David Gapes. - Photo by Chris Grimstone, M+AD
David Gapes – journalist, commercial-radio pioneer, band manager and music lover – kicked open many doors. He fought a state-owned monopoly and won. He brought rock’n’roll and pop music to our radio waves and managed one of New Zealand’s premier acts. Following his death on 8 March 2024, his friends and colleagues pay tribute for AudioCulture. – Steven Shaw
Derek Lowe
A sad day for a lot of pirates. He was our pirate chief and although it was over half a century ago, I feel, at a time like this, as if it was yesterday. Amazing memories. A larger-than-life adventure inspired, in great part, by David. We shared three amazing years. RIP, David.
Adrian Blackburn
Radio Hauraki - The Shoestring Pirates by Adrian Blackburn (first published in 1974)
Something special in my life grew out of the coincidence in mid 1951, my last primary school year, of shifting into the modest bungalow in Northland, Wellington, directly opposite the Gapes family home. Black-haired David was fiercely competitive as we played tennis and cricket on its generous front lawn. Summer weekends saw kids from both families on the tray of the Gapes work ute for swimming expeditions to Paremata and Plimmerton.
At Wellington College, David was bright but rebellious, reputedly the most-caned of any of its 1000 students. Our friendship survived my shift to join the Herald as a reporter in 1957 Auckland. A couple of years later David joined the Evening Post, a job choice I’ve always believed was influenced by mine.
When he came to Auckland in 1965 with his mad idea of pirate radio his determination and commitment were what persuaded me, an insider as the project developed behind the scenes, to commit the ultimate journalistic sin, sitting for nine months on a great story. I knew to break it earlier would almost certainly have seen the government able to kill it. Instead, David’s charisma, leadership, gift for delegation and sheer bloody-mindedness saw it through almost insurmountable challenges to success and a sea change in New Zealand society.
Julia Cameron
So many stories, so many which cannot be repeated! Throughout his radio career, David had only two PA/secretaries. I was the second, after Lorraine McArthur King resigned. I couldn’t take shorthand but David said that was of no consequence as, being an ex-journalist, he preferred to write what he needed in longhand, and I couldn’t really type – he said I would only get better. Which I guess I did.
Being David’s PA was equal parts nightmare and huge fun. He was such a charismatic person to be around. His velvet trousers and silk shirts, his generosity of spirit, his joie de vivre, his deliciously bad behaviour, his sense of humour.
Working at Radio Hauraki was not working, it was being paid to do a fun job with fun people. We were serious about getting it right, but not serious about anything else. PC and Woke were a million miles away from our vocabulary and our everyday lives. Every day was a blast and it was a regular event for Barrie Everard (then Columbia Warner), to have a movie preview in the daytime which those who wanted would attend – to hell as to whether it was working hours, and rarely asking the boss for permission. If someone turned up at work wearing a suit – and maybe a tie – the first question was “Court or a funeral?”
I had the honour to be asked by David and Ingrid to be their celebrant and conduct their wedding ceremony and I was lucky enough to be able to kiss him goodbye four days before he died, and thank him for all the good times and remind him that he was indeed The Boss From Hell. I was rewarded with a small grin.
Shane Hales
David Gapes. Revolutionist! Leader, icon & Hauraki Good Guy. David’s contribution to New Zealand’s 60s cultural change is so taken for granted these days. Oh how we have forgotten how regulated our lives were before the Radio Hauraki Good Guys came along!
Before Hauraki, we were lucky to have a half-hour top ten hits radio show once a week. David and his articulate band of rebels changed all that. I first had the pleasure of meeting David when my girlfriend Jan Campbell landed a job as a copywriter with the fledgling pirate radio station. I was playing with the resident band at the Top 20 club and it wasn’t long before my social life revolved around Radio Hauraki’s social network. Several staff ended up flatting with us. David didn’t, thankfully, as his social stamina was second to none, I couldn’t have kept up.
The station was fighting for its life at times, with legal wrangles brought on by the government fun police, who seemed afraid that pop music radio would poison our ears. David was always in the thick of the fight to gain freedom of the airwaves. He was passionate about it. It was that time in the 60s when we wanted to change the world and he was leading the charge. His vision became a movement of which there was no stopping and the public and advertisers rallied around.
Thank you, David, for all that you and your Good Guys did to create a “Star Machine” for local recording artists. Thank you, David, for being one of “The Good Guys”.
