Fane Michael Flaws (16 May 1951 – 17 June 2021) was a New Zealand musician, songwriter, and artist.

Career

Flaws was a member of bands including Blerta, Spats, and

The Crocodiles The Crocodiles was a New Zealand pop/ new wave band formed in 1979 with lead singer Jenny Morris, who went on to commercial success as a solo artist in Australia; and later included drummer Barton Price, who subsequently joined Sardine v and t ...

. Until joining Blerta he was known by his second name Michael:

Bruno Lawrence David Charles Lawrence (12 February 194110 June 1995) known as Bruno Lawrence was an English-born musician and actor, who was active in the industry in New Zealand and Australia. Initially notable as a musician and founder of 1970s ensemble Bl ...

of Blerta insisted ''Fane'' was a better name. When he was in

, he wrote the song "Tears" with

Arthur Baysting Arthur Baysting (17 April 1947 – 3 December 2019Bourke, C.,Arthur Baysting: Farewell to a champion of NZ music and TV" ''Radio New Zealand'', 3 December 2019. Retrieved 3 December 2019.) was a New Zealand writer, producer and children's advocat ...

. The single reached number 17 in the New Zealand charts. He wrote songs for the films ''

Braindead ''BrainDead'' is an American political satire science fiction comedy-drama television series created by Robert and Michelle King. The series stars Mary Elizabeth Winstead as Laurel Healy, a documentary film-maker who takes a job working for he ...

'' and ''

Meet the Feebles ''Meet the Feebles'' (also known as ''Frogs of War'' in New Zealand as the film's English fake working title) is a 1989 New Zealand puppet musical black comedy film directed by Peter Jackson, and written by Jackson, Fran Walsh, Stephen Sinclair ...

'', even voicing the Musician Frog in the latter. He animated the revamped titles for

Radio with Pictures ''Radio with Pictures'' was an early music video programme, airing on New Zealand broadcaster TV2 (later South Pacific Television) from 1976 to 1989. "''RadPix''" aired as a weekly, late night series featuring adult and alternative music. Hist ...

in 1986, a

Television New Zealand , 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 Solom ...

programme featuring popular and alternative music. He was co-author, with Arthur Baysting and

Peter Dasent Peter Dasent is a New Zealand born composer, pianist and songwriter who has lived and worked in Sydney, Australia since 1981. He played keyboards in the bands Spats, and The Crocodiles. He leads the chamber-jazz group the Umbrellas, is writing ...

, of the children's book ''The Underwater Melon Man and Other Unreasonable Rhymes.'' The book was published in 1998, a CD in 1999. In 2011, an edition was published with a DVD. Musicians appearing include

Chris Knox Chris Knox (born 2 September 1952) is a New Zealand rock and roll musician, cartoonist and movie reviewer who emerged during the punk rock era with his bands The Enemy and Toy Love. After Toy Love disbanded in the early 1980s, he formed the g ...

, Jenny Morris,

Neil Finn Neil Mullane Finn (born 27 May 1958) is a New Zealand singer-songwriter and musician who is known for being a member of Crowded House, Split Enz (which he co-fronted with brother Tim), and Fleetwood Mac. Finn rose to prominence in the late ...

Tim Finn Brian Timothy Finn (born 25 June 1952) is a New Zealand singer and musician. His musical career includes forming 1970s and 1980s New Zealand rock group Split Enz, a number of solo albums, temporary membership in his brother Neil's band Crowde ...

Renée Geyer Renée Rebecca Geyer (born 11 September 1953) is an Australian singer who has long been regarded as one of the finest exponents of jazz, soul and R&B idioms. She had commercial success as a solo artist in Australia, with "It's a Man's Man's Worl ...

Tony Backhouse Tony Backhouse (born 1947) is a singer, musician and composer from New Zealand and is a key player in the Australasian ''a cappella'' movement. He played in New Zealand bands such as the Crocodiles, and formed Australian ''a cappella'' groups, t ...

Bic Runga Briolette Kah Bic Runga (born 13 January 1976), recording as Bic Runga, is a New Zealand singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist pop artist. Her first three studio albums debuted at number one on the Recording Industry Association of New Ze ...

and

Boh Runga Boh Runga (born 1969/1970) is a New Zealand recording artist and was the lead singer and guitarist in New Zealand rock band Stellar. Boh is the older sister of Bic Runga and Pearl Runga who are also musicians. Early life Boh grew up in Chris ...

, the

Topp Twins The Topp Twins (born 14 May 1958) are the folk singing and activist sister comedy duo of New Zealand entertainers Jools and Lynda Topp. They are known for their country music influenced style, live shows and television performances. They often ...

Che Fu Che Kuo Eruera Ness (born 1974), better known by his stage name Che Fu, is a New Zealand hip hop, R&B and reggae artist, songwriter and producer. A founding member of the band Supergroove, as a solo artist he has gone on to sell thousands of ...

King Kapisi Bill Rangi Urale is a New Zealand-Samoan hip-hop artist. Music career He was signed up as an artist with Festival Mushroom Records (NZ). In 2000 he released his critically acclaimed debut album ''Savage Thoughts'', followed by a second album, ...

and

Dave Dobbyn Sir David Joseph Dobbyn (born 3 January 1957) is a New Zealand musician, singer–songwriter and record producer. In his early career he was a member of the rock group Th' Dudes and was the main creative force in pop band DD Smash. Since then he ...

. He also designed rugs, paints and created assemblage art works from found objects such as demolition timber and building fittings.

Short film

* Rodney and Juliet (1990)

Music videos

Directed unless otherwise noted

Awards

* Best Video at the New Zealand Music Awards, 1985 for

The Narcs The Narcs are an award winning New Zealand band, that formed in 1980 in Christchurch, New Zealand, by bassist Tony Waine, drummer Bob Ogilvie and guitarist Garth Sinclair – departed/replaced by Australian guitarist/singer songwriter Andrew/Andy ...

: ''Diamonds on China'' * Best Video at the New Zealand Music Awards, 1988 for Holidaymakers: ''Sweet Lovers'' * Best First Film at Clermont Ferrand Film Festival for ''Rodney and Juliet'' * Best TV Graphics, 1989 NZ LIFTA Awards for ''Radio with Pictures''

Commercials

* Lemon & Paeroa soft drink. (1991) * McDonald's (1991) * New Zealand Police – community service commercial on babysitting. (1981) * NZ Post (1991) * Rexona Dry Solid anti perspirant (1990)

Death

Flaws died on 17 June 2021, aged 70.

References

General references

* Dix, John, ''Stranded in Paradise'', Penguin, 2005. * Eggleton, David, ''Ready To Fly'', Craig Potton, 2003.

External links

Fane Flaws official websiteAudioCulture profile
* *
NZ On Screen biography and screenographyFane Flaws
on

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

Radio New Zealand InterviewFane Flaws
in artists profiles a
Dilana RugsTears – The Crocodiles, Music Video, 1980
NZ On Screen APRA Award winners New Zealand musicians New Zealand artists New Zealand children's writers 2021 deaths 1951 births {{NewZealand-writer-stub