MY BEST NEW ZEALAND MUSIC SINGLE 2023

                                                                STAN WALKER-I AM

Video  

https://youtu.be/IK8OOpeYHC4?si=ldt6Q1dIWIA2SFit

 MY TOP READS OF 2023

 MY TOP RATED TV VIEWING 2023

To say that TV series, particularly drama are a passion is a gross understatement. 

Having completed viewing over 270 TV series in 2023 and starting, but not completing another 70, the shows on this list were rated 5 stars by me. Hard to choose a number 1 from such a high standard of shows, but on looking back the ones that stay in my mind and therefore made a greater lasting impact were:

A Small Light  USA Disney+ 

Little Bird  Canada

The Lovers  USA 

Succession S4

Heartstopper UK Netflix 

After The Party  NZ TVNZ 

Delighted to have a New Zealand drama, AFTER THE PARTY in my top rated. Thought it brilliant with wonderful acting, direction, script and cinematography. Best NZ drama since NOTHING TRIVIAL and 800

MY TOP RATED SERIES FOR 2023

https://youtu.be/vESnQesCdKc?si=_jpXBLv1q6bt8YvA

After The Party  NZ TVNZ 

Platform 7 UK

Slow Horses S3 UK Apple TV+

The Buccaneers USA Apple TV+

Faraway Downs  Australia

Lessons In Chemistry  USA Apple TV+

The Winter King  UK

RFDS S2  Australia 

Harlan Coben’s Shelter  UK Prime 

The Lovers  USA 

Top Boy S5   UK Netflix 

Special Ops:Lioness  USA

The Woman In The Wall  UK 

Bonn - Alte Freunde, neue Feinde  GERMANY 

PMTA/Red Lines  Israel-actually a 2018 show

Heartstopper S1 and S2  UK Netflix 

Domina S2  UK/Italy 

Sanditon S3  UK 

Little Bird  Canada

Top Dog S2 and S3  Sweden/Germany 

Made in Heaven S2  India 

Hijack  USA Apple TV+ 

Champion  UK

Riding in Darkness/Nattryttarna  Sweden 

A Small Light  USA Disney+ 

Succession S4  USA  

The Diplomat  UK/USA NETFLIX 

The Last King of The Cross  Australia 

The Good Mothers  Italy/UK Disney+

Alaska Daily  USA/Canada  

Departure S3  Canada/UK/US/Germany 

Ku’Damm 56  Germany 

Happy Valley S3  UK 

Vikings Valhalla S2  USA Netflix 

The Sandhamn Murders S9  Sweden 

THE WHEEL OF TIME. 

Continuing and enjoying Barbra Streisand’s autobiography I was reminded of a disappointment I had early in my music days. In 1965 I was the Promotions Mananager for Philips Records here in NZ. We represented CBS  and distributed their records. CBS gave us the rights for free for the 5 times EMMY AWARD WINNING TV SPECIAL, My Name Is Barbra. 

TVNZ was the only TV network in NZ in those days and I enthusiastically offered the show to their TV buyer for free. He declined, saying it was not suitable for broadcast here, despite the fact that Barbra’s recordings were selling in big numbers and it was a multiple EMMY winner. I really disliked that man and what I considered his poor judgment. 

Ironically 26 years later I became DIRECTOR OF PROGRAMMES at TVNZ and that man’s boss……but that’s another story.

 GET BACK, the best TV series of the year-maybe any year.

I found every second of this 3 part doco compelling and came away at the end with a new admiration and respect for the individual and collective talents of The Beatles. Peter Jackson has produced a masterpiece. 

As a young lad I was obsessed with pop music. I had a huge shortwave radio in my room, through which I tracked down the latest pop music from around the world. At aged 15, Elvis entered my pop music spectrum and the 50’s rock’n roll followed to shape my music tastes. It was no surprise then that on leaving school I joined Philips Records as a junior and began a 50 year working life in music and entertainment. 

The most striking and emotional part of GET BACK, for me, was to see the group, between takes of their new songs, break into a rock’n roll classic and to share their joy of that musical genre. 

