Ah, the tyranny of fashion. A photo of The Mockers, taken in 1987, captures singer Andrew Fagan, guitarist Brett Adams and others at their Duran Duran-esque coiffured finest. It hints at a band which had a penchant for excess, a suggestion that, according to Adams, is not incorrect.
Yet, amid all that adornment gel and eyeliner, many of the Kiwi band’s best songs were relatively unadorned. They cut to the chase, highlighting key songwriter Fagan’s acute sense of melody.
Thirty years on, The Mockers have reunited for an eight-date national tour, which includes a concert at Dunedin’s Glenroy Auditorium on Friday, January 27.
Adams, Fagan, bassist Geoff Hayden and keyboardist Tim Wedde will be joined by Phoenix Foundation drummer Chris O’Connor as The Mockers honour Steve Thorpe, the band’s original drummer, who died in 1986.
The Mockers burst into Kiwi consciousness in 1984, when single Forever Tuesday Morning reached No 2 on the New Zealand charts; the same year, the group’s debut album, Swear It’s True, reached the top five, sparking a wave of "Mockermania" and a slew of songs, including My Girl Thinks She’s Cleopatra, Swear It’s True and One Black Friday.
In 1987, the Mockers headed to England, but a lack of management and label backing resulted in the group disbanding after a few years.
"Geoff, Andrew and I played together a little bit in England, and I got up with Andrew a couple of years ago, but this is the first time in 30 years the four of us have toured," Adams says via phone from his West Auckland home.
"Geoff is coming all the way from London and Tim is now based in Australia. There was never any plan to get back together; it’s just happened. Now’s the time to do it because we ain’t getting any younger.
"It’ll be great to play all those songs again."
Adams concedes the band is treading a fine line: on one side is the issue of respecting the original material (and an audience’s expectations); on the other, three decades of practice means these musicians have a greater musical canvas to utilise.
"That’s what really interests me; playing some of those songs again, going over those little guitar parts but knowing I can play them a lot better now. I have played a lot of guitar for the past 30 years," Adams says.
"But I really don’t want to change what’s there. Sure, the production on some of those songs is very ’80s and has dated a bit, but it would be a shame to change them too much.
"Having listened to those songs again, I realise there are ways to make them better. I like simple, effective guitar parts, adding textures and stuff."
Regarded as one of New Zealand’s best guitar players, Adams has been involved in a wide range of collaborations over the years, both on stage and in the studio: Tim Finn, Don Walker (ex-Cold Chisel), Graham Brazier, Dave McArtney, Australian actor and musician Guy Pearce, folk singer Rodriguez, American country music legend Marty Stuart ... the list goes on.
He was also involved in the recent The Last Waltz 40th anniversary concert tour (which didn’t come to Dunedin), featuring two of the creative linchpins of that landmark 1976 event, The Band’s keyboard genius Garth Hudson and music director John Simon, the "sixth member" of the US-Canadian outfit that inspired generations of Americana-inclined musicians.
"These things pique your interest," Adams reflects.
"You jump into a whole new world. Garth Hudson was incredible, as was playing electric guitar with Rodriguez, which I did a few years ago. Both are very eccentric people, but it was a great learning experience just fitting into those situations.
"When I played with Rodriguez, he just wanted a small band so I was really put on the spot to just come up with things that might approximate what might have been heard on his records. He wrote some great songs; take Sugarman, which has these amazing modulating chords."
In recent years, Adams’ main musical vehicle has been The Bads, the duo he formed with partner Dianne Swann on their return from England in 2003. Having released three albums — 2005’s Earth from Space, 2009’s So Alive (the song of the same name and the album were nominated for Tui awards in 2010) and 2013’s Travel Light (which reached No 3 on the New Zealand charts) — the band has recently completed another, due for release in April.
Among Adams’ many musical memories, one stands tall: in 2015, The Bads were invited to join country music legend Marty Stuart at his Late Night Jam at the Ryman Auditorium, Nashville, alongside Charley Pride and Jimmy Webb. Stuart had heard the band via an old contact.
"We were invited as the wildcard. The Ryman is an incredible theatre. I was pinching myself playing on that stage, looking up at those stained-glass windows and this huge crowd.
"It was dream come true," Adams reflects, adding he recently returned to the Ryman, performing with Tami Neilson at AmericanaFest. All of which seems a world away from the shoulder pads, singlets and ringlets that clanged as loudly as the chords to all those Mockers songs.
Which brings us back to that photo: "The Mockers were that sort of band," Adams says.
"We had a strong female following.
"But that photo ... well ... I do wonder what I was thinking.’’
The gig
• The Mockers perform at Glenroy Auditorium, Dunedin, on Friday, January 27
