A business trip last week saw World Beat in Christchurch, the largest city on New Zealand's South Island. Founded in 1856, Christchurch is the oldest city in New Zealand, and due to its parks and greenery is known as the "Garden City".
Penny Lane second-hand music store in Christchurch.
The city is slowly getting back on its feet after two earthquakes in 2010 and 2011, the latter of which devastated the city centre, levelling many buildings and leaving others standing but too damaged to be of use. I made a visit to the ruins of the cathedral, right in the urban centre, which has come to symbolise the tragic consequences and loss of life. It proved a sobering experience.
The self-reliance of the locals though was heartening to see. Along a strip which used to house a vibrant entertainment scene of bars and restaurants, the Re:Start shopping centre has emerged — a low-rise jumble of shipping containers, customised into shops and cafes. Here I found the independent bookstore, Scorpio Books, and the very helpful staff, David and Rachel, told me that the original store had been destroyed by the earthquake.
The store may have less floor space than before but the selection of books on the shelves was very interesting with well-stocked sections on, as you would expect, Kiwiana, along with art, photography, fiction and music. In the latter section I picked-up the recent biography, George Clinton & The Cosmic Odyssey Of The P-Funk Empire by Kris Needs (Omnibus Press, 2014); more on that later. If you are in Christchurch and need to get to a good bookstore, drop by Scorpio Books (see link below).
Rachel told me that one of the best music stores near the city centre is Penny Lane, a large shop that specialises in second-hand CDs, cassettes, vinyl, videos and games. To get to it I walked past the city bus terminal, down Colombo Street and across the railway bridge to the nearby suburb of Sydenham, about a 15-minute walk from the Re:Start project. Staff at the store told me that it has been open 16 years and also that there are branches at the Eastgate Shopping Centre and on Riccartin Road.
The store has a huge inventory with excellent sections on reggae, Latin, African and World Music compilations. I found CDs by Ghanaian funkateer Rob Way, some Afro-beat soul by Nigeria's The Lijadu Sisters and a 2004 French release of Pakistani qawwali singer Faiz Ali Faiz.
Penny Lane also has a decent selection of African-American music, especially blues, R&B and soul. In a subsection, Afro-Billy, I found a fantastic Still Records' (Holland) compilation of early R&B called No Black Money Baby, which includes among its many musical gems, a terrific cover of the R&B standard Drinking Wine, Spoodie Odie by Little Bobby & The Stereos; if you're into R&B check out this series of compilations, culled from original 7-inch singles released in the 50s.
The long plane ride back to Bangkok gave me the chance to make serious inroads into Needs' biography of George Clinton, who along with James Brown, Sly Stone and others like Jimi Hendrix, must be one of the most influential musicians to emerge from the 60s; he's also one of the most sampled. He laid the groundwork for black psychedelia (think of Motown's psych tracks released by the Temptations) and paved the way for early hip hoppers like Afrika Bambaataa, creating along the way two immortal musical ensembles — Parliament (named after his early 50s doo-wop group The Parliaments) and Funkadelic. Clinton is one of the funk icons of popular music, anywhere.
He persuaded record companies to fund his extravagant "Mothership" show, which featured a huge mock spaceship that descended onto the stage, guitarists in adult diapers, wild hairstyles (Clinton started as a barber and quartet singer) and glittering costumes, as well as the wonderful vocal harmonies that he perfected as a doo-wop singer in his youth (and which he says in the book is at the heart of his music).
I was fascinated by the competition and vibrancy of the 50s scene that Clinton started out in, as recounted by the author. The stage mayhem that he would bring to his shows in the 70s and 80s was legendary, as the Parliaments' were never as svelte and smooth as competitors like the Spaniels; he has always been known for his raucous shows.
Needs, apart from a few patches of needless "purple prose", does a good job of trying to piece together Clinton's early rise, peak years in the 70s and 80s and his spectacular fall from grace. He tracks his comeback as a solo artist and the ongoing litigation that Clinton is hoping will return control of some of his musical ventures. The author also stresses Clinton's importance as a social commentator, particularly his ironic, playful stance that makes Clinton's way of critiquing society so effective (and funky and funny).
This is an important book that shines a light on the career of a major musical icon of the 20th century. Read it and you'll be rushing back to check out the groove-laden repertoire of a man who has important advice for all of us: "Free your mind and your ass will follow." Excellent advice for the New Year — have a good one!
Scorpio Books: www.scorpiobooks.co.nz.
Penny Lane music store: www.pennylane.co.nz.
