Transcript of interview with Jim Strang for the Dunedin Dance Halls project

Jim Strang talks about his father, Harry Strang, including his time in the Excelsior Dance Band, playing at both the Joe Brown dances at Dunedin Town Hall, and the Harry Strang dances at St Kilda Town Hall.

Recording identification: This is an interview with Jim Strang on 2nd September 2022, and the interview started at 11am.  The interview is for the Dunedin Public Libraries' He Purapura Marara Scattered Seeds Digital Archive Dance Halls oral history project. The main interviewer is Kay Mercer. with Jill Bowie also asking some of the questions. The interview is being held at Jim's home in Mornington, Dunedin. It is recorded on a Zoom H5 Digital Recorder, using Countryman Isomax clip-on microphones.

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ABSTRACT

00:41    Introduction and recording permission

01:41    Jim Strang, Dunedin piano tuner, son of dance band leader, Harry Strang

02:01    Grew up in a musical family, played in a band with Ian Chalmers, also members of Strange             Brew

03: 41   Mother, Nancy Strang

04:21    Parents met - Nancy worked in the record department at Parker & Keane's in Dunedin; Harry           Strang a fan of Glenn Miller and Louis Armstrong

05:01    Harry's introduction to Joe Brown dances by Dick Culven

06:01    Jim being aware that his father was a well-known and well-loved celebrity; people meeting            future spouses at the dances

08:21    Harry's time playing for the Joe Brown dances, mid '50s to mid '60s - skill at sight-    reading, tempo-keeping, leader of the band

09:41    Post-war optimism, plenty of paid work for musicians in Dunedin

11:01    Popularity of live music (City Hotel, European, Shoreline), and subsequent decline with the       fashion for recorded music

13:01    Other Dunedin dances Harry's band played at

13:21    No alcohol at the dances; people's confidence to get up and dance, having learned to dance              beforehand; dances as places to meet people

14:21    Harry playing the 75th anniversary dance (Town Hall anniversary)

18:01    Jim recalls playing drums at the band reunion with his father and brothers

20:01    Change in musical tastes signal the end of Harry's big dance band at the Town Hall

21:01    Harry's career after the Town Hall dances - session musician, hotel band residencies

23:41    Piano tuning trainging with Dick Culven; Modern School of Music franchise; Taieri Music   Centre in Mosgiel - teaching music and music store

26:21    Harry's other children from his first marriage

27:41    Harry's band with Paul Wheeler, Mark Weil, Ian Chalmers and Graham Christie, touring NZ        and playing on family holidays

30:01    Playing trumpet with a monkey

30:21    Life with Harry the father

35:01    Nancy bringing up three busy boys while Harry was away touring; Mum & Dad       corresponding via cassette tape messages

41:41    Venues, acoustics

42:58    Making a living

45:18    Dances were the only option for couples to meet in their day

47:18    Harry, the born entertainer

49:15    Harry's influence on Jim and Jim's musical family, and his life surrounded by music

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00:41

Kay: So we're recording everything. Before we go any further, I want to confirm that you understand that this material is being recorded for archival purposes primarily for the Dunedin Public Libraries Scattered Seeds digital archive www.dunedin.recollect.co.nz (The Archive). A copy of the recording may be held on repository in digital form by Dunedin Public Libraries. Material held in the archive is freely accessible by the general public, as specified in the written recording agreement that we have provided for you to sign, and that you have kindly signed. Are you happy with that, and are you willing to continue with the recording?

Jim: Yes.

Kay: Lovely. Thank you very much. So we'll start. Can you tell us a wee bit about yourself to start with?

01:41

Jim: Yes. I'm Jim Strang, oldest son of Harry and Nancy Strang. Born in 1964. I'm a piano tuner by trade, as Dad was in his later career. And I have two brothers, David and Richard, who are a bit younger than me. We've all had the opportunity to learn and play music, which we've done. What else would you like to know?

Kay: When you were growing up together, did you all play together? Was it like having your own little band?

02:01

Jim: Yeah, when we were kids we had lots of, you know, musical experiences, and when we got older I did start playing in bands in private bands when I was about 17, 18, playing the drums. The first gig was with a guy called Ian Chalmers, who's still around town.- He was a bass player in some of Dad's later, smaller bands, playing at private functions and things like that. And then I went to England in 1988, and that was the time that David and Richard started getting into the music scene, and they had their own bands, and they did quite well actually. And then later I played for years doing mainly private functions in hotels with Richard and Brad Martin from Strange Brew. And Eugene actually played with us for quite a while too. So yeah, nah, it's been a good social life.

Kay: Yeah, you've certainly contributed to the musical culture of the City.

Jim: [chuckles] I don't know about culture, but yeah. It's just... you know, it was good fun.

03:41

Kay: It must have been wonderful growing up in that creative environment with your father. Was your mother creative as well?

Jim: Well, I think she was a bit, but she hadn't really had the opportunity. But she definitely loved music, and she loved dancing. She did ballroom dancing. I've got certificates from her when she was young. And right 'til the end, even though she had very bad dementia, just about the last thing you would get a reaction from was music, you know.

