''Sunshine'' is the third studio album by

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 ...

rock band Dragon, it was their first album after they had relocated to Sydney, Australia in May 1975. ''Sunshine'' was released in February 1977 by

CBS Records CBS Records may refer to: * CBS Records or CBS/Sony, former name of Sony Music, a global record company * CBS Records International, label for Columbia Records recordings released outside North America from 1962 to 1990 * CBS Records (2006), founde ...

and peaked at #24 on the Australian national albums charts. NOTE: Used for Australian Singles and Albums charting from 1970 until

ARIA In music, an aria ( Italian: ; plural: ''arie'' , or ''arias'' in common usage, diminutive form arietta , plural ariette, or in English simply air) is a self-contained piece for one voice, with or without instrumental or orchestral accompa ...

created their own

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in mid-1988. The album was certified gold. The single " This Time" had been released in late June 1976, which peaked at #26 on the Australian national singles charts. The second single "Get that Jive" was the best charting peaking at #13 and the third single "Sunshine" reached #36. The album had US and International releases in 1978 on Portrait Records, with "This Time" called "In the Right Direction" and an alternative cover used (see infobox). Dragon had released two

progressive rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog; sometimes conflated with art rock) is a broad genre of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom and United States through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early 1970s. In ...

albums in New Zealand but in Sydney they were moving to a

pop rock Pop rock (also typeset as pop/rock) is a fusion genre with an emphasis on professional songwriting and recording craft, and less emphasis on attitude than rock music. Originating in the late 1950s as an alternative to normal rock and roll, earl ...

sound and sent for

keyboardist A keyboardist or keyboard player is a musician who plays keyboard instruments. Until the early 1960s musicians who played keyboards were generally classified as either pianists or organists. Since the mid-1960s, a plethora of new musical inst ...

Paul Hewson of rival kiwi group Mammal. Hewson joined Dragon with

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 ...

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or withou ...

and his older brother

Todd Hunter Todd Stuart Hunter NOTE: Requires user to input song title, e.g. POLITICS (born 22 June 1951) is a New Zealand musician and composer known for his involvement in the band Dragon. Their best known songs are "April Sun in Cuba", "Are You Old Enou ...

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

, Neil Storey on drums and Robert M. Taylor on

lead guitar Lead guitar (also known as solo guitar) is a musical part for a guitar in which the guitarist plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs and chords within a song structure. The lead is the featu ...

. Storey died of heroin

overdose A drug overdose (overdose or OD) is the ingestion or application of a drug or other substance in quantities much greater than are recommended.

in September 1976, aged 22. Their debut single "This Time" had begun charting, they considered disbanding but continued with ex-Mammal drummer Kerry Jacobson to complete the album. The album was dedicated to Neil Storey (1954–1976).

Background

After Dragon relocated to Sydney in May 1975 they landed a contract with

when record producer Peter Dawkins caught one of their performances. Dragon co-founder Ray Goodwin left the group in 1975, so Dragon sent for

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player Paul Hewson who had a reputation, in New Zealand, as a pop songwriter. Hewson, ex-Mammal, had been scouted by Dragon when they were still in New Zealand but had declined to join. Often courting or creating controversy, the band was rocked by the heroin

overdose A drug overdose (overdose or OD) is the ingestion or application of a drug or other substance in quantities much greater than are recommended.

death of drummer Neil Storey in September 1976, aged 22. By then, their debut single "This Time" had begun charting. After considering disbanding, Todd Hunter consulted with former manager Graeme Nesbitt (ex-Mammal) who advised him to continue and organised for Kerry Jacobson (ex-Mammal) to join on drums.

Reception

Rip It Up noted that the song-writing in the band had matured, saying, "A few might argue that Dragon, in adopting a more commercial format, have forsaken their Art: a few more may grumble about the weaker songs on side two, but I for one see their adoption of a tried and true style as good discipline."

Track listing

Australian/New Zealand release

All songwriters according to Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA). Note: requires user to input song title e.g. SAME OLD BLUES # "Same Old Blues" (Paul Hewson) - 4:54 # "Blacktown Boogie" (

, Robert M. Taylor,

) - 3:15 # " Sunshine" (Hewson) - 4:50 # "On the Beachead" (Taylor) - 3:59 # " This Time" (Hewson, M Hunter, Neil Storey, Taylor, T Hunter) - 3:07 ^^ # " Get that Jive" (Hewson) - 2:44 # "Street Between Your Feet" (M Hunter, Taylor) - 4:19 # "New Machine" (Hewson) - 3:47 # "MX" (M Hunter, Taylor) - 3:28 # "The Letter" (M Hunter, Taylor) - 4:09

International release

# "Same Old Blues" (Hewson) - 4:54 # "Blacktown Boogie" (M Hunter, Taylor, T Hunter) - 3:15 # "Sunshine" (Hewson) - 4:50 # "On the Beachead" (Taylor) - 3:59 # "In the Right Direction" (Hewson, M Hunter, Storey, Taylor, T Hunter) - 3:07 ^^ # "Get that Jive" (Hewson) - 2:44 # "Street Between Your Feet" (M Hunter, Taylor) - 4:19 # "New Machine" (Hewson) - 3:47 # "MX" (M Hunter, Taylor) - 3:28 # "The Letter" (M Hunter, Taylor) - 4:09 (^^) "This Time" was renamed "In the Right Direction" for International release but is otherwise the same.

Charts

Certifications

Personnel

Credited to: Note: some details also taken from ''Sunshine'' album cover notes

Dragon

*Paul Hewson – keyboards *

– lead vocals *

–

*Kerry Jacobson – drums (except "This Time") *Neil Storey – drums on "This Time" *Robert M. Taylor – guitars (electric, acoustic)

Additional musicians

*Tony Buchanan –

tenor saxophone The tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor and the alto are the two most commonly used saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B (while ...

on "Sunshine" *William Motzing –

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arranger

Recording

*Producer – Peter Dawkins *Engineer – Bruce Brown @ Albert Studio **Additional engineering – Wyn Wynard *Manager – Sebastian Chase

Artwork

*Art Direction & Design – J. Peter Thoeming **International release, Illustrator – Julia van Henneside **International release, Design – Nancy Donald, Tim Stocke **International release, Inner sleeve logo – Andy Capel *Cover Photography – Carroll Holloway

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sunshine (Dragon Album) 1977 albums Dragon (band) albums CBS Records albums Portrait Records albums Rock albums by New Zealand artists Albums produced by Peter Dawkins (musician)