On the set of C'mon '68: Shane, Suzanne Lynch, Ray Columbus, Judy Donaldson, Tommy Ferguson and Ray Woolf
Suzy Lynch
I was very young when I met David Gapes but remember him as a truly lovely man. Judy and I did lots of “stings” for him for Radio Hauraki promos and we were always right behind Radio Hauraki and all the “good guys”. This is very sad news.
Hugh Lynn
The first time I met David was when Radio Hauraki took over The Top 20 and I lost my job. I wasn’t very happy and I think I carried a grudge for many years. This was around 1967. As time went by and Hello Sailor prepared to go to Los Angeles, it became evident that they lacked the management and support for a band to travel out of New Zealand. So I asked Pat Crow – Tiny Tina was his stage name at Mojo’s – and Pat went with the band to Los Angeles.
I was never a close, close friend of David. I think that resentment sat deep down inside of me subconsciously. But at the end of the day, David Gapes was a heavy hitter. He was one of the people who supercharged our local music. He kept confidently looking into the future. We needed those sorts of people around. And yes, he was also one of the good guys, who used to like hanging out with others in the industry. We will all miss him.
Dave McCombs
David McCombs.
I first met Dave the day I started work at Radio Hauraki in 1975 or 76. I had been working in a craft shop in Queensland when I received a telegram offering me a job as assistant news editor.
I arrived at the fourth floor of Caltex House, and there was David. I got to know him fast, and in fact that same day we were in the carpark taking in the fresh air and sunshine for five minutes, as one does.
I counted 50 people working at the station, and it was one big happy family. Although Radio Hauraki had been ashore for five years, I soon learned that we were famous. I must say that it was a lot of fun and I made the most of the reflected fame.
One day someone came into the newsroom and announced, “Gapes has banned Barry Manilow!” My thoughts were “boy, this is a man of POWER”.
In his early days in Australia as a reporter, he rubbed shoulders with greatness working at the Sydney Daily Mirror, probably the biggest paper in Australia in those days. He dated a fellow reporter named Anna until the publisher took an interest in her. That was Rupert Murdoch, and Anna became his second wife.
The whole saga of his return to Auckland and teaming up with three others to form Radio Hauraki is well known so I won’t go into it here. Suffice it to say when Gapes sat in the jaws of the Viaduct Harbour drawbridge he came to personify the spirit of Radio Hauraki – rebellious and non-conforming, rock’n’roll at a time when rock had hardly been heard on the airwaves.
It was a time of big personalities – Kevin Black, Fred Botica, Barry Jenkin – and we were out and about all over town, with promotions, concerts, Kite Day in the Park, and numerous appearances, big and small. And David held it all together.
He led by a kind of modesty. I never knew him to lose his cool or even raise his voice. People worked with him and for him because they wanted to, and never was heard a disagreeable word.
He left after a while, as did I, but he stayed in the music business, taking Hello Sailor to the United States. I stayed in touch with him over the years and we worked alongside each other in a couple of other places.
In more recent times, we played snooker every week for years. He was always fun to be around, even when his dodgy memory showed. He played snooker right up to the end, until his physical condition prevented it, always keen, always competitive.
He was probably my best friend.
Murray Cammick
Murray Cammick in his I Love Hauraki T-shirt.
Sad to hear of the death of David Gapes, a hero of mine since I was a young teen fan of Radio Hauraki. When Rip It Up started in 1977, David was supportive and Radio Hauraki was there to support us and we were both big Hello Sailor fans. He continued to be an inspiration when he returned to journalism and he shunned his high-profile days.
Tony Amos
One of The Greatest People and Naughtiest Boys I Have Known, was my immediate exclamation after learning of David’s death.
Boss, mentor, colleague, friend, inspirational, and fellow scallywag are some of the other words that help describe the contributions that he brought to my and others lives. Collectively, and for some of us individually, we all have a lot to thank David for.
In the early 1970s I started my dream job, hosting two-three overnight shows a week, and also helping in the promotions department at the now legendary Radio Hauraki. My radio career had me at Hauraki at three different times between then and 1990.
A decade later, David supported Alan Rutledge and myself when we formed Stereo FM Ltd, with the intention of launching FM Radio in New Zealand.
Like the early radio pirates, we had to navigate government rules and regulations, and we knew that lobbying the government, as daunting as it seemed, was the only way to affect positive change. Again, the examples of David and the earlier pirates was inspirational and motivational for us. Thank you, David.
In 1983 we launched one of Auckland’s first FM radio stations, 89FM. The choice of who would officially launch 89FM was an easy one for Alan and I. Who else but our friend and mentor, the original radio pirate, David Gapes. Thank you, David.
