Our Musical Counterculture Like No Other

“Cut off from the ‘swinging’ innovations of 60s London, a generation of New Zealand musicians forged an underground scene that propelled the nation’s modern identity,” Garth Cartwright writes for The Guardian.

“For a nation now attuned to reevaluating its post-colonial history, there has been surprisingly little attention paid to this period when youthful energy disrupted Kiwi society via protest, humour, poetry and music. A new book [by Nick Bollinger], Jumping Sundays: The Rise and Fall of the Counterculture in Aotearoa New Zealand, details how, inspired by the Beats and the Beatles, an array of maverick personalities began shaking the nation out of its somnolence,” Cartwright writes.

“‘I like to think of that era as one that broke down barriers and got Kiwis creating in a way that expressed the culture of this country. Having Labour and the Greens in power here could be seen as the counterculture’s positive legacy,’ Bollinger says.”

Original article by Garth Cartwright, The Guardian, January 24, 2023.

Photo by Geoff Studd/Private Collection.