Ian Gordon Morris (22 January 1957 – 7 October 2010) was a musician, record producer,

recording engineer An audio engineer (also known as a sound engineer or recording engineer) helps to produce a recording or a live performance, balancing and adjusting sound sources using equalization, dynamics processing and audio effects, mixing, reproduction, ...

and songwriter from

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

Musical career

Ian Morris and his brother Richard (who would also go on to become a successful singer, songwriter and sound engineer in New Zealand under the name ''Rikki Morris'') were born in England but emigrated with their family to New Zealand in 1966. They attended

Sacred Heart College, Auckland , motto_translation = Take Courage And Act Manfully , type = State-integrated Day & boarding Secondary school , religion = Roman Catholic Marist , gender = Boys-only , patr ...

. Ian was a founding member of iconic New Zealand band

Th' Dudes Th' Dudes are a New Zealand rock band that was formed in the late 1970s in Auckland, New Zealand. Hits include "Walking in Light", "Right First Time", " Be Mine Tonight" and "Bliss". History 1975–1980 The band was formed by Morris, Urlich, ...

, formed at Sacred Heart in 1975. He had chart hits as a solo artist under the name ''Tex Pistol'' (a name he took on because "Ian Morris idn'tsound poppy enough"), and in collaboration with his brother Rikki as ''Tex Pistol and Rikki Morris''. As recording engineer and record producer, his production credits include a number of successful Kiwi artists: Hello Sailor,

DD Smash DD Smash was a New Zealand pop/rock band formed in 1980 by Dave Dobbyn after the breakup of Th' Dudes. The band briefly used the name "Dave Dobbyn's Divers" until drummer Peter Warren came up with "DD Smash". Dobbyn says the name "seemed to say ...

The Screaming Meemees The Screaming Meemees were a New Zealand post-punk-New wave music, new wave Band (music), band formed in the early 1980s. The band formed in Auckland in 1979, while at school at Rosmini College on Auckland's North Shore, composed of vocalist Ton ...

The Warratahs The Warratahs are a band from Wellington, New Zealand. Band members Early line-ups * Barry Saunders (vocals/guitar) * Wayne Mason (keyboards/vocals) * Nik Brown (fiddle) * John Donahue (bass) * Marty Jorgensen (drums) * Clinton Brown ( ...

, When the Cat's Away, Greg Johnson,

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 ...

, and Southside of Bombay to name a few. Morris also wrote numerous

jingle A jingle is a short song or tune used in advertising and for other commercial uses. Jingles are a form of sound branding. A jingle contains one or more hooks and meaning that explicitly promote the product or service being advertised, usually t ...

s, arrangements, and

orchestration Orchestration is the study or practice of writing music for an orchestra (or, more loosely, for any musical ensemble, such as a concert band) or of adapting music composed for another medium for an orchestra. Also called "instrumentation", orc ...

Personal life

Morris was married to singer Kim Willoughby of New Zealand's most successful all-female group '' When the Cat's Away'', with whom he had two daughters, Julia and Maude, and a stepson, James. He was separated from his wife at the time of his death.

Death

Morris had been suffering from depression and committed suicide at Te Pania Hotel in Napier on 7 October 2010. Police noted that there were no suspicious circumstances to his death. Morris was posthumously inducted into the

New Zealand Music Hall of Fame The New Zealand Music Hall of Fame , Te Whare Taonga Puoro o Aotearoa is a figurative hall of fame dedicated to noteworthy New Zealand musicians. The hall was created in 2007 by Recorded Music NZ (then known as the Recording Industry Associati ...

Discography

As solo artist

Albums

Singles

As producer

Awards

RIANZ

APRA

In 2001, members of APRA were invited to vote on their favourite New Zealand songs of all time. Of the final 100, 2 Morris-related songs appeared on the list. * #27, for "Be Mine Tonight" with Th' Dudes (1978) * #50, for "Bliss" with Th' Dudes (1979)

References

Alexander Turnbull Library The National Library of New Zealand ( mi, Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa) is New Zealand's legal deposit library charged with the obligation to "enrich the cultural and economic life of New Zealand and its interchanges with other nations" (''Nat ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Morris, Ian 2010 suicides APRA Award winners New Zealand male songwriters New Zealand record producers New Zealand audio engineers 1957 births English emigrants to New Zealand 2010 deaths