Strawpeople
Strawpeople are a New Zealand band. They were created by Paul Casserly and Mark Tierney after they had met while working at the Auckland university radio station now known as 95 bFM. Over the years, Strawpeople has brought together various New Zealand songwriters, vocalists and musicians in a collaborative effort and achieved some success.
Strawpeople | |
|---|---|
| Origin | New Zealand |
| Years active | 1985–2023 |
| Labels | Sony BMG Bigpop |
| Members | Paul Casserly Fiona McDonald |
| Past members | Mark Tierney Stephanie Tauevihi Fiona McDonald |
Early years
Strawpeople was created by Paul Casserly and Mark Tierney in 1985 when they were both working at 95bFM.
In 1990, Strawpeople released the single "One Good Reason", a cover of The Swingers' song from 1981, which was followed by their debut studio album Hemisphere.
In 1992, Strawpeople released Worldservice, which included a cover of "Have a Little Faith", which became their first single and album on the New Zealand charts.
The third album Broadcast was released in September 1994 and reached number seven on the New Zealand charts. The single "Sweet Disorder" won the 1995 APRA Silver Scroll Award as well as winning the duo the Songwriting award at the 1996 New Zealand Music Awards.[1][2] "Sweet Disorder" was voted one of the APRA Top 100 New Zealand Songs of All Time, and was included on the related Nature's Best 2 CD.
In 1996 Tierney left Strawpeople. Casserly began writing with Victoria Kelly. In August 1996, the group released their fourth studio album, Vicarious, which became their most commercially successful album, peaking at number four on the New Zealand albums chart and winning Album of the Year at the 1997 New Zealand Music Awards.[3]
In 1997, the group released the remix album, 100 Street Transistors.
In April 2000, the group released their fifth studio album No New Messages, followed by the compilation The Best Of 1990>2000 in November of the same year. Their cover of The Cars' "Drive", featured vocals from fellow New Zealand musician Bic Runga and peaked at number 7 on the singles chart.[4]
Recorded over a 3 year period, the group released their sixth studio album Count Backwards from 10 in August 2004.
In August 2023, Strawpeople released their first album in 20 years, titled Knucklebones recorded at Bigpop studios with long time collaborators Joost Langeveld & Chris van de Geer[5][6]
Vocalists
The Strawpeople, being a studio based recording outfit, have had a revolving door lineup of vocalists, normally female and from New Zealand. Notable vocalists include Leza Corban, Stephanie Tauevihi, Fiona McDonald (a vocalist from New Zealand band The Headless Chickens).
Discography
Studio albums
| Title | Details | Peak positions | |
|---|---|---|---|
| NZ [7] |
AUS [8] | ||
| Hemisphere |
|
— | — |
| Worldservice |
|
30 | — |
| Broadcast |
|
7 | 46 |
| Vicarious |
|
4 | — |
| No New Messages |
|
10 | — |
| Count Backwards from 10 |
|
20 | — |
| Knucklebones |
|
21 [9] |
— |
| "—" denotes a release that did not chart. | |||
Remix albums
| Title | Details | Peak positions |
|---|---|---|
| NZ [7] | ||
| 100 Street Transistors |
|
19 |
Compilation albums
| Title | Details | Peak positions | Certification |
|---|---|---|---|
| NZ [10] | |||
| The Best of 1990–2000 |
|
26 |
|
Singles
| Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Album | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| NZ [4] |
AUS [8][12][13] | |||
| "Blue" | 1988 | — | — | Hemisphere |
| "One Good Reason" | 1990 | — | — | |
| "The Slide" | 1991 | — | — | Worldservice |
| "Love Explodes" | 1992 | — | — | |
| "Have a Little Faith" | 36 | — | ||
| "Trick with a Knife" | 1994 | 16 | 37 | Broadcast |
| "Crying" | 26 | — | ||
| "Sweet Disorder" | 1995 | 27 | — | |
| "Beautiful Skin" | — | — | ||
| "Under the Milky Way" | — | 113 | ||
| "Taller Than God" | 1996 | 19 | — | Vicarious |
| "Boxers" | 44 | — | ||
| "Spoiler" | 1997 | 47 | — | |
| "Sun Comes Up" | — | — | 100 Street Transistors | |
| "Scared of Flying" | 1999 | 45 | — | No New Messages |
| "Drive" | 2000 | 7 | — | |
| "It's Not Enough" | — | — | ||
| "City Lights" | — | — | ||
| "You've Been on My Mind" | 2004 | — | — | Count Backwards From 10 |
| "Love My Way" | — | — | ||
| "Wire" | 2005 | — | — | |
Awards and nominations
Aotearoa Music Awards
The Aotearoa Music Awards (previously called the New Zealand Music Awards) recognise achievements in New Zealand music.
| Year | Nominee / work | Award | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990 | Hemisphere | Engineer of the Year | Won | [14] |
| Paul Middleditch - "One Good Reason" (Strawpeople) | Music Video of the Year | Nominated | ||
| Strawpeople | Most Promising Group | Won | ||
| 1994 | World Service | Album of the Year | Nominated | |
| Strawpeople | Group of the Year | Nominated | ||
| Strawpeople - World Service | Producer of the Year | Won | ||
| "Love Explodes" | Single of the Year | Nominated | ||
| 1995 | Wayne Conway - Broadcast (Strawpeople) | Album Cover of the Year | Won | |
| 1996 | Mark Tierney / Paul Casserly / Anthony Ioasa - Sweet Disorder (Strawpeople) | Songwriter of the Year | Won | |
| "Sweet Disorder" | Single of the Year | Nominated | ||
| 1997 | Vicarious | Album of the Year | Won | |
| Chris Van Der Geer (Strawpeople) | Engineer of the Year | Nominated | ||
| Fiona McDonald (Strawpeople) | Female of the Year | Nominated | ||
| Greg Johnson - "Boxers" (Strawpeople) | Songwriter of the Year | Nominated | ||
| "Taller Than God" | Single of the Year | Nominated | ||
| 2001 | The Best of 1990-2000 | Film Soundtrack / Cast Recording / Compilation of the Year | Won | |
| Paul Casserly & Joost Langveld - No New Messages (Strawpeople) | Producer of the Year | Nominated |
References
- Strawpeople | Artists at muzic.net.nz
- 1996 Winners Vodafone New Zealand Music Awards at nzmusicawards.co.nz
- 1997 Winners Vodafone New Zealand Music Awards at nzmusicawards.co.nz
- "Search for: Strawpeople songs". Retrieved 2 June 2018.
- "Strawpeople - part two - Article | AudioCulture".
- "Strawpeople Unveil Their First New Album In Nearly 20 Years". The Music. 4 August 2023. Retrieved 6 August 2023.
- "Search for: Strawpeople albums". Retrieved 2 June 2018.
- "Discography Strawpeople". australian-charts.com. Retrieved 19 October 2022.
- "NZ Top 40 Albums Chart". Recorded Music NZ. 14 August 2023. Retrieved 12 August 2023.
- "Search for: Strawpeople albums". Retrieved 2 June 2018.
- "Gold and platinum New Zealand albums to 2013". Te Ara. Encyclopedia of NZ. Retrieved 13 September 2023.
- "RE: ARIA Chart Peaks". Imgur.com. Retrieved 11 January 2020.
- "ARIA Hit Seekers – Week Ending 19th November, 1995 (from The ARIA Report No. 301)". ARIA, via Imgur.com. Retrieved 11 January 2020.
- "Awards History". Aotearoa Music Awards. Retrieved 22 September 2023.