Kay: It's amazing, isn't it?

Jim: Yeah, it was deeply engrained.

Kay: It's very therapeutic for people.

04:21

Jim: Yeah, and they actually met... well they met because Mum worked in Parker and Keane's music store in the record department.

Kay: Ah, wonderful!

Jim: And Dad would come in and pay off his Glenn Miller records and stuff.

Kay: He had a Glenn Miller tab, did he? [laughs]

04:21

Jim: Yeah, he must have. Yeah, he loved Glenn Miller. And who was that other guy I mentioned before?

Jill: Louis Armstrong.

Jim: Louis Armstrong, yeah, was Dad's absolute favourite. And I think Mum worked in the hat and cloak stall at the Town Hall dance.

Kay: Ah, so they were both involved in it?

Jim: Yeah.

Kay: Fantastic. Do you think he got involved in it because she liked to dance, or was it just something your dad gravitated to?

05:01

Jim: No. Yeah, one thing I do know is that there was a guy called Dick Culven, and he had a band in the Town Hall before Dad. And he was a piano tuner, and that's where Dad learnt to tune pianos, from Dick. And there was a point where there was a vacancy for the band in the Town Hall, and Dad thought he could put a band together, so he wrote to Joe Brown. And obviously it worked out.

Kay: Yeah. When did you become aware that your Dad was kind of famous... in Dunedin? Or further afield.

06:01

Jim: Yeah, I don't know when I became aware, but during my early piano tuning career it became unmistakably noticable that everybody seemed to know Dad, and a lot of people had met their husbands and wives at the dance. And I remember once going on a family holiday, and we were half-way up the West Coast, setting up the tent, and the people next door said, "Ah, you're responsible for these kids running around here!"

Kay: Ah, isn't that lovely to hear?

Jim: 'Cause he had the name written on his van, so... Yeah, it doesn't happen much these days. In fact it's hardly happened recently, but there was a period there where it was just about every piano I went to, people would want to know whether I knew Harry Strang. It even happened once in Balclutha. We were shifting a piano out of a house, Dad and I, and the guy asked us right in front of Dad, was Harry Strang still around or something. [laughs]

Kay: And he was right there!

Jim: He was blown away to realise that was Harry Strang, yeah.

[laughter]

Jim: So yeah, it was... yeah, it was good, 'cause it always got us off on a good footing, and... and many times too, in the early days, while I was out playing, you know at a private function, if Ian would... you know, introduce the band, and after that people would come up and say, "Ah, I knew Harry", you know.

Kay: So he was almost part of their family in a way, because he got a lot of them together.

Jim: Yeah, he did. I think he he wouldn't have ever thought that he would have had that impact, just locally, on... you know, families... people... changing people's lives... you know, being a big part of where they met their spouses. And... so, yeah, it had a big sort of a... a positive outcome on his life, that he never would have expected. He would have just thought that it was gonna be a good bit of income and security.

Kay: Yes, and a chance to play music.

Jim: Yeah, absolutely. That was the main thing, yeah.

Kay: But to have that influence. Quite something, isn't it?

Jim: Mmm. It set him up, really. 'Cause for the rest of his life he was well known because of it, so... I'm sure even in his piano tuning career people would have liked the idea that they had Harry Strang tuning the piano. So, yeah. No, it was good. Yeah, good to be associated with.

08:21

Kay: So, when was he playing at the Joe Brown dances, what sort of era?

Jim: Well, I know it was from mid-50s to mid-60s. I know he was in there for 10 years. I mean, I'm not sure if he was in there 'til 1965. It seems that by that stage the music that he would have been playing would have been a little bit outdated. But around that area.

Kay: So what sort of style music did he play?

Jim: Well, I know Glenn Miller would have been a big part of it. I remember him telling me they would order music from America.

Kay: Sheet music?

Jim: Yeah, sheet music. And sometimes they would just set it up and play it on the night without even rehearsing it.

Kay: Ah, just from sight?

Jim: Because they were so old school, and all good readers, so they didn't really need to rehearse, so... you know.

Kay: Right, yeah, so they could have the very latest tunes.

Jim: Yeah, absolutely, yeah.

Kay: That must have been quite a draw for the audience, I imagine.

Jim: I reckon they would have loved to hear it live, what they were buzzing about hearing on records.

Kay: Indeed, yeah, and getting a chance to dance to it, yeah.

09:41

Jim: Yeah, and that period, too, was a very... you know, things were on the up and up after the war, and then years after the war when there was rationing, and... you know, a lot of things you couldn't get. And then... you know, they were very positive times from what I understand.

Kay: Mmm, a time of optimism, indeed.

Jim: Yeah, so... and I know at that time, too... I don't want to impede on what might be a later question, but... there was a lot of hotels around town having music six nights a week.

Kay: Right, ok. So it wasn't just the Town Hall, no. So he was virtually fully employed, was he... performing?

Jim: Yeah, yeah, he was a professional trumpet player. And... yeah, I remember tuning a piano for a chap who'd been a drummer in that era, and he'd paid off his house, just from playing in a hotel six nights a week in a hotel, and working as well.

