Like the self-titled 1978 album from Golden Harvest – originally the Kaukau brothers’ family band before a number of name changes – reissues speak of a different time. Photo / Supplied
Like the self-titled 1978 album from Golden Harvest – originally the Kaukau brothers’ family band before a number of name changes – reissues speak of a different time. Photo / Supplied
Reissued records arrive with the aroma of new vinyl, old impressions and comments on Facebook – the forum for those with memories and mortgages – like “loved that album. Lost mine when I moved from Christchurch”.
Like the self-titled 1978 album from Golden Harvest – originally the Kaukau brothers’ familyband before a number of name changes – reissues speak of a different time. The album, recorded at Auckland’s Stebbing Studios by producer Rob Aickin and engineer Ian Morris, captured a band at the intersection of disco, dancefloor funk, pure pop and rock (guitarist Kevin Kaukau going the whole Hendrix on All Along the Watchtower and the furious Right Time of Year).
Heard now, Golden Harvest’s sole album – previously available on CD and digitally – seems from a more innocent time, despite arriving at the end of a volatile decade marked by the rise of Ngā Tamatoa and the Polynesian Panthers, dawn raids, the 1975 Hīkoi and land occupations at Bastion Point/Takaparawhau and the Raglan Golf Course.
Golden Harvest’s gleaming, escapist originals reflected none of that: Love is Everything, I Need Your Love, Give a Little Love, Nite Lite ….
Real-world concerns would be soundtracked three years later with Herbs’ debut What’s Be Happen?, released as the Springbok tour divided the country. Different memories will be provoked by Herbs’ five-record box set due later this month.
Meantime, the remastered Golden Harvest offers the whiff of new vinyl and refreshed nostalgia. As Mike Chunn (Split Enz, Citizen Band) says, it’s “like reacquainting yourself with a long lost and dear friend”.
Golden Harvest is available digitally, on CD and vinyl.
