Kevin Hill – Rock Photographer
Apr 14
Kevin Hill. Rock Photographer for the Christchurch Music Scene 1968-1980 Kevin Hill was one of the most important rock photographers to capture the history of the Christchurch music scene from 1968-1980. He has a great love of music and also played in bands. He has a natural ability to take great photos of the musicians and bands, both on stage and off during that exciting time of our youth and the great music that was being played in the Motor Inns, Pubs, Dances, Halls and Night Clubs around Christchurch. Musicians during that period remember him saying, “These pictures of you guys will be part of history and they will be important in the future” and he has been proven right with the huge interest in his photographs today. Neville Claughton, a prominent Christchurch musician said: “Kevin was everywhere in those days and thank goodness he was as he was brilliant at taking great photos. It was the most interesting era of music and will never be repeated again, he is responsible for capturing our Christchurch music history, Kev you are a gem”. His photographs have appeared in newspapers, advertising, film documentaries, books, LP, tape and CD covers and inserts. Photography and music was his passion and he combined the both to record an era of the music history of Christchurch New Zealand. His day job as an Electrical engineer saw him move from Christchurch to Auckland in 1985 where he went back to photography and went on to be a very successful photographer in that city and having two studios in Queen Street in the central business district specializing in actor’s portfolios, commercial and fashion photography. In the 90’s he went to University and studied for a Diploma in real estate and today is on the management board of Harcourts Cooper and Co a highly successful company and he is a respected Manager, trainer and mentor to a National award winning sales team. Kevin has said. “As the song goes. music is my first love and it will be my last” If you would like to contact Kevin his email address is [spam]Kevin.hill@harcourts.co.nz[remove spam] The link to Kevin’s musical photo collection is: Christchurch Music Scene 1968-1980 photostream Updated Nov 2011: More photos have been added and original versions remastered for cleaner sharper images! VISUAL MEMORIES – the book is now available (2015); contact Kevin for your copy...
Led Zeppelin – Sydney Showgrounds 1972
Feb 18
70s rock photographer Kevin Hill took thousands of photos of bands playing in New Zealand and Australia. This photo is one of many he took of the February 1972 Led Zeppelin concert at the Show Grounds in Sydney, Australia. The band opened the show with “Immigrant Song” (from Led Zep III) – straight after the first song the fans stormed the barriers and rushed to the front of the stage… security couldn’t stop them and they stayed there for the rest of the night. The performance of Immigrant Song at Sydney is featured on the Led Zeppelin ‘Official Remastered” DVD set issued by Jimmy Page. See if you can spot Kevin Borich at the front (with the press photographers) … before the crowds crashed the barriers – hint look at the B&W photo! There are over 1,000 photos in Kevin Hill’s collection of local and international rock musicians. The link to Kevin’s musical photo collection is: Christchurch Music Scene 1968-1980 photostream Kevin’s book VISUAL MEMORIES – the Christchurch Music Scene 1968-80 is available now. 200+ pages of high quality B&W and colour prints from the...
LINK – 1975. Rare unreleased song “Break the Ice”
Sep 24BREAK THE ICE – was to have been Link’s follow up single to the top 20 hit ‘Only Time Could Let Us Know’ – but it was never released and lost in archives for 35 years. This video clip was made possible with the help of rock photographer KEVIN HILL who captured stunning images of the band from that era. Coupled with the rediscovered music and production credits provided by Dave Kennedy – the song is able to surface and be shared with the...
