Music News - Celebrate the 25th anniversary and illustrious history of The Underwatermelon Man and Other Unreasonable Rhymes
06 September 2024 - 0 Comments
Music aficionados are being treated to a blast from the past, with the announcement that one of New Zealand music’s most fascinating art projects is getting a digital release!
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Celebrating the 25th Anniversary of its original CD release, and as a tribute to the legacy of its creator NZ artist Fane Flaws who passed away in 2021 - The Underwatermelon Man and Other Unreasonable Rhymes will for the first time be released via all streaming services worldwide. It features an impressive cast of celebrated Aotearoa musicians and entertainers, including Neil Finn, [Tim Finn}, Chris Knox, Bic and Boh Runga, Sir Dave Dobbyn, Jenny Morris, Don McGlashan and many more.
This treasured collection of songs will be released digitally on Friday November 1, but to launch the release enchanting track Neville The Enchanted Rug, which features the unmistakable vocals of Neil Finn (Crowded House, Split Enz) has been made available for the first time digitally HERE. The animated video can also be enjoyed HERE - with Linda Topp bringing plenty of character to Fane Flaws’ distinct and entertaining animation.
The Underwatermelon Man and Other Unreasonable Rhymes began its journey in the mid 70's as a drawing of a surreal character ‘The Underwatermelon Man’ created by Fane whilst on the road with his then band Blerta. It later became an image silk-screened onto a series of children’s mirrors. In the early 80's, pestered by one of his young children, Fane made up a rhyme for it, which was soon joined by a couple of throwaway nonsense pieces from the brilliant NZ lyricist Arthur Baysting. Over the next 15 years, Fane and Arthur developed a collection of around 50 rhymes, which Fane and composer Peter Dasent set to music. Fane then set about illustrating all of the songs.By 1998 - under the name The Bend - Peter and Fane recorded the first 25 songs as an album, featuring a ‘who’s who’ of NZ stars to sing on it. Alongside the aforementioned Kiwi legends, they also worked with The Topp Twins, Renée Geyer, John Clarke, Che Fu and King Kapisi.
With the help of Type Director Len Cheeseman, Fane then designed an accompanying 60-page hardback book, and published the package as Monkey Biz Ltd’s first ‘singing book’.
It proved hugely popular with parents and children alike selling 16,000 copies in NZ. Two years later Neil Gladwin and Fane developed it into a pantomime - with a cast and crew of 35 and a live band under the musical direction of Peter Dasent. It quickly became one of the hits of the 2001 Wellington Arts Festival, and a finalist in the Chapman Tripp Theatre Awards for ‘Best Original Score’.
By this stage ‘The Underwatermelon Man’ had developed its own momentum, so the animated film which followed, seemed inevitable. This was a six year labour of love for Fane and producer Jane Byrne that has become an important part of this project's legacy.
Now fans of this illustrious art project can celebrate another chapter, with today's digital release of Neville The Enchanted Rug, and the albums to follow on all digital streaming services across the world from November 1 - including animated videos for each song also being made available on YouTube, with the title song and film, The Underwatermelon Man.
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