Transcript of interview with Roly Wright for the Dunedin Dance Halls project

Roly Wright talks about his life as a musician, recalling his time in the City of Dunedin Pipe Band, Roslyn Mills Kaikorai Brass Band, and playing for the Joe Brown Dunedin Town Hall dances with his band, the Embassy six, and later the Roly Wright All Stars.

Transcript of interview with Roly Wright for the Scattered Seeds Dance halls project

Abstract

00:00    Recording identification and introduction

01:53    Roly's early life in Dunedin and the start of his musical career - John McGlashan Pipe Band,   City of Dunedin Pipe Band, Roslyn Mills Kaikorai Brass Band

03:53    Roly talks about the first dance band he played in, the Embassy Six, playing at Sunday School             dances in the Andersons Bay area

05:33    Roly recalls how he first started playing for Joe Brown with the Embassy Six; then Roly starts      his own band The Roly Wright All Stars and begins to play for the Joe Brown dances;              remembers other members of the band

08:05    Roly remembers how Joe would 'fire' the band if the takings were down, and a cunning way            to get around this problem

09:05    Roly talks about the different styles of music they played in the band; recalls their occasional      vocalist, Jenny Beatson; orchestra pit work for the Dunedin Operatic Society; expanding to an 18-piece big band

12:24    Roly talks about the Town Hall dances; Roly only worked with a big band in the main dance hall; recalls the live broadcasts on 4ZB; the band's favourite genre was Dixieland, but it       wasn't always popular with the dancers - Joe's philosophy: "You gotta be playing the stuff            the birds are whistling."

18:04    Band members all had jobs to do to make sure things ran smoothly; band uniforms

22:04    Roly's fond memories of the University of Otago Capping Week and the Woolstore hops -     high-calibre musicians from all over NZ

24:24    Roly explains his father was Mayor of Dunedin (Sir Leonard Wright) while Roly was playing   the Woolstore hops - father's low opinion of musicians

25:24    Roly's mother encouraged him to learn piano, and he was one of the very few drummers who could read a music score, which stood him in good stead in his career - opened the door          to meeting celebrities - supported Louis Armstrong when he played in Dunedin, and        clarinettist Acker Bilk

28:12    Studio work - backing for John Hore

29:32    Roly explains the complexities of Pipe Band drum music, which has to be specifically written              for each piece of music performed - competitions, recollections of playing with the City of     Dunedin Pipe Band and the Roslyn Mill Kaikorai Brass band; playing in the Mobil Song Quest               with that year's winner Milicent Major

33:21    Having to learn to march and attend marching practice for the pipe and brass bands;             enjoyed wearing the uniform and thrilled when they got new ones; rivalry between the Kaikorai and St Kilda Brass Bands - both A-Grade bands in one city

37:01    Roly recalls playing in the band for Joe Brown at the Miss New Zealand competitions in               Dunedin

38:06    Roly recalls how his father bought him some high quality cymbals from America, and he still           has them; anecdotes of other gigs

40:46    Playing the first Larnach Castle ball organised by the University Student Union; the Roly               Wright All Stars were in high demand and could command a good fee - always lots of work               for the band, even after the Joe Brown dances were no longer happening; Roly's music               career only stopped because he moved away to Auckland for work

45:02    The Roly Wright All Stars continued for a while without Roly - one of his former drum         students took Roly's place in the band; most of the band members have died now, but Roly               still makes music via the internet with the only other surviving member, vocalist Jenny. Roly               hopes one day to play his drums again for one last time.

________________________________________________________________________________

00:00

Recording identification. This is an interview with Roly Wright on Wednesday 21st September, 2022. And the interview started at 2pm. The interview is for the Dunedin Public Libraries' He Purapura Marara Scattered Seeds digital archive Dance Halls oral history project. The interviewer is Kay Mercer. The interview is being recorded via Zoom, with Mr Wright speaking from his home in Auckland.

Kay: Ok, so we're recording now, and you might get something telling you that we're recording at the other end.

Roly: Yes, I have.

