it and finished the book in record time! & I'll add, he has scrupulously recorded his sources for each chapter.

Further Reading: Rick Bryant interview (his account of the break up of the first version of Rough Justice is hilarious!) http://www.audioculture.co.nz/people/...

[Simon Sweetman · Rating 5 out of 5]

A brilliant piece of writing that is all at once celebratory and sad, it takes you along for the ride, puts you there has you smelling the hope (and fear) and gives you these wonderful, evocative descriptions of people and places and of course the music. A tribute to so many key players in his life (and bands) and to the scene/s and to a New Zealand that you'll only ever find on pages now. Something really special.

[Ashley Lamont · Rating 5 out of 5]

I didn't start listening to RNZ regularly until about 3 years ago and I have been listening religiously ever since. One programme I never miss is Nick Bollinger's The Sampler - his weekly music review show. And it occurred to me while I was reading this excellent memoir that it was Nick's cadence I heard while reading (same thing happened when I read Trevor Noah's book).

This memoir about the exciting music scene - mainly in Wellington- in the 60's/70's, is highly readable. Many of the bands I had heard of before, but also a number I had not. And it is a shame that many never recorded & released their music. But it is interesting to read about the roots of the local music scene today.

And can I add - listen to Nick's interview with the fantastic Kim Hill on RNZ.

[Keen Reader · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bollinger was a member of Rough Justice, a touring band who existed for a few years in New Zealand during the second half of the 70s. He was also associated with another act, the Windy City Strugglers. This is a book that touches on the periphery of the New Zealand live music scene during the 70s, with specific emphasis on windy Wellington. It’s a tale of drug casualties, fashion victims and plenty of music. It features a cast of dreamers, students and stoners who spend their time on a steady diet of Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell and The Beatles amongst many other groups when they are not trying to write or perform music of their own.

During his adventures he rubs up against many others who would go onto forge successful careers in the business. We get glimpses into some of the early careers and activity of bands like Dragon, Mi-Sex, Hello Sailor and Split Enz, aside from the Enz, these were bands that were not necessarily known or heard about outside of the Antipodes, many of them being ‘World famous in New Zealand!’ or big in Australia.

He touches on the worrying monopoly that the two main breweries in NZ enjoyed regarding the live circuit, he cites one instance where the successful and recent award winning band, Rockinghorse, were blacklisted by Lion breweries, and this was enough to see the band split shortly afterwards as they were unable to find sufficient venues to play around the country.

There are many interesting pictures and copies of original posters scattered throughout the book, though I have no idea why the publishers chose to leave the descriptions of who or what is in them in a section tucked away at the back, instead of just telling you at the photos themselves?...There is a selected discography at the end, which is highly informative and gives us a thorough insight into many of the bands and their key works to follow up on.

The problem with unsung heroes in unseen places is that a persistent sense of ‘You had to have been there’ hovers around the text and it’s often hard to relate to so many people or bands that you know little to nothing of. This can work in a number of ways, it can heighten the mystique, it can create distance or it can stimulate your interest to find out more. I found that I shifted between the three at various times.

This is a wistful look back at youth, about what could have been, about not quite making it, but also about escaping a darker fate too, like prison, drug addiction and even death. Bollinger has made a successful and long career out of his writing and radio work in his native NZ and his passion for music comes through strongly. His weekly slot on RNZ is always interesting, even when he is discussing music or bands you don’t like.

"Goneville" is nicely written and Bollinger makes for an eloquent and thoughtful guide into the time and place. It does jump around a bit at times, which can be a little frustrating, but this is a deceptively compelling biography by a man with an enduring love of music.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

A musical and political history of Aotearoa in the 1970s and early 1980s - when I was a child and oblivious mostly to many of the bands and events that feature in this memoir. I love hearing Nick Bollingers music reviews on RadioNZ so it was interesting to read his "back story". A well written fascinating book that captures a specific period of NZ's history.

[Anne Williams · Rating 5 out of 5]

Easy, enjoyable and entertaining - Nick Bollinger's honest, insightful and sometimes wry account of growing up in the NZ music scene of the 70s. This really rounded out and pulled together my understanding of the bands I listened to as a young teen in the late 70s / early 80s. His love and passion for the music comes through at all times, but its also an evocative description of those teen years when many of us were figuring out how to fit in, fall out or find our identities against the sound track of our lives. Really enjoyed the selected discography at the end. Recommend reading this with Spotify or youtube at easy reach.

[Tama · Rating 3 out of 5]

It’s the kind of knowing profundity Shayne Carter’s book was missing. Where Carter was offloading and confessing to memories, personably. ‘Goneville’’s style feels like watching a private moment with an eye for the things that make the scene more human. Carter’s are burdens you’re still glad to take on, like a pervert priest. Bollinger’s recounts are self gossip. Not totally enlightening, but relatable. Slice of life scene writing. Though there shouldn’t be so much difference between the two books. They’re both memoirs about lives in music from youth on. One difference about their lives is Bollinger writes having been in with hippies. Shayne hates hippies. Had he been born ten years earlier he might’ve been a hippy. [At the end of the chapter ‘Punks and Independents’ Bollinger notes this tight divide with a guy only four years younger who was perfectly taken in by punk.

Bollinger paints the scenes of a concert with perspective. An account of Dragon, post-Australia, as legendary junkie rockers. After seeing them most grim holocaust archival footage of Auschwitz survivors may have helped them look as off-putting as their noise must’ve been. Or was it simply heavier than hippies could’ve taken? That would be a subtextual angle.

Watched ‘Tank Busters’ for it’s reference here. Bruno Lawrence is a stud.

[Kate Caldwell · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enjoyed this slice of nz history told from a young (well older, but looking back), passionate, music lover's perspective, but it needs to be a podcast ! The book lists a discography at the end but the story really begs to have a soundtrack playing throughout. The reader needs to be more studious than I with the patience to stop and google the bands' work each chapter. The publishing seemed a bit crusty too, don't know why the captions for photos couldn't just be straight under the pics ! One more thing , the nz music scene as even more of a sausage fest back in those years and the lack of interesting (or any) stories about women in the book reflects that. Very ladcore , which is a bit boring / discouraging

[Bill · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a great read with a reminiscent take on on the NZ bands of the 1970s, their performance environment and the personal stories of the dominant players. It was a fun time for those of us young in the 70s and it’s important to have much of that musical history recorded ( no pun intended)

[Francis Cooke · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nothing better than reading this on a family holiday and calling out different singers/bands/venues to Dad so that he could add his own memories to Bollinger’s great memoir/history of this era of NZ music.

[Tracey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nick Bollinger's memoir of the 70s music scene in New Zealand, as seen through his eyes. Well written, a great read👍

[Kerry Annett · Rating 5 out of 5]

A lovely gentle memoir of a time and a place (well times and places) that matter- to the writer, and to music in NZ, but to Wellington in particular. I really enjoyed reading this book.

[Duncan Croft · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great snap shot of New Zealand music history... brilliant insight into the local scene and what shaped it.