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 DD Smash was a New Zealand pop/rock band formed in 1980 by Dave Dobbyn after the breakup of Th' Dudes. The band briefly used the name "Dave Dobbyn's Divers" until drummer Peter Warren came up with "DD Smash". Dobbyn says the name "seemed to say ...

. Since then he has released the majority of his recordings as a solo performer.

Early life

Dave Dobbyn was born on 3 January 1957 in the working class area of Glen Innes, (Auckland), the third of five children to tour-bus driver Terry Dobbyn and Molly. He was influenced by music from a young age, ranging from the Irish songs his father listened to, to the music of the church across the road, to the various radio stations he was able to pick up on the family radiogram. While his family had a piano at home, he was the only member to not receive piano lessons, something he was grateful for in retrospect as it meant he was able to come to it without memories of strict lessons. He, along with his three brothers, attended the local Catholic college Sacred Heart College, where he would meet Ian Morris and Peter Urlich. While Sacred Heart actively encouraged music, Dobbyn was too shy to be involved, and on graduating high school worked nine months as a bank teller, and applied to teachers' college twice, to be accepted on the second try. As he started teachers' college he was asked by Morris and Urlich to join the band that would become Th' Dudes.

Musical career

Th' Dudes (1975–1980)

Dobbyn's first success came with rock band, Th' Dudes, which he joined as guitarist. After performing with the band for a year, Dobbyn quit teachers' college to focus on the band full-time. Dobbyn suffered extreme

stage fright Stage fright or performance anxiety is the anxiety, fear, or persistent phobia that may be aroused in an individual by the requirement to perform in front of an audience, real or imagined, whether actually or potentially (for example, when perf ...

and played early performances standing at the back with his eyes closed. However, he took on the role of frontman for the song " Be Mine Tonight" (1978). The song won single of the year in 1979 in New Zealand and led to many critics seeing him as the breakout star of the band. The band's 1980 song "

Bliss BLISS is a system programming language developed at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) by W. A. Wulf, D. B. Russell, and A. N. Habermann around 1970. It was perhaps the best known system language until C debuted a few years later. Since then, C ...

" (1980) has become an iconic New Zealand

drinking song A drinking song is a song that is sung before or during Alcoholic beverage, alcohol consumption. Most drinking songs are Folk music, folk songs or commercium songs, and may be varied from person to person and region to region, in both the lyri ...

DD Smash (1980–1986)

After Th' Dudes disbanded in 1980, Dobbyn formed a pop group

. The band's first release was the single "Lipstick Power", followed by "Bull by the Horns" (1981), thought to be about Dobbyn overcoming the

he sometimes experienced while performing with Th' Dudes. Their first album '' Cool Bananas'' (1982) debuted in the New Zealand charts at number one. After ''Cool Bananas'', DD Smash released '' Deep in the Heart of Taxes'' (1983), an album recorded live at Auckland's popular eighties venue Mainstreet. Their final album, '' The Optimist'' (1984), although slicker sounding production-wise than its predecessor, showed signs of compromise with the dominant commercial,

blue-eyed soul Blue-eyed soul (also called white soul) is rhythm and blues (R&B) and soul music performed by white artists. The term was coined in the mid-1960s, to describe white artists whose sound was similar to that of the predominantly black Motown and St ...

inflected,

synth-pop Synth-pop (short for synthesizer pop; also called techno-pop; ) is a music genre that first became prominent in the late 1970s and features the synthesizer as the dominant musical instrument. It was prefigured in the 1960s and early 1970s b ...

sound of the post- new wave era of British and Australian music which was flooding the New Zealand charts at the time. Dobbyn apparently had his eye on the larger Australian market and it was not long before he had a number one solo hit there. In December 1984, DD Smash was playing an outdoor concert in Aotea Square 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 ...