Kay: Wow! Imagine doing that now!

Jim: Yeah, you couldn't.

Kay: Couldn't do it, could you?

Jim: But yeah, the City Hotel was one. And then there was the European, and many others I probably wouldn't know much about. But yeah, music six nights a week and well-attended, people dancing.

Kay: Yes, they were supported. A different world.

11:01

Jim: Yeah. And you know, my whole life... you know, guys that I know that are a few years older than me, and then guys that are a few years older than them, their memories are all of more and more live music. You know, it's got smaller and smaller as time's gone on. I mean, guys who are a bit older than me can remember the carpark at the Shoreline Hotel being absolutely packed on a Sunday afternoon, you know? So... yeah, more recorded music, and... yeah, it's detracted from the live music, 'cause... you know, in Dad's day, there was no recorded music. If people wanted music to support anything, they had to have live musicians.

Kay: Yeah, even on the radio it was often a broadcast from the dances, wasn't it?

Jim: Yeah, Dad did 4YA broadcasts and stuff, yeah. So yes, good times, by all accounts.

Kay: Yeah. So obviously he didn't just play in the Joe Brown dances, what other...?

Jim: Well, actually I don't know. I don't know. We never had a time where we sat down and gave me a run-down. I heard him occasionally, I s'pose, talking with mates, but mainly it's from other people saying, "Ah, you're Harry Strang's son... ah, we used to do this and that." And even half of that I've forgotten. It's just whatever's stuck.

13:01

Kay: Do you recall people talking about the St Kilda dances?

Jim: Yeah, I've heard it mentioned a lot. St Kilda dances, St Johns... I don't know if that was down the bottom of York Place. And I think South Dunedin... maybe South Dunedin Town Hall. I've definitely heard of them a lot. I'm not sure of the time... you know, the order of things. Whether they were going at the same time as the Town Hall, or before, or all of the above I don't know.

Kay: Right.

13:21

Jim: But yeah. There was no alcohol at the dances, either, that's another interesting thing. I'm sure people brought their own, and had a week tipple in the car.

Kay: We've heard that said.

[laughter]

Jim: But yeah, there was none. It wasn't about alcohol, and that's something you couldn't do these days. You couldn't have a dance without alcohol.

Kay: No. The alcohol seems to be the thing, whereas back then it was the dance, and the fact that you were meeting people.

Jim: It was, yeah definitely. I think probably the fact that they had set dances, and they knew what they were gonna do, rather than get up and maybe feel they couldn't dance very well, or something like that.

Kay: Yes, they knew. They'd learnt in advance, and they went along, so they had that confidence, I suppose, yeah.

14:21

Jim: Yeah, I remember at that 75th anniversary of the Town Hall, where... that was the first time, like it was a bit emotional, but after hearing so much about it for so long, and seeing most of the surviving members up there on the stage, and they started the first song, which was the way they started every dance, and immediately the dance floor was packed.

Kay: And did they always start with the same song to get everyone dancing?

Jim: Yeah.

Kay: What was the song, do you remember?

Jim: I don't know, I can't remember. It wasn't one I knew, but I recognised it.

Kay: So they had a real signature tune.

Jim: Yeah, signature starting tune, and the signature tune to end.

Kay: Ah, so I suppose everyone knew it was... sort of last orders, off you go!

[laughter]

Jill: Did they manage to get all of the same, or as many of the original band members as they could for that?

Jim: Well, I think it was just anyone they could get who had ever played in that band, who was... still alive and capable, yeah.

Kay: Yeah, that must have been a wonderful occasion.

Jim: Yeah, I thought so. I was real pleased for Dad, because there had been a bit of... I think they'd asked Calder Prescott, actually, to do it. And then Dad... you know some of the guys from Dad's band, I don't know in which way, but they sort of protested, and they thought Dad should be doing it, and he ended up doing it. Mmm, it was quite special.

Jill: I was going to say, imagine how much time that would be to get back and see it all over again and be a part of it as well is incredible.

Jim: No, it was good.

Kay: Did he talk about how he felt on the night?

Jim: [chuckles] I think he was a bit nervous. I know he was a bit nervous. But he enjoyed it. I've got a bit of footage of it somewhere actually, now you mention it. 'Cause I remember him, you know, giving directions.

Kay: So he conducted the band?

Jim: Yeah, he was sitting and playing, but he was also conducting, and he'd be telling the drummer if they were speeding up, and queueing the end. Because there were also guys like myself and a guy... Robert Burns, who's an English bass player who, you know, top, world class bass player, who now lives in Dunedin. He was in there, but he was mainly playing guitar. Yeah, so... yeah, no it was a very special occasion. I was real pleased for him.

Kay: That must have taken him right back.

Jim: Yeah, I think it gave him... yeah, it definitely would have given him a buzz, because just about all the people there had been to the dances back in the day. He almost got us starting it up again, I think. [laughs]

Kay: Yes, it would have fired him to do it again, yeah definitely.