It was a privilege to see The Beatles creative process, the groups’ dynamics and the sheer hard and repetitive work that goes in to make a record album of this quality. 

Whilst an avid fan of The Beatles I have never warmed to Paul McCartney. GET BACK has changed that. Among the great talent on view, including the virtuoso Billy Preston, Paul stands out as a creator and leader whose love of music shines through it all. Apparent too is the musical chemistry between John Lennon and Paul McCartney as they bounce musical ideas off each other and instinctively know where the other is heading. 

Throughout the series we also get to see The Beatles families and friends interact with each other and those around. Since viewing the series my internal juxebox is playing the songs from the show on repeat. That’s a good thing. 

If you love pop music, GET BACK is “don’t miss-must watch” documentary TV

DECCA RECORDS UK 1975-MORRIS ALBERT-FEELINGS

DECCA RECORDS UK 1975-MORRIS ALBERT-FEELINGS

In 1975 I was Marketing Manager for Decca Records UK and basically I was running the popular music division under MD and record man extraordinaire Ken East. My responsibilities included A&R and Marketing.

                                                   KEN EAST 

                                      JOHN McCREADY 1975

One day our International Manager Marcel Stellman came to me and said “I think you should hear this record which is getting massive success in Latin America”. Marcel played me a record by a Brazilian artist Morris Albert. The English translation of the song title was FEELINGS. I loved it.

‘

https://youtu.be/wU0Pp2n6ooE

Marcel said there was an English language version about to be produced and he thought we should negotiate to get the rights for the UK and those countries we had our own companies or distribution deals with. I immediately agreed and Marcel set out to obtain  those rights for us.

Marcel succeeded, probably because he was earlier than most to see the record’s world wide potential.

We released Feelings and had immediate success in the UK selling 250,000 copies and capitalised on that success  with a Morris Albert album release of the title FEELINGS.

The record went on to be a hit for us in many major countries and was an important part of the revival of DECCA RECORDS in 1975 from a struggling company to once again become a “major”.

In mid-1975, "Feelings" peaked at number 6 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number 2 on the Adult Contemporary chart in the United States.[3] In 1986, French songwriter Louis Gasté successfully sued Albert for plagiarism on the grounds that the tune was taken from Gasté's 1957 song "Pour Toi"; Gasté is now credited as the song's co-author.

Australia (Kent Music Report)[4]	5
Canada RPM Adult Contemporary[5]	3
Canada RPM Top Singles[6]	> 18*
New Zealand (Listener)[7]	4
South Africa (Springbok)[8]	5
UK [9]	4
U.S. Billboard Hot 100[10]	6
U.S. Billboard Adult Contemporary	2
U.S. Cash Box Top 100[11]	10

In 1982 I had moved on to be MD of CBS RECORDS AUSTRALIA. One of our major stars was Julio Iglesias. When Julio toured Australia and played before predominantly female audiences, many of whom charged the stage wanting to just touch their idol, the standout song  of his shows was FEELINGS, which of course stirred fond memories in me of the songs beginnings and move to International success.

https://youtu.be/TbdoJSY4XyY

RECORD DAYS PT1 NEW ZEALAND 1957-1973

LINK TO YOUTUBE VIDEO
MY RECORD DAYS PT 1-PHILIPS-PHONOGRAM NEW ZEALAND 1957-1973
https://youtu.be/R8NQhO6UfSI

THE LOSS RUGBY LEAGUE LEGEND ARTHUR SUMMONS UNLOCKS PAST MEMORIES and THE PATH OF THE WINFIELD CUP TO NEW ZEALAND TV

THE LOSS RUGBY LEAGUE LEGEND ARTHUR SUMMONS UNLOCKS PAST MEMORIES and THE PATH OF THE WINFIELD CUP TO NEW ZEALAND TV

Rugby League legend Arthur Summons has died aged 84. Summons is
of the two players on League’s iconic Australian Trophy, THE WINFIELD CUP.

