Linn Lorkin (centre) with her band Happy Talk in the early 90s. Her New York-born husband, Herschal Herscher, is wearing the lavalava at far left. Photo / Jeff Mason
Linn Lorkin (centre) with her band Happy Talk in the early 90s. Her New York-born husband, Herschal Herscher, is wearing the lavalava at far left. Photo / Jeff Mason
Legendary singer, composer, actor and comic Linn Lorkin, who’s just published her colourful musical memoir, The Redhead Gets the Gig, is still performing at the age of 80
Never Let Your Braces Dangle:Harry Champion (1910) I grew up on a farm near Tokoroa and Dad would sit down atthe piano and sing this to the three of us kids music hall-style, which was very entertaining. It’s all played on the black keys and one particular verse was our favourite, because it was NAUGHTY.
You Can Have Him:Nina Simone (1959) When I went to varsity, I was already playing the piano as a classical musician. Then I bought this vinyl album with an African-American woman at the piano looking quite glam — Nina Simone at the Town Hall — and started trying to play like her by ear. I’d heard pop music on the radio, but I was fascinated by this sophisticated piece by Irving Berlin: “All I ever wanted to do was run my fingers through his curly locks, mend his underwear and darn his socks…” Very un-PC these days. It’s nice to think I was listening to a Broadway composer at 16 or 17, thinking it was great.
The Rite of Spring:Stravinsky (1913) I did Music 1 at varsity because there wasn’t a jazz course and Stravinsky was one of the composers we studied. I’d never heard anything like this, with its pounding rhythms and all that dissonance, and I’ve loved it ever since. Stravinsky hired a small room in a boarding house in Switzerland and wrote it for Ballets Russes in just two or three weeks. He said he felt that he was the vessel through which the music passed. Later, when I was writing songs, I felt like that sometimes. The first music concert I ever went to, in the early 60s, was to see him conduct The Firebird Suite at the Auckland Town Hall. It was absolutely fabulous. I was in tears.
Linn Lorkin "The Piano Bar Lady" performs at Auckland's Watershed Theatre in 1992. Photo / Stephen Robinson
Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band:The Beatles (1967)
I wrote a song called The Beatles' New Album, which describes what it was like living in London in the 60s. When Sgt. Pepper's came out, we went crazy. We'd play one side, turn it over and play the second side, then start all over again. We had a stroboscope [at the flat] and all wore the latest fashions: hot pants and maxis and miniskirts. It was party time in London because this new freedom had arrived. I just never stopped.
inside Betty Carter:Betty Carter (1964)
There wasn't really anybody like [American jazz singer] Betty Carter. She sang in a very groundbreaking way and took risks. I think that's why she so appealed to me. In 1977, I had a two-week season at London's famous jazz club, Ronnie Scott's, and after that, I was able to get in for the £1 muso rate. I saw her there and then again in New York. Twice! She was famous for taking the hottest, most exciting young musicians and melding them into a band. And when she performed, she'd often stand with her back to the audience and sing to the musicians as she was scatting.
The Redhead Gets the Gig (Steele Robert Aotearoa, $30) traces Linn Lorkin’s career from the seedy underbelly of Copenhagen to the piano bars of New York. On the audiobook version, Lorkin also sings and plays piano. Launch events include a performance by Lorkin with French Toast at Epolitos Pizzeria in Grey Lynn at 6pm on November 29, and an interview and performance at Harmony Hall in Devonport at 3pm on December 4.