Jim: 'Cause those people, obviously they still would have  liked to go out, but there's nothing for them to do these days.

Kay: No, there isn't anything like that now, is there, no.

Jim: But mind you, those guys were getting pretty old by that stage.

Kay: But you can imagine wanting to hold onto that feeling, those memories, and wanting to do it again.

Jim: Yeah.

Jill: And how often do you get an opportunity to actually relive a moment like that?

Kay: Yeah, with a real band, it was really amazing.

18:01

Jill: So were you playing with them that night?

Jim: I did yeah, I played the drums. I think... like, I think they did three sets, it may have been four at the most, and I played one of them. 'Cause we'd just learnt a set's worth of songs. And both David and Richard played in that set too.

Kay: Ah, that would have been wonderful having the family together, I'm weeping here! [laughter]

Jim: Yeah, it was good. No, really good.

Jill: 'Cause for you to get that experience as well, you know, amazing.

Jim: Yeah, it was good. 'Cause, you know, as a drummer it's quite hard to control a big band. But luckily Dad... that's one thing I noticed, he had those tempo's. Hmm.

Kay: It must have been a really great experience for you to work with him in that area where he'd become so famous and excelled at.

Jim: Yeah, it was it was really good. I mean... it's a funny thing, 'cause... I was never a very confident drummer, 'cause I didn't really feel like I'd inherited Dad's talent. But I knew Richard, my youngest brother, had. So it brought up all that as well... whether you're sort of worthy to be there. But Dad... he knew the tempo's of those songs. You know, I think he'd always had that talent, to know the tempo, and keep it in the set.

Kay: And that's very important where people are dancing.

Jim: It is.

Kay: So you've gotta keep that right.

Jim: Yeah, 'cause all those... a lot of those tunes had set tempo's, and the people who were dancing would know if it was wrong.

Kay: Absolutely.

Jim: So that was part of the skill.

Kay: Yeah, great opportunity. Wonderful.

Jim: Mmm.

20:01

Kay: So he didn't move into... he didn't sort of change into the Rock 'n Roll era? He kept his love of...?

Jim: I don't think he did. Yeah, I just don't think he would. I don't think he'd want to.

Kay: No.

Jim: I don't know how or why it really ended, but I guess that times moved on.

Kay: Yeah, the tastes in music changed. And the people grew up. I guess they had families by then and they didn't go out so much.

Jim: Yeah, and you wouldn't keep getting the new younger ones. And the Town Hall's a hell of  a big venue too. To make that viable. Just to do it for 10 years is pretty incredible.

Kay: So incredible. So what did he do after the dances?

21:01

Jim: Well... there came a time, and it was probably around that time when... 'cause like I was saying earlier, he was a professional trumpet player, and he had his name down with agencies and I remember him telling me, like if any act came into the country, even if it was something like an ice-skating act, and they were going to tour the country, and they wanted music, they'd have to have live musicians.

Kay: So he was like a session trumpeter?

Jim: Yeah, sort of... yeah, exactly really. So he'd get a telegram or something, saying "be in Auckland at this time". And they'd have a couple of rehearsals and off they'd go around the country.

Kay: Right, so he had to be pretty versatile?

Jim: Yeah, well being a good reader was essential back then.

Jim: And... ah, God I wish I wasn't getting a bit emotional, but... I remember being in Auckland with him a few years ago, and him showing me hotels that he'd played at.

Kay: Yeah, great tour.

Jim: And he was telling me about one band that he'd joined, and they'd had a residency in this hotel, and they were playing a certain tune that obviously previous trumpeter's had had trouble with. And the drummer in the band seemed a bit stand offish. Anyway they played the tune, and 'cause Dad could read, he just played the ending, which had been the troublesome bit. And he said the drummer got up, came over and threw his arms around him and gave him a big hug!

Kay: The relief! And that's what happens when you work with a professional.

Jim: Yeah, that's right. And it's still like that, you know. So, yeah, he had a lot of good times. I remember him telling me about the owner of a hotel in Auckland bringing them like a kerosene tin full of oysters, or something, back in the days where everything was plentiful. Yeah, he definitely had a good fun young life. So... ah, yeah, so we're getting off the track, off the Town Hall dance anyway.

Kay: Ah, we're just talking about what happened afterwards. Did he go into business with the pianos then, or...?

Jim: Ah, afterwards. Yeah, that's right. Yeah, so there came a time when recorded music did come in, and the demand for trumpet players was dying out.

23:41

Kay: Right.

Jim: So he... yeah, I don't know how he got the idea of piano tuning, but he knew this Dick Culven. And Dick Culven trained him unofficially. He just worked with him, I think, for... I don't know how long, but enough to get the hand of it. And... at some stage, around that time, the Modern School of Music... a chap called Alan Gardener, who lived in Blenheim, invented this new... simple style of learning modern tunes, and patented it, and printed books, and franchised it. So Dad had the Otago franchise, and so he started teaching music, and he hired other teachers, and he had studios around town. And he opened the Taieri Music Centre at some stage.

Kay: Where was that based?

