Strawpeople started in Auckland around 1988 as a duo featuring Mark Tierney and Paul Casserly. They must have been one of the first studio based bands in New Zealand, who relied on guest vocalists.... this type of production team is now commonplace the world over. Paul Casserly is now the sole member and last released an album 'Counting Backwards From 10' in 2004. Their debut album 'Hemisphere' was released in 1991 and featured the single "One Good Reason" which was a cover of fellow Kiwi band 'The Swingers' minor hit. It featured a 16 year old newcomer Merenia from Whakatane, who had released her debut single "Confessions" in 1990. Merenia seemed to have a bright future but disappeared from the music scene not too long after. However, she is now based in Sydney and is back in the music business with a wide range of styles.... latin, hip-hop, dance and funk. Now back to the song "One Good Reason" where Strawpeople have actually slowed the song down and added all the production techniques of the time, which surprisingly still holds up well.
The Swingers released this original version of "One Good Reason" in 1980. The Swingers featured three well known musicians of the late seventies... Phil Judd (ex Split Enz), Bones Hillman and Buster Stiggs. They scored a huge hit on both sides of the Tasman a year later with "Counting the Beat".
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