LOOK BLUE GO PURPLE
We are so bloody stoked to learn that Look Blue Go Purple are the 2024 recipients of the IMNZ Classic Record - for their 1991 album Compilation.
The annual award was created to recognise Aotearoa New Zealand's rich history of making timeless albums that continue to inspire us and define who we are. Whether it's a 12", compilation, EP, or full-length album, these are records that have become iconic elements of our music history.
In 1983, Look Blue Go Purple emerged in Dunedin, consisting of Canadian-born bassist Kathy Bull (now known as Francisca Griffin), along with vocalist, flute player, and keyboardist Norma O'Malley, drummer Lesley Paris and guitarists and vocalists Denise Roughan, and Kath Webster.
Look Blue Go Purple played a pivotal role in the second wave of the pioneering indie rock movement known as the "Dunedin Sound". In the overwhelmingly male-dominated Dunedin scene and wider indie music landscape, this all-female group stood out. Whilst the quintet certainly had the distinctive jangly, gently psychedelic, lo-fi Flying Nun sound, the combined vocals of Roughan, Webster and O'Malley created a synthesis that further set them apart.
Look Blue Go Purple's 1991 Compilation album brought together the best of their three EPs: Bewitched (1985), LBGPEP2 (1986) and This is This (1988). The Compilation highlights the band's layered vocal harmonies, keyboards and flute over the trademark Dunedin guitar strum and solid tribal beats.
You can buy the more recent compilation Still Bewitched HERE.