Jim: That was in Mosgiel. And the first building I remember was when I was at primary school sort of more towards the railway line... just a building standing on its own, a wooden building. He had it sectioned off so teachers could work in there. And I'm not sure if he had any retail there, but he did in the next place, which was further down Gordon Road, in what had been Dr Luke's surgery. He had sheet music there, guitars and probably bits of percussion and stuff. And teaching studios there as well. And so yeah, he just found ways of making a living out of his talent, out of music, which most musicians have to do. You know, they can't make a living from playing, so they teach.

Kay: But also you're creating the next generation of talent, aren't you?

26:21

Jim: Yeah, yeah. Yeah, I think he actually had had a marriage before Mum's marriage, and he had a son and a daughter. I never met them in my life, and I know the son's passed away now, but apparently he played guitar and he even made guitars, I heard. Like it was very acrimonious and so Dad didn't see them from when they were young, up until he was... just before he passed away the son did come to see him. And apparently they... you know, it ended well. They made up.

Kay: Ah, that's nice. But obviously he inherited the musical side of it as well.

Jim: Yeah, he'd got a bit of music, but I don't think he'd have been encouraged to... [laughs] to develop it, from what I heard.

Kay: Right.

27:41

Jim: Yeah, so I grew up out at East Taieri. I remember being asked at primary school... everyone was getting asked what their fathers did, and I said Dad was a music man. 'Cause I just generally knew that he earnt money from music. And plus he was... you know, an all-rounder by that stage, earning it in different ways, and he was tuning pianos. But... yeah... yeah, so he... the one thing he did was, he got a small band together. He had a keyboardist, he had a guy, Paul Wheeler playing piano. He's a very talented guy. He's still living in Dunedin. A guy called Mark Weil playing the guitar. He had a guy, Graham Christie, he's a talented wee musician, on guitar. Ian Chalmers on the bass. And I think... ah, Graham Christie could play the drums as well, and he played the drums at times. He had one or two other drummers, who I don't know who they were. And they'd play at private functions. I remember going up to Hawea for a week, and he played at the Hawea Hall. I remember going over to Fox Glacier, and he played over there for a week or something. He was quite a good entertainer. He definitely wasn't the type... you wouldn't have picked that if you just knew him, but once he got up there, and he was in his happy place. That's where he felt comfortable and confident, he could definitely  run a show, you know, and MC and get people up.

Kay: Yeah, he shone on stage. Would that have been in the 70s?

Jim: Yes, and even probably late 60's as well. So I was born in '64, and I'm pretty sure from whenever that Town Hall dance ended, from then on he would have been doing those smaller shows, 'cause he was... you know, while he was still very well known.

Kay: Did you go with him sometimes?

Jim: Only if the family went. You know, sometimes we'd combine a family holiday with him playing somewhere locally. As you do, you know, he probably would have got us accommodation for free and all that sort of thing.

[laughter]

Kay: Yeah, that's right. Take advantage of it, yeah.

30:01

Jim: He had a monkey too, which I've got photos...

Kay: What a living monkey?

Jim: [laughs] No, a puppet that he played the trumpet with. That was one of his acts. I think I've got some promo photos of him, with this monkey. Yeah, I remember we had the monkey when we were kids, but we probably destroyed it. Yeah.

[laughs]

Kay: It was a sort of mascot almost.

Jim: Yeah, he was a showman. He didn't mind showing off his talent.

30:21

Kay: Fantastic. What was it like growing up with someone being so creative?

Jim: Yeah, well what I think of as creative is more... you know, these days when I know creative people, they're usually a bit alternative, where he was more... the reason I always think of him as a true musician, rather than someone who just learned an instrument, is... yeah, he was just a natural.

Kay: Did he play his own music?

Jim: No, not really. And that's sort of more what I mean really. But he knew how music worked. He knew how arrangements worked. He knew things like dynamics, and how to entertain. Not just an academic. In fact he wasn't like an academic. Yeah, he was a musician.

Kay: He lived music.

Jim: Yeah. I remember when I was about 17 and I wanted to take up the drums. I asked him, I said, "Is there many drummers around?". He said, "No - there's a lot of people own drumkits, but there's not many drummers." [laughter] And that's the way it is for all musicians.

Kay: Was he very encouraging? Did he think that was something you should do?

Jim: Umm... yeah, he didn't put me off, although at the same time I'd just started my piano tuning apprenticeship, and he... he thought if I was just going to do one, then obviously it wasn't really an option to just do drumming. You know, I should not do drumming if it was gonna damage my ears and detract from my piano tuning career.

Kay: Of course.

Jim: But yeah, he didn't put me off. We all learned guitar when we were young. We started as kids with four-string guitars and he'd have us singing along to things like Seekers songs and stuff from the 60's. And then we sort of went to six-string guitar. But when I was 17, we were on holiday up near Nelson, and we went to visit some friends of... Mum had a brother up there, so we'd go up there sometimes, and we went to visit some people. And there was a girl there. She would have been a teenager and she had a drumkit. And so Dad always had his trumpet in the car, so he rolled out and he'd grab it at any opportunity. And just him and her played a couple of tunes. And I thought what she did was just so cool that I wanted to learn how to do it. So from then on I was hell-bent on being a drummer. And... so yeah, he never put me off, but I don't know, for some reason I was always confident at piano tuning and never had any issues there. I think I actually always felt that I was better at it than he was. And that was just actually a fact. So maybe that's why. But with music I never felt confident because I think I was definitely in his shadow, you know, and I just... but...

