Richard Ernest Morris (born 12 August 1960) is a British-born New Zealand musician, singer–songwriter and sound engineer better known by his stage name, Rikki Morris. He is perhaps best known for his 1988 hit single "

Nobody Else ''Nobody Else'' is the third studio album by English boy band Take That. It would become Take That's last studio album to be recorded before their initial disbandment in 1996. The album includes the singles " Sure", " Back for Good" and " Neve ...

" which he wrote and performed with his older brother Ian Morris/Tex Pistol and which reached number one in New Zealand and remained on the charts for sixteen weeks.

Early life

Morris was born in Barnet, London, England, the younger brother of Ian Morris (born 1957) but emigrated with his family to

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

in July 1966. Settling in the Auckland suburb of

Glendowie Glendowie is a suburb in Auckland, New Zealand. It is under the local governance of Auckland Council. It was under Auckland City Council from 1989 until the merger of all of Auckland's councils into the "super city" in 2010. Location Glendowi ...

, Morris attended Sacred Heart College with his brother Ian. It was while at Sacred Heart that Ian would meet

Dave Dobbyn Sir David Joseph Dobbyn (born 3 January 1957) is a New Zealand musician, singer–songwriter and record producer. In his early career he was a member of the rock group Th' Dudes and was the main creative force in pop band DD Smash. Since then h ...

and

Peter Urlich Peter Urlich (born 1956 in Auckland) is a New Zealand musician. He is the cousin of fellow New Zealand singer Margaret Urlich. Early years Urlich was educated at Sacred Heart College in the suburb of Glen Innes, Auckland. Son of Daniel and Rub ...

, all three going on to form the band Th' Dudes Rikki would become the band's roadie when they turned professional.

Musical career

Morris joined Th' Dude's as a roadie in 1979 at the age of 18. He was to quickly learn the ropes of setting up the band's sound system, becoming their sound engineer until the band broke up in 1980. Shortly afterward, Morris was recruited by New Zealand band The Crocodiles, initially as a sound engineer and then as a rhythm guitarist. The Crocodiles moved to

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

but broke up soon after. After several years songwriting in England he returned to New Zealand at the end of 1985, briefly joining The Vibe Brigade. In 1987, Morris formed a recording duo with brother Ian to produce Rikki's song "

". Ian was about to release " The Game of Love" as Tex Pistol (which went to number one in New Zealand in September 1987); ''Nobody Else'' became the follow-up, recorded as Tex Pistol with Rikki Morris. The single became a number one hit for the duo on 9 October 1988, remaining in the charts for sixteen weeks. ''Nobody Else'' would earn Morris the NZ Music Awards songwriter of the year award in 1988, while Ian was nominated for Producer of the Year for the same song. The follow-up to ''Nobody Else'' was "Come Back, Louise", which was released in 1989, again as Tex Pistol and Rikki Morris. The song didn't chart but it did receive some airplay. Morris's next single was "Heartbroke" which he released in 1990 and spent twelve weeks in the charts, peaking at 24. This was Morris's debut solo single, with brother Ian engineering and producing the record. ''Heartbroke'' won Rikki the

APRA Silver Scroll The APRA Music Awards are several annual and two-yearly award ceremonies run in New Zealand by Australasian Performing Right Association to recognise songwriting skills of its members. APRA hold the annual Silver Scroll Awards and song awards, ...

songwriting award in 1991 with Ian named Best Engineer at the NZ Music Awards. ''Heartbroke'' resulted in Rikki Morris being signed to

Mushroom Records Mushroom Records was an Australian flagship record label, founded in 1972 in Melbourne. It published and distributed many successful Australian artists and expanded internationally, until it was merged with Festival Records in 1998. Festival ...

and resulted in a move to

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

. Unfortunately, Mushroom Records were to suffer financial issues and Morris was one of a number of artists culled to cut costs before he even completed his debut album. Morris left Melbourne for New Zealand and returned to sound engineering. With the help of

Eddie Rayner Anthony Edward Charles Rayner (born 19 November 1952) is a New Zealand musician who spent ten years as a keyboardist in the band Split Enz. He has also played in the groups Orb, Space Waltz, Crowded House, the Makers, The Angels in 1986-1987 ...

, Morris released a solo album ''Everest'' in 1996. The album's first single "World Stands Still" charted for one week at No. 49. After a 25-year break from releasing his own music, Morris returned in 2021 with the single "The One Thing I Can’t Live Without". The song topped the New Zealand iTunes charts after its release. Rikki released his second solo album, titled 'About Time', in August 2024.

Television

Morris replaced Nigel Hurst as presenter on the short-lived programme ''3.45 Live!'' in 1989 which he co-presented with Fenella Bathfield. This role was to last only eight months. In 1994 Morris briefly hosted the health and lifestyle show ''Alive And Kicking'' with Jude Dobson, and in 1999 he hosted TV3's ''Get Your Act Together'', which showcased unknown songwriters. In 2016, a documentary about Morris's musical career was released under the title ''Nobody Else: The Rikki Morris Story''.

Discography

Singles

Albums

2024 'About Time' * Released as Rikki Morris * Label: Rikki Morris (RMLP001)

Awards

Personal life

Rikki Morris married When the Cat's Away singer Debbie Harwood in 1989, they had 2 children, Marlon (b.1990) and Gala (b.1994). Rikki is also father to another younger daughter, Oni Kidman (b.2004). Rikki married Janey Kline in 2014. They reside in Auckland with their two cats.

References

External links

Rikki Morris: New Zealand on Screen

Rikki Morris: AudioCulture - Iwi Waiata
{{DEFAULTSORT:Morris, Rikki 1960 births Living people APRA Award winners Musicians from Auckland New Zealand male songwriters New Zealand pop singers New Zealand guitarists New Zealand male guitarists 20th-century New Zealand musicians People educated at Sacred Heart College, Auckland