Interview: Six Memories of The Plague Chris Cudby / Interview conducted by John Baker / Images supplied / Monday 19th April, 2021 11:32AM
Founded in 1978 by actor / writer / poet
The Plague were formed in reaction to the
nailed down and narrow-minded state of Muldoon-era Aotearoa. Including members
Tim Mahon,
Charlotte Wrightson,
Miles McKane and
Sally Griffin, the songs of The Plague will at last be brought to light on a new collection on vinyl LP and 7 , available at this week s reunion extravaganza at Auckland s Neck Of The Woods with
X-Features and
DJ Dubhead. Iconic for their pioneering theatrical and untamed art-punk shows, including a high profile performance at Nambassa Festival 1979, members of The Plague generously shared with UTR some of their own memories of the wild times they spent together.
The not-singing bird
With endless silence. David Olney
People say it was a poetic exit. I assure you, NOBODY wants to die onstage figuratively or literally. On Jan. 18, Americana pioneer, singer-songwriter, recording artist, pre-pandemic streamcaster, actor, and my longtime client and good friend David Olney died of an apparent heart attack midsong. He was center stage between Amy Rigby and Scott Miller at the 30A Songwriter Festival in the Florida panhandle. His last words: “I’m sorry.” His mantra, however, was, “Always be true to the song.”
Understanding the covenant between the audience and performer, David earned rapt attention from folks wondering how to classify what they were witnessing. Was it country? Folk? Blues? Vaudeville? Scottish newspaper