Hammer time

The Southland Times

The call him Hoss and he hits the drums like he's driving nails. Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Famer Bruce Whitelaw talks to CHRIS CHILTON.

Bruce Whitelaw remembers it like it was yesterday, and who wouldn't? He was barely 19 years old, only a year or so out of Invercargill, and he was coming home a bona fide New Zealand pop star — as the drummer of chart-topping Wellington band Dedikation.

"Sh*t, that was fantastic," he says, down the line from his office in Warkworth, 160km north of Auckland.

Dedikation were touring on the back of their top-10 hit single, a cover of the Marmalade song Wait For Me Maryanne.

Their first Invercargill concert was at the RSA Hall.

Ace Invercargill group the Farthings, who only a couple of years earlier Whitelaw had filled in for, were the support band.

Whitelaw has never forgotten the sheer, exhilarating rush he felt as the curtains were drawn back and he got to face his hometown audience as part of the headline act — a conquering hero still in his teens.

"It was the highlight of my time playing professionally — I felt like I'd done it. It had been a dream and this was a dream come true." The lights came up and Whitelaw kicked the band into an upbeat version of I Can Sing a Rainbow (Love Is Blue), which had been a hit for American soul group the Dells.

He's never forgotten it and apparently some of the crowd that night haven't either.

"I was talking to John Kennedy in Christchurch the other week and he said 'that bloody song, when you opened up that show at the RSA, that was absolutely fantastic'. He still remembered the song."

OUTGOING CHARACTER

It's safe to assume Bruce Whitelaw's an outgoing character, larger than life, cheerful, fond of a big laugh.

Word is he brought that same presence to the stage when he was drumming in popular Invercargill bands of the late 1960s and early '70s: State Of Mind, the Satellites, Climax, Hammer and, occasionally, the Farthings.

That's a decent chunk of local legend right there and it's no surprise to anyone except, perhaps, Whitelaw himself that his part in it is being honoured tonight with his induction into the Southland Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame.

FOUR TO ENTERTAIN

Four Southland bands of yesteryear are on the bill at the Invercargill Workingmen's Club, including Whitelaw's first, State Of Mind, with Taff Hewton (guitar), Jill Burgess (Symonds) on keyboards and Dave Gillies on bass.

Considering Whitelaw hasn't played "anything serious" since he left the band Climax and Invercargill in 1972, he's quite surprised how well State Of Mind's rehearsals have gone.

The band members met up in Christchurch for a refresher course, tentatively easing their way into it. To get match fit on the drums Whitelaw terrorised the wildlife up north.

"I've had a kit of drums in the barn at home on the farm and I've been waking up all the sheep and the cattle and horses around the district, bashing away for the last eight weeks." It's just like riding a bike, Whitelaw reckons, "although I don't need the training wheels any more" .

There's been a fair bit of water under the bridge since the young man's exciting years in rock 'n' roll.

TOURING AND RETURNING

After Whitelaw left Invercargill in 1972 he spent four years working in the United States before coming home in '76. He was shoulder-tapped for a job in Auckland and left Southland for good in 1977.

Eventually, the call of nature became too insistent to ignore and the Whitelaws moved out of the city to a few acres at Waimauku, about 40km west of Auckland.

In 1995 they bought 8ha at Glorit, on the Kaipara harbour, and finally moved there four years ago. As well as breeding miniature horses, Whitelaw works for Warkworth Diesel and has a rural delivery contract.

Weekends are spent fishing.

"Kaipara's just two minutes down the road to the boat ramp." Life is "bloody good" for the big fella.

TYPICAL PATH

Whitelaw's path to the Hall of Fame started typically enough as a 15-year-old, suffering through piano and classical guitar lessons, "which I hated" .

But young Whitelaw quickly learned that the guitar could be used for playing rock 'n' roll and he found himself strumming along with Marty Blackmore, Alan Dennis and Stu Dodds in an early version of the 13th Hour.

He'd always had a fascination with the drums, though, and he came under the wing of one of Southland's handiest stickmen, drumming legend Warren "Bricky" McLew.

"He was a bloody good teacher, I was still having lessons from him when Taff Hewton approached me to join the State of Mind," Whitelaw recalls.

"When Bricky couldn't play with the Farthings they used to call on me because I had the same style as him ...

"I'm pretty heavy. It was something that Bricky taught me. He said, `don't just piddle about and tap the drums, play them like you mean it'.

"So I've always done that ... Not loud, just a good solid beat. I've always liked to have a real solid beat because the bass and drums are the two most important things in the band, I believe."

State of Mind were heavily influenced by Sergeant Pepper-era Beatles. They wore custom-made psychedelic jackets modelled on the designs worn by the Fab Four on their LP cover.

They achieved their slice of fame by winning the South Island Battle of the Bands in Christchurch, cheered on by a big contingent of Southland fans.

"Seventeen years old and you're travelling up to Dunedin and Christchurch for these Battle of the Bands shows — it was just awesome. Who'd have thought? I'd only been playing the drums for a short time." Whitelaw's boisterous beat-keeping style soon got him noticed.

In 1969 State Of Mind got some gigs backing John Rowles' brother, Frankie Price, on a tour managed by Universal Booking Agency, run by Tom McDonald.

A couple of months later McDonald phoned, wondering whether Whitelaw would be interested in playing professionally. He was just 18.

"I told mum and dad I was going to go to Wellington and join a rock band and play professionally. They said, `no you're not' and I said `yes I am'."

The band Whitelaw was recruited for was Dedikation, who recorded Wait For Me Maryanne. Reviewers rated it a superior version to the original and Kiwi pop fans agreed, sending it to No 2 on the national singles charts.

"I think Maxwell's Silver Hammer stopped us from getting to No 1," Whitelaw says. Done by the Beatles — that's no disgrace, is it? "It's a bit of a bastard, though," he laughs.

He recalls that when Dedikation got a song into the top 10 they got a pay rise of $5 a week, up to $35 a week. Whitelaw didn't give a stuff about the money, though. He liked the lifestyle.

Naturally, his intoxicating taste of pop stardom didn't last as long as he wanted it to.

Although Dedikation produced a self-titled album in 1969 the lineup folded in 1970.

Keyboards player Graeme Collins went on to become an original member of Dragon, while years later lead guitarist Ray Mercer became a figure in Wellington local body politics.

» Bruce Whitelaw, Roger McLachlan, Bruce Aitken, Neil Sutherland and David Kennedy will be inducted into the Southland Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame at the Boys Are Back In Town show at the Invercargill Workingmen's Club tonight.