Kay: Yeah, ok. So, I'm just going to start off reading you this formal thing. It's very short. Before we go any further, Roly, I want to confirm that you understand that this material is being recorded for archival purposes primarily for the He Purapura Marara Scattered Seeds digital archive. The recording will be held in the He Purapura Marara Scattered Seeds digital archive online www.dunedin.recollect.co.nz which I'll call 'The Archive'. A copy of the recording may be held on repository in digital form by Dunedin Public Libraries. That just means the file itself, the recording file, just goes on a file in the Library system, not available to the general public. Material held in the Archive, which is the online bit, the general public bit, is freely accessible by the general public, as specified in the recording agreement that we've provided for you. Are you happy with that and are you willing to proceed with the recording?

Roly: Yes, to all.

Kay: Grand! Lovely to hear it. So we'll crack on and thank you very much for your time today. Can we start with a little bit about yourself? Can you tell me, where did you grow up for a start?

01:53

Roly: Well, I grew up in Dunedin... went to school there. Opened a travel agency there, and started my drumming career in Dunedin.

Kay: Had you learned drums at school?

Roly: Yes, in the John McGlashan Pipe Band... at two and six a night each... from a guy called Bill Cronaghan, who's no longer with us of course. And that experience led me to join the City of Dunedin Pipe Band. Through the Pipe Band contests until we actually won the A-Grade. Don't ask me what year that was, because I haven't...

Kay: [laughs] It was a while back.

Roly: It was quite a while back. And then I joined the Roslyn Mills Kaikorai Brass Band.

Kay: Ah, that's interesting. We've just been talking to someone who was in that. Do you know Fred Knopp?

Roly: Yes.

Kay: Ah, well that's who we were talking to. His daughter works for the Library.

Roly: Ok. Well, I went through there until we won the A-Grade in the Brass Band, so I've actually been in two A-Champion bands - totally different types, but percussion.

Kay: Amazing! Congratulations. So you won't remember the year, but do you remember how old you were about then?

Roly: Ooh, probably 18, 19.

03:53

Kay: So, straight after school really?

Roly: Well, yes, well virtually. And I think the first band I played with professionally was called the Embassy Six, with Neville Burns, and we played for Sunday School dances on Sunday nights. I had the very basics. I had my pipe band side snare drum, a hi-hat, a cymbal.

Kay: So you kept the beat?

Roly: Yes, and that was the start of my percussive career so to speak.

Kay: Right. Whereabouts did you play those?

Roly: At various Sunday schools. Mostly in the Andersons Bay area.

Kay: And how did you first hear about the Town Hall dances.

Roly: Well, that was quite a bit further down the track. That particular band the Embassy Six, with Neville Burns [holds CD up to the camera].

Kay: Oh, you've got a CD, awesome! Fantastic, very cool.

05:33

Roly: And we... Joe Brown employed us... for about... I played with Neville and the Embassy Six for a year or more. And then we had a parting of ways, and I formed my own band, and was very luck in that I seemed to be a catalyst if you like, for attracting top musicians. So my own band... all the guys of course were considerably older than me and more experienced, but we gradually built up a very substantial library of dance band sheet music. That went on for quite a number of years.

Kay: Who else was in the band with you, and what was the band called?

Roly: [laughs] It sounds very egotistical, and it was... The Roly Wright All Stars.

Kay: Ah, fantastic, yeah. [laughs] So were there six of you in that band as well?

Roly: Yes, but it was a different line-up. There was trumpet with Jack lanham. He was a top cornet player in the Kaikorai band. Russ Walters on Trombone. He was also in the Kaikorai band. Keith Harris, he was probably... well, not probably, he was absolutely and definitely the best musician most talented musician I've ever played with. He played clarinet and saxophone. And Jack Revell on bass. Allan Quinnell played guitar. He was a very talented guitarist, too. The pianist varied from time to time, depending on what band Joe thought he was employing.

Kay: [laughs] Ah, right yes. You did tell me something about this when we talked about it before. The band name changed...

08:05

Roly: Yeah, well Joe had a policy, a system if you like, that when the door takings started to drop off... and they were huge door takings, because there were 1500 to 2000 people some nights... sack the band and employ a new band. And so we would go back the following week in different uniforms and a different name, and we'd be a different sized band, too.

