Lutha

The short lived Dunedin-based band Lutha was one of the country’s best pop groups in the early 1970s. Lauded for their live show and revered for the quality of their recording-studio work on original songs. In late 1971 HMV senior producer Peter Dawkins flew to Dunedin from Wellington to sign the band for an album after being handed a demo recording. They released two 7” singles Then I Saw a Face/Mountain Side and Stop! The Music is Over/It’s My Turn to Cry which top local Dunedin charts. The album is released later in 1972 and is distributed in Australia and Europe. The band made regular appearances on TV’s Popco, Happen Inn and Studio One music shows.The release of their second album Earth, in 1973, which had been seven months in the making under new HMV producer Mike le Petit, (Peter Dawkins moved to EMI in Australia), Preceded by release of two singles from the album. Come June 1973 Lutha quits Dunedin for Christchurch, playing six nights a week at The Edge nightspot, at the Carlton Hotel. In September 1973 the band play a farewell concert in Dunedin as Graham Wardrop leaves the band to pursue a musical career in Australia, later joining Slim Dusty’s band and is replaced by ex-Chapta guitar Kevin Bayley. The band finally call it quits in April 1974.