The Music and Players of Bump'n Ugly This is a collection of previously unreleased songs I wrote and performed with Wellington band ‘Bump’n Ugly’ after it first formed late 1988 until splitting in early 1991. Some of the tracks on this album were recorded by the band in 1989 and 1990 including versions recorded on 4 track with other tracks being performed and recorded by myself as either early 4 track demos for the band or later as digital recordings. Bump’n Ugly was made up of a wonderfully diverse and unique assortment of friends. Some personnel thoughts on the Bump’n Ugly band members and other contributors. Arthur Tauhore The beautifully outrageous Arthur Tauhore sang nearly all Bump'n Ugly's songs. Arthur was something of a celebrity when he joined Bump’n Ugly being also the singer for local techno band Trasch. Arthur started and ran Wellington hair salon ‘LOVE’ while entertaining in various clubs with his drag band ‘The Transisters’. I will never forget when I first played a demo I had made of the song ‘Fate’ to the band. Arthur quietly telling me he wasn’t comfortable singing the line “I gave Aids to Hollywood”. asked why, he told me not many people know, but I am HIV positive. After that, Arthur always sang that line knowingly. Sadly Arthur succumbed to AIDS related complications on 28 November, 1993. Kua ngaro rā, ē, te whetū kukume ata. Gerrard Tahuparare Gerrard Tahuparare made a solid rhythm section with drummer John McDermott. I first started playing with Gerrard in 1987 when he joined ‘The Laundrettes’ as a percussionist, before forming a trio with me and John McD which Peter then Arthur later joined. Gerrard was the one who came up with Bump’n Ugly as a band name, it was only meant to be a temporary name until we came up with a better name, we never did. Gerrard had a lot of mana and a strong Māori wairua which he brought and shared with the band. Brother G had a huge influence on me. I have so many memories of my time with him, from when we flatted together and he would score cartons of cheap Russian cigarettes from Russian fisherman when they were in port to when touring stopping off at a strategic mare for a cup of tea. Gerrard would correct us if we pronounced a Māori place name incorrectly which seems strange now but in 1989 we were ignorant of Taupo being pronounced “toe paw” as Gerrard taught us on one of our early trips to Tāmaki Makaurau (Auckland). On another trip to play in Auckland G joined me at a meeting we had managed to arrange with an A&R guy at “redacted” record company. If you want to know the story about how the meeting went that led to me writing the song ‘Jigaboo Music’ then read the notes on the song. Gerrard was very talented and ambitious. He left Aotearoa in 93 and played for some great acts including one of Prince’s artists, singer Jill Jones. He rang me in Wellington from NYC in late 1993. It was one of the funniest phone calls I’ve ever had. “Hey bro, guess where I’m calling from? Me knowing he wouldn’t be at the Las Vegas Hilton said New York? “Yeah, but where in New York? I dunno, where? I’m at a party at Lenny Kravitz’ whare (house) and just using his phone to ring a few people. Does he know you’re calling New Zealand? Nah bro. Followed by his cheeky laugh. We spoke for nearly an hour as he listed all the celebrities who were at the party. I said why you wasting time talking to me instead of all the beautiful people? Yeah bro, you get it. Gerrard eventually returned to Aotearoa about 2015, sadly Gerrard suffered a stroke which really slowed him down but his wairua remained strong. Peter and I had a jam with him down in Wellington with some musicians we use to tour with one night which was a very special night. Gerrard departed this mortal coil on October 2nd 2018. Moe mai rā e hoa. Peter Jamieson I first met Peter Jamieson, aka Dr VersuVs or Dr V, at a party a year or 2 after moving to Wellington. Peter had a 4 track and had made some excellent home recordings which he played to me. His song ‘Who’s That Funky Dude?’ was an instant classic which became a song Peter would play guitar and sing with Bump’n Ugly along with ‘The Advertising Man/Orange Hole’ that I had written with Peter. The recording of ‘The Advertising Man/Orange Hole’ in this collection