Enduring legacy of gifted Dude

Ian Morris. Photo / APN

With the death of Ian Morris, New Zealand music has lost not only a former member of late 70s pop-rock band Th'Dudes but a gifted studio producer.

The band's hits such as Walking in Light, Right First Time and Bliss, that he wrote and co-wrote - mainly with guitar sparring partner Dave Dobbyn - have proved enduring.

Out of the spotlight, his work as a producer and jingle writer backed advertising campaigns for big brands. The 2005 song for a Ford campaign featuring the All Blacks entitled My Black Jersey became a top twenty hit in its own right.

His other commercial work was marked by a musical sophistication that seemed at odds with a guy who started out playing rhythm guitar in a pub rock band.

Having been a foundation member of Th' Dudes with his Sacred Heart schoolmates Dobbyn and Peter Urlich, it was Morris who effectively ended the band by deciding to quit after the group conquered New Zealand but found indifference across the Tasman.

"I remember the day I broke the news to Dave," Morris told TimeOut in 2006 on the eve of a sellout reunion tour with Hello Sailor and Hammond Gamble, "I said, 'I'm leaving the band'."

"He was stunned because, like all of us, it had been our life for four years, or whatever. It had consumed every waking moment. There was no thought of getting another guitarist because it was such a special band."

Showing an irreverent sense of humour, Morris played the final Dudes show naked but for his strategically placed Fender Stratocaster guitar.

After the band and under the alter-ego Tex Pistol, Morris had a local number one in 1987 with The Game of Love, a cover which Morris turned into an epic production of studio trickery. He and younger brother Rikki topped the charts the following year with their ballad Nobody Else.

Morris's talents in the studio saw him engineer and produce Hello Sailor - Morris engineered the distinctive snare drum sound on the hit Gutter Black, a song which has had a second life as the theme to TV3's Outrageous Fortune.

He was also behind the mixing desk on Dobbyn's post-Dudes outfit DD Smash, the Screaming Meemees, the Warratahs, Greg Johnson and many more.

In recent years, as well as getting involved in Napier music venue The Cabana, Morris's non-musical activities have included his website StupidAd (www.igmusic.co.nz/stupidad.html).

Morris, who was 53, was found dead in Napier on Thursday. He is survived by his wife Kim, daughters Julia and Maude and stepson James.