. During their set, a power failure led sections of the crowd to become restless. Some of the crowd started throwing beer bottles and police arrested them. The situation escalated and the riot squad was called in. Dobbyn made negative remarks about the police which allegedly spurred on the crowd. The concert was stopped by the police and sections of the crowd rioted, smashing shop windows along Queen Street. Prime Minister

David Lange David Russell Lange ( ; 4 August 1942 – 13 August 2005) was a New Zealand politician who served as the 32nd prime minister of New Zealand from 1984 to 1989. A member of the New Zealand Labour Party, Lange was also the Minister of Education ...

called a commission of inquiry and as a result, Dobbyn was charged with inciting a riot. The criminal prosecution against Dobbyn began in June 1985. His lawyer successfully defended him and he was acquitted on the charge of "behaving in a manner likely to cause violence against person or property and using insulting language".Queen Street riot 1984
(from

New Zealand history online The Ministry for Culture and Heritage (MCH; ) is the department of the New Zealand Government responsible for supporting the arts, culture, built heritage, sport and recreation, and broadcasting sectors in New Zealand and advising government o ...

, New Zealand Ministry for Culture and Heritage) When DD Smash eventually disbanded, partially to make room for the commercially expanding vision of Dobbyn, they left behind them the hit singles " Outlook for Thursday" (1983) and the violin-tinged, hi perennial classic "

Whaling Whaling is the hunting of whales for their products such as meat and blubber, which can be turned into a type of oil that was important in the Industrial Revolution. Whaling was practiced as an organized industry as early as 875 AD. By the 16t ...

" (1984).

Solo career (1986–present)

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When DD Smash folded, Dobbyn began a successful solo career, by writing the soundtrack music for the animated feature film '' Footrot Flats: The Dog's Tale'' in 1986. The film yielded two hit singles: " You Oughta Be In Love" (1986) and the chart-topping " Slice of Heaven" (1986) recorded with the band

Herbs Herbs are a widely distributed and widespread group of plants, excluding vegetables, with savory or aromatic properties that are used for flavoring and garnish (food), garnishing food, for medicinal purposes, or for fragrances. Culinary use typi ...

. After the release of the film, "Slice of Heaven" became one of Dobbyn's best-known songs, frequently used in tourism advertisements aired on Australian television that encouraged people to visit New Zealand. With the success of the song in Australia, Dobbyn settled in Australia. In April 1987, a re-worked version of Dobbyn's song "Slice of Heaven" featured in a number of television commercials in Australia. Funded by the Australian Meat Industry Council (AMIC), the commercials promoted the Devon meat product by substituting the word "Heaven" for "Devon" in the chorus. Dobbyn released his debut solo album '' Loyal'', a personal celebration of love and loyalty, in 1988. His follow-up was the

Mitchell Froom Mitchell Froom (born June 29, 1953) is an American musician and record producer. He was a member of the bands Gamma and Latin Playboys, and is the keyboardist for Crowded House. He has produced albums for several artists, including David LaFl ...

-produced '' Lament for the Numb'' (1993), which included members of

Elvis Costello Declan Patrick MacManus (born 25 August 1954), known professionally as Elvis Costello, is an English singer, songwriter, record producer, author and television host. According to ''Rolling Stone'', Costello "reinvigorated the literate, lyrical ...

's one-time backing band. The album was called "un-releasable" by Dobbyn's record label at the time and was shelved for a year until its eventual release.Dave Dobbyn Interview 2009
/ref> After nearly a decade in Australia, Dobbyn moved back to

in the early 1990s, and made 1994's '' Twist'' with fellow New Zealander and recently returned singer–songwriter

Neil Finn Neil Mullane Finn (born 27 May 1958) is a New Zealand singer-songwriter and musician. He is best known for being a principal member of Split Enz and for being the lead singer of Crowded House. He was also a member of Fleetwood Mac from 2018 ...

, whose contribution Dobbyn stated "was crucial to the sound of that record". ''Twist'' is also notable for its inclusion of the

Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the Co ...

singer Emma Paki, who was popular in the country at the time of the album's release. In 1995 Dobbyn became one of the first musical performers in the world to simulcast a performance on the Internet. However, it was hindered by technical problems. Dobbyn took on the role of producer in fourth solo album, '' The Islander''. The album received widespread popular and critical acclaim, reaching number 1 on the New Zealand charts. In 1999 Dobbyn joined

Jan Hellriegel Jan Hellriegel is a singer/songwriter based in Auckland, New Zealand. Her first recorded appearances were with Dunedin band Working With Walt in the mid-1980s when she studied at the University of Otago in Dunedin. She then formed all-woman b ...

and Toi Iti to co-write "Read About It", the theme song of the Duffy Books in Homes programme which is still performed by 100,000 children annually. Dobbyn's hit song " Loyal" (1988) from his debut solo album '' Loyal'' (1988) was used as an anthem for

Team New Zealand Team New Zealand or TNZ is a Sailing (sport), sailing team based in Auckland, New Zealand, representing the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron. The team has been branded as Emirates (airline), Emirates Team New Zealand at America's Cup competiti ...

