The first New Zealand group to score an international hit record are the winners of this year's New Zealand Herald Legacy Award.
Ray Columbus and the Invaders, who started out as Ray and the Drifters in Christchurch in 1961, set the music charts on fire in New Zealand and Australia in 1964 with She's A Mod - and in the process inspired the Mod Nod dance craze.
The band will be honoured at the Vodafone New Zealand Music Awards on October 8 at Vector Arena.
She's A Mod, which was a cover of a song by obscure British group the Senators, would become one of the biggest songs of the 60s in both countries, including staying at No 1 across the Tasman for eight weeks.
Before breaking up in 1965 the band had a number of other hits, most notably Till We Kissed in 1965, which went on to become their biggest-selling local single.
In 2007, Columbus, and former Invader band mates Billy Kristian (bass) and Dave Russell (guitarist), reunited to play the Wild Things show in Auckland along with other 60s bands Chants R&B, The Pleazers and the Breakaways. As well as winning the legacy award, Ray Columbus and the Invaders, will also be inducted into the New Zealand Music Hall of Fame along with last year's inductees Straitjacket Fits and the Topp Twins, and Johnny Devlin and Jordan Luck in 2007.
Paying tribute to the Modfathers
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