A lot has happened in and around all of our worlds since those wonderful times and experiences. Some of what has gone on has pretty special memories, some of it best left well alone. However, an enormous influence on my life since 1966 has been One of The Greatest People and Naughtiest Boys I have known.
Alan Rutledge
Alan Rutledge and Tony Amos - Rip It Up/ Papers Past
When we won the FM licence for 89FM, David was serving at the pleasure of Her Majesty. On his release we appointed him as news editor which caused a bit of a stir as we had floated a public company.
My links with Dave go back further when I was helping Direction Records who, in conjunction with Hauraki, started a music mag, Hot Licks. It was after that David asked me to join Hauraki.
In the early 90s, the Hauraki owners had a spare frequency and David and I leased it and set up NuFM. To programme it we went around all the record companies asking for new releases and what they wanted played, and it was scheduled accordingly. We had lots of fun and compliments but after a period of time Josh Easby wanted the frequency back so we sent Karen Soich in to negotiate on our behalf. We also had a frequency in Kaitaia, we won it in the spectrum auction for next to nothing. It ended up with the local iwi.
A 50-year friendship ended on Dave’s passing. He will be greatly missed.
Simon Grigg
My first memory of David was standing by the box office in His Majesty’s Theatre. He was already a legendary name, thanks to his part in the creation of Radio Hauraki, the station we all listened to religiously. I think the year was 1975. David was the co-promoter (with Barry Coburn) of the series of Sunday evening Buck-A-Head shows showcasing what he and Barry considered to be interesting new bands in the Queen City (that Barry seemed to manage and record many of these is beside the point). The name speaks for itself – it was a dollar in for usually two bands – and at the time these were compulsory to attend if you had any interest in live music in Auckland. That night was Beech and probably Waves.
Radio Hauraki Buck A Head 1974 - Murray Cammick Collection
The Buck-a-Head nights mattered at the time. The live scene was still dominated by bands with their roots in the 1960s and there was no licensed music scene at all – those pubs and (unlicensed) clubs who featured music were almost exclusively filled with covers bands. On the radio, the NZBC had tried to play catch-up with Radio Hauraki and their ZM station was playing contemporary rock music, but still only at night. The once-pirate station was still home to the best music and they were the promoters of the Buck-A-Head shows which, over the months, featured the two bands mentioned above, plus Split Enz, Ragnarok and other new music that mattered. And that station was, to the world at large, defined by David Gapes, and there he was. For some reason, I, a teenage fan, said hello. The conversation was brief and consisted of little more than enthusiasm.
Over the next couple of years, I saw David at gigs, probably Enz and Hello Sailor, both of whom I followed. It was a nodding acquaintance and he possibly wondered who the hell I was. Then, in 1977, two things happened, punk arrived, and he took over the management of pre-punk punks Hello Sailor. My group of friends religiously went to every Hello Sailor gig – Windsor Castle, University Café, Gluepot mostly – because, despite the fact we were firmly in the punk year-zero mindset, we saw Hello Sailor as an acceptable precursor. We’d save up milk money to see them, often my flatmates Johnny Volume and Ronnie Recent of The Scavs and me, and a funny thing happened – David would always wave us in. From his arrival as manager in September 1977 we didn’t pay. More than that, we’d be pulled out of the queue by David and waved through. Why? I can only guess that he saw us as somehow rock’n’roll fellow travellers and I was always grateful. We became casual friends, never close, but friends in the 1980s through mutual friends but I don’t think we ever talked about Hello Sailor or the free passes. He didn’t talk about Hello Sailor.
Fast forward some 40 years and we’d just published what is still one of my favourite AudioCulture stories, a love letter to Radio Hauraki and the pirates by a once-passionate, adolescent fanboy of the station, Murray Cammick (who also took possibly the greatest set of Hello Sailor images in the years that David was guiding them). I’d clicked the publish button and shared it on social media and, a few hours later, my phone rang. A very chuffed David Gapes was ringing to say how much he liked the story – how could anyone not? – and you could hear the pleasure in his voice. But for me, however, it was more than just that. We had given something back to the great man who had, as much as anyone, made possible what we were documenting with this website.
Truda Chadwick
What is there to say – the man is a legend. Everyone has a story and many of those will be the same story because we were there, with David at the helm. That ship took us all on the most exciting journey and when we came out the other side things had changed forever. Some never returned – a harsh price, but so it is when the boundaries are blasted. And the fun – so much fun. Our music was on the radio – unbelievable. It was a bloody tidal wave and we blessed the Tiri and all who sailed with her. May all the gods bless you, David Gapes, and all those travelling with you. 1480 pirates: always top of that dial.