Kay: And he was none the wiser?

Roly: Ah, yeah he must have been really, but it was his system and he stuck to it.

Kay: Yeah, it freshened things up I suppose.

09:05

Roly: Yeah, well depending on the line-up of the band instrumentally, it affected the type of music we played as well. Mostly it was instrumental. Occasionally we had a vocalist. We had a female vocalist, Jenny Beatson, a beautiful singer, a great... very talented singer. Well, like myself, she was very keen on musical shows. And I did a lot of pit work for shows. I think my all-time favourite was West Side Story because it was scored for two drummers. So I played in the pit orchestra for that.

Kay: Ah, and was that at the Mayfair?

Roly: Yeah, the Dunedin Operatic Society. I did a lot of pit work, a lot of shows. The ones I hated most were Gilbert and Sullivan.

Kay: [laughs] Not fabulous for drummers?

Roly: Well... there wasn't much too them. They were frothy. And... we built up, over a period of time, up to an 18-piece big band, which of course didn't get a lot of traction, because it was so expensive to hire a band that big. But we did a couple of shows in Christchurch. I think it was for... no, I can't remember the name of the charitable organisations. So, bused to Christchurch and back.

Kay: Was that also called the Roly Wright All Stars?

Roly: Yes.

Kay: Yes, so you just basically grew.

Roly: We had the music for a large-sized band, and that size you had to use music. With a six-piece, we sometimes used it, sometimes didn't. Keith wrote a lot of stuff when we were in the band.

Kay: I was going to ask you did you write your own music as well. So you did?

Roly: Yes, but it was covers.

Kay: So it was arrangements?

Roly: When Tijuana Brass was popular, Keith wrote a lot of the Tijuana Brass numbers for us, so they sounded exactly like the Tijuana Brass, and I had to get a second trumpeter in then. We went through sort of musical phases, I guess.

Kay: With the traditions, or fashions, I suppose of the day.

Roly: Yeah.

Kay: So, when you first started playing for Joe Brown, how old were you then, do you remember?

12:24

Roly: Not really... ah... well, I was 22 when we made the... the numbers on the CD, 'cause there's a bio... a line with the CD with our various ages.

Kay: Ah, that's good. So if I look up Roly Wright All Stars it will be online it?

Roly: No, I don't... I don't think... actually I've never looked it up myself.

Kay: I'll have to have a look. I'll go searching.

Roly: But with the Town Hall dance, it was more than just a dance, it was an institution. And I'm not sure how many years it ran for, I think it was 10.

Kay: I think it was 30... 30 years.

Roly: Was it?

Kay: Yeah, 30 years in total.

Roly: Well, I certainly didn't do that lot! [chuckles]

Kay: Yeah, so he would have had different iterations of bands over the decades, 'cause they would have played different styles of music as well.

Roly: Yeah. When rock and roll came in, they had a rock band in the Concert Chamber.

Kay: That's right. I've heard that, yes.

Roly: And they changed personnel every so often.

Kay: Yeah. So you played big band sounds in the main Dance Hall area?

Roly: I played big band. I refused to play with anything less than a six- or a seven-piece - the absolute minimum, and quite often slightly bigger than that. We did two half-hour broadcasts on 4ZB. And they went out live every Saturday night... every wrong note, 'cause it was a live broadcast.

Kay: I'm sure there weren't many of those.

Roly: There weren't many wrong notes, but not like a studio recording session work, you know.

Kay: Yeah, they were live, yeah. So what sort of music do you remember playing? Can you remember any of the numbers you played?

Roly: Ah, you name it! [laughs softly]

Kay: You had a broad...

Roly: My favourite genre was Dixieland... 'cause that was very happy, free-flowing type music. And we all liked Dixie. We all liked it.

Kay: So it was fun to play, I suppose.

Roly: Yeah. We couldn't play it too much because it wasn't... ah, generally speaking... it didn't appeal to a broad segment of the public, and we had to keep the popularity of the current music in mind all the time, because that was what we were paid to do.

