Let's update Nature's Best

It's been more than two decades since APRA released their list of NZ's Top 100 Songs Of All Time. We're well past due to make some additions.

If you were alive in New Zealand circa 2001-2002, you remember Nature’s Best.

You just do. It was everywhere: endless media coverage of the list, debates about what should have been included, and a trio of ubiquitous compilation albums that contained most of the tracks. The first double-album, released at the start of 2002, has been certified 10x platinum in this country and spent a combined 11 weeks at the top of the NZ Music Compilations Chart.

(Fun fact: in 2002, NZ still had a Compilations Chart, presumably so those pesky compilations wouldn’t get in the way of the real albums on the main chart.)

The albums were titled Nature’s Best - a play on the old adage, and the name of the #1 song “Nature” by Fourmyula (though more famously covered by The Mutton Birds on their self-titled 1992 debut).

Fourmyula were as surprised as you were.

However, the list itself was not called Nature’s Best. The list itself was titled the APRA Top 100 New Zealand Songs Of All Time. APRA stands for Australasian Performing Rights Association, the group responsible for ensuring fair use of music by licensing use of music by local artists, and who run the annual Silver Scrolls awards for the best songwriting of the year.

The list was the brainchild of APRA head Mike Chunn, who ran the organisation from 1992 to 2003 (and has been CEO of kids songwriting charity Play It Strange since 2004), and was compelled to have a crack at it after the Australian arm of APRA did a similar list for Australian artists.

According to legend (or at least this 2022 article on Stuff by Chris Hyde), Chunn - himself a musician, most famously playing bass with Split Enz, who landed eight songs on the list - sent out an email to all of the more than 4000 members of APRA, asking them to list their ten favourite NZ songs, which led to “900 responses with roughly 1000 different songs”.

The list was announced at APRA’s Silver Scrolls awards in 2001, and Chunn himself came up with the idea of making an album with the Top 30 on it, distributing copies to everyone in attendance at the awards … which happened to include Sony NZ’s director Michael Glading.

Mike Chunn is a true NZ music legend.

Glading checked out the album the next day. “I was feeling a bit rough on it from the festivities,” he told Hyde in the article above, “and I just remember sitting up and thinking 'bloody hell, this is the most amazing collection. We can sell this’.”

The rest, as they say, is history. Fourmyula’s “Nature” landed at the top due to a) the Mutton Birds renewing interest in the track during the 1990s, and b) Neil Finn essentially splitting the vote with himself due to how many of his songs got a mention (the final list has 8 x Split Enz and 6 x Crowded House tracks).

One song that made the list was Strawpeople’s “Sweet Disorder”, a standout collaborative effort from the Kiwi electronica group founded in the mid 80s. It landed at #64 in between Greg Johnson and Sharon O’Neill.

“Getting on the list was surprising but very cool,” says Strawpeople songwriter Paul Casserly. “There are so many other great songs that should be there before us, but that’s the nature of lists and awards and all that. They’re bullshit but when they happen it’s grand.”

To be honest, “Sweet Disorder” is one of my favourite songs on the entire list. I remember being pleasantly surprised to see it on there at the time. But, looking back, it seems like an obvious choice for the Top 100.

The cover of Strawpeople’s Broadcast, the album containing “Sweet Disorder”.

“That song rested on a few things,” Casserly continues. “Mostly Mark’s production skills and Leza Corban’s incredible voice and then throw in Anthony Ioasa’s keys and Steve Harrop’s acoustic bass and of course Greg Johnson on trumpet. It was quite the combo really.“

“A great list to be on, and of it’s time. Feel lucky to be on it for sure. Did we deserve to be? Probably not, but yay!”

If you want to have a look/listen, I’ve included a Spotify playlist and the full list of 100 tracks below. It makes for an interesting and nostalgic read.

The release of the album was what started the public debate; how “Don’t Dream It’s Over” didn’t take the #1 spot baffled most people (though personally I’m shocked that “Fall At Your Feet” didn’t make the list).

There are some legitimate gripes, I think. For example, Neil Finn, Tim Finn and Dave Dobbyn take up a lot of space on the list given their longevity and success with Split Enz and Crowded House, and with DD Smash and Th’ Dudes, as well as their solo careers. And I think there is an element of recency bias on the list too; a total of 22 tracks come from the 1996-2000 period, including two tracks each from Stellar* and Zed, and one from Eye TV that, sorry, just don’t belong.

