Rolling Stone AU/NZ: Seven Kiwi artists feature on prestigious Future 25 list
As New Zealand's Music Month comes to an end, seven Kiwi artists can celebrate being named as the acts that people should be most excited about this year.
Rolling Stone AU/NZ magazine has revealed its second annual Future 25 list, citing a diverse array of acts across Australasia and covering
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It won a Peabody Award in 1975 'for the depth of its humour and the manner in which comedy is used to lift the spirit and, as well, to offer a profound statement on the nature of war'. ADVERTISEMENT Swit transforms the character of Houlihan Loretta Swit arrives at the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences' 3rd Annual Television Academy Honors in 2010. (Source: Associated Press) In Altman's 1970 film, Houlihan was a one-dimensional character — a prickly, rules-bound head nurse who was regularly tormented by male colleagues, who gave her the nickname 'Hot Lips'. Her intimate moments were broadcast to the entire camp after somebody planted a microphone under her bed. Sally Kellerman played Houlihan in the movie version, and Swit took it over for TV, eventually deepening and creating her into a much fuller character. Her sexuality was played down, and she wasn't even called 'Hot Lips' in the later years. The growing awareness of feminism in the '70s spurred Houlihan's transformation from caricature to real person, but a lot of the change was due to Swit's influence on the scriptwriters. 'Around the second or third year, I decided to try to play her as a real person, in an intelligent fashion, even if it meant hurting the jokes,' Swit told Suzy Kalter, author of The Complete Book of 'M.A.S.H'. 'To oversimplify it, I took each traumatic change that happened in her life and kept it. I didn't go into the next episode as if it were a different character in a different play. She was a character in constant flux; she never stopped developing.' ADVERTISEMENT M.A.S.H. wasn't an instant hit. It finished its first season in 46th place, out of 75 network TV series, but it nabbed nine Emmy nominations. It was rewarded with a better time slot for its sophomore season, paired on Sunday nights with All in the Family, then TV's highest-rated show. 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(Source: Associated Press) Swit appeared in all but 11 episodes of the series, nearly four times longer than the Korean War itself, exploring issues like PTSD, sexism and racism. Swit pushed for a better representation for women. 'One of the things I liked, with Loretta's prodding, was every time I had a chance to write for her character, we'd get away from the Hot Lips angle and find out more about who Margaret was. She became more of a real person,' Alda told The Hollywood Reporter in 2018. ADVERTISEMENT The series ended on a happy note for Houlihan, who spends much of the finale debating whether she wants to head to Tokyo or Belgium for her next overseas post. Ultimately she opts to return to America and work at a hospital, citing her father — a career Army man. Swit didn't personally agree that was the correct decision for a military-minded official: 'I didn't think that was correct for my Margaret,' she told Yahoo Entertainment in 2023. 'I think her next move was Vietnam. So I didn't agree with that, but that's what they wanted her to do.' Loretta Swit in 1983. (Source: Associated Press) But the actor did get to write the speech that Houlihan delivers to her fellow nurses on their final night together, in which she says: 'It's been an honour and privilege to have worked with you. And I'm very, very proud to have known you.' 'I was consumed with writing that. And I still get letters from women all over the world who became nurses because of Margaret Houlihan. To have contributed to someone's life like that is remarkable,' she told Yahoo Entertainment. During her run, Houlihan had an affair with Hawkeye's foil, the bumbling Frank Burns, played by Linville in the TV version, and in Season 5, Houlihan returns from a stay in Tokyo engaged to a handsome lieutenant colonel, a storyline that Swit says she advocated for with the writers. 'I told them: 'Can you imagine what fun you're going to have with Larry when I come back to town and I tell him I'm engaged? He'll rip the doors off of the mess tent!' And that's exactly what they had him do. So we were all of the same mind.' ADVERTISEMENT Toward the end, Swit was tempted to leave the show. She played the role of Chris Cagney in a 1981 television movie, Cagney & Lacey, and was offered the part when it was picked up as a midseason series for the spring of 1982. But producers insisted she stay with M.A.S.H. for its last two seasons. Swit told The Florida Times-Union in 2010 she might have stayed with M.A.S.H. anyway. 'You can't help but get better as an actor working with scripts like that,' she said. 'If you're in something that literate, well, we got spoiled.' 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In 1969, she arrived in Hollywood and was soon seen in series such as Gunsmoke, Hawaii Five-O, Mission Impossible and Bonanza. Then in 1972, she got her big break when she was asked to audition for the role of 'Hot Lips". She would regularly return to the theatre, starring on Broadway in 1975 in Same Time, Next Year and The Mystery of Edwin Drood in 1986. She was in Amorous Crossing, a romantic comedy, at Alhambra Theatre & Dining in 2010 and in North Carolina Theatre's production of Mame in 2003.
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The revival of a genre that never went away
Once considered niche and tucked away in dusty record stores or rural community halls, country music in New Zealand is enjoying something of a golden moment. From chart-topping Kiwi artists to two dedicated music stations in the past 18 months, the genre is striking a heartfelt chord with more people than ever before. Mark Rogers, host of Nashville Babylon on RNZ, grew up listening to country music, from Johnny Cash and June Carter Cash to Marty Robbins, and tells The Detail that it's all about the storytelling. 'As a kid, the songs and storytelling caught my imagination,' he says. 'The songs have no fat on them, they cut to the chase straight away, they are pretty simple, there's nothing too complicated about them, you know exactly where you are. 'And the classic country songs have something in them that will appeal to just about everyone. They hit home. They are easy to get and understand. People can identify with them. 'It's rare that they are talking about big flash cars or billion-dollar jewellery. It's the working man's music – that's been its appeal for many, many decades, and that will continue to ring true.' Kiwis, it seems, are falling more in love with the genre. And over the past 18 months, this has prompted the launch of not one, but two dedicated country music radio stations in New Zealand. First, broadcaster Mike Puru started Southern Cross Country, found on digital platforms. Then this month, NZME launched iHeartCountry NZ, offered on the iHeartRadio app and selected FM frequencies around the country. There are no presenters, just pre-programmed country music. Both stations showcase global legends and local voices. Among those voices, one name stands out: Tami Neilson. The Canadian-born, New Zealand-based powerhouse has been a trailblazer for years and has just won the inaugural Country Music Honour for Contribution to Country Music in Aotearoa, recognising her outstanding impact and unwavering dedication to the country music scene. 'What Tami is doing at the moment is astounding; she has been teaming up with Willie Nelson over in the States, which is a dream come true for her,' Rogers says. 'It's incredible and I'm super proud of what she is achieving…. I would like to think she will get on the (mainstream radio) playlists, because what she is doing is absolutely fantastic. The songs are great, and radio loves a good song, so there is no excuse not to play Tami.' But she is competing for airtime with unlikely country singers, including Beyonce and Post Malone, who have swapped pop and rap, respectively, for country beats. 'This has just exploded, and I think it's a good thing,' Rogers says. 'Admittedly, I'm not a massive fan of some of it, but I'm a big fan of others. 'I don't think it's cheapened the genre at all; it's just music developing.' And it's clear Kiwis want more of it, proving country music in New Zealand isn't just surviving. It's thriving. Check out how to listen to and follow The Detail here. You can also stay up-to-date by liking us on Facebook or following us on Twitter.