John Dix
I first met David Gapes in a nightclub, a promising start to any friendship. He was already a legend, a genuine rock’n’roll hero. Awe soon turned to familiarity, he was always laid back, one cool dude.
The second time I met David Gapes he offered me a job. I was an out-of-towner, talk was cheap, but he seemed keen. Within weeks Gapes himself was out of work. I like to think I dodged a bullet.
The third time I met David Gapes he waved me and Bruno Lawrence through the door at Hastings’ Mayfair Hotel. He was managing Hello Sailor, a perfect fit. His decision to take the band directly to Los Angeles was audacious. But many years later, Dave MacArtney told me, “We [the band] were going on 30, behaving like teenagers, and our manager was going on 40, acting 30.”
Back in Auckland, the rock’n’roll took a darker turn. The Green Room, co-owned with Tommy Adderley, was an ambitious but foolish idea, a “greasy spoon” in the heart of the city, with no liquor license. It featured an all-New Zealand jukebox, and an original Dick Frizzell union jack adorned one concrete wall. Twelve years later, Dave and I tooled up, including a concrete cutter, and liberated the Frizzell before the wall was demolished. It still stands in the Gapes garage.
The Marsden twins of Androidss infamy both worked at The Green Room, or at least they served behind the counter, which guaranteed some sort of entertainment. Or mischief. It was pretty lax. Sometimes neither of the two owners would be seen for days. The clientele ranged from arty and subversive to borderline psychotic. There were a few musos in the mix but, really, it was heavy on street people and dodgy characters. One of them, Red Henry, was an undercover cop. You know the rest. David Gapes served 18 months at Ohura Prison. I was his most regular visitor. Proximity helped.
After serving his lag for that stroll on the wild side, Gapes shifted to the Far North. The next time I saw him he had a swarthy complexion and shimmering silver hair, looking almost wholesome. Looks can be deceiving.
David Gapes was an incorrigible drug fiend with an encyclopedic knowledge of pharmaceuticals, and which ones work best. Regardless of societal concerns, he championed opiates and hallucinogens throughout his life, and he smoked dope as long he could draw breath.
David Gapes loved rock’n’roll, snooker and Ingrid Hasler. Managing Hello Sailor was a costly but entertaining adventure and his obsession with snooker showed no improvement after 30 years but marrying Ingrid was one of the best decisions he ever made. I was privileged to attend their wedding and, indeed, it has been one of the great pleasures of my life to have had David Gapes as a close personal friend.
Hei maumaharatanga ki te tino hoa …
Harry Lyon
Radio Hauraki went to air at the end of my fifth form year so David had been a hero to me for a little over 10 years when he bumped into Graham [Brazier] at the supermarket and first expressed interest in managing Hello Sailor. We thought it was the perfect match – pirates! He pitched his idea of taking the band to LA and we loved it. Just as he gambled by taking Kiwi private radio into uncharted waters, he chanced everything to take a local band to the US. There was no playbook and we didn’t get the golden US record deal that was the goal, but we came close and shared some unique experiences in the process. Dave was confident, charismatic, charming and full of youthful fun, characteristics that stayed with him right up until the last time I saw him at his 82nd birthday party in January. RIP, dear friend.
Hello Sailor - Rum & Coca Cola Tour, 1977
Angela Griffen
When I was very young I came to Auckland from Wellington. Working in PR, I dealt with David Gapes and Radio Hauraki. They were considered the coolest thing in town, as they had been brave and unblinking and changed the way we got our music. David was always open to ideas, straightforward to deal with, charming and inclusive.
Some years later I was working with Coca-Cola and they wanted something cutting edge that would take their brand everywhere, including schools. I had seen Hello Sailor playing, and the queues around the block, and knew they were it.
David came in and managed them for what was the Rum and Coca-Cola Tour. It was a wild ride as this was rock and roll and they were not that manageable. David kept the show on the road as they hurtled through the country and became household names.
It was an eye opener for Coca-Cola and me. David was unafraid.
David Gapes, left, and Hello Sailor with gold records at Stebbing's. Centre back is producer Rob Aickin; at right is Festival Records MD Ray Porter. - Rob Aickin collection
Terry Marston
The first time I met David Gapes was in 1977, during the Rum and Coca-Cola tour to promote the first Hello Sailor album. I was working for Festival Records. I hooked up with the tour at the Bellblock Hotel in New Plymouth.
