Concert tribute to musicians’ mentor

Roy Colbert.
Roy Colbert.
A Dunedin Sound concert in November is expected to become a tribute to the life of  Dunedin music scene mentor, record shop owner, columnist, writer and sports buff Roy Colbert.

Mr Colbert, who died on Thursday aged 68, was a pivotal figure in the Dunedin Sound, but had many grooves to his record. As a journalist he interviewed everyone from Led Zeppelin to Lou Reed, and friends remember him as a man with a fascination with, and encyclopedic knowledge of, cricket and basketball, and a wicked and quirky sense of humour.

Mr Colbert was behind a then Southern Sinfonia, now Dunedin Symphony Orchestra production of Dunedin Sound music that filled the Dunedin Town Hall in 2015.

Mr Colbert, who died on Thursday afternoon after recurring illnesses, was the proprietor of music store Records Records, in Stuart St, and Dunedin distributor for Flying Nun recordings.

Flying Nun founder Roger Shepherd said he met Mr Colbert in the early 1980s through Dunedin bands The Clean and The Enemy, later Toy Love.Mr Shepherd said he visited Records Records on his first trip to Dunedin.

"He was the obvious guy who could help us out getting records round the shops in Dunedin.

"Everyone respected him, and everyone liked him."

All the Dunedin bands looked up to Mr Colbert as someone with knowledge of music and musicians back to the 1960s.

"He was quite a pivotal character.

"On the outside, kind and gentle and thoughtful, but on the inside he had a very mischievous sense of humour.

"He could be quite biting.

"He had quite strong opinions, and it was always fun to be with him."

The Chills’ Martin Phillipps said he remembered going to Records Records while he was still at secondary school.

"Despite Roy’s protestations over recent years, he did help guide an awful lot of us in terms of his choice of records, and things that he knew would help to expand our horizons.

"That’s one of the most crucial things he did for the Dunedin music scene."

Phillipps said Mr Colbert had "more than a common interest in our wellbeing" and was a constant supporter during difficult times.

He also had "an incredibly funny, cutting wit".

"He could be fond of people and tear them to shreds in the most loving way."

Graeme Downes, founder of The Verlaines, worked with Mr Colbert on the 2015 concert at the town hall, and had been working with him on the next version planned for November.

Mr Colbert had been integral to the  production of the event.

"I’m gutted he didn’t manage to make November."

The event would be an emotional one for him, Dr Downes said, as it would be for a lot of people.

"It will be a really, really big thing."

Mr Colbert’s wife, Christine, said he filed his column for the Otago Daily Times until close to the end of his life, dictating it to family members when he could no longer type.

"He came home [from hospital] to write his last column.

"He couldn’t type but he dictated it. He had to get the column out. He never missed a column. He was still telling us things to write down just a few days ago."

Friend Marshall Seifert said Mr Colbert was on the committee that helped organise the Otago Nuggets basketball team.

He had a fascination with cricket, and in his teens he would keep an eye on games as cricket reporters would "come and go", possibly to pubs.

"Roy would give them all the information, and that’s how he got a job with the [Evening] Star.

"That started his career as a journalist."

david.loughrey@odt.co.nz

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