Don't Bring Me Down... Under: The Pretty Things in New Zealand, 1965

by Mike Stax, Andy Neill, John Baker

In 1965, while other British groups set their sights on America, the Pretty Things invaded New Zealand, a culturally sheltered colonial outpost 12,000 miles from their home. A disparate bunch of art student malcontents, brought together in one unholy collision of no holds barred `60s rhythm `n' blues and self-expression, the Pretty Things were the most extreme band of their day. Fueled by a baiting, sensationalist tabloid press, their loud, anarchic music and outrageous antics on and off stage - particularly those of drummer Viv Prince - ignited a national scandal and a public outcry that would spread from the newspaper headlines to the Houses of Parliament.

Today, so-called bad boy `rock star' behaviour has gone beyond passé to being almost expected. But in the Swinging Sixties, in not-so-Swinging New Zealand, for a bunch of longhaired musicians who looked as though they'd beamed down as emissaries from Mars, garnering inflammatory column inches in a remote Colonial outpost for being nothing but themselves was absolutely the real deal. No parachutes. No safety nets. No bodyguards. No lawyers. No PR people providing 24-hour spin control. "It really was about five young guys on the road," remembers singer Phil May, "with the rest of the country, apart from the kids, completely against you. It was like being a platoon behind enemy lines."

Or as guitarist Dick Taylor puts it: "The whole trip for me was like waking up in a Dali painting with no exit to reality."

More than ten years in the making, DON'T BRING ME DOWN…UNDER documents the Pretty Things' surreal, outlandish and frequently hilarious exploits in New Zealand through interviews with most of the major participants, press clippings and more than 180 rare photographs, including 8 pages in full-colour. DON'T BRING ME DOWN… UNDER is a must read, not just for Pretty Things fans, but for anyone fascinated by an era when rock `n' roll was not only outrageously FUN but also a force of subversion and ultimately liberation for an entire generation of young people around the world.

Genres: Music

120 pages, Paperback

First published April 14, 2006

Reviews

[Rog Harrison · Rating 3 out of 5]

I bought this last year but as it is a slim volume it got buried under a pile of other stuff and I only found it this morning when I was tidying up! It's an entertaining read about the antics of the band on their 1965 tour. I like the band's music (I have most of their albums) and it seemed appropriate to play their first two albums while I was reading this. I reckon it's still worth a read even if you don't like or even know their music as there are some funny accounts of what it was like on the tour.

[Rob Branigin · Rating 5 out of 5]

essential record of that long-ago time when rock&roll was still shocking, still dangerous.

[Frode Skjold · Rating 5 out of 5]

Crazy stories from The Pretty Thing's New Zealand tour in August 1965. Highly recomended for all 60's freaks.