Playing League as a schoolboy I represented Wellington through the grades and first made the Senior side in 1959, aged just 19. In 1961, my last year playing League as it turned out, I was honoured to play for Wellington against the mighty Australian Kangaroos, which included Summons as their halfback.

It was a terrible day for us as the Aussies with stars like Reg Gasnier ran around us and through us at will and we lost by an embarrassing score. I tried hard all throughout the game, but was totally out of my depth with the speed and class of these guys. I did crash tackle Gasnier at one time, but only because he slowed on hearing the refs whistle, which I did not.

That evening we had a party with the Australian’s at their hotel, The Midland, and I got the chance to socially mingle with my heroes, including Gasnier and Summons. An evening I shall never forget which brings back better memories than of our hiding to these guys earlier in the day. One of the Aussies even gave me his Queensland jersey.

Anyway, later in life in 1992 and still a fan of the game and now Programme Director at TVNZ,  I was getting the weekly AUSTRALIAN WINFIELD CUP games sent to me on VHS tape by my Sydney based friend Stuart Rubin. I thought to myself why don’t we show this marvellous competition here?

I can’t be the only one to love this game.

So, I phoned Graeme Lowe, who was then coaching Manly, the club I followed. Graeme agreed to help me get the NZ TV rights for Australian Rugby League and was instrumental in assisting me close a contract.

                   John McCready and Graeme Lowe
So, Aussie League hit our screens, it was popular and eventually THE WARRIORS were formed and joined the WINFIELD CUP.

Whilst pleasing to see my passion for Rugby League now shared by thousands of my fellow New Zealanders I’ve never forgotten the path to that. Playing the game as a schoolboy in Wellington, playing against the great Australians, including Arthur Summons and the help from Graeme Lowe in getting our shared passion to a bigger audience.

R.I.P. Arthur Summons. A great man of Rugby League.

Thoughts and Ramblings on Entering Old Age

At 80 years I guess I'm in the process of moving from middle aged to old aged. I'm finding it interesting and even a little challenging, but overall satisfying.

One up-side is having mostly appointment free days and the freedom to choose what to do each day. This coupled with not having to be somewhere early morning results in many a sleep in and a late breakfast before cruising on to do whatever we choose. In my case usually a visit to the nearby Les Mills gym.

Having no job and plenty of free time also has allowed us to travel regularly and enjoy our favourite places, London, Barcelona and Australia’s Sunshine Coast. 

Ageing’s downside is one's ever declining physical ability with increasing aching joints, loss of hearing and fading eyesight. 

Not having a salary and little income brings a new worry; are we going to outlive our capital? How long can we live this wonderful lifestyle?

As I've aged, my taste in TV, movies, music, reading and the need for a variety of smart clothes and catering for the demands of others have changed or even disappeared.

When I met my wife JT, on the pretext of a romantic long weekend, I invited her to join me in Sydney. My real agenda was actually to attend a Rugby League clash on all three days of the break, such was my passion for Rugby League and sport of almost any kind. Today I couldn't give a toss and rarely watch League or Rugby unless it is a Warriors game or a League or Rugby test match. JT has taken over the family trait of following sport and watches cricket, in all its forms, at any time, day or night and for hours on end. JT will know who is playing who in tennis, rugby, cricket, football whilst I'm obliviously reading or sketching on my iPad. It is JT who enthusiastically discusses sport with our adult children and grandchildren, not oblivious me.

                                                JT

Having spent a life time working in music, radio and TV I remain a media addict. Its just that now, not having to make work decisions on what I view or hear, my own tastes have been revealed. Now a TV show has to be exceptional to get my continued interest. Reality TV was probably introduced to New Zealand TV screens by me and back then, I loved most of it. Now? Give me a break.

My love of good TV drama has not changed and has in fact increased, so now I search the world for quality drama and we, as JT shares my passion, spend most evenings engrossed in drama from the UK, USA, Australia, Scandinavia, France, Germany, Iceland, Italy, Spain and even from countries, not normally known for their TV production such as Columbia, Croatia and Argentina. Sadly, little of the drama produced here in New Zealand makes our viewing cut, although Australia still competes well with the wider world for our screen time.

