Dunedin's The Clean to join New Zealand Music Hall of Fame

The Clean's David Kilgour (left) and Robert Scott will join the NZ Music Hall of Fame, along with Hamish Kilgour and the late Peter Gutteridge. Photo / Gerard O'Brien

Dunedin band The Clean will be inducted into the New Zealand Music Hall of Fame later this month.

Formed in 1978 by brothers David and Hamish Kilgour and the late Peter Gutteridge, and joined by keyboardist-bassist Robert Scott in 1980, The Clean will be inducted as part of the 2017 Apra Silver Scroll Awards at the Dunedin Town Hall on September 28.

The band has twice declined to be inducted. David Kilgour this week explained the group's turnaround. " I think the last time we were offered to be inducted, we joked 'only if you did it in Dunedin'. So this time around ... it is in Dunedin."

One of the seminal groups within the "Dunedin Sound", The Clean's mix of electric guitar-fuelled minimalism, psychedelic instrumentals and alternative pop-rock has earned it praise both near and far.

Its 1981 single Tally Ho reached No 19 in the New Zealand charts and its subsequent EP, Boodle Boodle Boodle, which included the single Anything Could Happen, spent 19 weeks in the New Zealand Top 40, peaking at No 5.

Created in 2007, the New Zealand Music Hall of Fame is an initiative between the Australasian Performing Right Association (Apra) and Recorded Music NZ.

Two artists, bands or songwriters are inducted into the NZ Music Hall of Fame each year - one at the Apra Silver Scroll Awards and the other at the Vodafone Music Awards.

So far, it has paid tribute to Jordan Luck, Johnny Devlin, The Topp Twins, Straitjacket Fits, Hirini Melbourne & Richard Nunns, Ray Columbus & The Invaders, The Fourmyula, Shihad, Hello Sailor, Dragon, Herbs, Toy Love, Dave Dobbyn, Shona Laing, Douglas Lilburn, Supergroove, Bill Sevesi, The Exponents, Moana Maniapoto and Bic Runga.