Every New Zealand #1 single…
9
Chains
Topped the NZ chart: from 4 August 1996 for 5 weeks
‘Chains’ is like New Zealand hip-hop and soul’s equivalent to Queen and Bowie’s ‘Under Pressure’. Two musicians from different bands quickly improvised together, and came up with some magic.
Darryl Thompson, aka DLT, was a DJ for Upper Hutt Posse. The group were pioneers who released New Zealand’s first hip-hop single, and mixed reggae with rap.
Meanwhile, Che Fu was part of Supergroove, an eclectic funk/rock/soul band that seemed everywhere in the summer of 1994. Catchy and surprisingly cerebral, with some great musicians, they deserved worldwide success. Instead they fractured – Che Fu left, and without his soulful vocals they became a one-dimensional rock band.
DLT toured in support of Supergroove, and quickly decided that he wanted to work with Che Fu.
DLT says he was constantly looking for someone to feature on his tracks – in particular, “someone crossed between Bob Marley and KRS-1, my favourite kind of vibe that would help people feel good about themselves”.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/music101/audio/2018891819/it-was-just-heavenly-stuff-dlt-talks-chains-and-che-fu
The pair recorded ‘Chains’ just after Che Fu left Supergroove. Che Fu turned up at the studio, unaware that he needed to write a chorus. He came up with “Come break my chains come help me out, living in the city ain’t so bad” on the spot.
Like ‘Under Pressure’, the lyric isn’t particularly coherent. The first verse addresses French nuclear testing in the Pacific, while the third verse is a tribute to women. But it works anyway, a life-affirming slice of sunny hip-hop, over a driving reggae bassline and a pretty piano hook.
The other local number one from New Zealand, ‘How Bizarre’ broke through in the US, reaching number two. ‘Chains’ didn’t enjoy the same success, even though it holds up much better to repeated plays. The arty music video fits the song, but isn’t geared to stateside success.
The success of ‘Chains’ established Che Fu as a solo star. He enjoyed success with his first two records in particular. He hasn’t recorded an album since 2005. He now organises New Zealand’s largest sneaker swap meets.
DLT became disillusioned with the music industry in the early 21st century, and has become a visual artist.
“Shit got rough with downloading and the war against downloading and all that shit and I got disheartened by the machine crying foul as it sunk, so to speak,” he says.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/music101/audio/2018891819/it-was-just-heavenly-stuff-dlt-talks-chains-and-che-fu
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I do see his point on the music industry… this one is not in my wheelhouse.
It’s pretty full on that he had a huge NZ hit and then walked away from the industry a few years later.
When I saw it said Chains I thought this was going to be the Beatles’ cover of the old Goffin/King song by the Cookies or the Chiffons or whoever it was. I never heard this but it makes me remember how much more fun 90s Hip Hop was compared to the f****** mess that it is today. I also remember How Bizarre, which also reminds me of the 90s and what I was doing when that song came out. It was one of those cool novelty hits that you kind of liked. I remember a guy I know from Australia told me that it was Kiwi, which I don’t even know what the f*** that means. And it’s always on ’90s compilations and playlists and stuff.
Kiwi means New Zealander. The kiwi is our national bird, it looks a bit like a kiwifruit.