Kay: He'd set a high bar, hadn't he?

Jim: Yeah, I don't know why. But... well, I think I actually just knew how things were, that I didn't have that talent that he had. But that's no reason to feel bad, and that you can't have a lot of fun. But for some reason I didn't ever... well, I just knew that... that I didn't... he would have loved it if I'd had his talent, and gone on to great things, and... you know, so I probably felt a little bit... I wished that that happened, you know. But anyway. But he was... you know, getting off subject again, but he did know I was a good piano tuner.

Kay: Yeah, he was proud of you.

Jim: Yeah.

35:01

Kay: Was it difficult for the family at any time? Was it hard having a father who was...? 'Cause he must have been absent a fair bit with the travelling.

Jim: Yeah, yeah. When we were young, I'm sure it was hard for Mum. I mean, it's a little known and personal fact that she didn't really want to have kids. [laughs] She was a very independent lady, who could have genuinely had a good life, without needing kids. [laughter] And she loved her independence. She loved... like they used to go fishing a lot, when they were in... and she'd reminisce sometimes about those good times. [chuckles] But she told me straight up personally, when I was a teenager, that she'd never wanted to have kids.

Kay: I think all mothers think that when they've got teenagers.

[laughter]

Jim: Yeah, no. I can believe it. And... so... and when we were young, and that's when Dad was going away, and he'd be away, and we didn't remember it as kids, but there's one... Mum and Dad used to send cassette tapes to each other. And there's one still in existence where Mum's going, "The next time you go away, you can take these damn kids with you!" [laughter] And something about she'd just had her arm up to the shoulder clearing rocks or stones out of the drain that me and David had thrown down there, and then when she'd come back inside she found that Richard had filled up the toaster with biscuits that she'd just baked.

Kay: Oh, no! Poor woman.

[laughter]

Jim: Yeah, I don't think she thought she got a very good deal. You know, Dad was still away having fun, and she was straddled with three young boys, you know. But... yeah so... I s'pose it had it's ups and downs, but nothing serious, you know.

Kay: Yeah, I s'pose when he was home, he was really home?

Jim: Yeah, I don't know. I think he I think he was a bit of a boy.

[laughter]

Kay: He liked his fun?

Jim: Yeah, I remember him... I don't have many really early memories, but he always biked, you know, to school with us. He biked to school with us a lot, and down to soccer, when we played soccer, when we were young kids. But yeah... he did say once that as far as his trumpet career that nothing really... it didn't really happen until Mum came along. He must have been one of those guys that had a talent but couldn't organise stuff. But she must have organised things. Yeah, and that... you know, that's not uncommon. But like I said, he did have that leadership ability. So he could put a band together and guys would follow him. Whereas that's actually a rare talent to have. It's alright to be good at what you do, but it's a whole different thing to be able to lead. And Richard's definitely inherited that. Like he's quite choosy about what he does musically, and I think it's 'cause he knows if he gets involved in something he'll end up leading it. [laughs]

Kay: Yeah, it's gotta be something he likes.

Jim: Yeah, absolutely. Whereas I'd always just go from band to band and never have any responsibility, you know.

Kay: Mmm, there's joy in that too. [laughs]

Jim: Mmm, that's the way I like to do it, definitely.

Kay: Yeah.

Jim: Yeah, so... so that was Dad. And then... yeah, as he got older... yeah, so he went from... I remember him saying... that once he gave up the... the smaller band... I'm not really sure why that was, but maybe that just went out of style too, the type of music he wanted to play. Then you couldn't drag him out. He just didn't go out at all really. He didn't want to.

Kay: No, so he was very firm about what he liked to play.

Jim: Yeah, he obviously got a real buzz from the old... the big band swing, and stuff like that. Yeah, when I started playing, when I was about 17 or 18, he then... when he saw me coming home with money... [laughter] he then thought about getting the band together again, you know.  He was talking about me and him, and someone else... just 'cause he knew he could do it, even though I would have been really basic. But that's what a guy like him can do. They know how each part goes, and they can just teach the person to play that. And they know that the sum of the parts you know, equals the whole. So he could have done that, but it never quite happened. I guess, in those days, you had to have a singer. By that time, you couldn't get away just with playing tunes. And that could have been a problem.

Kay: So he never worked with a singer ever?

Jim: Ah, unless they had a guest singer who would come on and sing one or two songs like, you know, those big bands used to do. He might have done that but... yeah, but nothing that I know of, yeah. But yeah, those people they... in those days they were dances. People didn't go along to watch, they went along to dance, so they just wanted to hear those... a particular style, a particular tempo, and they'd do their particular dance, yeah.

