The Star: December 27, 2018

The Star Latest Christchurch news at www.star.kiwi
Thursday December 27 2018 9
News
THE ANDROIDSS’ Mark
Wilson and former promoter
Martin McPherson recall the
night United States punk icon
Iggy Pop turned up at the British
for The Mad Hatter’s Tea Party
gig.
A leather jacket with an
embroidered tiger on the back
and a denim Greek fisherman’s
hat was the perfect disguise for
Iggy Pop.
It was July 13, 1979, and
Iggy Pop was in Christchurch
promoting his I’m Bored album.
McPherson had organised the
gig, and Christchurch punk band
The Androidss were the headline
act. You weren’t allowed in
without a hat.
McPherson had received a
phone call from Iggy Pop’s
publicity agent, who needed some
local knowledge.
“I suggested that I might be
able to help but they would have
to come to Lyttelton because
I was on my way (to The Mad
Hatter’s Tea Party) and nothing
was going to prevent me from
going to that,” he recalls.
McPherson was working the
door. He didn’t recognise Iggy
Pop and his publicist when they
arrived and they were charged $5
to get in like everyone else.
“I went outside and I was
sitting on the fence and had a
smoke. He came over and we
had a smoke together, we even
swapped T-shirts,” he said.
Inside the hotel, The Androidss
had started playing. McPherson
and Iggy Pop chatted.
“All I can remember is that
distinctive New York accent, it
really stood out. We were talking
about the music scene. He was
really interested in what Lyttelton
and Christchurch were doing,
what we did and what we were
doing.”
The Androidss started playing
Iggy Pop’s The Passenger. “He
went inside and stood in front of
the band,” McPherson said.
Lead guitarist and vocalist
Mark Wilson said the band
played about five Iggy Pop covers
a set, by coincidence.
“I saw this guy and I thought,
what, that guy looks a lot like
Iggy Pop,” he said.
They soon realised it was the
real deal. “He was sitting to the
side of the stage, and we offered
him the mic. He said ‘no man, it’s
your song’.”
When the set was finished,
the band went over to meet
Iggy Pop, who was sitting at a
table, keeping a low profile. They
shared a whisky and chatted.
“He didn’t say much, kept his
Local
News
Now
emembering the British Hotel
The Star’s article on the history of the British Hotel brought back fond memories for The Androidss band member Mark
Wilson and event organiser-turned-Central Otago district councillor Martin McPherson. Julia Evans talks to them about the
time they met the godfather of punk
PASSENGER: Godfather of
punk Iggy Pop watched The
Androidss play at the British
in 1979.
Peter Thompson – I
read your interesting article
in The Star about the British
Hotel. I would like to point
out a few points that might
be of interest to you. I was the
property manager for Dominion
Breweries from 1982-1992. In
this role I was responsible for
about 148 hotels and taverns
throughout the South Island.
The British Hotel was one of
my responsibilities. The land
and buildings were owned at
the time by the then Lyttelton
Borough Council, which in turn
was leased to various operators –
Guy Daigneault being one such
party. At the time of starting my
role with DB, the British was
under DB control and sub-leased
to Margaret and Fred Archibald.
I believe they had been
operating the hotel for several
years before starting my role
in DB. Mr and Mrs Archibald
operated the hotel until about
1985 or 1986, not too sure. At
the time of their departure
to take up the lease of the
European Hotel in Dunedin,
DB sold its interest in the British
Hotel. On one occasion, the
United States commander of
an ice breaker wanted to use
the Basement Bar for his crew
and sort out a price with Mr
Archibald. He stated a price
(can’t recall the amount), say
$1000, the commander peeled
off US$1000.
Mr Archibald of course
was referring to New Zealand
dollars. I believe it was a great
night. Another instance was
the upgrade of the tank room,
which needed the floor to be
re-plastered. To do this with
minimal disruption to trade, the
work was undertaken over the
Easter break closing the bar late
Thursday, plastering the floor
on Good Friday. For Saturday
while the plaster was setting,
DB parked a tanker on the street
with a hose feed to the bars –
one brand only. On the Sunday,
I had two carpenters attend to
various repair work.
During a tea break a phone
conversation was heard between
Mr Archibald and what
appeared to be a female with Mr
Archibald laying down the law
as to an outstanding debt. The
safe was open at the time, with
Mr Archibald asking me if I
noticed anything different about
the safe. To me the safe was like
any other similar safe, common
to pubs. However, Mr Archibald
asked me to follow the line of
the wallpaper above the safe to
the back of the safe. Low and
behold, the safe had no back to it
and apparently this had been the
STAR STRUCK: Martin
McPherson (above) and
Mark Wilson shared a
whisky with Iggy Pop at the
British Hotel in 1979.
HISTORY: The British Hotel on the corner of Oxford St and Norwich Quay has a long
and colourful history.
case for many years. I’m sure if
the customers of the British were
aware of this, a quick forward
manoeuvre and its contents
could readily be accessed. Mr
and Mrs Archibald were a great
couple and the British Hotel
continued in safe operational
guidance during their watch.
Jackie Crawford – The
British Hotel was an exciting
place to go and felt slightly risky
when I arrived in Lyttelton 44
years ago. You never knew who
you would meet or run into.
Even a certain Christchurch
Fire rages, homes at risk
head down and quickly left. He
walked out the door and put his
fingers up in a V for victory sign,
then left,” Wilson said.
But as low profile as it was, Iggy
Pop’s foray into Lyttelton soon
became public.
“They’re tough as bitches, but
they’re beautiful,” he was quoted
as saying about The Androidss in
The Press. “It certainly helped out
because we soon up and left to
Auckland,” Wilson said.
Only three members of the
seven-piece band are still around.
The article also struck a chord with readers who share their stories about the British
lawyer and friends could be seen
there among the crews from
visiting ships from all around
the world, in the bottom bar
of course. There was a group
of working girls who often
travelled with some crews and
the place was thumping with
people. They were known as
ship girls and they used to travel
around New Zealand on the
ships as a lifestyle choice.
Yes, the British was known
globally with the shipping
industry workers. This was
pre-container ships and had
a lot more workers on board.
Visiting seamen were not really
troublesome but Christchurch
locals were and they sometimes
came over and caused fights.
There was never a dull moment
downstairs in the Dive Bar and
the girls used to spill up the
stairs alongside local fisherman
and a few hard drinking and
singing locals upstairs. It was
not dull and I used to make
a part time income for a few
years selling instant polaroid
photos to the ship girls and their
chosen partner. I missed Iggy
Pop unfortunately, but those
in the know used to check out
the shipping arrivals in the
newspaper to see what the action
was like. All this changed when
container ships became the
norm. However, now all that is
history. I still live in Lyttelton. It
has been gentrified and cleaned
up. It was nice to see the article.