Nick Bollinger’s blend of history and memoir of the NZ music scene in the 70s was officially launched on Friday evening at Unity Books. It was a really excellent launch with a great bunch of attendees, a number of whom experienced this scene first time around. Mary Varnham of Awa Press gave a rundown of the book’s historical context – 6 o’clock closing with bands as a lure to keep punters in the pub. Arthur Baysting (aka Neville Purvis), gave a sincere talk on the cultural circles that grow between people and places over time and the real need for drug law reform in NZ. Arthur finished by sharing an excellently gory road story from a Rough Justice tour. Nick himself thanked all involved with special mention to those who supported him throughout this project and a very warm thank you to Rick Bryant who took Nick on as a young bass player in his band Rough Justice. In a beautiful Windy City Strugglers ending, Bill Lake on guitar and Andrew Delahunty on mandolin performed a lovely version of WCS’s “Can’t Get Back”.
Mary Varnham, Awa Press
Arthur Baysting
Author, Nick Bollinger
Bill Lake on guitar and Andrew Delahunty on Mandolin
Goneville can be purchased from Unity’s online shop here