Kay: Yes, yes. What would they have danced to Dixieland-type music? Quick-step or something?

Roly: Yes, just a quick-step, or... or swing. We did play... we did all the big band numbers... like Benny Goodman.

Kay: Did you get requests, or did you play... and you told them?

Roly: Yes, quite often. Quite often, and if we couldn't... well, it wasn't very often that we couldn't oblige.

Kay: Yeah. Was there one particular song, or some songs, or a particular... you know, composer that they liked, the audience?

Roly: No, not really. It was too big a crowd to have any one particular number. Joe had a saying...when we went through the ritual sacking... [chuckles]

Kay: The fake sacking. [laughs]

Roly: "You gotta be playing the stuff the birds are whistling."

Kay: Oh, right, the very well-known stuff, yeah.

Roly: Yeah. So we did.

Kay: How did you keep up to date with what was...?

Roly: Ah, just listening to radio, mostly, the top 10, 20, type of thing.

Kay: Did you play mainly by ear, or would you have ordered the sheet music when you heard a new song?

18:04

Roly: If we could, we'd play by ear. But we had a very big library. I don't know what's happened to it. Just the disassembling of the band. But we all had various jobs, like I... we had blue music stands with Roly Wright All Stars on the front. And we had this huge suitcase full of music, which my original trombone player, Mel Chisholm, who was a headmaster in Green Island... trombone player, he was the librarian. Keith had... Keith was an auctioneer... day job. And over a period of time, he collected bowler hats.

Kay: From the auctions?

Roly: Yeah, so we wore those when we were doing a specifically Dixieland job. We wore striped waistcoats and black string bowties.

Kay: Ah, lovely.

Roly: Yeah. The nicest uniforms we ever had was... in the course of my job as a travel agent, I made a couple of trips to America, and while I was over there on one trip, I got in touch with a uniform wholesaler. I had the measurements of all the guys in the band, and had very smart jackets made up. They were sort of a... almost a black, but not, with a red fleck through them. Very stylish-looking. Very with-it, and sort of ageless.

Kay: Yes, timeless classics.

Roly: The one regret with that... ah, we played, as we did quite often, for the University students, and we did a function at the Student Union Hall. And I took the jacket off when we had supper, and someone nicked it.

Kay: Ah, no! That's mean.

Roly: Yes, it was. No, I was really hurt at that. And after that I got myself a white one made. As boss man.

Kay: Ah, right, so you stood out as the boss.

Roly: Ah, I had no qualms about pushing myself.

Kay: So were you the sort of... I know you were playing the drums, so you probably would have been sitting at the back, were you?

Roly: Mm-hmm.

Kay: Yeah, but you were still kind of the front man? Did you do the talking, or... or did you have an MC or something?

Roly: I didn't do much talking. No, I can't... the only sort of talking was the 4ZB announcer, when he did the half-hour live broadcasts.

Kay: Ah, yeah, ok. So would you have had an MC to tell everybody what the next song was, or something?

Roly: Not really.

Kay: No? People just danced?

Roly: Yeah. All I did was count in and... one, two, three, four, whatever the tempo was.

Kay: So if the tempo was different, that would give them an indication of what the next dance was, that they might dance to. They just chose their own dances to go with it, did they?

Roly: Yeah, yeah.

Kay: Yeah. So it wasn't as regimented as it had been originally, when they would tell them what the dances were?

Roly: No.

Kay: So, when you played it must have been a wee bit later, then?

Roly: Yeah.

Kay: Was that in the 60s?

22:04

Roly: You mentioned regimented. One of the highlights of my career was during capping week. For a while I was taking accountancy at university. Really with the sole purpose of participating legally in the capping week activities. Playing in the orchestra for the capping concert. Playing the side drum for the walk-about capping band, which was a very rag-tag outfit. And the Woolstore hops were a real institution in those days. Dalgetty's... ah, probably the University rented it, I think. Anyway, we had a square of wool bales, with wooden, probably table tennis... thingies on top. And then a space, which we referred to as the moat. And then another series of wool bales in front of that. And frequently we had to kick people into it, 'cause... "I wanna play the drums!" "Go away!" But... that particular hop attracted professional musicians from all over New Zealand. They used to come down.

