Biography
Drummer Bruno Lawrence originated Blerta, one of the most unconventional ensembles to reach the pop charts in New Zealand. The traveling hippie collective and musical theater group on wheels eventually extended its reach into television and cinema as well. Born David Charles Lawrence on February 2, 1941, in Brighton, England, he grew up with a New Zealand-born father; the family relocated there in 1946 and settled near Wellington. Nicknamed Bruno by his peers, Lawrence began drumming in a school band during his early teens. Jazz soon became his central passion after he first encountered the style. He moved to Christchurch and secured his initial professional engagement with the Southern Comedy Players in the production Fresh as Air. Six months later he arrived in Auckland, where jazz flourished, and gradually earned recognition as a skilled drummer.
Lawrence waited until 1965 to enter rock music, sitting in with the Measles. Recording under the name Bruno alone, he scored the hit “Bruno Do That Thing.” An extended tenure with Max Merritt & the Meteors followed, yet after departing in 1967 he gradually shifted his attention toward acting and filmmaking. His role in the 1970 tele-picture Time Out drew praise, but the Quincy Conserve’s major hit with his composition “Ride the Rain” pulled Lawrence back to music. After assembling Littlejohn, he explored ways to fuse his interests in music, film, theater, and politics. The outcome was the multimedia road production known as the Bruno Lawrence Electric Revelation and Travelling Apparition, or simply Blerta.
In 1971 the troupe set out in a 1948 Leyland Tiger bus carrying assorted family members, friends, and performers. Their anarchic, surreal performances pushed musical theater to extremes, incorporating hallucinatory visuals and odd experimental short films. Lawrence persuaded the HMV label to issue a Blerta recording, and the 1972 debut single “Dance Around the World,” a sweetly childlike parable, unexpectedly charted. The follow-up “Aunty Ada,” an eccentric spoken-word rant that radio stations largely ignored, soon appeared. A third single, “Hullo Hullo,” also failed commercially, though the constantly shifting lineup continued to draw sizable audiences on tour.
Blerta’s cult audience expanded throughout 1973, yet hepatitis outbreaks halted travel in early 1974 and the collective dissolved as members scattered to recover. By midyear Lawrence gathered a fresh roster, though live dates diminished sharply. Session opportunities arose in the meantime, including drumming duties with Mother Earth. These activities led to the 1975 Blerta album This Is the Life, an idiosyncratic set of stage staples and free-jazz excursions. That year the group undertook its largest tour yet, staging four-hour performances before growing crowds. Mounting costs nevertheless prompted a turn to television, resulting in the short-lived but award-winning Blerta series in 1976. The troupe’s final statements arrived with the film and album, both titled Wild Man.
Lawrence waited until 1965 to enter rock music, sitting in with the Measles. Recording under the name Bruno alone, he scored the hit “Bruno Do That Thing.” An extended tenure with Max Merritt & the Meteors followed, yet after departing in 1967 he gradually shifted his attention toward acting and filmmaking. His role in the 1970 tele-picture Time Out drew praise, but the Quincy Conserve’s major hit with his composition “Ride the Rain” pulled Lawrence back to music. After assembling Littlejohn, he explored ways to fuse his interests in music, film, theater, and politics. The outcome was the multimedia road production known as the Bruno Lawrence Electric Revelation and Travelling Apparition, or simply Blerta.
In 1971 the troupe set out in a 1948 Leyland Tiger bus carrying assorted family members, friends, and performers. Their anarchic, surreal performances pushed musical theater to extremes, incorporating hallucinatory visuals and odd experimental short films. Lawrence persuaded the HMV label to issue a Blerta recording, and the 1972 debut single “Dance Around the World,” a sweetly childlike parable, unexpectedly charted. The follow-up “Aunty Ada,” an eccentric spoken-word rant that radio stations largely ignored, soon appeared. A third single, “Hullo Hullo,” also failed commercially, though the constantly shifting lineup continued to draw sizable audiences on tour.
Blerta’s cult audience expanded throughout 1973, yet hepatitis outbreaks halted travel in early 1974 and the collective dissolved as members scattered to recover. By midyear Lawrence gathered a fresh roster, though live dates diminished sharply. Session opportunities arose in the meantime, including drumming duties with Mother Earth. These activities led to the 1975 Blerta album This Is the Life, an idiosyncratic set of stage staples and free-jazz excursions. That year the group undertook its largest tour yet, staging four-hour performances before growing crowds. Mounting costs nevertheless prompted a turn to television, resulting in the short-lived but award-winning Blerta series in 1976. The troupe’s final statements arrived with the film and album, both titled Wild Man.
Albums
