# Strawpeople

Strawpeople are a New Zealand band. They were created by Paul Casserly and Mark Tierney after they had met while working at the Auckland university radio station now known as 95 bFM. Over the years, Strawpeople has brought together various New Zealand songwriters, vocalists and musicians in a collaborative effort and achieved some success.

## Early years

Strawpeople was created by Paul Casserly and Mark Tierney in 1985 when they were both working at 95bFM.
In 1990, Strawpeople released the single "One Good Reason", a cover of The Swingers' song from 1981, which was followed by their debut studio album Hemisphere.
In 1992, Strawpeople released Worldservice, which included a cover of "Have a Little Faith", which became their first single and album on the New Zealand charts. The album also contained "Wings of Desire", which includes sound clips of Jane Fonda from Klute; the song was prominently featured in the 1995 film To Die For.
The third album Broadcast was released in September 1994 and reached number seven on the New Zealand charts. The single "Sweet Disorder" won the 1995 APRA Silver Scroll Award as well as winning the duo the Songwriting award at the 1996 New Zealand Music Awards. "Sweet Disorder" was voted one of the APRA Top 100 New Zealand Songs of All Time, and was included on the related Nature's Best 2 CD.
In 1996 Tierney left Strawpeople. Casserly began writing with Victoria Kelly. In August 1996, the group released their fourth studio album, Vicarious, which became their most commercially successful album, peaking at number four on the New Zealand albums chart and winning Album of the Year at the 1997 New Zealand Music Awards.
In 1997, the group released the remix album, 100 Street Transistors.
In April 2000, the group released their fifth studio album No New Messages, followed by the compilation The Best Of 1990>2000 in November of the same year. Their cover of The Cars' "Drive", featured vocals from fellow New Zealand musician Bic Runga and peaked at number 7 on the singles chart.
Recorded over a 3 year period, the group released their sixth studio album Count Backwards from 10 in August 2004.
In August 2023, Strawpeople released their first album in 20 years, titled Knucklebones recorded at Bigpop studios with long time collaborators Joost Langeveld & Chris van de Geer

## Vocalists

The Strawpeople, being a studio based recording outfit, have had a revolving door lineup of vocalists, normally female and from New Zealand. Notable vocalists include Leza Corban, Stephanie Tauevihi, Fiona McDonald (a vocalist from New Zealand band The Headless Chickens).

## Discography
### Studio albums

List of studio albums, with selected details and chart positions :
| Title | Details | Peak positions | Peak positions |
| Title | Details | NZ | AUS |
| Hemisphere | Released: 1991 Label: Pagan Records Catalogue number: PACD1067 | — | — |
| Worldservice | Released: 1992 Label: Pagan Records Catalogue number: PACD1086 | 30 | — |
| Broadcast | Released: September 1994 Label: Epic Catalogue number: 477675.2 / 477676.2 (2CD) | 7 | 46 |
| Vicarious | Released: August 1996 Label: Columbia Catalogue number: 485270.2 | 4 | — |
| No New Messages | Released: April 2000 Label: Epic Catalogue number: 495498.2 | 10 | — |
| Count Backwards from 10 | Released: August 2004 Label: Epic/CRS Catalogue number: 5173692000 | 20 | — |
| Knucklebones | Released: 4 August 2023 Label: Bigpop | 21 | — |
| "—" denotes a release that did not chart. ||||

### Remix albums

List of remix albums, with selected details and chart positions :
| Title | Details | Peak positions |
| Title | Details | NZ |
| 100 Street Transistors | Released: July 1997 Label: Columbia Catalog number: 487709.2 | 19 |

### Compilation albums

List of compilation albums, with selected details and chart positions :
| Title | Details | Peak positions | Certification |
| Title | Details | NZ | Certification |
| The Best of 1990–2000 | Released: November 2000 Label: Epic Catalog number: 5011412000 | 26 | RMNZ: Gold |

### Singles

List of singles, with selected chart positions :
| Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Peak chart positions | Album |
| Title | Year | NZ | AUS | Album |
| "Blue" | 1988 | — | — | Hemisphere |
| "One Good Reason" | 1990 | — | — | Hemisphere |
| "The Slide" | 1991 | — | — | Worldservice |
| "Love Explodes" | 1992 | — | — | Worldservice |
| "Have a Little Faith" | 1992 | 36 | — | Worldservice |
| "Trick with a Knife" | 1994 | 16 | 37 | Broadcast |
| "Crying" | 1994 | 26 | — | Broadcast |
| "Sweet Disorder" | 1995 | 27 | — | Broadcast |
| "Beautiful Skin" | 1995 | — | — | Broadcast |
| "Under the Milky Way" | 1995 | — | 113 | Broadcast |
| "Taller Than God" | 1996 | 19 | — | Vicarious |
| "Boxers" | 1996 | 44 | — | Vicarious |
| "Spoiler" | 1997 | 47 | — | Vicarious |
| "Sun Comes Up" | 1997 | — | — | 100 Street Transistors |
| "Scared of Flying" | 1999 | 45 | — | No New Messages |
| "Drive" | 2000 | 7 | — | No New Messages |
| "It's Not Enough" | 2000 | — | — | No New Messages |
| "City Lights" | 2000 | — | — | No New Messages |
| "You've Been on My Mind" | 2004 | — | — | Count Backwards From 10 |
| "Love My Way" | 2004 | — | — | Count Backwards From 10 |
| "Wire" | 2005 | — | — | Count Backwards From 10 |

## Awards and nominations
### Aotearoa Music Awards

The Aotearoa Music Awards (previously called the New Zealand Music Awards) recognise achievements in New Zealand music.
| Year | Nominee / work | Award | Result |
| 1990 | Hemisphere | Engineer of the Year | Won |
| 1990 | Paul Middleditch - "One Good Reason" (Strawpeople) | Music Video of the Year | Nominated |
| 1990 | Strawpeople | Most Promising Group | Won |
| 1994 | World Service | Album of the Year | Nominated |
| 1994 | Strawpeople | Group of the Year | Nominated |
| 1994 | Strawpeople - World Service | Producer of the Year | Won |
| 1994 | "Love Explodes" | Single of the Year | Nominated |
| 1995 | Wayne Conway - Broadcast (Strawpeople) | Album Cover of the Year | Won |
| 1996 | Mark Tierney / Paul Casserly / Anthony Ioasa - Sweet Disorder (Strawpeople) | Songwriter of the Year | Won |
| 1996 | "Sweet Disorder" | Single of the Year | Nominated |
| 1997 | Vicarious | Album of the Year | Won |
| 1997 | Chris Van Der Geer (Strawpeople) | Engineer of the Year | Nominated |
| 1997 | Fiona McDonald (Strawpeople) | Female of the Year | Nominated |
| 1997 | Greg Johnson - "Boxers" (Strawpeople) | Songwriter of the Year | Nominated |
| 1997 | "Taller Than God" | Single of the Year | Nominated |
| 2001 | The Best of 1990-2000 | Film Soundtrack / Cast Recording / Compilation of the Year | Won |
| 2001 | Paul Casserly & Joost Langveld - No New Messages (Strawpeople) | Producer of the Year | Nominated |