Kay: So that was Dalgetty's, you said?

Roly: I think it was Dalgetty's Woolstore.

Kay: And that was in Dunedin?

Roly: Yeah.

Kay: Right. Do you think that might have been the 60s?

Roly: Probably 70 something. I can't be sure of that. I'm terrible with dates.

Kay: I'm sure it's online somewhere.

Roly: Possibly. Ah, I think I tried to look up... you can find Woolstore hops.

Kay: Yes, I'll look them up, ok.

24:24

Roly: And I had a bit of a parental clash, because my father was Mayor of Dunedin for nine years.

Kay: What was his name?

Roly: Sir Leonard Wright.

Kay: Sir Leonard Wright?

Roly: Yeah, he was knighted for his stint as food controller for New Zealand during the Second World War. He turned it down a few times, 'cause he was very much a man of the people, and didn't think that he deserved it, but accepted it eventually. And his opinion of musicians was they were all drug addicts, rapists and alcoholics.

Kay: Ah, dear. I hope you managed to change his mind about that.

Roly: I did. I did put him right on that.

Kay: Had he encouraged your musical training?

25:24

Roly: No. My mother did, though. And I'll be eternally grateful for that, because she made me learn piano for six years, and through that of course I learned to read music. And I was one of the very few drummers in New Zealand who could read drum scores. And that got me a lot of work that possibly would have gone to somebody else, or not at all. And it was a... the job was a bit of an open door to celebrities, too. We did a star concert with Louis Armstrong.

Kay: Really? Gosh.

Roly: Delightful man.

Kay: And where was that?

Roly: In the Town Hall in Dunedin.

Kay: That was in Dunedin? Wow!

Roly: And Acker Bilk.

Kay: Ah yes, clarinet, yeah. So that was a wonderful experience, then, wasn't it?

Roly: Well, particularly with Louis Armstrong. He just sat out backstage until it was time to go on. And just sat there quietly. And then when he went on stage, he virtually lit up the hall.

Kay: Amazing. That would be unforgettable. Yeah, he has a fantastic voice.

Roly: Ah yes. And there is a drummer with a group called Blerta, and I've been trying to remember his name, but he was an Auckland drummer, a very good drummer, a professional. And I met him... at... I can't remember where or when, but I asked for his autograph. And he said, "To Roly Wright, second best drummer in New Zealand."

[laughter]

Roly: Never forgotten that.

Kay: You took that, did you?

Roly: Ah, yes.

Kay: You didn't have a drum off or anything to prove it? So, did you play for any other bands? Did you sort of do session drumming or anything like that?

28:12

Roly: Yes, Studio work. Quite a bit of studio. We did all the backing for John Hore. They were a bit of a... With all due respect to John, who had a wonderful Western voice, he wasn't all good a musician. I remember one recording session we did in Dunedin for him, and he had so much difficulty getting the starts right, we just laid the tracks down and went home. He got it eventually, but ah... Yeah, I did quite a bit of session work, 'cause you had to be able to read to do that sort of work.

Kay: Did you get much time to prepare for them, or did they just sort of turn up and...?

Roly: No, mostly here's your bit.

Kay: Yeah, so you just sight read, and carried on. Yeah, so your skills would have been really in demand for that.

Roly: Very much so, because there were very few other drummers who could read. I needed it for the brass band, and especially for the pipe band, because the pipe band side drum music is probably the most complicated there is.

Kay: Is it?

Roly: Yeah.

Kay: Is that because it's got a sort of military beat, or...?

29:32

Roly: Ah, well it's got a specific beat... or specific parts for every different bagpipe tune. It's not just a set pattern. It's specifically written to go with the particular pipe tune.

Kay: Right. So it's not like when a guitarist says, "This one's in E." and they all play. You had to know that particular way of playing, yeah.

Roly: Yeah. Because when you go to a contest, pipe band... and brass bands as well, but for the pipe bands you had to write out... the drum sergeant had to write out, and we had a very good drum sergeant, a guy called Andy Robson who came up from Balclutha to Dunedin every band practice.