's failed 2003

America's Cup The America's Cup is a sailing competition and the oldest international competition still operating in any sport. America's Cup match races are held between two sailing yachts: one from the yacht club that currently holds the trophy (known ...

defence. He has also produced albums for Australian singer

Grant McLennan Grant William McLennan (12 February 19586 May 2006) was an Australian alternative rock singer-songwriter-guitarist. He co-founded the Go-Betweens (1977–89, 2000–06) with Robert Forster in Brisbane in 1977 and issued four solo albums: '' Wat ...

and contributed to albums by Jenny Morris, Gyan Evans
Wayne Gillespie
and

Bic Runga Briolette Kah Bic Runga (born 13 January 1976), recording as Bic Runga, is a New Zealand singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist pop artist. Her first three studio albums debuted at number one on the New Zealand Top 40 Album charts. Runga ...

. In 2000 Dobbyn toured New Zealand with Runga and

Tim Finn Brian Timothy Finn (born 25 June 1952) is a New Zealand singer, songwriter, musician, and composer. He is best known as a founding member of Split Enz. Finn founded the band in 1972 with Phil Judd and served as lead singer and principal songw ...

. The tour was recorded and the live album, '' Together in Concert: Live'' (2000) was released soon after. The tour also included the lead off song "Just Add Water" from his 2000 album ''

Hopetown Hopetown is a town which lies at the edge of the Great Karoo in South Africa's Northern Cape province. It is situated on an arid slope leading down to the Orange River. The first diamond discovered in South Africa, the Eureka Diamond, was f ...

'', a record Dobbyn has since referred to as "a cartoon album". In 2005, Dobbyn released his sixth solo album; ''

Available Light In photography and cinematography, available light (also called ambient light or practical light) refers to any source of light that is not explicitly supplied by the photographer for the purpose of taking pictures. The term usually refers to ...

''. The album received popular and critical acclaim. In the same year Dobbyn performed the lead single from ''Available Light'', " Welcome Home" (2005) at the

New Zealand Music Awards The Aotearoa Music Awards (previously called the New Zealand Music Awards), conferred annually by Recorded Music NZ, honour outstanding artistic and technical achievements in the recording industry. The awards are among the most significant that ...

ceremony. During the performance,

Ahmed Zaoui Ahmed Zaoui (; born 26 November 1961) is an Algerian refugee. He arrived in New Zealand on 4 December 2002 where he sought refugee status. Objections from the Security Intelligence Service were withdrawn in September 2007, allowing him to remain ...

, who was appealing a security certificate issued due to alleged links to terrorist groups, appeared on stage with Dobbyn.Zaoui sings with Dobbyn
(from News Talk ZB news story, dated 6 October 2006 2008 saw Dobbyn release '' Anotherland''. The album entered the NZ Top 40 Album Charts at Number 2 and remained in the charts for 6 weeks, eventually attaining

Gold Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...

status. In 2009 Dobbyn released a second greatest hits album, including re-recorded versions of "Devil You Know", "Shaky Isles" and "Whaling". The second CD includes less known songs. A limited edition version also included a DVD tracking his three decades in music, and included interviews with former bandmates and collaborators. In 2012 Dobbyn was part of the all-star lineup for the Flight of the Conchords charity single " Feel Inside (And Stuff Like That)". The song debuted at number 1 on the New Zealand music chart and remained there for two weeks.

Discography

Solo studio albums

Compilation albums

Live albums

Singles

Notes

Awards and nominations

Dobbyn has received numerous musical awards from both the

and the APRA Silver Scroll Awards. In the 2003 New Year Honours, he was appointed an Officer of the

New Zealand Order of Merit The New Zealand Order of Merit () is an order of merit in the New Zealand royal honours system. It was established by royal warrant (document), royal warrant on 30 May 1996 by Elizabeth II, Monarchy of New Zealand, Queen of New Zealand, "for th ...

