''She Speeds'' is a song by the

Dunedin Dunedin ( ; ) is the second-most populous city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from ("fort of Edin"), the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of S ...

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 ...

band

Straitjacket Fits Straitjacket Fits were a four-piece alternative indie rock band that formed in Dunedin, New Zealand, in 1986 and broke up in 1994. They released three studio albums, ''Hail'' (1988), '' Melt'' (1990), and '' Blow'' (1993), and several EPs. Thei ...

. The song was released on their debut 'Life in One Chord EP' in 1987. The EP was recorded at the Lab Studios in

Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...

, New Zealand, and reached number 10 on the NZ Top 40 charts later that year. A video was filmed for She Speeds for just $250 by Johnny Ogilvy and the song quickly became a cornerstone of their live sets. The song would later be dropped from their sets as the band moved away from its early sound. "She Speeds" was the last song played by the band at the Auckland

Big Day Out The Big Day Out (BDO) was an annual music festival that was held in five Australian cities: Sydney, Melbourne, Gold Coast, Queensland, Gold Coast, Adelaide, and Perth, as well as Auckland, New Zealand. The festival was held during summer, typi ...

in 1994. The band went on a semi-permanent hiatus after this show. At a show during their 2005 reunion tour,

Shayne Carter Shayne P. Carter is a New Zealand musician best known for leading Straitjacket Fits from 1986 to 1994, and as the only permanent member of Dimmer (1995–2012). Carter is a member of the New Zealand Music Hall of Fame, and has been awarded the ...

humorously murmured 'Uh-oh suppose this had to happen' before launching into the opening riff of the song. "She Speeds" is number 9 on the

APRA Top 100 New Zealand Songs of All Time The APRA Top 100 New Zealand Songs of All Time is a selection of New Zealand songs as voted in 2001 by members of the Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA). The top 30 of this selection was used to create the '' Nature's Best'' CD an ...

as voted by APRA members. Drummer John Collie said in 2008 that after listening to a live recording of their 2005 reunion tour, "She Speeds" along with "Dialling a Prayer" were still the best songs the band recorded during their career.

References

External links

Video of 'She Speeds' Tribute to Straitjacket Fits and She Speeds from the 2008 NZ Music Award

References

External links

Further reading