''Nature's Best'' is a two-disc compilation album of thirty

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 ...

popular music Popular music is music with wide appeal that is typically distributed to large audiences through the music industry. These forms and styles can be enjoyed and performed by people with little or no musical training.Popular Music. (2015). ''Fu ...

songs, selected by a panel as the top thirty New Zealand songs of all time.

Selection

The genesis of the idea was the 75th anniversary of the Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA) in New Zealand in 2001 and the selection of the top 100 New Zealand songs of the past 75 years. A list of over 900 candidate songs was prepared, and voting was open to APRA members and an invited academy. The list of the top 100 songs was announced in stages in 2001, with the number one place going to the 1969 song "

Nature Nature, in the broadest sense, is the physical world or universe. "Nature" can refer to the phenomena of the physical world, and also to life in general. The study of nature is a large, if not the only, part of science. Although humans are ...

" by

Fourmyula ''The Fourmyula'' were a New Zealand rock group formed in 1967 in Upper Hutt. They achieved considerable local success in the late 1960s, with ten of their fourteen singles reaching the New Zealand Top 20. Career (1967–1971) The group init ...

. A collaborative effort by representatives of major record companies and APRA - most notably

Mike Chunn Jonathan Michael Chunn (born 8 June 1952 in London) is a former member of the New Zealand bands Split Enz and Citizen Band. He performed alongside his brother Geoff Chunn in both bands. His musical performing career was cut short due to agoraph ...

- took place to produce an album of the top 30 songs from this selection. The resulting album was named ''Nature's Best'' after the title song, and was released in January 2002 on the

Sony Music Sony Music Entertainment (SME), also known as simply Sony Music, is an American multinational music company. Being owned by the parent conglomerate Sony Group Corporation, it is part of the Sony Music Group, which is owned by Sony Entertainme ...

label. Sales were extraordinary - in the first four months after its release, over 100,000 copies were sold"...the APRA-initiated 'Nature's Best Vol 1' which shifted well over 100,000 copies..."
, nzmusician.co.nz, 2008 (over quintuple platinum in the New Zealand market).

Follow-ups

Subsequent releases followed: * ''

Nature's Best 2 ''Nature's Best 2'' is a two-disc compilation album of 35 New Zealand popular music songs, numbers 31-65 on the APRA 75th Anniversary Top 100 New Zealand Songs of All Time. See '' Nature's Best'' for more information on the selection process of thi ...

'' and ''

Nature's Best 3 ''Nature's Best 3'' is a two-disc compilation album of 35 New Zealand popular music songs, numbers 66-100 on the APRA 75th Anniversary Top 100 New Zealand Songs of All Time. See ''Nature's Best'' for more information on the selection process of thi ...

'', 2002, songs 31-65 and 66-100 of the official APRA list * '' DVD release'', 2003, music videos to sixty of the songs from the three albums * Limited edition box set of the three albums and the DVD, 2005 (''Nature's Best Box Set'') * '' More Nature'', 2006, a selection of notable New Zealand songs since 2001

Track listing

Disc one

" -

( Wayne Mason, 1969) #"

Don't Dream It's Over "Don't Dream It's Over" is a song by rock band Crowded House, recorded for their 1986 self-titled debut studio album. The song was composed and written by New Zealand frontman Neil Finn, and released in October 1986 as the fourth single from ...

" - Crowded House (

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 ...

, 1986) #" Loyal" -

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 ...

(Dave Dobbyn, 1988) #" Counting the Beat" -

The Swingers The Swingers were a New Zealand rock band who were together from 1979 to 1982 and whose biggest single was the song " Counting the Beat". Background Formed out of the remnants of the Suburban Reptiles, the founding members were Phil Judd (guit ...

(

Phil Judd Philip Raymond Judd (born 20 March 1953) is a New Zealand singer-songwriter known for being one of the founders of the bands Split Enz and The Swingers. Split Enz In 1972, Judd and Tim Finn founded the arty folk band Split Enz. In its early ...

/ Mark Hough/ Wayne Stevens, 1981) #"

Six Months in a Leaky Boat "Six Months in a Leaky Boat" is a song by New Zealand art rock group Split Enz. It was released in May 1982 as the second single from the group's seventh studio album, '' Time and Tide''. The title is a reference to the time it took pioneers to ...

" -

Split Enz Split Enz were a New Zealand rock band formed in Auckland in 1972 by Tim Finn and Phil Judd and had a variety of other members during its existence. Originally started as a folk-oriented group with quirky art rock stylings, the band built ...

(

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 Crowd ...

, 1982) #" Sway" -

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 New Zealand Top 40 Album charts. Runga ...

(Bic Runga, 1997) #" Slice of Heaven" - Dave Dobbyn with Herbs (Dave Dobbyn, 1986) #"

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

" -

Dance Exponents The Exponents, formerly The Dance Exponents, was a New Zealand rock group led by vocalist and songwriter Jordan Luck. Their major hits were "Victoria" " Why Does Love Do This To Me" and "Who Loves Who The Most". History 1980s: Dance Expo ...

( Jordan Luck, 1982) #" She Speeds" -

Straitjacket Fits Straitjacket Fits formed in Dunedin, New Zealand in 1986 and were a prominent band in the Flying Nun label's second wave of the Dunedin sound. Biography Like many of their Flying Nun stable-mates, the band hailed from the southern city of Dun ...

(

Shayne Carter Shayne P. Carter is a New Zealand musician best known for leading Straitjacket Fits from 1986 to 1994, and as the only permanent member of Dimmer (1995–2012). Carter is a member of the New Zealand Music Hall of Fame, and has been awarded the ...