is a remix I made from an early 1989 version Bump’n Ugly recorded on my 4 Track. Peter went on to form very unique musical ensembles such as ‘Dr VersuVs and the Uranus Moon Orchestra’ set up and run a musical workshop and recording studio. We would perform together in various one off line ups and the occasional Bump’n Ugly reunion despite only 3 of the original members still living. Peter sill performs and is still very much part of the Wellington music scene, we remain close friends. John McDermott John McDermott aka Sticks McDee or Johnny Blaze was one of the first musician’s I met when I first moved to Wellington. I got him to play drums in the early days of The Laundrettes but let’s just say John was a bit too “dynamic” for some band members so was replaced. John worked at the Kingsley Smith musical instrument store where many of us wannabe musos would regularly congregate. Dave Berry who ran the store was an excellent guy, check out his bamboo guitars; https://ajdesignstudio.co.nz/case-studies/dave-berry-model-1/ I convinced John to join Gerrard and I playing a gig at a comedy night in a a Wellington bar in 1988. We dressed up in flower power garb, I dressed like a white Jimi Hendrix and we played really bad Hendrix covers as the Jeremy Jones Experience. I think we got free beer and made about $50 between us. It was after this we decided to form a band and asked Peter Jamieson to join us and later Arthur. John was always hilariously carefree, one of the more memorable times was when we were playing an afternoon all ages gig at the James Cabaret for the ‘ROCK THE QUOTA’ weekend of concerts around Wellington and surrounding regions to push for a NZ radio music quota to be mandatory by government. If you know your NZ music history, the band selection was about as diverse as you could imagine. The lineup was Upper Hutt Posse, Bump’n Ugly, Shihad and The Clean. This is in the days well before mobile phones were common, We sound checked in the morning and John went home for lunch but many hours later hadn’t returned. I kept trying to call him from the James Cabaret office. Upper Hutt Posse were just finishing and Bump’n Ugly was due to go on next, I had to tell Jon Toogood of Shihad that they’d have to go on next as we didn’t have a drummer. Shihad went on. and Finally someone offered to drive to John’s flat and see if he was there, he was. Once John returned I said where were you? At home, I just got out of the bath, why what time are we going on? Needless to say we were ready to play by the time Shihad finished. I played with John in another band, ‘Nasty Pleasure Tax’ after we both moved up to Auckland later in 1996-98. John runs Arch Hill Studio in Auckland and we try to keep in touch. Neill Duncan Sax player and drummer Neill Duncan plays on the recordings of ‘FATE’ and ‘Jigaboo Music’. Neill was another great friend of mine who would pop up at the strangest times and jump in on a groove or a performance. At the time he was sax player and percussionist for Wellington’s arthouse ensemble ‘The Six Volts’ and also drummer for ‘The Spines’ he went on to play in many NZ bands around Aotearoa before moving to Australia where he continued to perform. Sadly Neill lost one of his arms to cancer and made an amazing comeback having had a custom one armed saxophone designed and built that he would play. I last spoke to Neill just a few weeks before his death, he and I were both doing chemotherapy at the time but Neill’s chemo was a last ditch attempt to save his life which was sadly unsuccessful. Neill passed away at his home in Katoomba, New South Wales on 28 December, 2021. Kua hinga he tōtara i te wao nui a Tāne. Jackie Clarke Singer Jackie Clarke also sings with Arthur and ‘Bump’n Ugly’ on the RNZ studio recordings of ‘FATE’ and ‘Jigaboo Music’. Jackie is a very old friend of mine who I formed the band ‘The Laundrettes’ with in late 1985. Jackie has always been available to me to provide her voice for projects of mine when asked. She is well known around Aotearoa for her singing and entertaining. Please note other than digitally recorded versions of songs all other recordings on this album have been digitally remastered from analogue compact cassettes. All tracks on this album are previously unreleased.