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Thursday March 14, 2019
Band reunites decades after drummer’s life-changing incident
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On March 20, 1987 Bill Morris woke up full of anticipation. His band was playing a gig that night and he had arranged to have the performance videoed. The next day, he was in a deep coma after being savagely beaten by a group of thugs on the way home from the gig, the videotape of the performance in his bag. He had been rushed to hospital where the ICU was to become his new home for weeks. While his assailants were apprehended and later imprisoned, Bill would be left with permanent brain damage. Bill’s band was Wazzo Ghoti (“Ghoti” pronounced “fish” based on a gag from an episode of 1960s Batman). It was a deliberately eclectic and contrary contribution to Wellington’s mid-80s to mid-90s music scene. With Bill unable to drum, the other members - Mark Roxburgh, Chris Goodall and Rex Nairn - recruited a wide variety of drummers even while playing at gigs. They never doubted Bill would recover to the point that he would play with them again even though his recovery was slow and painful, involving hours of
physiotherapy every day. Bill transitioned from hospital to home and practised drumming whenever he was home. “Bill continued to provide lyrics for the band and was considered a member as much as any of us,” says Rex. But determination could not overcome the damage to Bill’s coordination and he didn’t perform with Wazzo Ghoti as hoped. They released a cassette, Coelacanth, and recorded more material but then went into hiatus. Bill went on to live a normal life, marrying and starting a family on the Kapiti Coast. After Bill’s father, Russ, died the rest of the band attended his funeral. The wake was at Bill’s place and he (somehow) ended up behind his drum kit. It became apparent that Bill was playing better than the band had heard since his injuries. Soon after this they began practising together again. Wazzo Ghoti had both released and unreleased recordings and have put together an anthology which they will release at a gig at Valhalla on Saturday, March 16. While they performed a short
Wazoo Ghoti, clockwise from left: Bassist Chris Goodall (aka Bass), singer/guitarist Rex Nairn (aka Old Fishy), singer/guitarist Mark Roxburgh (aka Spike) and drummer Bill Morris (aka Joe Drummer). PHOTO: Supplied
set at Bill’s 50th and snuck in a performance supporting Wazzo Clash, this is the first headline show Bill has played with Wazzo Ghoti in four days short of 32
Airport Flyer’s Snapper decision out of our hands: Ponter Greater Wellington Regional Councillor Daran Ponter has publicly clarified what he says are misconceptions about Wellington’s Airport Flyer, which has recently withdrawn the Snapper Card service from its operation. In a column published on the Scoop website, Daran says the Airport Flyer “is not and never has been a Metlink Service”. “The service is not tendered by Metlink and no ratepayer dollars are used to subsidise the service (though ironically you
can use your Goldcard on it),” he writes. “As long as the Airport Flyer is a commercial service, it can’t be tendered by Metlink (i.e. NZTA would not provide their portion of the subsidy). Why? The Government’s Public Transport Operating Model rationale is ‘Why use ratepayer and taxpayer dollars to subsidise a service when a commercial operator is willing to provide it without any subsidy?’ ” He says the Airport Flyer is not the only commercial bus
service in greater Wellington. “If you live in the Hutt Valley and come into town on an NCS (white and blue bus) then you are travelling on a commercial service which does not use Snapper, does not track on RTI and charges its own fares.” Daran doubts the Flyer is making its owner NZ Bus much money “but they have probably calculated that it is better to bundle the Flyer into the sale of NZ Bus than separate it out for sale”. “The decision by NZ Bus
Rongotai College and Evans Bay Intermediate School
(100 percent owned by Infratil) not to upgrade their Snapper (100 percent owned by Infratil) equipment is a purely commercial decision on the part of NZ Bus, and comes with the downside that the buses can no longer be tracked on the RTI system – fortunately though it’s a reasonably frequent service. He suggests commuters use the No 2 as it is a “very good option” for the airport. “It is much cheaper, though slower, than the more limitedstops Airport Flyer.”
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HS 387B V/1 FINAL CTP.indd 1
years. Wazzo Ghoti will play a set with Bill and a set with their drummer just before their hiatus, Steve Cochrane.
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