The MD of Festival Records said to introduce myself to Ricky Ball and Brazier. Nek minnit Gapes says, “Oh so you’re from the record company? Where’s the posters, where’s the radio people? Rah rah.” I turned to Ricky and said, “Who the fuck is that?” Ricky says “Oh that’s our manager, Dave Gapes. Good luck!”
Donna Chisholm
It felt like he’d dropped in from another planet in those days. I think we were all in awe of Dave at the Auckland Star because of what he’d done at Hauraki but he was the most humble guy in the room.
Peter Urlich and David Gapes backstage at Aotea Square, Auckland, 7 December 1984. - Bryan Staff
Paul Ellis
David Gapes was my sub-editor at the Auckland Star. When I started at the Star I didn’t realise his legacy, I was an ignorant 21-year-old from Marlborough, and Dave didn’t talk about it. He was always a rebel, often reeking of marijuana, but he was a great mentor and, really, he shaped my career.
David had a huge brain, huge, he seemed to know everything. In those days before Google, everyone in the building turned to David Gapes for his knowledge.
He had an ageless quality, music was in his bones. I was the music editor at the Star and I would run into David at gigs around town, I think that music was his real love.
I am deeply saddened by David’s death, he was the totara in the forest and I will always relish and cherish the memories.
Patrice Jessup
I was fascinated by Dave’s infinite knowledge of English. He appeared to know the meaning and background of every word. I would ring him up, dictionary in hand, and quiz him. I’d open the dictionary on any page with an obscure word and ask him the meaning of it, every time thinking I had him, but every time he would come back with not only the meaning, but it’s origin in Germanic, Nordic etc terms. Love of words and where they come from was his explanation.
The Jessups and Gapes spent many holidays together in the Far North, at his Cable Bay bach, hanging out at the beaches at Doubtless Bay, Tokerau, Matai Bay, Paradise, with Tony and Eve Gee, BBQs on the beach, much laughter, infinite memories. I absolutely adored Dave, we were very close and I saw him and Ingrid regularly. Something I will miss so much is taking tea (euphemism for smoking pot) on his patio, and just chewing the fat and laughing about old times. Arohanui my dear dear David.
Mark Everton and Barry Jenkin
Mark Everton
David fought the law and he won. He was still leading Hauraki when I joined the newsroom at 17. There was no reason for him to pay me any attention at all but he did. A real good guy. RIP.
Harvindar Singh
Something Dave said in a conversation has always stuck with me. We were talking about humanity and human advancement – he loved innovation and the arts – and he said, “Human intelligence has remained constant throughout the ages. Our literary and artistic works are as good today as they were centuries ago.”
I am so deeply saddened by David’s death. He was one of the finest people I have ever known and we shared a lifelong friendship, at times we were inseparable. I will always cherish those memories and respect his wisdom. I recall what David said when he was honoured with the order of merit. He said, “I have been recognised for my bad behaviour.”
Rest in love, buddy, I’m gonna miss you dearly.
John Barnett
John Barnett and Antonia Prebble on the cover of Onfilm magazine
David Gapes was someone who believed anything was possible. He will be remembered for his radio impact, his courage, determination and confidence which culminated in the establishment of Radio Hauraki.
It’s hard to believe that was nearly 60 years ago when David and the pirate radio station on board the Tiri changed the ears of New Zealand broadcasting. His adventures in that area have been deservedly well covered in film, TV, radio and print.
I had known David through various connections and in the 1980s, when the independent film and TV industry was expanding, Onfilm magazine was set up to cover it. Sue May was the first editor and then David came in as editor.
He brought a confidence to the publication and ensured it covered all the local news as our local screen industry began to grow and flourish. He was fun to work with, disciplined and fair in his content selection, always thinking about what the audience was looking for, and how to ensure it was seen as a valid and thriving part of New Zealand’s transition into a grown-up country.
Onfilm’s shareholders were all involved in the screen industry and included producers, directors, writers, techos, actors, accountants and lawyers. It was a fiercely independent monthly magazine, well read by all the industry, and unafraid to examine the issues of the emerging New Zealand industry. David stamped that fearlessness and discipline on it, and he was a pleasure to work with.
David Gapes was a legend and will always be remembered for his independent spirit and the changes he brought about. What an impact he had!
Steven Shaw
When I first started writing for David at AdMedia I was more than a little in awe of him and all he’d achieved for New Zealand music. But I never told him that. The only time we got close to the subject was in 2019 when I wrote his profile for AudioCulture and I asked if he had any corrections. He was thrilled with the story.
