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Alastair Riddell's Space Waltz

Paperback / softback

Main Details

Title Alastair Riddell's Space Waltz
Authors and Contributors      By (author) Dr. Ian Chapman
Series33 1/3 Oceania
Physical Properties
Format:Paperback / softback
Pages:144
Dimensions(mm): Height 197,Width 127
Category/GenreRock and Pop
World
Bands, groups and musicians
ISBN/Barcode 9781501389511
ClassificationsDewey:782.421660922
Audience
Professional & Vocational
General

Publishing Details

Publisher Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
Imprint Bloomsbury Academic USA
Publication Date 9 March 2023
Publication Country United States

Description

Alastair Riddell's band Space Waltz was a short-lived one-album New Zealand rock act who hit gold with a #1 hit single in October 1974 with the song 'Out On The Street' but thereafter failed to achieve anything even close to that feat. While relegated to one-hit-wonder status in the eyes of many, to this day Riddell and Space Waltz epitomize the mid-1970s heyday of glam rock in New Zealand. But in truth their impact went far beyond this. Their generationally divisive nation-wide debut on the hugely popular MOR television talent quest Studio One/New Faces demonstrated the power of mass media exposure - they were instantly signed to a record deal with industry giant EMI - while Riddell's controversial gender-bending image provided a cultural crossroads that greatly impacted the wider youth culture of Aotearoa New Zealand. In addition, while the album's most famous track, 'Out On The Street,' is rightly regarded as New Zealand's glam rock anthem, the wider album demonstrates a compositional and musical depth that goes far beyond glam rock and into the realm of sophisticated progressive rock, ultimately providing an unlikely and highly unique musical amalgam.

Author Biography

Ian Chapman is an author, musician, and Senior Lecturer in Music at the University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand. His previous publications have included titles on Glam Rock, David Bowie, Alice Cooper, The Dunedin Sound and the arts and culture of New Zealand in the 1960s and 1970s.