{"title":"Dead Famous People","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"harry","title":"Harry","description":"\u003cp\u003eBack in the 80s Dons Savage of Dead Famous People joined her first band Freudian Slips which soon ended so she along with fellow Freudian Slip refugee Biddy Leyland could pursue their own talents. A chance encounter with Flying Nun's spiritual guru, Chris Knox, led to a one-off deal with the label that resulted in a five-song EP, \u003ci\u003eLost Persons Area\u003c\/i\u003e. Moving to London in 1986 the fabled \"Flying Nun sound\" began making an impact outside New Zealand. The release of near-perfect compilations by The Clean and The Chills except Dead Famous People were a little early for that buzz. Stumbling into a deal with Utility Records, Billy Bragg and legendary manager Pete Jenner. Dons later started singing with new combo, Saint Etienne, her vocals feature on the original version of their cover version hit, \u003ci\u003eKiss And Make Up\u003c\/i\u003e, as well as a cover of Gil Scott-Heron's Winter In America’. Around this same time, Martin Phillipps of The Chills asked Dons requested she sing on \u003ci\u003eHeavenly Pop Hit.\u003c\/i\u003e Dons soon returned home to Auckland without an outlet for her music, three decades later Fire tracked her down and the rest is history. Now comes her new album \u003ci\u003eHarry\u003c\/i\u003e, it’s more philosophical than her earlier work. It feels like the right one for a world of apocalyptic pandemic, uncertainty and quarantine. Dons' power over melody and knack for profundity remains unchanged since Dead Famous People's original incarnation. A rare record in a time of musical factionalism and a world divided into camps of willful obscurity and grotesque mockeries of stardom and art, it’s a document of unadorned perfection.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Fire Records","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":50498734457163,"sku":"1094909","price":12.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"LP","offer_id":50498734653771,"sku":"1094910","price":22.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/6b7e3f5b-4d43-4428-8165-4682ffb658e7_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1727755917"},{"product_id":"lost-person-s-area","title":"Lost Person's Area","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe ‘long lost’ release from New Zealand’s cult-favourites Dead Famous People is back on vinyl for the first time in 36 years. Dons Savage's stellar songwriting, unique voice and extracurricular work with The Chills and Saint Etienne didn't result in fame, though the 2020 comeback album, ‘Harry’, showed her magic undimmed. To celebrate, Fire Records is reissuing Dead Famous People's debut EP for the first time outside New Zealand. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eTrack listing: 1 Barlow's House, 2 Take Your Leather Jacket Off, 3 Traitor To the Cause, 4 You Won't See Me Cry, 5 Sarah\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Fire Records","offers":[{"title":"Black | LP","offer_id":50502468665675,"sku":"1145204","price":19.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/bdec90ef-6413-4ea0-b2c4-7c4f8e54c4c1_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1727790835"},{"product_id":"wild-young-ways","title":"Wild Young Ways","description":"\u003cp\u003eIf you’re a serious music fan but not a native Kiwi, your first awareness of New Zealand’s fab music scene may have come from the debut of The Chills’ mesmerising Kaleidoscope World collection of early singles. Within a few years, a great number of NZ acts saw music released by various UK and US labels . . . generally to great praise and enthusiasm. That this occurred without any of these acts having to move abroad to further their chances was nearly as delightful a feat as the music itself. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe exception to this was Dead Famous People, radical in a snap decision after a five-song 12” for Flying Nun, Lost Persons Area, to change hemispheres and make a go for it in London. It started well. Three London recordings were added to three from their Flying Nun EP and put out by Billy Bragg’s Utility label - about as perfect a mini-album as there's ever been. Response was positive, more songs recorded, the group did a John Peel session and played out often, but the vaguely impoverished group began to fall apart. Singer and primary writer Dons Savage - determined to make it - had a near-miss at becoming Saint Etienne's singer on an early take of their 'Kiss And Make Up' cover, and there was a fine performance from her on The Chills’ 'Heavenly Pop Hit' . . . but dismay had set in. Upon learning of her mum’s passing back home, Dons returned to NZ and was quiet for decades. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMost of their London recordings were later released later in minuscule quantities by very small labels, but these saw scant press or attention and enjoyed next-to-no sales. Their moment had passed, and the band has suffered the strange fate of being the least-known of the truly brilliant acts associated with Flying Nun. Listening to these ‘lost’ songs, it seems unfathomable that they could have fallen by the wayside. No NZ songwriter comes as close to equalling Martin Phillipps' pop brilliance as Dons. Her superbly sweet vocals, delicious harmonies and sophisticated arrangements aside, the songs dealt perceptively with universal follies of youth and yearning in tandem with a then-unusual twist of lyrics dealing matter-of-factly with her sexuality at a time when ‘women’s music’ was seen as exclusionary (segregated into its own bin in shops, if it existed there at all), and the riot grrrl movement was years away, later breaking through due to its radical stance. Dons is a pioneer in myriad ways, the irony of her transcendent brilliance failing to propel a greater career may rest in the fact that she leapt to the head of the class too quickly for people to grasp it; a fate that's befallen so many musical geniuses acknowledged today but less in their time - something rather tragically acknowledged in old pal Martin Phillipps' song with The Chills, 'A Song For Randy Newman, Etc.' \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003eNone of these thirteen songs fails to deliver something both immediate and unique. And we're proud to debut \u003cem\u003eVampirella\u003c\/em\u003e, a magical fantasy song of longing and intrigue - surely one of the most perfect tunes to ever sit around unreleased for decades! Dons is again busy conjuring new songs; in the meantime we're delighted to unveil these obscure gems from the past.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Tiny Global Productions","offers":[{"title":"LP - Black","offer_id":53133832651083,"sku":"R4263-9571","price":22.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"CD","offer_id":53133832683851,"sku":"R4263-6527","price":12.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/DeadFamousPeople-WildYoungWays.jpg?v=1754582692"}],"url":"https:\/\/shop.roughtrade.com\/fr\/collections\/dead-famous-people.oembed","provider":"Rough Trade","version":"1.0","type":"link"}