/Fits, 1987) #" April Sun in Cuba" - Dragon (Paul Hewson/

Marc Hunter Marc Alexander Hunter (7 September 195317 July 1998) was a New Zealand rock and pop singer, songwriter and record producer. He was the lead vocalist of Dragon (1973–11/1979, 8/1982–1989, 1995–11/1997), a band formed by his older brother ...

, 1978) #" I Got You" - Split Enz (Neil Finn, 1980) #"

Whaling Whaling is the process of hunting of whales for their usable products such as meat and blubber, which can be turned into a type of oil that became increasingly important in the Industrial Revolution. It was practiced as an organized industr ...

" -

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 ...

(Dave Dobbyn, 1984) #"

Not Given Lightly "Not Given Lightly" is a song by New Zealand singer-songwriter Chris Knox. It was released in 1989 and is among Knox's best known songs. While the song did not chart when originally released in 1989, it has since become well known from its use ...

" -

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 ...

(Chris Knox, 1990) #" Pink Frost" - The Chills (Martin Phillipps, 1984) #"Jesus I Was Evil" -

Darcy Clay Darcy Clay (born Daniel Robert Bolton, 5 December 1972 – 15 March 1998) was a New Zealand singer, songwriter and musician, who was made famous in 1997 for his Number 5 hit "Jesus I Was Evil", in which he recorded all of the instruments in his ...

(Darcy Clay, 1997)

Disc two

Weather with You "Weather with You" is a song by Australian-New Zealand rock band Crowded House. It was the third and most successful single released from the group's third studio album '' Woodface'' (1991), reaching top 50 in 10 countries, including the United ...

" - Crowded House (Tim Finn/Neil Finn, 1991) #"Blue Smoke" - Pixie Williams & The Ruru Karaitiana Quartet (Ruru Karaitiana, 1949) #"Dance All Around the World" - Blerta ( Corben Simpson/

Geoff Murphy Geoffrey Peter Murphy (12 October 1938 – 3 December 2018) was a New Zealand filmmaker, producer, director, and screenwriter best known for his work during the renaissance of New Zealand cinema that began in the second half of the 1970s. His s ...

, 1972) #" Lydia" - Fur Patrol ( Julia Deans, 2000) #" Blue Lady" - Hello Sailor ( Graham Brazier, 1977) #" Drive" - Bic Runga (Bic Runga, 1996) #"

Chains A chain is a serial assembly of connected pieces, called links, typically made of metal, with an overall character similar to that of a rope in that it is flexible and curved in compression but linear, rigid, and load-bearing in tension. A c ...

" - DLT featuring

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 ...

( Che Ness/ Darryl Thompson/Angus McNaughton/Kevin Rangihuna, 1996) #"

Dominion Road Dominion Road is an arterial road in Auckland, New Zealand, running north–south across most of the Auckland isthmus. It is a major public transport route that carries 50,000 bus passengers each week, making it one of the few roads in Auckland ...

" -

The Mutton Birds The Mutton Birds were a New Zealand rock music group formed in Auckland in 1991 by Ross Burge, David Long and Don McGlashan, with Alan Gregg joining a year later. Four of their albums reached the top 10 on the New Zealand Albums Char ...

(

Don McGlashan Donald McGlashan (born 18 July 1959) is a New Zealand composer, singer and multi-instrumentalist who Is best known for membership in the bands Blam Blam Blam, The Front Lawn, and The Mutton Birds, before going solo. He has also composed for ci ...

, 1992) #"(Glad I'm) Not a Kennedy" -

Shona Laing Shona Laing (born 9 October 1955) is a New Zealand musician. She has had several hits in her native country, as well as a few minor international hits, most notably " (Glad I'm) Not a Kennedy" and "Soviet Snow". Laing contributed to Manfred ...

(Shona Laing, 1986) #"

I Hope I Never "I Hope I Never" is a 1980 song by New Zealand art rock group Split Enz. It was released in May 1980 as the second single from their sixth studio album '' True Colours''. Track listings Australian release ;Side A #"I Hope I Never" - 3:56 (Tim Fin ...

" - Split Enz (Tim Finn, 1980) #"Tears" - The Crocodiles ( Fane Flaws/ Arthur Baysting, 1980) #" Be Mine Tonight" -

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, ...

(Dave Dobbyn/ Ian Morris, 1978) #" I See Red" - Split Enz (Tim Finn, 1979) #" Beside You" - Dave Dobbyn (Dave Dobbyn, 1998) #"Home Again" -

Shihad Shihad are a rock band formed in Wellington, New Zealand in 1988. The band consists of founders Tom Larkin (drums, backing vocals, samplers), Phil Knight (lead guitar, synthesiser, backing vocals) and Jon Toogood (lead vocals, rhythm guitar ...

( Karl Kippenberger/ Tom Larkin/

Phil Knight Philip Hampson Knight (born February 24, 1938) is an American billionaire businessman. He is the co-founder and chairman ''emeritus'' of Nike, Inc., and was previously chairman and CEO of the company. As of October 3, 2022, Knight was ranke ...

Jon Toogood Jonathan Charles Toogood (born in Wellington, New Zealand, on 9 August 1971) is the frontman (lead vocals and guitar) of the New Zealand rock band Shihad. He formed the band in 1988 with fellow Wellingtonian Tom Larkin. Toogood and Larkin met a ...

, 1997)

References

External links

The National Anthems
''

New Zealand Herald ''The New Zealand Herald'' is a daily newspaper published in Auckland, New Zealand, owned by New Zealand Media and Entertainment, and considered a newspaper of record for New Zealand. It has the largest newspaper circulation of all newspapers ...

'', November 3, 2001 {{Authority control 2002 compilation albums Sony Music New Zealand compilation albums