Kay: Every band practice? Goodness, right.

Roly: From Balclutha. And he would write our particular part, and it had to be sent off to the judges before the contest, so they had it in front of them during the contest, and could hear and see if we were playing what was written. And to a lesser degree with the Brass Band, but still a specific part. And there was an event in the Brass Band contest for the percussion section only, which we also won by playing a piece called "The Theme from Mission Impossible." A guy, Russ Shephard, who was the accompanist for the Brass Band, for Roslyn Mills, a pianist, he also played xylophone and vibes, another very very good musician ... I had a rewarding experience through Russ Shephard. There was a singer in Dunedin called Milicent Major, and we entered and won the Mobil Song Quest. Which we went up to Wellington for. And we accompanied the majorettes, just three of us, Russell on Piano, Jack Revell on Bass, and myself on drums. Just the three of us acompanied the majorettes, and I can't... it was something to do with trains, this particular song. It was quite intriguing because before the announcement of the winners of that section of the Mobil Song Quest, one of the officials said to me, "Just leave your drums, just by the stage door." So obviously they knew who the winner was at that stage. 'Cause then they announced it, and I had to whip my drums onstage.

Kay: Ah, right. Yes. So did you know at the time that that was why you were being asked to leave them there, or did you figure that out?

Roly: No.

Kay: So it was still a nice surprise.

Roly: Oh, yeah, lovely surprise.

Kay: Did you enjoy the competition side of things, or did you prefer playing for live dances and things like that?

33:21

Roly: Yes. Well, no I enjoyed the competition side of both Pipe Band and Brass Band, but also it involved an awful lot of marching.

Kay: So you had to learn the march steps as well?

Roly: Yeah. It was Sundays. Sundays down the drain.

Kay: So it was like being drilled.

Roly: Yeah, used to go to the Oval.

Kay: Ah, yes. So it must be like patting your tummy and rubbing your your head, is it, when you're playing...?

Roly: A bit. But I think it's probably easier for me, particularly with Brass Band, 'cause it's just mm-tah, mm-tah, mm-tah, when you're marching. Unlike the Pipe Band, when I'm playing a specific rhythmic pattern.

Kay: Yeah, and you're feet are not necessarily dong the same things as... [laughs]

Roly: No. I loved wearing the uniform. Probably quite vain, but...

Kay: Ah, yeah. And you carried that through, so you had a uniform for the band as well.

Roly: Yeah. I remember being absolutely thrilled when, at one stage during my time in the Pipe Band, we got brand new uniforms. And that was fantastic, to have absolutely brand spanking new Pipe Band uniforms. Brand new bearskin hats and things with braid across the front.

Kay: Ah, lovely. Yeah. Do you have any photographs from those days?

Roly: No.

Kay: Ah, what a shame.

Roly: Yes, it is.

Kay: I know that our local... 'cause I live on the Taieri, and I know our local pipe band has got quite a few photos there, but I'm not sure if they've got any from...

Roly: Oh, they've probably got heaps of them on the walls of the band room.

Kay: Ah, true, yes. Actually I did hear from Fred that they did have a display. Kaikorai have a really good display apparently. And I think St Kilda have a few photos as well, but not necessarily on display.

Roly: They were deadly enemies.

Kay: Yes, I heard that too. There was a lot of rivalry, wasn't there?

Roly: Very, very much so, yeah. 'Cause we were both. We were the two top bands. And I think Invercargill was also in the running. I don't think they ever won it, but they were knocking on the door, so to speak.

Kay: Yeah. So it's quite something to have two A-Grade bands in one city.

Roly: In one city, ah yeah.

Kay: Yeah. I really must try and get their history down, I think. I need talk to someone from there.

Roly: There were two pipe bands too. 'Cause when I actually joined the band it was the Burns Pipe Band. And then we combined with, and I can't remember the name of the other, but it became City of Dunedin.

Kay: Right, so I need to look into that as well. That's the thing with these interviews, they lead onto so much else. [laughs] Ah, well, we'll go back to the Joe Brown dances, can you just remember what the atmosphere was like at the dances? Did you do a lot of people watching while you were up on the stage.

