Alastair Riddell’s Space Waltz Paperback / softback
by Dr. Ian (Senior Lecturer in Music, University of Otago, New Zealand) Chapman
Part of the 33 1/3 Oceania series
Paperback / softback
Description
Alastair Riddell’s band Space Waltz was a short-lived one-album New Zealand rock act who hit gold with a #1 hit single in October 1974 with the song ‘Out On The Street’ but thereafter failed to achieve anything even close to that feat.
While relegated to one-hit-wonder status in the eyes of many, to this day Riddell and Space Waltz epitomize the mid-1970s heyday of glam rock in New Zealand.
But in truth their impact went far beyond this. Their generationally divisive nation-wide debut on the hugely popular MOR television talent quest Studio One/New Faces demonstrated the power of mass media exposure – they were instantly signed to a record deal with industry giant EMI – while Riddell’s controversial gender-bending image provided a cultural crossroads that greatly impacted the wider youth culture of Aotearoa New Zealand.
In addition, while the album’s most famous track, ‘Out On The Street,’ is rightly regarded as New Zealand’s glam rock anthem, the wider album demonstrates a compositional and musical depth that goes far beyond glam rock and into the realm of sophisticated progressive rock, ultimately providing an unlikely and highly unique musical amalgam.
Information
-
Only a few left - usually despatched within 24 hours
- Format:Paperback / softback
- Pages:144 pages
- Publisher:Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
- Publication Date:09/03/2023
- Category:
- ISBN:9781501389511
£16.99
£15.65
Information
-
Only a few left - usually despatched within 24 hours
- Format:Paperback / softback
- Pages:144 pages
- Publisher:Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
- Publication Date:09/03/2023
- Category:
- ISBN:9781501389511