Kay: Did he ever have a favourite venue somewhere he preferred to play?

41:41

Jim: Yeah, he didn't tell me out of those places. Obviously he'd go for the venues of certain sizes. I don't remember him ever saying that there was one that he particularly enjoyed. Obviously he really enjoyed the Town Hall. [laughs] Yeah, the Town Hall, you know, places like that are designed acoustically, so you don't need to be amplified, you know so... but no... And after the Town Hall, in the smaller band, they played all over the place. So, I'm sure some of those halls sounded absolutely awful, 'cause some of them do, you know.

Kay: Yeah, probably weren't made for that big band sound were they?

Jim: No, or amplified music at all. You know, they were all just wooden, and sound just echoes around, so much. It'd be quite hard to play quietly enough. But... yeah, no, so no particular venues that I know of. But, yeah.

42:58

Jill: So, like playing at the Town Hall for those dances, would you make enough money for the whole band?

Jim: Yeah, well when you asked did he do other things during the week, you know, that's something I don't know. I think I just always thought that he earned his living playing at the Town Hall. And maybe he did, you know. I know Mum and Dad, they did have a little shop at one stage. I'm not sure whether it was a second-hand shop, or... I just don't know, but I think he did try and earn a living in other ways as well as playing at the Town Hall.

Kay: Mmm, to supplement his income.

Jim: Yeah. I think Mum... she definitely wouldn't have sat at home. She always wanted to have her own money. She was always independent, and would have wanted to have a career of some kind, or a job. So maybe he did that at that time, as well as the Town Hall.

Kay: So would that have been to do with music or just a general second-hand store?

Jim: The wee shop they had wasn't to do with music, and I'm not sure when he opened his first... I don't think he was doing teaching during that time. I think after he... you know, his first marriage fell apart, he was just flatting [laughs] until he met Mum. And then I don't know how long after that that they sort of got together. It wasn't like now, that's one thing they did mention. Like... you know, he said to me once that him and Mum couldn't believe how young people would meet each other and just jump straight into bed the way they do now. Mum would say she'd had boyfriends, you know, but he said it wasn't like it is now - there might be boyfriends and such that you'd go out and dance but that was all there would be too it, you know.

Kay: Yeah, you actually got to know people first.

[laughter]

Jim: Yeah, there was... yeah, you know, society had higher expectations then.

45:18

Kay: And for a lot of people, a big proportion of people, the dances were the only way they got to meet people.

Jim: Yeah, that's right. That's why they were so popular, I'm sure. Yeah, there was... well, even when I was young there were no mobile phones, even in my early career. So... you didn't have means of contacting people, or...

Jill: You had to just hope that they turned up at the dance the next week.

Kay: That's right.

Jim: Yeah.

Jill: It could have been quite interesting, from the band's perspective, watching things happen.

Kay: Yes, ah, these two are gonna get together!

Jill: Or this person's walking over to her. Oh, she doesn't appear to... [laughs]

Jim: Yeah, I'm sure they talked about that in the break. "Did you see this?" and "Did you see that?"

[laughter]

Kay: That's right. "She's never gonna go for that one!"

Jill: And that's like when you see some of those photos of the crowd and just looking at all their faces...

Kay: Well, that would be why he would be regarded so fondly, because he created families.

Jim: Yeah. No literally did, yeah. Yeah, no and I'm sure that blew him away as well, and he'd be very pleased about it too.

Jill: And I mean that's kind of how this whole Dance Hall project started. How many people did meet, how many Dunedin families started from those dances. It's quite a major...

Kay: You wouldn't be sitting there!

Jill: No, I wouldn't be sitting here today.

Jim: Yeah, right, yeah. [laughs]

Kay: You've got a lot to answer for.

[laughter]

Jim: Yeah. [laughs] Yeah, yeah, no. You're just really in the right place at the right time, you know.

Kay: Yeah, but also, not just that luck, but that talent and that leadership to create that, 'cause people wouldn't have gone if it wasn't entertaining.

47:18

Jim: Yeah, no that's right. He could entertain. He was comfortable. And you know I know... I s'pose when we were young, occasionally we would be... I can remember two off-hand, I think there were a few more... where we played, like the three kids and Dad, and he would be MC. And he'd be entertaining, and you know, having a couple of whiskies and getting into the spirit of things. [laughs] But never losing the plot, you know, and always being in control. But he definitely knew... something that I never really realised actually... I just thought when I was learning the drums I just would enjoy playing the drums, and then you get to go out and do it... and hopefully you'd get a good reaction, and you'd make money. But it never occurred to me that you were s'posed to go out and entertain. You know, I was part of a Dunedin thing, where you just looked down and play. [laughs] But Dad obviously realised that entertainment is what it's all about. It doesn't matter how good you are, if you're as boring as anything. So he would... yeah, he entertained. So that's an aspect.

Jill: Such an incredible legacy, though, isn't it? To think... you know, what came from just playing in a band... you know, for the City. Beautiful.

Jim: Yeah.

Kay: Wonderful, yeah. And amazing that you've created your own musical career yourself.

