Radio with Pictures - A Pointless Exercise

The title belies this profile (made for TV rock show Radio with Pictures) of Chris Knox and Alec Bathgate in their early days as the Tall Dwarfs. They traverse their past in legendary punk band The Enemy — with compelling performance footage — and the influential but ill-fated Toy Love. Knox’s seething disillusionment with the music industry is rapidly evolving into the DIY ethos that will reshape NZ alternative music. He is also typically confrontational as they busk in The Octagon while the closing acoustic performance is worth the price of admission on its own.

‘Pull Down the Shades’ was a great lost classic that got recorded about three years after it should have been. It was, in a way, The Enemy’s finest hour. At the first gig, it was five verses long. By the time we got to record it, it was two verses long and about four times as fast.

– Chris Knox

Key Cast & Crew

Peter Janes

Director, Camera