Soundtrack to your studies - 1994

The Jean Paul Sartre Experience were one of the main bands to play in the Uni Cafe for Orientation. Their band name was suitably nerdy for a university audience though it had gotten too ungainly by this stage, so they shortened it to JPSE. The band’s breakthrough hit had been ‘Precious’ (from the film Crush) and came in a brief moment when Herald journalist Russell Baillie was their keyboard player.

The rap group, 3 The Hard Way, played at the University of Auckland that year. When they were interviewed by Craccum, they admitted that when they saw the slam-dancing and stage-diving that took place when the support band played, they were worried that the crowd would be disappointed to see them perform. However, the gig was a success, partly due to their new song which was a massive cross-Tasman success - ‘Hip Hop Holiday.’ They had re-played the hook from 10CC’s song ‘Dreadlock Holiday’ but their label didn’t respond to requests to arrange a royalty split and they ended up losing all the proceeds from the song.

One of the other breakthrough kiwi acts of the year was Strawpeople, which was a project on campus inside bFM. Mark Tierney ran the station’s small studio and Paul Casserly was a student who had recently begun helping out at the station. Despite the cheap gear, they managed to make surprisingly modern-sounding music and by 1994 had their single ‘Trick With A Knife’ reach the Top 20, thanks partly to wonderful singing by Fiona McDonald of the Headless Chickens.

This was the year of the very first Big Day Out in Auckland. The headliners were Smashing Pumpkins, Soundgarden, and the Breeders. The promoter who brought the festival over from Australia was Doug Hood, who had a long association with Flying Nun so he arranged for the final act to be Straitjacket Fits, playing the last show of their first run.

Alternative rock might’ve been big on campus, but the music charts were far more pop-orientated, with the top single of the year being ‘Love Is All Around’ by Wet Wet Wet and the top album being Happy Nation by Ace of Base. However, this was also the year that Supergroove had both an album (Traction) and single (‘Can’t Get Enough’) at No.1.

What was pumping on your stereo while you were on campus? Suggest songs to add to our 1990s playlist, and you could win $100 Flying Out voucher.