Roly: No, no we were concentrating on what we were doing.

Kay: Focused, yeah.

37:01

Roly: We were people watching more when he held Miss New Zealand contests.

Kay: So you did some of those as well?

Roly: Yeah.

Kay: So, were you watching the audience or the competitors?

Roly: To be fair, it was mostly the competitors. [laughter]

Kay: Yeah. And they went for quite a few years as well, didn't they?

Roly: Yes, they did, they did.

Kay: So, all-in-all you worked with Joe Brown for quite some years, maybe a decade or more?

38:06

Roly: Well, it was... he held a talent quest in... I think it was Naseby. And that was when John Hore was discovered. I have got a photo of myself, taken by a Times photographer, at that function. It started raining, so we had to come inside, under a tent. Beautiful photo. It's got raindrops on my Cymbals. My father, in spite of his misgivings, when he went on one of his trips to New York, he went to the Zildjian cymbal factory, which are the leading cymbals in the world, and picked me out... or had one of their experts pick me out a full set of Zildjian cymbals, which I've still got today. I've still got my drums. They're in my son's garage.

Kay: Ah, lovely. Do you go and play them.

Roly: No, I haven't unpacked them for a good 10 years, I don't think. They're gathering dust.

Kay: Ah. It takes a lot of energy to play the drums, doesn't it?

Roly: Yes, it does.

Kay: How long would you have played for a night?

Roly: The length of time you mean?

Kay: Yeah, 'cause they started about half-past seven, I think, didn't they?

Roly: Yes, about then. And we played 'til midnight.

Kay: Gosh! You must have been exhausted.

Roly: Not really. Time flies when you're having fun. [chuckles]

Kay: I suppose so, if you love it, yeah.

Roly: And there were a lot of... incidents. I can recall playing for an engagement party, and we were playing away there, and I looked around, and there didn't seem to be many people. And so we stopped and investigated. The reason there weren't many people was they were all outside on the road, fighting.

Kay: Oh, no!

[laughter]

Roly: Someone had said something very insulting between the bride and groom sort of thing.

Kay: Oh, dear. What a shame.

Roly: Yeah, and we were playing to an empty hall!

Kay: [laughs] So you hadn't noticed for a while - you'd been so intent on your music, and you sort of looked up and everyone's gone?

Roly: Yeah. As I say, they were all out in the road, fighting.

Kay: Ah, did they come back in again afterwards?

Roly: Yeah.

[laughter]

Kay: Ah, just carry on!

40:46

Roly: And we did several, and one of them is on tape on the net at Larnach's Castle. We played for the first Ball at Larnach's, which was put on by the Student Union.

Kay: Ah, I'll have to look that up. So you can view it, can you?

Roly: Yes, you can. It's black and white.

Kay: So you'll be in that?

Roly: Yes, I am actually, for a brief glimpse. And the announcer referred to us as The Roly Wright Orchestra.

Kay: Oh, how grand!

[laughter]

Roly: The Roly Wright Orchestra. That was with my normal six, seven piece. But playing Strauss waltzes and...

Kay: Ah, yeah. Was that your... you didn't mind playing that, or was that a little bit staid for you?

Roly: Yeah, well... yeah. I mean, we...

Kay: Yeah. Did you play any of the hotels, 'cause I think the hotels used to put dances on as well, didn't they?

Roly: No, I don't think we... no, I don't recall doing any hotels, per se.

Kay: So, you probably stuck to the larger venues that could accommodate the larger sound, I suppose.

Roly: Well, when I first started with my own band, The Roly Wright All Stars, we turned down every job offer for a month. And that really set up a demand.

Kay: Right. You really made yourselves unattainable, so everybody wanted you. [laughs] Clever.

Roly: Yeah. I mean, I played almost every Friday and Saturday night for 20 years, I guess.

Kay: So you were fully occupied really. You don't have to answer this question, but did you make a good living out of it, or did you need to work as well?

Roly: I had a standard fee - $100 a man, per night.