Dave Kennedy – LINK “Only Time Could Let Us Know” / “Highway Driver”
Aug 16
Dave Kennedy, singer / songwriter / musician headed the band LINK from 1973-1975 (after the demise of the Chapta, who had previously won the Loxenne Golden Disc Award for their song “Say A Prayer”). They officially released one single, double-A sided: ‘Only Time Could Let Us Know’ / ‘Highway Driver’ with ‘The Day You Came Into My Life’. The song reached the national top twenty in New Zealand and won the 1973 RATA Award for Best Group Song of the year. A little known fact is that the band also recorded a song titled “Break the Ice” which only ever appeared on a compilation LP titled “New Zealand’s Top 12 Groups”. The song is slightly heavier than “Only Time”, more reminiscent of the music Nazareth or Foghat were putting out at the time and never was released as a single [reportedly because the record company execs didn’t like it]. The two principle songwriters in Link were Dave Kennedy and keyboardist Dave Gillies. Due to gruelling work schedules rhythm section members changed frequently – the original line up below consisted of: Craig Nicholson (drums), Dave Kennedy (vocal / guitar), Nev Claughton (bass), Dave Gillies (keys). After Link Dave moved to London (in the mid 70s) then to Sydney, Melbourne and finally Auckland in the 90s. He was called back to his native Invercargill in 2003 and was awarded Southland’s vocalist of the year in 2005. He still sings and is a talented musician – playing guitar, bass and drums. To contact Dave go to this site:...
Joe Walsh – Rocky Mountain Way 2010
Jul 10
Joe Walsh has had a long musical career spanning over 40 years. Hailing from Wichita Kansas, Joe attended Kent State University in the 1960s and it was during this era that he formed what would eventually become the James Gang. James Gang were moderately successful and released several albums, the most successful being ‘Rides Again’. After the demise of the ‘Gang’ Joe forged a solo career, with a backing band known as “Barnstorm” and it was during this time that classic tracks such as ‘Rocky Mountain Way’ and ‘Turn to Stone’ were penned. Joe’s solo career hit a peak in the mid-70s and cumulated in a live album recorded as part of the ‘Don Kirshner Rock Concert’ series aired in 1975. The LP released was ‘You Can’t Argue With A Sick Mind” and featured a stellar backing band including: Jay Ferguson (Spirit / Jo Jo Gunne), Don Felder (Eagles), David Mason (Traffic) and highly sought after session drummer Joe Vitale [a long time friend of Walsh’s]. A very successful album “but Seriously Folks” followed. In 1976 Joe joined the Eagles and along with songwriter Don Felder played the classic “Hotel California” solo, which is now entrenched in music history. He also wrote all the music to ‘Life In the Fast Lane’ and the Felder/Walsh dual guitar partnership was cemented. During this period Joe sought nomination as an independent candidate for congress, but was knocked back due to being under-aged. There are still some “Joe Walsh For President” stickers about if you look hard enough (I still have one). The Eagles parted ways for 14 years in 1980 and Joe resumed his solo career, with mixed results. The highlights of Joe’s post-Eagles work was probably his time down under where he played with New Zealand band “Herbs” and later “The Party Boys” (a band founded by Kevin Borich and Paul Christie). They recorded several albums, including a great live LP in Melbourne 1989. Joe lived in New Zealand for some years and I met him in 1988 during his time there. The Eagles reformed in 1994 and a newly sober Joe was ready to take the world by storm. The “Hell Freezes Over” era was extremely successful for the Eagles, but little new material surfaced from the band. It would not be until 2007 that the Eagles would release a full album of new material – but alas the...
The Underdogs [Pig, Mann & Edwards] – Wastin’ Our Time
Jun 28![The Underdogs [Pig, Mann & Edwards] – Wastin’ Our Time](https://www.artist-cat.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/Underdogs-001-e1309612286571.jpg)
The Underdogs rose from the ashes of the original Underdogs Blues Band. When former singer Murray Grindlay left the band it reverted to a three-piece of Glen Absolum [drums], Harvey Mann [guitar, vocals] and Neil Edwards [bass]. They produced one album in that configuration “Wastin’ Our Time” in 1970. The new sound had a tighter more psychedelic Hendrix inspired blues feel, a sign of things to come – and when the Underdogs finally folded the band morphed into Space Farm (Edwards went on to join The Human Instinct and was replaced with new bass player Billy Williams.) Photo courtesy of Harvey...