Like so many artists, his legacy can’t be summed up in one thought or sentence
His band seemed to be on the breakthrough of the US mainstream in the early 1990s. There were some quirky pop singles on MTV’s 120 Minutes with bands like XTC, House of Love and the Ocean Blue among many others finally finding large audiences.
I went as far as buying Submarine Bells and although I kind of just stuck with Heavenly Pop Hit- a song that describes itself- I didn’t go all that much further.
But my friends did, and when the Chills reemerged with 2015s Silver Bullets, they were greatly loved once again.
All of this doesn’t even cover their 1980s albums for Flying Nun which are a great influence and when I made it to college, submerged myself into finding the New Zealand sound. Along with bands like the Clean, the Bats, the Jean Paul Satre Experience, the 3Ds and Straitjacket Fits among others, the sound of Velvet Underground influenced pop from New Zealand bands has touched everyone who has heard it, and I suspect will be timeless for new listeners to come.
Recent conversations around the Chills and another band Downy Mildew now immortalized by the recent Strum and Thrum: American Jangle Underground compilation unlocked a surprising forgotten memories.
Me in 1992 was very interested in discovering music. This was before I found college radio but knew of it. MTV offered a window but I was hungry for more.
I remembered some sampler CDs that I had either ordered for free out of the back of a music magazine or maybe bought with the magazine.
It was a novel idea then. Of course, in the 1990s and early 2000s, I would buy the CMJ newsstand magazine that excelled at promoting new alternative bands. Then as it disappeared, saw the rise of Uk mags that did the same- Q and the Word back then and Mojo and Uncut carrying the torch.
But I did look for free music back in those pre Internet days. Sire Records of course had the Just Say Yes series (for a price). Epic/Columbia promoted free music via soda pop companies. I even bought for a dollar or two the fantastic sampler put out by small indie Alias Records.
But I couldn’t quite pull that early memory.
I remember these discs being weirdly diverse with rock, jazz, world, etc. A few big names, a few names that became big and some who never did.
And I thought it seemed it was something to do with Musician magazine. Though I now wondered if that was a real thing or if I made it up. I went to the Wiki and saw it did exist- a place for writers like Lester Bangs and Cameron Crowe- though by the time I started reading it, it was owned by Billboard Magazine and folded in 1999.
Sure enough I looked and the discs I remember having I found.
It was their series A Little on the CD side. I had at least three and possibly more. Looking at what I found online-the series carried on a bit and would have been great to keep up with as I see later discs with people like PJ Harvey, Elliott Smith and others who came later.
It’s likely where I first heard Shakespear’s Sister, the Rembrandts, the Spin Doctors, Sophie B Hawkins and Del Amitri before they made their marks on 90s Radio.
It was also a good spot to hear new music from Warren Zevon, Ringo Starr, Maceo Parker, Wendy & Lisa and Los Lobos- established artists who had been pushed to the margins.
Eno and Cale was a revelation as were the Chills as was E (Mark Everett) who had bigger days ahead as Eels. I heard Me Phi Me whose Wikipedia entry details his success but someone I feel deserved more.
But I also remember the bands that sounded like nothing I had ever heard and maybe I could or couldn’t make heads or tails of like Strunz and Farah, Young Gods and Limbo Maniacs.
Here are the discogs pages for the ones that I know I had
https://www.discogs.com/release/6612622-Various-Musician-Magazines-A-Little-On-The-CD-Side-Volume-1
https://www.discogs.com/release/6613313-Various-Musician-Magazines-A-Little-On-The-CD-Side-Volume-VI
https://www.discogs.com/release/6613277-Various-Musician-Magazines-A-Little-On-The-CD-Side-Volume-5
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