Kiwi rockers Th' Dudes will be welcomed into the NZ Music Hall of Fame at this year's Vodafone New Zealand Music Awards (VNZMAs).
Th' Dudes will be playing a special performance at the event this 14th November before receiving the honourable 2019 Legacy Award. Last year, the award went to Upper Hut Posse.
The Morning Sound host, Nik Brown caught up with lead vocalist, Peter Urlich this morning to announce the great news.
In the interview, Urlich recalled memories of how it all began for him. His earliest musical memory he could remember was watching the Beatles' A Hard Day's Night at a Panmure movie theatre where his mother worked.
Listen to the interview below.
"I sat there and watched this amazing experience and everybody in the theatre went nuts for the Beatles' music," Urlich said. "I thought right then and there like, 'Wow, music is so powerful and it makes people really happy and excited.' You know, I just thought, I could do that... and I sort of half pulled it off."
The band was founded by Ian Morris, Peter Urlich, Dave Dobbyn and Peter Coleman 44 years ago at Auckland's Sacred Heart College in 1975.
"At Sacred Heart College,] we had this competition called Walter Kirby Music Competition and I'll never forget the time when we beat Neil and Tim Finn." He recalled, "We came first, they came second."
They were later joined by Bruce Hambling and Lez White, and went on to record iconic Kiwi anthems 'Bliss' and 'Be Mine Tonight'.
The group last reformed in 2006 for s short reunion tour and were the subject of a documentary: Th' Dudes - Right Second Time.
They changed this for all Kiwi musicians who came after them.
Recorded Music NZ CEO, Damian Vaughan, credits Th' Dudes for changing the way young musicians approached the music industry.
"[Th' Dudes] demanded respect from venues who normally looked upon bands as little more than a necessary nuisance who just happened to sell thousands of dollars of beer each night," he said.
The VNZMAs will be held at Auckland's Spark Arena this 14th November.