But I reckon that, for the most part, the list is pretty good.

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It has been quite a while though. APRA’s Top 100 only includes songs up to the year 2000, meaning it doesn’t capture anything that happened afterward.

There are no songs from the NZ hiphop explosion that started with Che Fu in 2001 and went on to include acts like Scribe, Nesian Mystik, Savage and all the rest, up to and including Tom Scott/Home Brew.

There are no songs from Tiki Taane, Anika Moa, SJD, Brooke Fraser, Marlon Williams, Ladi6 or Troy Kingi, some of our finest songwriters. No Fat Freddy’s Drop, Black Seeds, Salmonella Dub, or (god help me) Six60. No Opshop, no Shapeshifter, no Gin Wigmore, no Mint Chicks, no Blindspott, no Beths.

There is no Lorde on the list. Hell, if you re-did the list now, is there any question that Lorde would be the consensus #1 with her hit “Royals”?

Lorde is amazing even though, as this picture makes clear, she has no arms.

Let’s find out.

There are 23 full calendar years of songs - all the way from 2001 to 2023 - that haven’t been considered for the list of Top 100 NZ Songs Of All Time. I think those years need to be considered properly in order to figure out what songs released in that time should be added and where they should be placed.

And I think I’m the guy to do it. Well, with your help of course.

For ease, and since it was committed to compilation CDs that some people still have floating around their homes, we’ll take the APRA list from 2001 as locked in; we’re not moving or removing any songs from that list.

But over the next few weeks, I will put down some ideas on what I think deserves to be added to the list, and where I think they should be placed, with each post in this series covering a few years and under a dozen songs at a time.

You can take part, too. I’ll add polls along the way so you can vote on each pick whether you agree, think it should be higher or lower, or shouldn’t be included at all. And you can comment your suggestions from the 2001 to 2023 period too.

This is going to be fun! Keep an eye out next Tuesday for the first post in the series, looking at some of the songwriting gems of 2001 and 2002.

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APRA’s Top 100 NZ Songs Of All Time