The first story I wrote for him over 20 years ago was a light, decade-by-decade account of the advertising industry in New Zealand and how it mirrored changes in society. Many months later he called me into his office to offer me steady freelancing work. “I like your writing style,” he said, “… and I hear you have a marketing degree.”
I don’t have a degree, but I enjoyed working with David immensely. There was plenty to learn from the way he dealt with writers and stakeholders – he showed me how to write your own brief and stick to it, and then just left me alone to do the job.
When I interviewed some former pop stars at their jingle recording studios I left their swear-words in the copy – and they swore a lot. He kept it all in there, saying the readers would love it, and “besides, the quotes are accurate”.
David became a colleague, a friend when I needed advice, and was always a joy to catch up with. Sometimes it’s not until you look back that you can see who your mentors were, but David was certainly that, and much more, to me.
David Gapes ONZM for services to broadcasting with Governor-General Dame Patsy Reddy, at his investiture ceremony, 3 September 2019
Fred Alder
It was sad to hear of David Gapes’s passing, he was a true gentleman, old school, and high achiever. David was a genuine pioneer and champion of radio broadcasting as a founder of Hauraki and a true “Radio Pirate”. He had many other achievements, managing Hello Sailor, magazine editor, and so much more. I enjoyed his company, especially during the Alhambra Snooker Tournaments, and the small snooker groups in Ponsonby. For a long while, David could always be located in the back room of the Ponsonby Snooker Centre on any given Friday. RIP David Gapes – Legend.
Chris Grimstone
I can’t help but feel a deep sadness in celebrating our 10-year anniversary of M+AD next month without you, David. Who would’ve guessed a wild pirate of the Hauraki Gulf together with OCD me, incorporating our different views and styles, could create something so surprisingly successful.
How does one begin to express the gratitude for all that you have given, not only to me but to all those you’ve crossed paths with, leaving behind your signature of individuality, beliefs and strength?
For me, as I’ve reflected during my time co-editing with you over the past few months, you’ve left a mark on my life that will never fade. I will always carry what you’ve taught me in my heart forever!
Tommy Ferguson
RIP my brother, you’ve been a wonderful friend.
Reg Birchfield
Dave was my first brother-in-law. We both went to Wellington College within a year of each other. He started as journo at the Evening Post. Me at the Dominion. He moved to Sydney. I followed. I married his sister. Much later he worked for me at Profile Publishing, editing AdMedia and Onfilm. We said goodbye at the hospice on Friday morning.
Poata Eruera
Kua hinga he totara I te wao nui a Tane
Haere ehoa, haere haere haere.
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John Dix is the author of Stranded in Paradise
Derek Lowe is a co-founder of Radio Hauraki
Adrian Blackburn wrote the classic Radio Hauraki history The Shoestring Pirates
Julia Cameron was David Gapes’s PA at Radio Hauraki
Shane Hales MNZM is an Auckland singer (‘St Paul’)
Suzy Lynch, formerly with The Chicks, currently sings with The Ladykillers
Hugh Lynn is a former concert promoter and owner of Warrior Records
Dave McCombs is a freelance writer and a former radio news reporter
Murray Cammick co-founded Rip It Up in 1977
Tony Amos is an Auckland radio host
Alan Rutledge co-founded one of Auckland’s first FM stations, 89FM
Simon Grigg is a band manager, record label owner, and founder of AudioCulture
Truda Chadwick is an Auckland singer
Harry Lyon is a member of Hello Sailor
Angela Griffen is an “ambassador for the brave, clever, talented and generous”
Terry Marston worked for Festival Records in the 1970s
Donna Chisholm is an Auckland investigative journalist
Bryan Staff is a writer, photographer, broadcaster, and founder of Ripper Records
Paul Ellis edited the Auckland Star music section in the late 1980s
Patricia Jessup is an Auckland Star colleague and longtime Gapes family friend.
Mark Everton is a TV director who worked on the rock history Give It a Whirl
Harvindar Singh is a strategic consultant with long experience in radio promotions
John Barnett CNZM is a film and TV producer and former OnFilm shareholder and director
Steven Shaw is a musician and editor of AudioCulture
Fred Alder is a concert and festival promoter
Chris Grimstone is a director and designer at M+AD
Tommy Ferguson is an Auckland singer
Reg Birchfield co-founded the National Business Review
Poata Eruera is a documentary, TV and film producer
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