John William Dylan Taite (2 November 193722 January 2003) was a New Zealand rock music

journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalism ...

. Born in

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

, he began working as a television journalist in New Zealand in the early 1970s. A passionate music fan, Taite established his reputation with eccentric interviews of famous musicians such as

Bob Marley Robert Nesta Marley (6 February 1945 – 11 May 1981; baptised in 1980 as Berhane Selassie) was a Jamaican singer, musician, and songwriter. Considered one of the pioneers of reggae, his musical career was marked by fusing elements o ...

and

Lou Reed Lewis Allan Reed (March 2, 1942October 27, 2013) was an American musician, songwriter, and poet. He was the guitarist, singer, and principal songwriter for the rock band the Velvet Underground and had a solo career that spanned five decades. ...

. Taite has been acclaimed at having a passion for highlighting up-and-coming musicians and presenting his material in a way that could engage general audiences.

Life and career

Dylan Taite was born in

in 1937. He first received attention as part of a Beatles-inspired band called the Merseymen, in which Taite drummed under the stage name Jett Rink. This period is credited with giving Taite the music industry connections that he would later leverage in his journalistic career. After the breakup of the Merseymen in 1965, Taite moved to

Christchurch Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon River / ...

later in the decade. After arriving in New Zealand, Taite took a job with the

New Zealand Broadcasting Corporation The New Zealand Broadcasting Corporation (NZBC) was a publicly owned company of the New Zealand Government founded in 1962. The Broadcasting Act 1976 then reformed NZBC as the Broadcasting Corporation of New Zealand (BCNZ). The corporation was ...

(NZBC)'s television division. In this position, he initially rose to prominence after securing an exclusive interview with the

Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for six decades, they are one of the most popular and enduring bands of the album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the Rolling Stones pioneered the g ...

. Taite continued to work at NZBC, and its successor

TVNZ , type = Crown entity , industry = Broadcast television , num_locations = New Zealand , location = Auckland, New Zealand , area_served = Nationally (New Zealand) and some Pacific Island nations such as the Cook Islands, Fiji, and the So ...

, for three decades. During a 1976 visit to London, Taite interviewed the

Sex Pistols The Sex Pistols were an English punk rock band formed in London in 1975. Although their initial career lasted just two and a half years, they were one of the most groundbreaking acts in the history of popular music. They were responsible for ...

outside

Buckingham Palace Buckingham Palace () is a London royal residence and the administrative headquarters of the monarch of the United Kingdom. Located in the City of Westminster, the palace is often at the centre of state occasions and royal hospitality. It ...

. This interview is credited with inspiring the famous photo, taken the following year, in which the Sex Pistols sign their record contract in the same location. Taite was involved in a car accident in December 2002. Though the accident initially seemed minor, Taite's health deteriorated in its aftermath. He died on 22 January 2003 after falling into a coma earlier in the month.Harmer, Brian. 26 January 2003
Broadcaster Dylan Taite dies
WYSIWYG, New Zealand News. Accessed 13 August 2007. Tizard, Judith. 23 January 2003
NZ culture richer for Dylan Taite's contribution
Beehive.govt.nz. Accessed 13 August 2007.

Interview style

Taite was renowned for his ability to secure interviews, even with subjects who were otherwise resistant to interviewing. In one such example, Bob Marley came to Western Springs for a 1979 concert and was refusing all interviews. Taite waited at Marley's hotel and joined a pickup soccer game with the touring musicians, using the opportunity to build rapport and convince them to allow the interview. Taite was also known for being able to outmaneuver rival publicists by pulling musicians into surprise interviews at airports or hotels. Taite's interviews were also known for their unorthodox composition. The footage was characteristically shot shakily, at extreme angles, and would be edited together to create a rapidly-shifting pace and framing. Former colleagues recall that Taite would wait to submit his interviews until the last moment before their deadlines, so as to prevent studio executives from re-editing his material.

Legacy

Upon Taite's death,

Judith Tizard Judith Ngaire Tizard (born 3 January 1956) is a former New Zealand politician, and a member of the Labour Party. Early life and career Tizard was born at Auckland's St Helen's maternity hospital in Pitt Street in 1956. She was educated at Glen ...

– then the Associate Arts, Culture and Heritage Minister – remarked: The

Taite Music Prize The Taite Music Prize is an annual New Zealand music award event. It features the same-named prize awarded for the best album from New Zealand. The prize is named after respected New Zealand music journalist and broadcaster Dylan Taite, who die ...

, named in honor of Taite, is an annual award honoring the best New Zealand album of the year.

References

External links

* (from Television New Zealand's One News) {{DEFAULTSORT:Taite, Dylan 1937 births 2003 deaths Journalists from Liverpool English emigrants to New Zealand 20th-century New Zealand journalists