Jim: Yeah, well. Yeah... no, I could have done better, I think, but ah...

Kay: Well, I think if you can tune a piano and bring so much joy to people... I think that's a wonderful thing.

49:15

Jim: Yeah, it's good. I mean, yeah, you know, I was really lucky. I mean I never would have given a second thought to what it would be like to grow up in a family where music wasn't a big part of it. And then the other thing is then you sort of meet... you know, you seek out and meet other people who've grown up... and who have musical talent, and... you know, that dictates who your friends become, and the circles you move in.

Kay: That's right. It all strengthens it, doesn't it?

Jim: Yeah, and then you have a bit of a bond with them, 'cause you've done something that other people don't do.

Kay: That's right. It's a magical world to most of us. It's incredible to be able to just pick up and play and...

Jim: Yeah, well the thing is it's not like that actually. You have to do a bloody lot of practice! [laughs]

Kay: I know, but you make it look as if that's how it works.

Jim: [laughs] yeah.

Jill: And just that thing of the right people getting into a band at the right time, and just that kind of magic of... yeah, all of those things fitting into place.

Jim: Yeah.

Jill: Yeah, it's quite amazing, yeah.

Jim: Yeah, I think these days, because people don't read music, you have to just go and learn the song. So you get together with other people, and sometimes you gel and sometimes you don't, better than others. And it's... personalities have a lot to do with it. But back in those days, if everyone was a good reader, you could just get someone in and they could just do their job. And as long as someone knew the tempo's, because... like I say, for a drummer you 've got to be really good at you know to control a whole big band, 'cause otherwise it would just start getting faster and faster. [laughs]

Kay: Yeah, 'cause you're carrying the beat for everyone, aren't you?

Jim: Yeah. But that's one thing Dad couldn't definitely do. He'd start the song at the right speed and, you know, rein the drummer in if he was getting out of hand.

Kay: That's right. Keep it consistent, yeah.

Jim: So... yeah, but no it's been a good social life, definitely, and yeah, lots of good experiences. And you know, as a family too, something we can share, you know, we can all get together and and we have, you know, played... you know, at home, and out. And yeah... and also, now, like Richard's son is doing really... well, has done well, and he'll probably do more. And also my own daughter is... you know, she's doing well and just really, really enjoying it.

Kay: She's musical too?

Jim: Yeah, she's very musical. And also her mother comes from a creative family, so she's very creative. So she's off to Auckland this weekend to play in a big gig specifically for people in the industry. And she's doing a tour soon with Shane Carter, you know, with Dimmer. She's in that band. So yeah, she's having a great time, and I'm so rapt.

Kay: Fantastic, yeah. You just surround yourself with talented people who can just bring all this joy to your life. It's wonderful, isn't it?

Jim: Yeah, well, no It is good. But the good thing is that I just feel so lucky that Neve's got it, 'cause you always want it more for your kids than you would for yourself, you know?

Kay: I just got that... Neve Strang's your daughter! Wow! Gosh! Now we've gone all fan-girl! [laughter]

Jill: And that's the... you know, the Strang legacy continues. You know, that's so cool!

Kay: That's the circle. Goodness. Gosh!

[laughter]

Jill: There must be something definitely in the genes.

Kay: You must have musical notes in your blood.

Jim: Yeah, well. I mean, yeah I didn't get it so much, that's for sure, which was a bit of a bugger!

[laughter]

Jim: But the great thing is...

Kay: Different outlets.

Jim: Yeah, no, you know when you've got it. I mean, I can be... I've played a lot with Richard, and there is a language, definitely, which some people just speak. And I just don't unfortunately. I've got skills. And... and I... yeah, there's some things I have got. I've got a real good swing feel. And I'm sure I only got that from the early days of hearing that big band swing and just thinking that was normal.

Kay: And it's not an easy beat to learn, is it?

Jim: Well, yeah, some people just can't do it, which just surprises me. But they might be great and be able to do a million things that I can't do. Everyone has their own little thing that they can do. But yeah, there is a language when things go off track, and you're just winging it that some people just know where it's going, and other people are just bloody well trying to hang on! [laughs]

Kay: That's jazz [laughs]

Jim: Yeah. So Richard's one of those that can go to that whole next level and he'll know exactly what he's doing, you know, so... But the good thing is that Richard's my brother, and we're blood, and he loves me 'cause he has to. [laughter] So I'm connected to him in that way, even if I'm not quite up there where he is, musically.

Kay: Yeah, great legacy. And a lovely way to remember your dad.

Jim: Yes. Yeah. No, it's great. I mean the thing is that we only knew Dad as a person, and if he was telling us off, or... back in those days, you know, everyone got the bloody smack or the belt or whatever, so we didn't necessarily think he was the great guy that other people thought he was from only having seen him in his glory position. But... yeah, no... you know, I mean we all love our dads and mums and they're all special, and all families are special. But yeah, so that's the thing that we had. So it's great, yeah.

Kay: Ah, well, thank you so much for talking to us. It's been really wonderful hearing your story.

[recording ends]