Kay: Great! That wasn't bad in those days.

Roly: It was very good in those days, but I asked that because we were in such demand.

Kay: Yeah, very good. So when the dances finished... 'cause probably by the late 70s, I guess, they were fading out, and other things were happening, what happened for you after that in terms of your music career?

Roly: Well the Town hall dance was just sort of a backstop, really, although a very important one, 'cause we participated for so long, but there was just... there was still tons of work for my band. And I left the travel agency, sold it and moved to Auckland because of a job with Air New Zealand, which I very much wanted. And that was the finish of my band days.

Kay: Ah, ok. So you didn't carry on after that?

Roly: No, I got a couple of requests to play with an Auckland Dixieland group on the harbour ferries.

Kay: Ah, that would have been fun.

Roly: It was. A ton of fun.

Kay: So you did that for a bit?

Roly: Yeah, just for a... I did about four or five jobs with those guys. Nothing else after that.

Kay: Ah, right. So was it just that work got in the way, or did you feel like you'd done your dash, or...?

Roly: Ah, getting a bit long in the tooth. So I still had all my drums, but I didn't have any contacts then.

Kay: I s'pose a lot of your bandmates stayed in Dunedin, did they?

Roly: All of them. The band itself carried on without me. But I taught drums as well.

Kay: Oh, did you? Where did you teach drums?

Roly: In Dunedin.

Kay: So was it... you had your own place that you taught, or did you go to a school to teach.

Roly: No, I taught at our family home.

Kay: So people could book in and come and learn, yeah.

45:02

Roly: And one of my best pupils took over from me when I left Dunedin, so the band could keep going.

Kay: Ah, who was that?

Roly: [laughs] Ah, no idea.

[laughter]

Kay: I'm gonna have to look you up and see if I can find out. Ah, but that's good though, isn't it? Someone that you've taught, you've mentored and they've taken over the band, that's great. Yeah, wonderful. So they carried on for some time afterwards, did they?

Roly: Yes they did. And gradually, one by one, the Grim Reaper struck. And as of last year, there were two of us left - Jack Lanham the trumpet player in Alexandra. And Jenny, the vocalist, who's somewhere north of Sydney. And Jack has since passed away, so there's only Jenny left. And we were the two youngest. So that's logical, or I hope it's logical, that we'd be still going.

Kay: Yeah. Do you still keep in touch?

Roly: Yes. In fact without going into great detail, I've got a programme called Musictime Deluxe, which enables me to write music. And I would write the backings, send them over on the net to Jenny. She had another programme similar, and she'd do the vocals.

Kay: What a great life you've had.

Roly: It's still going.

Kay: Of course, I'm not saying it's over, but it's wonderful. So you've given me lots of stories there. I've got the bands, the Pipe Bands and the Brass Bands, and the dances. Yeah, it's just wonderful, thank you so much.

Roly: And don't forget to look up the Woolstore hops.

Kay: I will. I've got that written down.

Roly: They were great fun. Very drunken, but great fun.

Kay: So they were probably your highlight were they, of playing in Dunedin?

Roly: In a way, because it brought me in contact with a lot of very good jazz musicians. They used to come from all over New Zealand for the Woolstore hop. Crombie Murdoch... Ah, I can't remember a lot of names now, but.

Kay: Is there anyone you've played with that you've thought, "This is it." Probably Louis Armstrong would it be?

Roly: Yeah, I guess. Ah, I didn't get to play with him. We were just the opening act.

Kay: So, you kind of did. You were on the same stage. [laughs]

Roly: Yeah.

Kay: That's pretty good, opening for Louis Armstrong, isn't it?

Roly: Yeah, it still rates.

Kay: Absolutely, yeah, fabulous. Ah, well, I'm so grateful you've talked to me today. Thank you so much, Roly.

Roly: I would like to think, but it's highly optimistic, that I might yet get to play my drums again, at least once before I pass on.

Kay: Ah, that would be wonderful yeah. I hope so. If you do, please record it and send it to me. I'd love to hear you play.

Roly: I'll do my very best.

Kay: Thank you very much.

[recording ends]