KEY POINTS:
And as we've done with our cover star(s), we start with a flashback from the New Zealand Herald of March 3 1959 in what was possibly this paper's very first live rock'n'roll review by then music critic L.C.M Saunders. The headline: "Johnny Devlin Popular But Perplexing."
"Johnny Devlin's rock'n'roll concert at the Town Hall last night, the first of three to be given here during a highly popular New Zealand tour, was an affair to send his many fans into ecstasy and to perplex any who tried to make a dispassionate assessment of the entertainment offering.
The perplexity is more over audience reaction than over Devlinism, which in itself may be as harmless an expenditure of vocal and rhythmic energy as one of his notable fans and protectresses has already described it.
Last night's big but by no means capacity audience seemed to measure its enjoyment in terms of noise and physical movement on the stage rather than in the rhythm or word content of what was offered in the name of music. ...
... The Devils kept the temperature blazing hot with sound. Everything was amplified to an ear-splitting point of distortion so that both notes and words were quite unintelligible. Almost everyone appeared to enjoy it hugely.
Johnny Devlin himself, arranged first in a mixture of white and black and later in pink, seemed to have little more to offer than those who preceded him, save more vocal and physical energy. His frenzy at times moved him to sing kneeling or on his back. All this is bringing Mr Devlin more in a week than a Mozart or a Schubert could make in years because, while some find it a reversion to the music of the jungle, others quite obviously hear it as the very music of the spheres.
Some teenagers cast flowers on to the stage. It seems certain that no voice can stand up long to the battering their hero is at present giving his, so gather ye such rosebuds while ye may, Johnny."
The venerable Mr Saunders may have frowned through this encounter with the Johnny Devlin phenomenon, but even his disapproval gives us a sense of the excitement Devlin generated back then as he became New Zealand's answer to Elvis.
We're revisiting his era this week for a very good reason. Tonight he figures in what promises to be a special part of this year's Vodafone New Zealand Music Awards. He's the first recipient of the New Zealand Herald Legacy Award - a honour designed to acknowledge those Kiwi musicians whose efforts have left a lasting influence on those who followed.
While you might be forgiven for thinking we are giving all this attention to what is a nostalgic award because we're sponsoring it, there are other reasons.
Firstly, it was kind of my idea. Actually, I stole the concept from the likes of British music mags Mojo and Q, which often give awards to rock greats of yesteryear, especially those whose legacy often outstrips their contemporary profile.
I suggested it to Campbell Smith, boss of music award-givers Rianz, saying it would be nice to have something that honoured musical acts who still figure in the old national psyche long after their supposed heyday. Not a lifetime achievement award as such, something more to do with, y'know, the vibe of the thing.
Smart chap that he is, Smith ran it up the flagpole and it was saluted. Rianz decided Devlin should be the first legacy award winner. Now, having waded through the yellowing pages of his Herald clipping file, as well as hearing the remastered tracks on his forthcoming Ode Records compilation How Would Ya Be, Devlin is even more of an obvious first recipient. You'll see why too when you read Scott Kara's fine feature about the Devlin era.
Oh and it might pale in comparison to the honour he's getting tonight, but Johnny has achieved something else - he's the oldest bloke we've ever had on the cover of TimeOut (True, we had Johnny Cash once. But he was dead at the time). What's more, he's also the first bloke we've had on the cover of TimeOut twice. And what a handsome young/old Devlin he was/still is, isn't he?
