Radio with Pictures - Women Songwriters

An assertion by The NZ Herald that women’s music is just "gentle, political folk songs" leads off this report for 1980s rock show Radio with Pictures. It’s presented by RWP host Dick Driver from a showcase for women songwriters, at Auckland’s much loved and missed Gluepot Tavern in Ponsonby. The featured musicians include singer/songwriter Mahinārangi Tocker, blues singer Mahia Blackmore and Dianne Swann, then a member of When the Cat’s Away. Those sensitive folk songs are in short supply, but the same can’t be said for the obstacles encountered in dealing with a male-dominated music industry.

My name’s too long, I’ve got a good voice but I don’t look right and the songs I sing aren’t the sort of things teenagers might want to hear.

– Mahinārangi Tocker on the music industry’s opinion of her

Key Cast & Crew

Irene Gardiner

Director

Richard Driver

Presenter