KEY POINTS:
Dave McArtney, whose classic Hello Sailor song Gutter Black has been the theme tune to Outrageous Fortune, gets him and bandmate Graham Brazier a cameo on the show's Boxing Day special episode.
What's the story behind Gutter Black?
Originally it was a song called Sickness Benefit. We had this wildly optimistic notion we could write Ponsonby reggae - reggae with country themes. So it was about living on the sickness benefit in Ponsonby. But the producer of the first album liked the melody and the feel and the sentiment and said, 'Go and rewrite it', so it got changed. With reggae comes experimentation with pidgin English, reversing adjectives, so it became 'My luck in the gutter black'.
So were you on the sickness benefit?
No. But in those days there were no restaurants in Ponsonby, it was all Polynesian people. We were student dropouts living in a big house, puffing dragon, living life pretty hard and fast. There were lots of people who were on the sickness benefit. But not me.
When did you write it?
About '73, '74. But the week before it was released, my brother was killed in a car crash in Sydney so I dedicated it to him. It's a song about life. It's about water flowing down from the Ganges into the sea, the process of life, the sea being bliss after death. That's actually the meaning of the song.
How close to the original is the Gutter Black we hear on Outrageous Fortune?
The version you hear is as it was recorded, with the big snare drum sound. There's no hi-hat in the recordings, it's all hand-claps. It's got this big relentless beat. I think that's why radio loved it so much at the time.
Isn't there a longer version?
Yes, on my solo album Hook. It's a full-on electro-funk version and I've written extra verses and another bridge to clarify the meaning because it does irk me sometimes that people sing 'My love in the gutter black'. It's not a love song at all. I explore the theme of rivers, talk about the Limpopo and the Seine. It's like a mother releasing the son from the comforts of the nest. 'If you accept it, my child, you're running back through the blissful ocean' so it's about the process of life to death. It's a weird piece.
Why do you think Outrageous Fortune chose the song?
Well, for a while we were a Westie-type band. We had a big following because of the pub rock thing in the 70s and 80s. It's rebellious, defiant. It's not punk. It's not mainstream rock either. With Blue Lady, it's one of our best-known songs.
So you and Graham Brazier are in the Christmas special, singing around a campfire?
We just appear out of nowhere. We just happen to be there. It's completely implausible.
How much acting did you get to do?
We're just playing, really. It's like motionless acting. Still life. Doing nothing. It's the best way for me to act because I'm stupid.
* Outrageous Fortune: The Movie 8.30pm Tuesday, TV3.
