"Slice of Heaven" is a single by New Zealand singer-songwriter

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 ...

with the band Herbs, released in 1986 on the

soundtrack A soundtrack is recorded music accompanying and synchronised to the images of a motion picture, drama, book, television program, radio program, or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack ...

of the animated motion picture, '' Footrot Flats: The Dog's ~~Tail~~ Tale''. The single reached 1 on the

New Zealand Singles Chart The Official New Zealand Music Chart ( mi, Te Papa Tātai Waiata Matua o Aotearoa) is the weekly New Zealand top 40 singles and albums charts, issued weekly by Recorded Music NZ (formerly Recording Industry Association of New Zealand). The Music ...

for eight weeks and on the Australian Singles Chart for four weeks. It appears on Dobbyn's 1988 album, '' Loyal''.

Background

Dobbyn was writing in Sydney when he was given the opportunity to compose for the ''Footrot Flats'' film. He had previously used the line "Slice of Heaven" in the DD Smash album ''The Optimist'', and chose to revisit it. He brought in Herbs to sing in the background based on his childhood experiences of Pacific gospel choirs.

Features

The song incorporates a synthesised Japanese flute made with an E-mu Emulator II.

Music video

The video features Dobbyn, Herbs and dancers recording the song, interspersed with clips from the ''Footrot Flats'' film. The music video was recorded in Wellington's Marmalade Studios. Notably, due to time constraints, the clips of the singers performing are from their live recording takes rather than being a recreation.

Alternate version

The version featured in the closing credits of the ''Footrot Flats'' movie features less emphasis on the Herbs vocals and more focus on the percussion and bass of the song.

Reception

The song gained huge exposure in Australasia through the ''Footrot Flats'' trailer being shown before the popular ''

Crocodile Dundee ''Crocodile Dundee'' (stylized as ''"Crocodile" Dundee'' in the U.S.) is a 1986 action comedy film set in the Australian Outback and in New York City. It stars Paul Hogan as the weathered Mick Dundee, and American actress Linda Kozlowski as ...

'' film, leading to high radio play before the single had been released. According to Dobbyn, one New Zealand rock station producer refused to play the song as they considered it "underproduced", but were forced to reconsider due to huge listener demand for the song. The song spent eight weeks at No. 1 in New Zealand and four weeks at No. 1 in Australia. It has been praised for the combination of Dobbyn's and Herbs' vocals.

In other media

In season two's third episode of '' Wrecked'', Steve (played by

Rhys Darby Rhys Montague Darby (born 21 March 1974) is a New Zealand actor and comedian, known for his energetic physical comedy routines, telling stories accompanied with mime and sound effects of things such as machinery and animals. He was nominated for ...

) sings a bit of the song which intrigues the Barracuda (played by

Ebonée Noel Ebonée Noel (born May 25, 1990) is a Guyanese-American actress. She is known for her role as Special Agent Kristen Chazal in the CBS series, ''FBI''. Early life Ebonée Reigne Noel was born May 25, 1990 to Cheryl E. Noel and Patrick Wharton. H ...

) and reveals that her dead ex-lover was also a New Zealander.

Awards

"Slice of Heaven" was awarded Best Song at the 1986 New Zealand Music Awards.

Legacy

"Slice of Heaven" featured in '' Nature's Best—New Zealand's Top 30 Songs of All Time'', coming in at No. 7. It was voted No. 1 in 2009 by C4 viewers as New Zealand's favourite song, and is often considered an unofficial national anthem of New Zealand, especially after its usage in New Zealand tourism ads in the 1980s and 1990s. It has also become synonymous with the ''Footrot Flats'' film.

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

{{Authority control 1986 singles 1986 songs 1987 singles APRA Award winners Dave Dobbyn songs Herbs (band) songs Number-one singles in Australia Number-one singles in New Zealand Songs written by Dave Dobbyn