Noisy Neighbours

In 1959 Johnny Devlin, the so-called "spawn of Elvis", jumped the Tasman to continue his rock 'n' roll career, kick-starting a tradition of Kiwi talent finding success in the much bigger Australian scene. Presented by expat Kiwi Richard Wilkins, this 1992 documentary features dozens of Kiwi musicians including Jenny Morris, the Finn brothers, ex-Split Enzer Noel Crombie and Jon Stevens; they talk about their move and their theories on why Kiwis stand out in Australia. For legendary music promoter Harry M Miller (another expat) the answer is clear: the Māori taught us "how to love singing, how to harmonise".   

One of the things that was attractive to come over here as well, was recording facilities and making good sounding records — where today people are making great sounding records in their bedrooms, and people are making great sounding records in their bedrooms in New Zealand.

– Mi-Sex keyboardist Murray Burns on one of the reasons Kiwi musicians used to come to Australia

Key Cast & Crew

Robert Halliwell

Editor

Tim Cramer

Editor

Greg Penniket

Camera Operator

Dave Dobbyn

Subject

Richard Wilkins

Presenter

Patrick O'Neill

Director, Writer, Research