"Slice of Heaven" is a single by New Zealand singer-songwriter Dave Dobbyn with the band

Herbs In general use, herbs are a widely distributed and widespread group of plants, excluding vegetables and other plants consumed for macronutrients, with savory or aromatic properties that are used for flavoring and garnishing food, for medicinal ...

, released in 1986 on the soundtrack of the animated motion picture, '' Footrot Flats: The Dog's ~~Tail~~ Tale''. The single reached 1 on the New Zealand Singles Chart for eight weeks and on the

Australian Singles Chart The ARIA Charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling songs and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA became the offici ...

for four weeks. It appears on Dobbyn's 1988 album, '' Loyal''.

Background

Dobbyn was writing in Sydney when he was given the opportunity to compose for the ''Footrot Flats'' film. He had previously used the line "Slice of Heaven" in the DD Smash album ''The Optimist'', and chose to revisit it. He brought in Herbs to sing in the background based on his childhood experiences of Pacific gospel choirs.

Features

The song incorporates a synthesised Japanese flute made with an

E-mu Emulator II The Emulator is a series of digital sampling synthesizers using floppy disk storage, manufactured by E-mu Systems from 1981 until 2002. Though not the first commercial sampler, the Emulator was among the first to find wide use among ordinary m ...

Music video

The video features Dobbyn, Herbs and dancers recording the song, interspersed with clips from the ''Footrot Flats'' film. The music video was recorded in Wellington's Marmalade Studios. Notably, due to time constraints, the clips of the singers performing are from their live recording takes rather than being a recreation.

Alternate version

The version featured in the closing credits of the ''Footrot Flats'' movie features less emphasis on the Herbs vocals and more focus on the percussion and bass of the song.

Reception

The song gained huge exposure in Australasia through the ''Footrot Flats'' trailer being shown before the popular '' Crocodile Dundee'' film, leading to high radio play before the single had been released. According to Dobbyn, one New Zealand rock station producer refused to play the song as they considered it "underproduced", but were forced to reconsider due to huge listener demand for the song. The song spent eight weeks at No. 1 in New Zealand and four weeks at No. 1 in Australia. It has been praised for the combination of Dobbyn's and Herbs' vocals.

In other media

In season two's third episode of '' Wrecked'', Steve (played by Rhys Darby) sings a bit of the song which intrigues the Barracuda (played by Ebonée Noel ) and reveals that her dead ex-lover was also a New Zealander.

Awards

"Slice of Heaven" was awarded Best Song at the 1986 New Zealand Music Awards.

Legacy

"Slice of Heaven" featured in '' Nature's Best—New Zealand's Top 30 Songs of All Time'', coming in at No. 7. It was voted No. 1 in 2009 by C4 viewers as New Zealand's favourite song, and is often considered an unofficial national anthem of New Zealand, especially after its usage in New Zealand tourism ads in the 1980s and 1990s. It has also become synonymous with the ''Footrot Flats'' film.

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

{{Authority control 1986 singles 1986 songs 1987 singles APRA Award winners Dave Dobbyn songs Herbs (band) songs Number-one singles in Australia Number-one singles in New Zealand Songs written by Dave Dobbyn