1. Fourmyula - 'Nature' (1969)

2. Crowded House - 'Don't Dream It's Over' (1986)

3. Dave Dobbyn - 'Loyal' (1988)

4. The Swingers - 'Counting the Beat' (1981)

5. Split Enz - 'Six Months in a Leaky Boat' (1982)

6. Bic Runga - 'Sway' (1997)

7. Dave Dobbyn with Herbs - 'Slice of Heaven' (1986)

8. Dance Exponents - 'Victoria' (1982)

9. Straitjacket Fits - 'She Speeds' (1987)

10. Dragon - 'April Sun in Cuba' (1977)

11. Split Enz - 'I Got You' (1980)

12. DD Smash - 'Whaling' (1984)

13. Chris Knox - 'Not Given Lightly' (1990)

14. The Chills - 'Pink Frost' (1984)

15. Darcy Clay - 'Jesus I Was Evil' (1997)

16. Crowded House - 'Weather with You' (1991)

17. Pixie Williams and the Ruru Karaitiana Quartet - 'Blue Smoke' (1949)

18. Blerta - 'Dance All Around The World[4]' (1972)

19. Fur Patrol - 'Lydia' (2000)

20. Hello Sailor - 'Blue Lady' (1977)

21. Bic Runga - 'Drive' (1996)

22. DLT featuring Che Fu - 'Chains' (1996)

23. The Mutton Birds - 'Dominion Road' (1992)

24. Shona Laing - 'Glad I'm Not A Kennedy' (1986)

25. Split Enz - 'I Hope I Never' (1980)

26. The Crocodiles - 'Tears' (1980)

27. Th' Dudes - 'Be Mine Tonight' (1978)

28. Split Enz - 'I See Red' (1979)

29. Dave Dobbyn - 'Beside You' (1998)

30. Shihad - 'Home Again' (1997)

31. DD Smash - 'Outlook For Thursday' (1983)

32. Straitjacket Fits - 'Down in Splendour' (1990)

33. Crowded House - 'Better Be Home Soon' (1988)

34. OMC - 'How Bizarre' (1995)

35. Dave Dobbyn - 'Language' (1994)

36. Split Enz - 'Message to My Girl' (1984)

37. Pātea Māori Club - 'Poi E' (1984)

38. Split Enz - 'Stuff and Nonsense' (1979)

39. The Feelers - 'Venus' (1998)

40. Emma Paki - 'System Virtue' (1996)

41. Tim Finn - 'Fraction Too Much Friction' (1983)

42. Herbs - 'French Letter' (1995)

43. Sharon O'Neill - 'Maxine' (1983)

44. Space Waltz - 'Out on the Street' (1974)

45. Max Merritt and the Meteors - 'Slippin' Away' (1976)

46. Stellar* - 'Violent' (1999)

47. The Exponents - 'Why Does Love Do This To Me' (1992)

48. Shona Laing - '1905' (1972)

49. The Mutton Birds - 'Anchor Me' (1994)

50. Th' Dudes - 'Bliss' (1979)

51. Netherworld Dancing Toys - 'For Today' (1984)

52. King Kapisi - 'Screems From Tha Old Plantation' (2000)

53. John Rowles - 'Cheryl Moana Marie' (1970)

54. Mi-Sex - 'Blue Day' (1985)

55. Zed - 'Glorafilia' (1999)

56. Headband - 'Good Morning Mr Rock 'n' Roll' (1971)

57. Split Enz - 'History Never Repeats' (1981)

58. Sisters Underground - 'In The Neighbourhood' (1994)

59. Citizen Band - 'Julia' (1978)

60. Shihad - 'Pacifier' (1999)

61. Larry's Rebels - 'Let's Think of Something' (1967)

62. Bic Runga - 'Bursting Through' (1997)

63. Greg Johnson - 'Liberty' (1997)

64. Strawpeople - 'Sweet Disorder' (1994)

65. Sharon O'Neill - 'Asian Paradise' (1979)

66. Blam Blam Blam - 'Don't Fight It Marsha, It's Bigger Than Both of Us' (1981)

67. Hello Sailor - 'Gutter Black' (1977)

68. Herbs - 'Long Ago' (1984)

69. Blam Blam Blam - 'There Is No Depression in New Zealand' (1981)

70. Dave Dobbyn - 'You Oughta Be in Love' (1986)

71. Fur Patrol - 'Andrew' (2000)

72. Graham Brazier - 'Billy Bold' (1981)

73. Crowded House - 'Distant Sun' (1993)

74. Bic Runga - 'Suddenly Strange' (1997)

75. The Mockers - 'Forever Tuesday Morning' (1984)

76. Headless Chickens - 'Cruise Control' (1991)

77. The Feelers - 'Pressure Man' (1998)

78. Crowded House - 'Private Universe' (1994)

79. Peking Man - 'Room That Echoes' (1985)

80. Herbs - 'Sensitive to a Smile' (1987)

81. Prince Tui Teka - 'E Ipo' (1982)

82. The Front Lawn - 'Andy' (1987)

83. Shihad - 'Bitter' (1995)

84. Crowded House - 'Four Seasons in One Day' (1991)

85. The Chills - 'Heavenly Pop Hit' (1990)

86. Sneaky Feelings - 'Husband House' (1985)

87. Pop Mechanix - 'Jumping Out A Window' (1981)

88. Straitjacket Fits - 'If I Were You' (1993)

89. Dance Exponents - 'I'll Say Goodbye (Even Tho I'm Blue)' (1983)

90. Sharon O'Neill - 'Maybe' (1981)

91. Eye TV - 'One Day Ahead' (2000)

92. Zed - 'Renegade Fighter' (2000)

93. Stellar* - 'Part of Me' (1999)

94. Coconut Rough - 'Sierra Leone' (1983)

95. Sharon O'Neill - 'Words' (1979)

96. Split Enz - 'Spellbound' (1979)

97. Citizen Band - 'Rust in My Car' (1979)

98. Shona Laing - 'Mercy of Love' (1992)

99. Supergroove - 'Can't Get Enough' (1996)

100. Dave Dobbyn - 'Naked Flame' (1995)

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Kia ora e te whanau and thanks for reading! Feel free to start posting your ideas for great songs from 2001 onward that need to be added to the list - just use the comments below. And why not share this post with your friends and get their take as well! This is the intro post - next Tuesday, I’ll be back with my first shortlist of tracks that I think need to be placed into the list, and where.
Mā te wā e hoa,
Chris