Who would have believed in my TV working days, certainly not me, that 95% of our TV viewing today would be from internet downloads or streaming and only 5% from regular local TV? Who in 1957, when I started work in the music business, would have believed that today I have my entire music library of around 23,000 songs on a personal phone and that the device also has access to millions of music tracks on demand? Love it❤️

Radio? Hardly ever tune in anymore. I get my music leads from Spotify, YouTube, family, friends and on-line music news sites.

Pop music has changed. What hasn't changed is my need to seek and find new artists and music. However, there is less of it I like and the daily searches are sometimes frustrating. It is all worthwhile though when you come across artists like THE WAR ON DRUGS, DEATH CAB FOR CUTIE, FLORENCE and THE MACHINE, JESSIE WARE, LONDON GRAMMAR, RAY LaMONTAGNE and CHRISTINE and THE QUEENS.

Clothes? Gone is the wardrobe of tailored suits, designer label ties and smart shoes. One lone suit is surrounded by T shirts, a couple of comfortable sport jackets, jeans and shorts. Footwear is only one good pair of hardly ever worn street shoes, the remainder a variety of trainers. The aim is to avoid long trousers and jeans for as many days as possible; T shirts and shorts being the choice. The lone suit is reserved primarily for weddings and funerals, the latter more regular unfortunately.

Whilst I have always cared for those close to me and above all family, I have never really sought their approval and generally, selfishly, did what I wanted to do. In that respect the change in me is minimal; the difference now is now that whilst I care even more for those around and our ever increasing family, I still selfishly continue to do what I want to do and have even firmed in my ability to say no to attending events I don't want to go to. The upside I guess, if that I do go to an event or function it is, for me, special and a compliment to the event or host.

When JT and I met we were both fitness fanatics, our first date actually being an aerobics class. We are still exercising 4 to 5 times weekly, but neither of us are able to move freely and without joint pain. I guess the need to strive for fitness is part of who we are and a positive now we are ageing. We just love seeing our grandchildren enjoying and succeeding in their chosen sport or activity, though wish we were better able to enjoy it with them, rather than just watch from the sideline.

We often say that getting old sucks, but in reality it doesn’t. We just enjoy the positives it brings and continue to look forward, whilst warmly remembering a wonderful past. 

        At LES MILLS on my 80th

John McCready-My 50 Years working in Music, Radio and TV

PART 1 PHILIPS RECORDS/PHONOGRAM NEW ZEALAND 1957-1973
LINK TO YouTube Video
https://youtu.be/R8NQhO6UfSI

PART 2 UK RECORD DAYS 1974-1976
LINK TO YouTube Video
https://youtu.be/AHDLw40CtHI


PART 3 NZ-AUSTRALIAN RECORD DAYS 1977-1982
LINK TO YouTube Video
https://youtu.be/sujjrA2eHfk


PART 4 RADIO DAYS NEW ZEALAND 1982-1989
LINK TO YouTube Video
https://youtu.be/H_7f2ZR_9UA

PART 5 TV DAYS NEW ZEALAND 1989-2007
LINK TO YouTube Video
https://youtu.be/jUK2HaN0iAA

PART 1 PHILIPS RECORDS/PHONOGRAM NEW ZEALAND 1957-1973

LINK TO YouTube Video
https://youtu.be/R8NQhO6UfSI

PART 2 UK RECORD DAYS 1974-1976

LINK TO YouTube Video
https://youtu.be/AHDLw40CtHI

PART 3 NZ-AUSTRALIAN RECORD DAYS 1977-1982

LINK TO YouTube Video
https://youtu.be/sujjrA2eHfk

PART 4 RADIO DAYS NEW ZEALAND 1982-1989

LINK TO YouTube Video
https://youtu.be/H_7f2ZR_9UA

PART 5 TV DAYS NEW ZEALAND 1989-2007

LINK TO YouTube Video
https://youtu.be/jUK2HaN0iAA