, for services to music. In the

2021 New Year Honours The 2021 New Year Honours are appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Honours are awarded as part of the New Year celebratio ...

, Dobbyn was promoted to Knight Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to music.

RIANZ Awards

The

are awarded annually by the

RIANZ Recorded Music NZ (formerly the Recording Industry Association of New Zealand (RIANZ)) is a non-profit trade association of record producers, distributors and recording artists who sell recorded music in New Zealand. Membership of Recorded ...

in New Zealand. As of 2012, Dobbyn has won 23 awards.

APRA Awards

As of 2013, Dobbyn has won four Silver Scroll Awards: three for the Silver Scroll Awards for songwriting, and one for the most performed work in New Zealand. He received a Lifetime Achievement award in 2001 at the NZ Music Awards. As of 2013 he is the only musician to win the Silver Scroll award three times (1987, 1993, 1998). In 2001, a vote by members of APRA to find New Zealand's Top 100 songs (what would eventually become the '' Nature's Best'' series) included ten Dobbyn songs. These were: * 3: Dave Dobbyn – " Loyal" * 7: Dave Dobbyn with Herbs – " Slice of Heaven" * 12: DD Smash – "

" * 27: Th' Dudes – " Be Mine Tonight" * 29: Dave Dobbyn – " Beside You" * 31: DD Smash – " Outlook For Thursday" * 35: Dave Dobyyn – "

Language Language is a structured system of communication that consists of grammar and vocabulary. It is the primary means by which humans convey meaning, both in spoken and signed language, signed forms, and may also be conveyed through writing syste ...

" * 50: Th' Dudes – "

" * 70: Dave Dobbyn – " You Oughta Be in Love" * 100: Dave Dobbyn – "Naked Flame"

ARIA Music Awards

The

ARIA Music Awards The Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards (commonly known informally as ARIA Music Awards, ARIA Awards, or simply the ARIAs) is an annual series of awards nights celebrating the Australian music industry, put on by the Austr ...

is an annual awards ceremony that recognises excellence, innovation, and achievement across all genres of

Australian music The music of Australia has an extensive history made of music societies. Indigenous Australian music forms a significant part of the unique heritage of a 40,000- to 60,000-year history which produced the iconic didgeridoo. Contemporary fusions o ...

. They commenced in 1987. , , - , rowspan="4",

1988 1988 was a crucial year in the early history of the Internet—it was the year of the first well-known computer virus, the Morris worm, 1988 Internet worm. The first permanent intercontinental Internet link was made between the United State ...

, Dave Dobbyn , Best New Talent , , rowspan="4", , - , rowspan="3", "Slice of Heaven" , Single of the Year , , - , Song of the Year , , - , Highest Selling Single , , -

Lifetime Achievement Award

In 2001 the

Recording Industry Association of New Zealand Recorded Music NZ (formerly the Recording Industry Association of New Zealand (RIANZ)) is a non-profit trade association of record producers, distributors and recording artists who sell recorded music in New Zealand. Membership of Recorded ...

(RIANZ) awarded Dobbyn a rare Lifetime Achievement Award as part of the 2001

. The award presenter Michael Glading, the managing director of Sony New Zealand, chose to forego a speech and instead read out the titles of the long list of Dobbyn's hit songs.

Personal life

Dobbyn met his future wife, Anneliesje, at a Whangamata Th' Dudes New Year's show. They married in 1983. Dobbyn does not drink alcohol. In October 2022, he revealed that he has

Parkinson's disease Parkinson's disease (PD), or simply Parkinson's, is a neurodegenerative disease primarily of the central nervous system, affecting both motor system, motor and non-motor systems. Symptoms typically develop gradually and non-motor issues become ...

. Dobbyn said that this diagnosis, received in July 2022, has given him a 'wider appreciation of life'.

References

External links

Official Website

Homegrown Profiles: Dave Dobbyn
2005 interview and retrospective
The Dave Dobbyn Interview
2009

Chris Bourke Biography for 2001 Overnight Success Greatest Hits

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dobbyn, Dave 1957 births APRA Award winners Living people New Zealand male songwriters New Zealand pop singers New Zealand guitarists New Zealand male guitarists New Zealand Christians Knights Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit People educated at Sacred Heart College, Auckland Singers awarded knighthoods Māori-language singers