1. Don McGlashan was born on 18 July 1959 and is a New Zealand composer, singer and multi-instrumentalist who is best known for membership in the bands Blam Blam Blam, The Front Lawn, and The Mutton Birds, before going solo.
30 Facts About Don McGlashan
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Don McGlashan later released four albums as lead singer and writer for The Mutton Birds.
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Don McGlashan was a 2023 inductee to the New Zealand Music Hall of Fame.
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Don McGlashan was actively encouraged to pursue music from a young age by his father, who bought him various musical instruments to learn on.
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Don McGlashan wrote "Envy of Angels" as a tribute to his father.
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Don McGlashan attended Westlake Boys' High School, on Auckland's North Shore.
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At the University of Auckland, Don McGlashan studied English and music, and played French horn and percussion in the Auckland Symphonia from 1979 to 1982.
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Don McGlashan began working with Philip Dadson's percussion group From Scratch in 1979, while playing in the Auckland Symphonia.
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Don McGlashan played a number of eclectic percussion instruments, such as the thongophone ; the name of the group came from the fact that they produced their own instruments 'from scratch'.
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In 1981, Don McGlashan replaced Ian Gilroy in punk band The Whizz Kids, who rechristened themselves Blam Blam Blam.
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In March 1985, a group formed for the purpose, Left, Right and Centre, released a single, "Don McGlashan't Go", a protest against the proposed All Blacks tour of South Africa.
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Don McGlashan formed multi-media group The Front Lawn with Harry Sinclair.
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The album included a new version of Don McGlashan-penned hit "Bathe in the River", with Don McGlashan on lead vocals.
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In 2012 Don McGlashan was one of a select number of artists given permission to visit Antarctica.
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Don McGlashan played euphonium on album Time On Earth, by Crowded House.
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Don McGlashan played live with the band at Glastonbury 2008 and was a regular member of the touring line-up throughout their 2008 world tour.
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Don McGlashan said it was hard to pinpoint where the album fits in his career.
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Don McGlashan began contributing to soundtracks as early as 1980, when he was one of the trio who composed the music for New Zealand police series Mortimer's Patch.
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Don McGlashan composed occasionally for the screen over the next two and a half decades, including work on Jane Campion's film An Angel at My Table; Cinema of Unease, a documentary about the history of New Zealand cinema; and long-running detective series Street Legal.
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From 2005 onwards, Don McGlashan began to devote a lot more energy to soundtrack work.
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In 2011 Don McGlashan provided the score to the fireworks during the opening ceremony of the 2011 Rugby World Cup.
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Don McGlashan is noted for writing lyrics that feature New Zealand imagery and vernacular, many involving his hometown of Auckland.
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The Valiant in "White Valiant" was a commonly seen car in 1970s-era New Zealand: Don McGlashan never owned one, though fellow musician Dave Dobbyn did.
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Don McGlashan is known for writing about real-life events and people, including:.
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Don McGlashan noted that while living in England as a member of the Mutton Birds, he still wrote "letters to home" to New Zealand in his songs, as he struggled to find a connection with English imagery.
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Don McGlashan has played a number of different instruments throughout his musical career: asked what instruments he plays, he answered, "Well I don't play violin".
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Don McGlashan later picked up guitar duties for his work with The Front Lawn and The Mutton Birds.
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In October 2023, Don McGlashan was inducted into the New Zealand Music Hall of Fame.
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In 2008 Don McGlashan was angered that TVNZ had used a song performed by the Mutton Birds when the election results showed that the National Party had won the New Zealand elections.
30.
On 28 March 2011 Don McGlashan suffered three broken ribs, a punctured lung, and a broken collarbone after he hit a car door while cycling down Dominion Road, Auckland.